First post, by xjas
- Rank
- l33t
It's often impossible to find info on which modern or semi-modern displays have good compatibility with oldschool VGA hacks/tweakmodes. The purpose of this thread/database is to test displays and share the results, in order to create a useful resource for people looking for this info.
Google searchbait: mode-x mode-y mode-q Michael Abrash VGA LCD CRT DOS 70Hz textmode fakemode 😉
Instructions:
Download the testing suite <-- I am looking for more permanent hosting for this
Burn it or copy its contents to a real DOS/VGA machine
Check out the readme and example/template.txt
Test your monitor
Share the results 😀
Extra credit: take a couple pics and post them too
This is not a definitive guide to every possible VGA mode. Recommendations of other stuff to try are welcome! (And feel free to add your own results even if the app/game/demo/whatever isn't specifically listed here.) For example it was suggested to include Sea of Robot Love by Orange as it sets a 50Hz mode on standard VGA. I will periodically update the testing suite if needed.
Note: please do not run this from DOSBox and submit your results! DOSBox includes its own scaler and doesn't run in the native VGA mode so you're not actually testing your monitor that way. This is probably obvious but I figured I'd better write it down anyway. DOSBox does offer a convenient way to compare what these programs are supposed to look like (except Copper) though.
twitch.tv/oldskooljay - playing the obscure, forgotten & weird - most Tuesdays & Thursdays @ 6:30 PM PDT. Bonus streams elsewhen!