VOGONS


First post, by GiSWiG

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I cannot seem to find the best answer on this.

I'm looking to upgrade my modern PC monitor to either a 1440p of 4k ~32", from a 2560x1080.
On a 1440p, I know I can do DOSBox in a 1600x1200 window so the picture will be accurate or pixel-perfect and be a good physical size.
On a 4k monitor, 1600x1200 is physically smaller.

I'm leaning toward 1440p because 144Hz, 1ms, etc is possible and affordable. Not many 4K that do much beyond 60Hz without breaking the bank.

What is the next resolution after 1600x1200 to provide that pixel-perfect look to fit on a 4k monitor with enough of a border to not cover or be behind the taskbar?

Steamer/GOG-er: ASUS Crosshair IV Formula | AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 3.7GHz all cores | Mushkin 8GB DDR3 RAM 1333 w/ 6-6-6-18 1T | Dual AMD Radeon HD 6850s in CrossFireX | X-Fi Titanium | Dual-boot Windows XP and Vista

Reply 1 of 12, by Jo22

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GiSWiG wrote on 2021-06-03, 13:03:

Not many 4K that do much beyond 60Hz without breaking the bank.

Um, my 4k capable TV can handle 60Hz and 70Hz via VGA, I think. I've attached several systems to it in the past.
A Compaq Contura laptop with Pentium MMX, a Pentium 133 PC (S3 Virge 325), Power Mac G4, ..

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In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

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Reply 2 of 12, by jmarsh

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If you use an SVN build with the sharp shader it's virtually indistinguishable from integer scaling at resolutions of 1440p and above.

Reply 3 of 12, by mothergoose729

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It depends on the game. If the game uses square pixels then multiples of 640x480 is what you are after. 2560x1920 would be the best fit or a 4x scale with normal2x enabled. If the game is a digital 16/10 aspect ratio game then you need to enable "aspect=true" to get the correct scaling. I am pretty sure dosbox will scale that to a reference resolution (800x600 I think) and then you would want the best integer scale from there. That would be 2400x1800 or a 3x scale.

Reply 4 of 12, by BardBun

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output=openglnb
aspect=false

320x200px games:
1440p
windowed: 1600x1000 or 1280x800
fullscreen: 2560x1400

4k
windowed: 2240x1400
fullscreen: 3840x2000

5k
windowed: 3200x2000
fullscreen: 5120x2800

640x480 games:
1440p
windowed: 1280x960
fullscreen: 2560x1440

4k
windowed: 2560x1920
fullscreen: 3840x1920

5k
windowed: 2560x1920
fullscreen: 5120x2880

Why 2560x1440 (or 2560x1400) and not 1920x1440 on fullscreen?
-> The horizontal number matching your monitors native resolution will center the game in the middle with black bars around and the game resolution will still be 1920x1440 (640x480) or 2240x1400 (320x200).
Only the vertical resolution needs to be set to a whole number (i.e. 3x, 5x, 6x, 7x native resolution) for the game to be pixel perfect with aspect=false / output=openglnb.

Reply 5 of 12, by Jo22

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I've never knew that video game resolutions can be such a science! 😅

How about DOSBox or SDL ? Are they even capable to smoothly move around such a mass of pixel information ?
- Please forgive my ignorance, but I've always used to let the graphics driver do the scaling work. Or the monitor itself. 😀

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 6 of 12, by GiSWiG

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BardBun wrote on 2021-06-03, 22:52:
output=openglnb aspect=false […]
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output=openglnb
aspect=false

320x200px games:
1440p
windowed: 1600x1000 or 1280x800
fullscreen: 2560x1400

4k
windowed: 2240x1400
fullscreen: 3840x2000

5k
windowed: 3200x2000
fullscreen: 5120x2800

640x480 games:
1440p
windowed: 1280x960
fullscreen: 2560x1440

4k
windowed: 2560x1920
fullscreen: 3840x1920

5k
windowed: 2560x1920
fullscreen: 5120x2880

Why 2560x1440 (or 2560x1400) and not 1920x1440 on fullscreen?
-> The horizontal number matching your monitors native resolution will center the game in the middle with black bars around and the game resolution will still be 1920x1440 (640x480) or 2240x1400 (320x200).
Only the vertical resolution needs to be set to a whole number (i.e. 3x, 5x, 6x, 7x native resolution) for the game to be pixel perfect with aspect=false / output=openglnb.

Thank you! That is a lot of good info!

Steamer/GOG-er: ASUS Crosshair IV Formula | AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 3.7GHz all cores | Mushkin 8GB DDR3 RAM 1333 w/ 6-6-6-18 1T | Dual AMD Radeon HD 6850s in CrossFireX | X-Fi Titanium | Dual-boot Windows XP and Vista

Reply 7 of 12, by GiSWiG

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Jo22 wrote on 2021-06-04, 03:18:

I've never knew that video game resolutions can be such a science! 😅

How about DOSBox or SDL ? Are they even capable to smoothly move around such a mass of pixel information ?
- Please forgive my ignorance, but I've always used to let the graphics driver do the scaling work. Or the monitor itself. 😀

Science for the picky, or better yet, for the anal).

Really, when it comes to monitors, I have bought brand new, three. Therr monitors over the last, roughly 20 years. First was a Viewsonic 1440x900 when LCDs were starting to get cheaper. Eventually had to replace the capacitors which gave me a few more years. Next was an ASUS 23" 1920x1080, not bad, but it was around $100-$130. My wife uses it now, had it for 10 years. For the last 6 years I've been using a 29" ultrawide 2560x1080. It has Freesync and I've used it with an RX 480 and currently an RX 580. It was the most expensive monitor I have bought at @ $350. My only regret is that it is not curved and although it is a 29" UW, vertically, it is 9" and no bigger that the 23" 1920x1080. That makes pixel perfect emulation quite small (like 15" CRT size monitor small)but with source ports and third party engines, games like Quake, the DOS DOOMs, Wolfenstein 3D at 2560x1080 look amazing. Oddly enough, Wolfenstein 3D seems like the most immersive games in Ultrawide. But 9" display height is starting to show its drawbacks.

I've also never spent the extra for high refresh rates. 32" 1440p curved monitors with Freesync and 144Hz+ are affordable @ $350-ish. 4K at anything higher than 60Hz starts around $900-$1000. And even once GPUs hit MSRP again, driving 4K means more money. I'm older and have more disposable income but I don't have THAT much disposable income. And I'm actually selling some of my retro hardware like my voodoo 3 3000's to help pay for it. (I know, that is a sin for many at VOGONS)

So, after some selling and even birthday gift money, 32" 1440p @144Hz is doable. It might even be possible to get a 34" 1440p ultrawide w/165Hz (Samsung). At ~$600 (and almost as much as my 55" 4k TV) its a stretch, but if it last 10 years, I can't see replacing it anytime soon.

I know I might have rambled a bit but I think I have made up my mind: 1440p definitely 32" 16:9, MAYBE splurge for the 34" 21:9. Maybe I've helped others on the fence too.

Steamer/GOG-er: ASUS Crosshair IV Formula | AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 3.7GHz all cores | Mushkin 8GB DDR3 RAM 1333 w/ 6-6-6-18 1T | Dual AMD Radeon HD 6850s in CrossFireX | X-Fi Titanium | Dual-boot Windows XP and Vista

Reply 8 of 12, by cyclone3d

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I have a DecoGear 27" 1440p curved monitor. 144Hz, most excellent color reproduction and officially does FreeSync and to top it off, it supports full G-Sync but just not documented in the specs. I got it when it was on sale for $200. Regular price is $249
https://www.decogear.com/products/27-2560x144 … -curved-monitor

They also have a 34" ultrawide 3440x1440 for $379
https://www.decogear.com/products/deco-gear-3 … d-monitor-144hz

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Reply 9 of 12, by GiSWiG

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cyclone3d wrote on 2021-06-04, 16:33:
I have a DecoGear 27" 1440p curved monitor. 144Hz, most excellent color reproduction and officially does FreeSync and to top it […]
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I have a DecoGear 27" 1440p curved monitor. 144Hz, most excellent color reproduction and officially does FreeSync and to top it off, it supports full G-Sync but just not documented in the specs. I got it when it was on sale for $200. Regular price is $249
https://www.decogear.com/products/27-2560x144 … -curved-monitor

They also have a 34" ultrawide 3440x1440 for $379
https://www.decogear.com/products/deco-gear-3 … d-monitor-144hz

Thanks. I'll have to check it out. I was looking at a Samgung G5: https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-32-Inch-Odysse … B08MVBYWGQ?th=1
you can choose 32" on the page to see the 32" 16:9

Steamer/GOG-er: ASUS Crosshair IV Formula | AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 3.7GHz all cores | Mushkin 8GB DDR3 RAM 1333 w/ 6-6-6-18 1T | Dual AMD Radeon HD 6850s in CrossFireX | X-Fi Titanium | Dual-boot Windows XP and Vista

Reply 10 of 12, by GiSWiG

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I decided to go with the LG 32Gp83B. 2560x1440, IPS panel, G-Sync, Freesync, 165MHz, just checks all the boxes. DOSBox at 1600x1200 looks great and at fullscreen too. Works very well with my RX 580 but I do have an RTX 3070 Ti coming and can't wait to try Quake II RTX.

Steamer/GOG-er: ASUS Crosshair IV Formula | AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 3.7GHz all cores | Mushkin 8GB DDR3 RAM 1333 w/ 6-6-6-18 1T | Dual AMD Radeon HD 6850s in CrossFireX | X-Fi Titanium | Dual-boot Windows XP and Vista

Reply 11 of 12, by L1nK

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i still get some black bordered lines vertically in dosbox-x 1440p 16:9 monitor with ratio false or true and fullscreen 2560x1440 (or 1400) on openglpp output, possible to fix this? On 1200p 16:10 dell it covered my whole vertical space.

Reply 12 of 12, by jmarsh

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openglpp restricts the output size to be an exact integer multiple of the input, with borders around the remaining output. If you don't want borders use a different mode.