songoffall wrote on 2025-07-18, 07:06:

I got a Samsung SyncMaster first, it's a shadow mask display, a normal 2000s workhorse monitor. It's very good. Required some repairs and readjustments and finding the repair manual turned out to be impossible, but it is a very good monitor.

I have one of those as well. Bought it back in 2005, and it has a really nice picture. The problem is, it keeps breaking down. Previously, it developed an issue where the red color was entirely missing (showed up as black) and I had it serviced several years ago. But recently, it started randomly narrowing the picture horizontally, resulting in a sort of flicker, which makes it practically unusable. Unfortunately, the local TV repair shop that I had used in the past no longer accepts monitors. And my repair skills aren't good enough that I would trust myself with opening a CRT, so it's sitting in storage for now.

That said, while I do see the appeal of CRTs, especially for DOS gaming and Win9x titles which only use a fixed resolution (e.g. StarCraft) I've gotten used to LCDs over time. Nowadays, I play most Win9x and WinXP games at 1600x1200 on my 24" ASUS ProArt PA248QV, and they look great. Obviously, the blacks aren't as deep as they would be on a CRT, and the motion clarity isn't as good, but otherwise the image is pretty nice.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2025-07-18, 07:21:

songoffall wrote on 2025-07-18, 07:06:

I got a Samsung SyncMaster first, it's a shadow mask display, a normal 2000s workhorse monitor. It's very good. Required some repairs and readjustments and finding the repair manual turned out to be impossible, but it is a very good monitor.

I have one of those as well. Bought it back in 2005, and it has a really nice picture. The problem is, it keeps breaking down. Previously, it developed an issue where the red color was entirely missing (showed up as black) and I had it serviced several years ago. But recently, it started randomly narrowing the picture horizontally, resulting in a sort of flicker, which makes it practically unusable. Unfortunately, the local TV repair shop that I had used in the past no longer accepts monitors. And my repair skills aren't good enough that I would trust myself with opening a CRT, so it's sitting in storage for now.

That said, while I do see the appeal of CRTs, especially for DOS gaming and Win9x titles which only use a fixed resolution (e.g. StarCraft) I've gotten used to LCDs over time. Nowadays, I play most Win9x and WinXP games at 1600x1200 on my 24" ASUS ProArt PA248QV, and they look great. Obviously, the blacks aren't as deep as they would be on a CRT, and the motion clarity isn't as good, but otherwise the image is pretty nice.

I shocked a few people yesterday when I told them the resolution they were playing at was actually 800:600 😀) sadly, with my builds, 1600x1200 is not a resolution I can realistically play at, say, on a Pentium 3 with a Voodoo 3 3000 😀) if I were patching games to work on modern systems, that would be viable. IPS fixed a lot of issues old LCDs had, same as TFT and active matrix did.

It's sad that the TV repair shop has stopped servicing CRTs, I have to do my own repairs these days and I'd say the hardest part with CRTs is disassembly-reassembly - the PCB layouts are pretty straightforward and there aren't many small or SMD components inside. Also safety - the high voltage components need to be properly discharged, least they give you a nasty shock. But that's true for all high voltage devices that have a power supply and large filtering caps inside.

I have a few CRT monitors, mono (green and amber) and color, but some at storage site rather then in use. All but one I got for free so I don't mind any issues they have like yellowish case, I did clean them (both outside and inside) and tweaked the CRT settings (G2, cathode biases) since some are tired by now. In the end all are still giving acceptable (or even better) picture in typical indoor daylight conditions.

I have color 15" monitors, I wouldn't mind a 14" either. It's not something I would want to work with daily, eyesight not getting any better with age, but old games using 320x200 resolution are just not looking right on much bigger screens. And there's the nostalgia factor obviously. For anything 1024x768 or higher I'd use 17" CRT I have, a very nice and compact Hyundai Q770, and starting with Win2k and later it's LCD territory.

The good: CRT, obviously. It just looks different than pixel-perfect fully digital monitors, scanline filters and such are nice but never 100% true to original. And the colors, the CRTs just had different and some older ones can have a really big difference in red for example, it was more white-washed so the games that used 16 color dithering can look very different.
The bad: Also CRT. Small, somewhat fuzzy if the dot pitch is poor - depends on resolution obviously, 800x600 might already be pushing the limit. And the refresh rates which tire the eyes. Though again, these are not supposed to be used daily for hours.
The ugly: Weak CRTs, failing flyback transformers, size, weight, and potential repairs required to get the monitor working at all. These days you have to do it all yourself, nobody else will - at least not in the price range most people would find acceptable, not to mention any required transport costs. To be quite frank nobody these days even knows how to transport a CRT properly without breaking the tube, or the case. Nobody gives a damn either. You can't even pay people to do it right unless you do it yourself, except (maybe) if it came with the original packaging and box.

All in all it's fun, and I agree that hunting down a very specific trinitron CRT is not the way to go about it. If I had to pick one due to size/space/cost I'd look for 17" or late 15" SVGA with still bright tube and sharp picture. Earlier 14" and 15" will be much more limited in refresh rates but on the other hand are usually also easier to repair and source parts. 19" is too big and bulky, doesn't offer anything that 17" would not and still holds no candle to modern LCD or OLED.

songoffall wrote on 2025-07-18, 07:06:

Having a good CRT gaming experience is not expensive, unless you make it expensive. You can chase that particular legendary Trinitron you heard about on a Youtube video, and I did that too in the beginning, but trust me, all you're doing is gatekeeping yourself.

Local availability plays a big factor in this. If you're fortunate enough to have options then that is something one can take advantage of.

CRTs are rare where I live, which limits options and drives up prices even for less desirable monitors.

And as CRTs are no longer produced, there will only be less of them, so if it can be repaired, it is always worth repairing. You'd be surprised how much better those old beasts get after a recap and a recalibration.

Glass polishing as well. I've had monitors where the anti-glare starts to flake off. While polishing to remove it does make the monitor more reflective, it can result in a nice looking image in a dark room.

Deunan wrote on 2025-07-18, 11:40:

I have a few CRT monitors, mono (green and amber) and color, but some at storage site rather then in use. All but one I got for free so I don't mind any issues they have like yellowish case, I did clean them (both outside and inside) and tweaked the CRT settings (G2, cathode biases) since some are tired by now. In the end all are still giving acceptable (or even better) picture in typical indoor daylight conditions.

I miss those old mono monitors, if you focused them properly, the image was quite sharp, and there's something about long persistence phosphorus on green ones that makes DOS that much more pleasant to deal with. Especially with a Hercules-capable display adapter.

Deunan wrote on 2025-07-18, 11:40:

I have color 15" monitors, I wouldn't mind a 14" either. It's not something I would want to work with daily, eyesight not getting any better with age, but old games using 320x200 resolution are just not looking right on much bigger screens. And there's the nostalgia factor obviously. For anything 1024x768 or higher I'd use 17" CRT I have, a very nice and compact Hyundai Q770, and starting with Win2k and later it's LCD territory.

15'' I think is the optimal size for DOS games, and 17'' - for Windows 98-era stuff. Larger monitors could be nice, but the size of the monitor chassis grows a lot compared to gains in screen size. I remember seeing a 21'' CRT once, it was more or less the size of an average TV of the time.

Deunan wrote on 2025-07-18, 11:40:

The good: CRT, obviously. It just looks different than pixel-perfect fully digital monitors, scanline filters and such are nice […]
Show full quote

The good: CRT, obviously. It just looks different than pixel-perfect fully digital monitors, scanline filters and such are nice but never 100% true to original. And the colors, the CRTs just had different and some older ones can have a really big difference in red for example, it was more white-washed so the games that used 16 color dithering can look very different.
The bad: Also CRT. Small, somewhat fuzzy if the dot pitch is poor - depends on resolution obviously, 800x600 might already be pushing the limit. And the refresh rates which tire the eyes. Though again, these are not supposed to be used daily for hours.
The ugly: Weak CRTs, failing flyback transformers, size, weight, and potential repairs required to get the monitor working at all. These days you have to do it all yourself, nobody else will - at least not in the price range most people would find acceptable, not to mention any required transport costs. To be quite frank nobody these days even knows how to transport a CRT properly without breaking the tube, or the case. Nobody gives a damn either. You can't even pay people to do it right unless you do it yourself, except (maybe) if it came with the original packaging and box.

All in all it's fun, and I agree that hunting down a very specific trinitron CRT is not the way to go about it. If I had to pick one due to size/space/cost I'd look for 17" or late 15" SVGA with still bright tube and sharp picture. Earlier 14" and 15" will be much more limited in refresh rates but on the other hand are usually also easier to repair and source parts. 19" is too big and bulky, doesn't offer anything that 17" would not and still holds no candle to modern LCD or OLED.

Totally agree.

I always liked the viewsonics. They made really good monitors.

I think I recall they made a 23”?

I’m on the look out for a 21” trinitron currently or any 22-23” for that matter.