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