I wondered if anyone here is using old 4:3 LCDs for their retro rigs. 15" 1024x768 and 21" 1600x1200 models are what I specifically have in mind. Topics of interest would include scaling performance, dithering (if any), response times and most importantly DOS compatibility (i.e. exotic frequency support).
I found 15" too old/slow/ghosting. But the size is really good. 21" cost a bit and aren't easy to source. They also might be physically too big.
I find 17" and 19" a good compromise. The 5:4 ratio is not that much of an issue unless you are really picky.
I have a Samsung 19" and it has great DOS support. Does all the frequencies and smooth scrolling.
Note: Don't use DVI for DOS as it will be 60Hz and you might not get smooth scrolling and some games will play slower music.
Yes. This information is already on the Vogons Wiki as well. http://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/General_monitor_advices
I personally use an Eizo FlexScan L365 on my rig.
It's a 15" 1024x768 LCD from 2001 or so. Has VGA and DVI. I bought it for around EUR 15. It has ran close to 3000 hours according to the OSD and is still going strong. Overall image quality is good for a LCD monitor this old. Reponse time is listed as 25ms on the internet. I'm picky about those things and I don't have anything to complain about in fast shooters etc. No ghosting. Only very minor blackening in some fast sidescrollers with repeating patterns in the background. Beats my PSP with its 100ms screen easily...
Viewing angles are ok, not much different to other TN screens. Scaling performance falls a bit off compared to newer monitors but this is to be expected. You can still run 320x200 and have it look ok though. At least dithering is OK, beats a modern (cheap) notebook I have easily in demanding tests. The monitor seems to be very compatible to popular VESA DOS games. The only DOS game that I tried so far and that didn't run correctly was Whiplash/Fatal Racing. Uses some obscure frequency rates that are not supported by the monitor. There are probably more which I have yet to find out. It has two modes for VGA, 320x200@70 Hz and 720x400@70 Hz.
The only real issue that I couldn't figure out yet are faint white horizontal tearing lines that appear in certain DOS games and to an extent on the POST screen. Documented here. I used a number of different 3dfx cards and it's always the same. Could be a phase clock problem, so maybe playing around with this will resolve the issue. It seems to be only present in a small selection of games anyway.
I am using a 4:3 1600x1200 20" Dell 2007FP. Noticed no problems so far. It has VGA, DVI, S-Video and composite inputs.
Hardware comparisons and game system requirements: https://technical.city
