Question about oldish lcd monitor and DOS \ VOGONS

Question about oldish lcd monitor and DOS

Topic actions

Post a reply

First post, by Aideka

Posted on 2011-04-16, 21:05

Aideka Offline

Rank Member

Rank: Member
Posts: 276
Joined: 2011-01-22, 16:52
Location: Finland

So, I have always used mainly crt monitors in all kinds of gaming over the years and they always have worked perfectly.

Now I got some 15 inch HP lcd monitor for free, and started thinking that it might be a good choice for DOS games since they seem to use some low refresh rates which aren´t too fun to watch on an 19 inch crt monitor. I was wondering, since some of you might live in a more present day with computers than me 😜 are there any problems I should be aware of, if I switch my crt for a lcd on dos gaming?

I am mainly concerned about refresh rates, becouse I have understood that lcd monitors will not display for example 85hz picture at all? I understand that this is pretty much monitor dependant, but I would like some general info about this. And yes, I know the picture will not look as good as on crt, but the ability to play games longer than 10 minutes without eyes bleeding makes up for it 😀

Reply 1 of 5, by F2bnp

Posted on 2011-04-16, 21:31

F2bnp Offline

Rank l33t

Rank: l33t
Posts: 3499
Joined: 2007-09-23, 10:19

I'm also interested on that. Are there any good LCD monitors on the 15" range that are suitable for DOS and Late 90's Windows Games?

Reply 2 of 5, by swaaye

Posted on 2011-04-16, 21:42

swaaye Offline

Rank l33t++

Rank: l33t++
Posts: 8139
Joined: 2002-07-22, 21:24
Location: WI, USA

Well I don't usually like going back in time to old LCD tech.

Problems
-poor black level (washed out and makes dark games difficult)
-response time (smudge vision)
-old fluorescent backlights that are fading or even flickering
-color problems (old technology)
-scaling algorithms (or lack thereof)

You just have to try it out and see what you think. There were good ones way back in the late '90s but they are probably not the ones you'll find lying around, and age doesn't make them better either.

Reply 3 of 5, by Aideka

Posted on 2011-04-16, 21:55

Aideka Offline

Rank Member

Rank: Member
Posts: 276
Joined: 2011-01-22, 16:52
Location: Finland

Thanks for comments, the monitor is I think, from around 2002-2005 so it should not be too slow for games I like to play. I will of course test it and report back on how well it handles the games I play, but I was wondering if it is somehow possible to damage the monitor by starting a game that uses some obscure display mode?

Reply 4 of 5, by swaaye

Posted on 2011-04-16, 22:31

swaaye Offline

Rank l33t++

Rank: l33t++
Posts: 8139
Joined: 2002-07-22, 21:24
Location: WI, USA

It shouldn't be a risk but I suppose you never know. With CRTs it was risky if the monitor's electronics didn't prevent incorrect modes. I don't know if LCDs can even blow up like CRTs (I doubt it 🤣)

Reply 5 of 5, by megatron-uk

Posted on 2011-04-17, 07:27

megatron-uk Offline

Rank Oldbie

Rank: Oldbie
Posts: 1756
Joined: 2010-09-07, 10:53
Location: UK

Yeah, at the worst you tend to get "Signal out of range - please use X Khz - Y Hz", as the screen is not directly driven by the input signal.

My collection database and technical wiki:
https://www.target-earth.net

Go to top of page Go to top of page

Back to General Old Hardware

Main menu

Common searches