Since the Panel of an LCD monitor is "back lit" with a fluorescent
light, it can be difficult to get a proper rendering of the "black"
areas of a photo. Since a properly calibrated CRT doesnt have this
problem, its a little easier to use a CRT.

Im sure in a controlled environment you can use good LCD screens for
photo editing, but keep in mind what the faults may be.

On even the very best LCD monitors, the dark and black areas are harder
to judge than they are on a CRT.

Keep in mind that the highest quality LCD monitors are FAR more
expensive than a good CRT.. But then get used to the difference, CRTs
are losing ground to LCD monitors even in applications where a good CRT
is the thing to use.

Also consider ...

LCD Color: 8-Bit vs. 6-Bit
http://compreviews.about.com/od/multimedia/a/LCDColor.htm

6-Bit/16.2 panel colors are dithered up to look like 8-Bit/16.7
million colors. [RGB - 8-bits / channel = 24-bit true colors]

Examples:

ViewSonic VP191b ... 16.7m colors
Samsung SyncMaster 193P+ ... 16.7m colors

LG L1980Q ... 16.2m colors
Sony SDM-HS95P ... 16.2m colors

The LG and Sony's I just mentioned are absolutely gorgeous looking
monitors but I refuse to pay their high prices for a 6-bit panel.

Note: some manufacturers avoid listing 6-bit 16.2m colors in their
spec sheets. If I don't find 16.7m colors listed I consider the
monitor to be 6-bit. Retailers seldom list this info.

I'm hanging onto this aging 21" ViewSonic P815 CRT to see what the new
LED monitors are like—early 2006.

Hap

One of the problems I had with early LCD's was the fact that the image isn't
illuminated equally.  IOW, if you move your head up the top of the image
seems darker than the bottom, and vice versa.  With any CRT this problem
simply doesn't exist.  While LCD's are much better today, I still wouldn't
want to pay the amount required to get one on which professional photo
editing would be possible.  For much less you can get a very high end CRT.
I've been working on 19inch for 6 years.  I'd like to move up to 25 or more.
You might find 19 too small pretty quickly.

To use an LCD, you need a *really good* one.  One test -- look at the
screen while moving your head around so that you see it from different
angles.  Many LCDs will change in brightness and/or color depending on
what angle you look at them from.  If you can go almost out to 90
degrees both vertically and horizontally without any change, that's a
good sign.  If it appears darker or the colors change as the angle
increases, pass.

Although they are improving it is more difficult to judge subtle color and
contrast gradations on an LCD than on a CRT.
However CRTs in general are over-rated  in their real world ability to
display the range from black to white they are supposed to.
Niether of these factors may make a difference to the way you work if you do
not make subtle adjustments of this sort in Photoshop. An LCD can be
calibrated and as such be used in a reasonably reliable way for basic
monitor color matching/color management.
I

At my office had a good CRT, it died, the IT dept replaced it with a
rotten CRT, really had editing problems on that one. It has been
replaced with an HP 1940 LCD. I'm happy, editing is a dream with this
monitor. Two years ago I was in another office doing some for hire
work, they had what they called a state of the art editing system,
couldn't stand the Viewsonic LCD, get in close and it was all pixels,
very disorienting, the black was awful too. At home I use a 19" Lacie
Electron Blue CRT and a Gateway with a Sony Trinatron tube.

Tom