I'm thinking the solution may be a OSSC, or maybe Freesync if I can find a compatible converter.
What do you guys use?
Any modern monitor claiming 144Hz would be fine.
jmarsh wrote on 2026-09-06, 20:30:Any modern monitor claiming 144Hz would be fine.
Tried that, but I need one that's compatible with lower frequencies as well for FMV video files.
It seems that not all variable refresh rate monitors use it with their VGA port, if they have one at all.
If they do, it needs to be compatible with rates as low as 30Hz as well.
I have a curved monitor that I used to confirm this, but I'd prefer a flat panel in the future.
Lylat1an wrote on 49 minutes ago:jmarsh wrote on 2026-09-06, 20:30:Any modern monitor claiming 144Hz would be fine.
If they do, it needs to be compatible with rates as low as 30Hz as well.
As far as I know no DOS software sends a 30hz signal, it's either 60 or 70hz (or small variations of those) and no longer common H/V resolutions
Seems that people are using OSSC or an Extron HDMI-300a for older oddball signals that newer screens don't accept, but it may not be perfectly smooth at 70hz on a newer monitor, since the compatibility modes (AV and PC signals) which are not the screen's native resolution can be very limited compared to the advertised freesync/refresh range. If that is the case you'd probably have to accept 70->60hz FRC to get an image.
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NeoG_ wrote on 39 minutes ago:Lylat1an wrote on 49 minutes ago:jmarsh wrote on 2026-09-06, 20:30:Any modern monitor claiming 144Hz would be fine.
If they do, it needs to be compatible with rates as low as 30Hz as well.
As far as I know no DOS software sends a 30hz signal, it's either 60 or 70hz (or small variations of those) and no longer common H/V resolutions
Seems that people are using OSSC or an Extron HDMI-300a for older oddball signals that newer screens don't accept, but it may not be perfectly smooth at 70hz on a newer monitor, since the compatibility modes (AV and PC signals) which are not the screen's native resolution can be very limited compared to the advertised freesync/refresh range. If that is the case you'd probably have to accept 70->60hz FRC to get an image.
My further research shows that DOS game FMV clips may have actually been as low as 10 or 15 frames per second...
Frames per second has nothing to do with refresh rate.
FPS: the rate at which the program or game updates the video card (can be literally anything, as fast as the CPU can do it or a fixed rate This one is expressed in FPS).
Refresh rate: the rate at which the video card updates the monitor (a fixed rate, limited by what the video card and monitor support. This one is expressed in Hz).
Two separate things. Sometimes game will sync the FPS to the refresh rate to keep things nice and smooth, because otherwise one will be out of sync with the other. This is what "VSync" means.
In any case DOS video modes are almost always 70 Hz, a rate most modern monitors cannot display. Maybe Freesync monitors can. But you will need a VGA to HDMI converter that handles DOS well enough to do it right. Look into the OSSC or RetroTink offerings.
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Lylat1an wrote on 21 minutes ago:My further research shows that DOS game FMV clips may have actually been as low as 10 or 15 frames per second...
With frames being duplicated to match whatever output rate the current video mode was using... the same as how a monitor with a very high refresh rate will duplicate frames and minimize jitter for framerates that aren't an exact multiple.
