VOGONS


What monitor do you use?

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Reply 20 of 101, by GL1zdA

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I use my good old SONY CPD-G400 19". Bought it in 2000 and it still works, although it has some minor convergence problems. If I'm lazy, I simply attach my new 24 BenQ FP241VW - yes, in DOS text mode the font is a bit 'fuzzy', but I quickly became used to it and it's not a problem. In graphical modes it's a bit blocky, but due to some blurring (probably in the upscaler) it also is not tedious. It's also worth noting, that how well the LCD behaves depends on the VGA - same modes on two VGAs will often give different results. The same for connectors - some modes work better through D-Sub and some through DVI.

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Reply 21 of 101, by samudra

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5u3 wrote:

Sony G500 (Trinitron 21" CRT) here. I'm very happy with it, but it's eight years old and might die soon (black level already half gone).
Looking for LCD replacement, but those I've already seen either come with crappy interpolation and useless scaling options or I can't afford them.

You can fix that.

http://eric.hutzelman.com/articles/1-Sony-CRT-Brightness-Fix

I use a 14" non-flat CRT for my retro rig.

I can't see why you would want to use anything bigger than 17" to play VGA games on. Back then even the people with the money for it didn't use them.

This is not a QEMM error.

Reply 22 of 101, by Silent Loon

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I use a Samsung Syncmaster 203B LCD display. After years with a 17" Sony Trinitron this still seems to be a good choice because of

- 4:3 aspect ratio
- VGA and a DVI input
- good to very good interpolation (depends on the graphics card and the choosen reolution)
- 1400x1050 native resolution - I was sceptical about that, because this resolution is not very common, but it turns out to have a certain advantage regarding retro purposes: if you choose a 800x600 resolution - i.e. in dosbox - that is not expanded, you get a very sharp 4:3 picture centered on the screen that has aproximately the size of my old 17" crt!

This display may not be perfect, as it lacks for example the possibility to choose the way interpolation is done. It is not very fast (I think 6-8ms or so) and of course it has all the disadvantages of a consumer tn panel. But it was not expensive (ca. 200€) and until now I'm quite lucky with it.

Reply 23 of 101, by 5u3

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samudra wrote:

Thanks a lot for the link! 😁

Just fixed mine:
CPD-G500_black_level_fix.jpg

The result is impressive. Black is black again, and the colors are not as "washed out" as before (although it had a red tint after replacing the resistor, but it's easy to correct that with the monitor controls.)

Reply 24 of 101, by samudra

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Awesome.

I have a Sony GDM-F520 myself and it has an "image restoration" function. It recalibrates the black level automatically. It is unfortunate those earlier models do not have it.

This is not a QEMM error.

Reply 25 of 101, by 5u3

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Thanks for the hint, my monitor also has this "image restauration" feature, but it doesn't do anything except displaying various shades of grey. The black level is not changed at all. Maybe this is broken on my unit.

I'm very happy with the resistor mod, as the monitor still displays a very sharp image at 1600x1200. I hope it will last a few more years. Maybe external hardware scalers / signal converters are getting cheaper by then.

Reply 26 of 101, by WolverineDK

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Well I have a 16:10 LCD 17 inch screen at the moment. But when that one dies, I am probably going for a better screen, than my current one. But I love the CRT based screens, because I am a retro lover.

Reply 27 of 101, by Malik

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I have posted some images before from my LCD TV which I'm using for my PCs. Anyway, this time, I've tried to include more of texts in the games and others to give you a better view of the display mode.
Again, the TV is BenQ DV3750 - a 37" HD LCD TV with a max res of 1920x1080. It's in widescreen format. I didn't alter any options for these screenshots. Everything is adjusted automatically depending on the graphics card's output. Initial adjusment maybe required for first time use or when a new graphics card is connected to.
All these images are from the ordinary VGA cable directly from the S3 Virge video card connection to the VGA connector of the LCD. The system is running DOS 6.22. The DVI input of the TV is reserved for my newer system.

monkey2wtflyt2.jpg
What can I Say? One of my most favourite all time classics!

monkey2whrfkk5.jpg
Just posted this screen to show how the fonts look like. No distortions, right?

monkey2whrf2qb8.jpg
Another screen to show the fonts.

win311opclqy6.jpg
Yep. The S3 ViRGE is working here.

win311opry7.jpg

win311fmnzx3.jpg
I still love this windows. Mostly out of nostalgic memories.

qfgoldstpuc9.jpg
Ah! The Classic Sierra Installation Screen.

sierravh6.jpg
The intro screen of QFG1 VGA.

qfg1olduw2.jpg
After all these years, I still love this EGA version.

qfg1newhn9.jpg
The VGA version of one of my favourites.

msdoseditmb6.jpg
Just to show how the texts are in pure dos mode.

kq5oasisnjr4.jpg
Sorry. No text here since this is the CD-ROM version and the narrator has just finished ...narrating..

kq5frncf2.jpg

kq5frpn4.jpg
The MIDI message is sent to the MKII via AWE32's midi port.

hoctrainml6.jpg
This scene has a beautiful music piece, be it in SB/Adlib more or MT-32 Mode!

*Please reload the site if some images are not visible*

Last edited by Malik on 2009-01-17, 04:29. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 28 of 101, by Amigaz

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@Malik

Can you also have a picture which isn't stretched like the above one's? letterboxed picture..

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 30 of 101, by Amigaz

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Malik wrote:

There are few more modes to choose from. Anyway, does it look stretched? Maybe I've got used to the display.

The Sierra mountain logo is suppose to be round not egg shaped like it is above 😉

Guybrush looks pretty fat also, hehe

Have settled with a Microvitec M1438S 14inch Multisync monitor so I can see these games as they were made to be watched back in the days...I can only use it with my Amiga computers and Amstrad Mega PC since it syncs down to 15khz

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 33 of 101, by Malik

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valnar wrote:

Malik,
Everything is stretched in those pictures. I couldn't do that!

I see. Maybe I've got used to this screen that I couldn't remember how the original shapes look like. And the fact that my laptop also uses a wide screen, didn't help either. Almost all posts here are sent via my laptop. So the pictures will be also stretched in the laptop, I guess.

As Pink Floyd says, "Comfortably Numb". 😁

Reply 35 of 101, by valnar

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valnar wrote:
I own (quantity 3) the best CRT ever made. Two are spares. It's a 19" tube by Hitachi, and the last model they made. Frankly, […]
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I own (quantity 3) the best CRT ever made. Two are spares. It's a 19" tube by Hitachi, and the last model they made. Frankly, I think it blows away the Sony Trinitrons of the day.

I have them in three different "monitor" casings.

1) Hitachi SuperScan Elite 751 (my current monitor for everything)
2) KDS VS-195e (same Hitachi 19", glossy coating)
3) Gateway 19" monitor of some type - forget the model, but it had the same tube. My tertiary spare.

Well, I'm down to one left. 😢
My Hitachi was getting too dark over the last couple months, and started dropping off dramatically towards the end. I just put it out in the trash today. My Gateway 19" got damaged in a flood. So I am using the KDS and it's the last CRT in the house. The convergence on the top left corner is a little off. It was never as good as my Hitachi 751.

So now I have to enter into LCD land. I'm not too thrilled with any of them, and even less so that I have to pick a BIG and WIDESCREEN one to get a decent panel these days. It looks like I'm going used, so I might as well get a 4:3 for at least some semblance of DOS support while I'm at it.

Based on a lot of research, and the recommendations of some posts in this forum, I'm going for one of the uncommon 1400x1050 panels. It seems the Samsung 203b is the best option (over the ViewSonic VG2030m). I like my pixels bigger for Windows XP anyway. 'Never liked squintavision. 1600x1200 would be ideal, but that would mean a bigger monitor, or settle for tiny fonts.

Any other good choices?

Reply 36 of 101, by Old Thrashbarg

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Why not try to find a used CRT at a thrift shop/garage sale/Craigslist/wherever? If you're not thrilled with any of the LCD options, it shouldn't be too hard to turn up a servicable CRT, they seem to be plentiful and cheap even around the tech wasteland where I live... Or is there some other reason you want to go LCD?

WRT the original topic question, I use a Viewsonic P810 21", 1997 vintage. It's my main PC monitor, run through a KVM to cover several machines. I'm inclined to set things up a little differently though, and give the old machine my spare 17" Dell CRT as a dedicated screen, since, as others have found, 17" is about the sweet spot for DOS games.

Reply 37 of 101, by valnar

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Old Thrashbarg wrote:

Why not try to find a used CRT at a thrift shop/garage sale/Craigslist/wherever? If you're not thrilled with any of the LCD options, it shouldn't be too hard to turn up a servicable CRT, they seem to be plentiful and cheap even around the tech wasteland where I live... Or is there some other reason you want to go LCD?

WRT the original topic question, I use a Viewsonic P810 21", 1997 vintage. It's my main PC monitor, run through a KVM to cover several machines. I'm inclined to set things up a little differently though, and give the old machine my spare 17" Dell CRT as a dedicated screen, since, as others have found, 17" is about the sweet spot for DOS games.

My wife would not allow another one. Let's just say the one I have is grandfathered in. But it doesn't mean I have to get a widescreen. However, after doing some more research, it looks like the HP LP2275w is a quality screen and has 1:1 pixel mapping + aspect ratio controls.

Reply 38 of 101, by Silent Loon

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Well, recommending LCD screens is a little bit like recommending dentists or laywers, but anyway...: I use the Samsung 203B for over one year now, and I'm still very content with it. So far there was not a single game that I had problems with - from Star Control to Stalker everthing runs fine. I use the DVI connector with my Athlon64 and a nvidia 8600GTpci-ex card, and the VGA connector with everthing else. It even accepts an old Tseng 3000 ISA card. The only issues I had with a P4 SBC and its integrated ATI chipset. Also other ATI cards had difficulties with certain VGA/VESA modes.
Yet I don't know if this screen is still sold.
When I was searching for a LCD display I also stumbled over an iiyama 20" display with 1600x1200 resolution. It's seemed to be one class above the samsung but it was also expensive (around 450€).