For sharpness, nothing beats the Trinitrons. Even the older ones (Hi-Res 13", for example) will be clear and sharp.
I like the color of the 12" RGB. I know it's not the most well-loved monitor, but I prefer the way the colors look on this shadow mask display to those of the Hi-Res. The Macintosh Color Display is pretty good too--it's the Trinitron model that replaced the Hi-Res. I believe the same tube, or one very similar, was used in the LC 500s.
A well-tuned 9" CRT from a compact will always look good too. Most of Apple's monochrome monitors were pretty nice.
The worst Apple CRT, by the way, was probably the Performa Plus. It was basically a low-end PC monitor. Apple had a basic color monitor for a while that was also in this category. Both were vastly inferior to the old 12" RGB, which had been the low-end.
Personally, I prefer LCDs to CRTs and find the best vintage Mac experience to come on an active matrix PowerBook.
I like the color of the 12" RGB. I know it's not the most well-loved monitor, but I prefer the way the colors look on this shadow mask display to those of the Hi-Res. The Macintosh Color Display is pretty good too--it's the Trinitron model that replaced the Hi-Res. I believe the same tube, or one very similar, was used in the LC 500s.
A well-tuned 9" CRT from a compact will always look good too. Most of Apple's monochrome monitors were pretty nice.
The worst Apple CRT, by the way, was probably the Performa Plus. It was basically a low-end PC monitor. Apple had a basic color monitor for a while that was also in this category. Both were vastly inferior to the old 12" RGB, which had been the low-end.
Personally, I prefer LCDs to CRTs and find the best vintage Mac experience to come on an active matrix PowerBook.