Such thing doesn't exist. Any LCD monitor WILL loose sharpness when displaying images outside their native resolutions. And 4:3 monitors are usually old, and much worse than current ones.
The next best thing would be a nice IPS panel that doesn't have a ver noticeable input lag.

I can swear by these:

1. Iiyama Prolite B1906S: 19", TN pannel, LED backlit, 5 ms response time

Contrast: 1000 : 1 typical
Contrast: 20000 : 1 ACR
Brightness: 250 cd/m² typical
Brightness: 300 cd/m² max.
Viewing zone horizontal/vertical: 160°/ 160°; right/left: 80°/ 80°; up/down: 80°/ 80°
Viewing zone CR>5 horizontal/vertical 176°/ 170°; right/left: 88°/ 88°; up/down: 85°/ 85°
Display colour: 16.7 million
Pixel pitch: h x v 0.294 x 0.294 mm
Native resolution: 1280 x 1024 ( 1.3 megapixel)
Horizontal sync: 24 - 80 KHz
Vertical sync: 55 - 75 Hz
Synchronization: Separate Sync
Aspect ratio: 5 : 4
Inputs: VGA, DVI
Height adjustable stand: Yes
Height adjustment: 110 mm
Rotation (pivot function): 90°
Swivel Stand - 340°; 170° left; 170° right
Tilt angle: 20° up; ° down
VESA mounting: 100 mm
Available colours: Black, White

It does most non-vesa resolutions used by old dos games too. There's also:

2. EIZO FlexScan S2133

21.3-inch screen with 1600 x 1200 native resolution (4:3 aspect ratio).
IPS (in-plane switching) LCD panel (LED backlit) with 178° viewing angle.
420 cd/m2 brightness.
A stand with 82 mm height adjustment, 40° tilt, 70° swivel, and portrait mode viewing.
DisplayPort, DVI-D 24 pin, and D-Sub mini 15 pin inputs.
USB hub with one upstream and two downstream ports.
6 ms gray-to-gray response time for smooth display of video.

3. EIZO FlexScan S1923 and FlexScan S1903

19-inch screen with 1280 x 1024 native resolution (5:4 aspect ratio).
250 cd/m2 brightness.
EyeCare mode that lowers brightness to 3 cd/m2 to help reduce eye fatigue in dimly-lit offices.
A Stand with 100 mm height adjustment, 30° tilt, 70° swivel, and portrait mode viewing is available for both models. A basic stand with 30° tilt is also available for the FlexScan S1903.
DVI-D 24 pin, and D-Sub mini 15 pin inputs.
Dual 0.5 watt internal speakers and a headphone jack.
Compatibility with older graphics boards that output a sync-on-green signal.
VA (vertical alignment) LCD panel (LED backlit) with 178° viewing angle for the FlexScan S1923.
TN (twisted neumatic) LCD panel (LED backlit) with 170°/160° viewing angle for the FlexScan S1903.

kanecvr wrote:

I can swear by these: […]
Show full quote

I can swear by these:

1. Iiyama Prolite B1906S: 19", TN pannel, LED backlit, 5 ms response time

Contrast: 1000 : 1 typical
Contrast: 20000 : 1 ACR
Brightness: 250 cd/m² typical
Brightness: 300 cd/m² max.
Viewing zone horizontal/vertical: 160°/ 160°; right/left: 80°/ 80°; up/down: 80°/ 80°
Viewing zone CR>5 horizontal/vertical 176°/ 170°; right/left: 88°/ 88°; up/down: 85°/ 85°
Display colour: 16.7 million
Pixel pitch: h x v 0.294 x 0.294 mm
Native resolution: 1280 x 1024 ( 1.3 megapixel)
Horizontal sync: 24 - 80 KHz
Vertical sync: 55 - 75 Hz
Synchronization: Separate Sync
Aspect ratio: 5 : 4
Inputs: VGA, DVI
Height adjustable stand: Yes
Height adjustment: 110 mm
Rotation (pivot function): 90°
Swivel Stand - 340°; 170° left; 170° right
Tilt angle: 20° up; ° down
VESA mounting: 100 mm
Available colours: Black, White

It does most non-vesa resolutions used by old dos games too. There's also:

2. EIZO FlexScan S2133

21.3-inch screen with 1600 x 1200 native resolution (4:3 aspect ratio).
IPS (in-plane switching) LCD panel (LED backlit) with 178° viewing angle.
420 cd/m2 brightness.
A stand with 82 mm height adjustment, 40° tilt, 70° swivel, and portrait mode viewing.
DisplayPort, DVI-D 24 pin, and D-Sub mini 15 pin inputs.
USB hub with one upstream and two downstream ports.
6 ms gray-to-gray response time for smooth display of video.

3. EIZO FlexScan S1923 and FlexScan S1903

19-inch screen with 1280 x 1024 native resolution (5:4 aspect ratio).
250 cd/m2 brightness.
EyeCare mode that lowers brightness to 3 cd/m2 to help reduce eye fatigue in dimly-lit offices.
A Stand with 100 mm height adjustment, 30° tilt, 70° swivel, and portrait mode viewing is available for both models. A basic stand with 30° tilt is also available for the FlexScan S1903.
DVI-D 24 pin, and D-Sub mini 15 pin inputs.
Dual 0.5 watt internal speakers and a headphone jack.
Compatibility with older graphics boards that output a sync-on-green signal.
VA (vertical alignment) LCD panel (LED backlit) with 178° viewing angle for the FlexScan S1923.
TN (twisted neumatic) LCD panel (LED backlit) with 170°/160° viewing angle for the FlexScan S1903.

Thank for the models, I look for some review. 😉

alexanrs wrote:

Such thing doesn't exist. Any LCD monitor WILL loose sharpness when displaying images outside their native resolutions. And 4:3 monitors are usually old, and much worse than current ones.
The next best thing would be a nice IPS panel that doesn't have a ver noticeable input lag.

Sure lower resoution will be upscaled and this is really a thing I can't stand it, but mostly I would prefer crt for the better gamma of colors, white and blacks that crt ever had and many lcd seems to have not yet.. lately I am using a cheap 17" crt and I'd find it superior to anything I daily see in both colors and definition even at 1024x768 with the dot pitch story.

386SX wrote:

alexanrs wrote:

Such thing doesn't exist. Any LCD monitor WILL loose sharpness when displaying images outside their native resolutions. And 4:3 monitors are usually old, and much worse than current ones.
The next best thing would be a nice IPS panel that doesn't have a ver noticeable input lag.

Sure lower resoution will be upscaled and this is really a thing I can't stand it, but mostly I would prefer crt for the better gamma of colors, white and blacks that crt ever had and many lcd seems to have not yet.. lately I am using a cheap 17" crt and I'd find it superior to anything I daily see in both colors and definition even at 1024x768 with the dot pitch story.

Back in the day, everything you said would have been 100% true - but today we have low response time led-backlit IPS LCD panels which offer better color reproduction then most CRT monitors I've used, great blacks and are sharper image then most CRTs - and I've used some high-end stuff back in the day. The days of the "washed out" and blurry LCD panel are long over.

The models I listed above are current-day 5:4 aspect ratio and have every enhancement brought to LCD monitors to this day (especially the IPS Eizo). They are designed for use in graphics and 3d modelling and as such have excellent color reproduction and great blacks. They do have a downside - they are EXPENSIVE.

I do have to warn you OP, I'm rather biased towards LCD monitors, mainly because CRTs give me headaches when spending more then 60 minutes in front of one. Even at 100Hz I can see the image flicker as my eyes get tired. Sure, when I was a kid I didn't mind CRT monitors because my eyes were a lot healthyer - but in my late teens sitting in front of the computer became very tiresome. It was then I saw my first LCD monitor and spend some time in front of it that I realized I need one. Colors were washed out, games were a bit blurrier, but the image was very sharp and my eyes didn't hurt even after four hours of gaming.

I can imagine having myself experienced the low vertical frequency cheapest crt monitor of the early 90's. I had one 14" that was incredibly good on color but needed 56Hz at 800x600... man.. 😁
Maybe I usually see the classic commercially sold lcd that have nothing but incredibly high numbers (ex 10.000.000:1 contrast oh yeah) but when in front of it you see only the usual very high dot pitch, useless ultra wide screen absurd resolutions, maybe deep black but not a gamma of greys or whites.... plus you could usually count the pixels at its native resolution.
I think I will look for the Eizo screen above and see what I can find. What about the dot pitch size? Are they good? I've seen that there are some with 0,23mm or better?

I have a Dell 2001FP that I've owned for about 10 years which I'm using for my Retro PC. It runs at 1600 x 1200, is IPS and I couldn't be happier. It has a 16 ms response time, which isn't as fast as some models, but it's doesn't exceed one frame at 60 Hz (16.667 ms) and I never notice an issue with it.

The 2001FP was famous for blowing it's TICON board IIRC. The 2007FP is supposed to be better. Also the LP2065 by HP is supposed to be good.

http://tftcentral.co.uk/ has done some very in-depth tests of some of the current high end (expensive) LCD monitors. The interesting monitors to me are the ones with a blur reduction mode with a strobing backlight so the screen is only lit after the pixels have fully transitioned to the new color. This is very similar to the low persistence display of a CRT but of course as kanecvr mentioned this may give you eye strain if the flicker at lower refresh rates bothers you.

Apologies for the old thread revival but it is pretty much the exact thread I’d post today. Due to current space restrictions I’m looking to pick up a late 1990s-early 2000s 17 or 19” beige LCD that comes close to CRT in terms of resolution and refresh rate, particularly for DOS gaming.

Has anyone had experience with the EIZO L767 or am I better off staying with the S1923?

pixelatedscraps wrote on 2021-08-23, 14:36:

Has anyone had experience with the EIZO L767 or am I better off staying with the S1923?

Isn't the response time on L767 quite slow? Something like 25ms. I've been studying these displays too and almost bought new old stock S1923 but then hesitated. I'm not sure how much the 5:4 ratio would bother me. Still searching for the ultimate LCD. Maybe the Eizo S2133 with its 1600x1200 resolution?

There is no real replacement for a CRT if you really want CRT experience. There are quite a few good LCD/LED that can come close.
The older Dell 1708 FP and 1908 FP only do up to 1280x1024 but are quite good LCD replacements for a CRT to be used in older DOS + Win3.1 systems much like the EIZO L767. Older Dells Can be found quite inexpensive.
Curious why would you want a 21" like the Eizo S2133 if trying to replicate the CRT experience specially if you are going to be running DOS and Windows 3.1 ? Most during the 1990's CRT era had 15" or 17" only a few had 19" CRT and the bigger the monitor the more the visual errors will show (LOL try Keen or Wolfenstein on a big monitor)... just my opinion
The Vogons topics here: Widescreen monitors and 4:3 aspect ratio compatibility Widescreen monitors and 4:3 aspect ratio compatibility thread
has reviews on using newer Wide screen LCD/LED and able to maintain the true 4:3 aspect on the screen.

I have a lowball bid of $5 on a working 17" L565 in good condition coming from Japan, specs below:

• 20ms

• Horizontal scanning frequency: 24.8 - 80 kHz (Digital input: 31.5 - 64 kHz)

• Vertical scanning frequency: 55 - 75 Hz Vertical (Digital: 60 Hz (VGA text: 70 Hz))

• Resolution: 1280x1024

I know the 5:4 ratio and 20ms response time aren't ideal but the aesthetic of several EIZO monitors from the early 2000s is a nice match (imo) to a good 90s beige front panel. I love the L565 and L767 in particular. If anyone has input on how the L565 would fare running DOS games I'd love to hear it - I'm not too savvy on required scanning frequencies, etc.

I’m keeping the S1923 and Dell 2001FP in mind for the future though. And beyond that when I finally get enough desk space it’ll be CRT all the way!

I'm very pleased with my last pickup: NEC Multisync LCD1970NX datasheet. It has S-IPS panel. There is also version with PVA panel datasheet that I don't know.
Contrary to its documentation it supports frequecies as low as 15kHz/50Hz. So it makes possible connecting HGC/CGA/EGA graphics cards (with mce-adapter).

But I think its color reproduction is its biggest advantage. This is what I remember from CRT days !

Yes the 1970 is a good monitor and it can 15/50, BUT those large monitors do always "smear" moving objects. That's why I cut at 17". I love my L367 15" because it has an excellent image and superbe colors. yes it does not have native 4:3 but I prefer this monitor for dos/win9x. For 15/50 I recommend 51vm/71vm and 1550m. My 1970vx is not 100% correct on Hercules Textmode and Hercules Graphics-Mode. Either one is sharp, this is anoying if you change from textmode-dos to e.g. windows.

I never! had a TFT that has no flickering on pinball-fantasies if the table uses a pixel-gradient (e.g. stones an bones table on the left side).
never ever, only CRT's do not flicker on that.

dr.zeissler wrote on 2021-08-26, 16:12:

Yes the 1970 is a good monitor and it can 15/50, BUT those large monitors do always "smear" moving objects. That's why I cut at 17". I love my L367 15" because it has an excellent image and superbe colors. yes it does not have native 4:3 but I prefer this monitor for dos/win9x. For 15/50 I recommend 51vm/71vm and 1550m. My 1970vx is not 100% correct on Hercules Textmode and Hercules Graphics-Mode. Either one is sharp, this is anoying if you change from textmode-dos to e.g. windows.

Would the 1770NX be a better option? Can’t find too many details on its specs or performance in DOS online though.

One other thing I can’t stand is putting a black monitor with a beige tower / desktop case. It’s gotta be a beige LCD as well (Unless we start talking about builds from 2001-2002 onwards!)

If you want 15/50 then NO! because the 1770nx does not work in 15/50 mode. If the 1770 is good for dos I can't say.

dr.zeissler wrote on 2021-08-27, 14:21:

If you want 15/50 then NO! because the 1770nx does not work in 15/50 mode. If the 1770 is good for dos I can't say.

In your opinion, what’s the best 17’ 4:3 monitor out there? Bonus points if it’s in beige 😉