One thing which hasn't been mentioned is that 1600x1200 is actually perfect for older games. You don't need high resolutions to make full use of it, as internal scaling will already "stretch" the game to perfect aspect ratio. 320x200 for example is just times 5 and times 6. 800x600 is just times 2. So these offer a very good "full screen" option and are even more compatible with DOS Games. I got a Fujitsu Siemens Scenicview P20-2, a 20" Panel from 2006, which I quite like, even though I am using my CRT Monitor instead.

4:3 monitors (even LCD's) are sooo good for retro gaming. I would say it's #1 thing to have for that retro feel, especially with today's DOSBOX you don't even need other old hardware to get the retro feel. I prefer my Dell Latitude D530's with a 768 res as opposed to it's upgraded monitor res. High pixel density just doesn't feel right, give me the GIANT pixels! :)

Tuesdays are now great days

Worth mentioning is that a 1600x1200 monitor can run an 800x600 game at exactly a 2x integer scale or 240p content at exactly 5x (assuming the monitor supports 320x240 resolution). Same goes for a 1920x1200 monitor if you don't mind a little horizontal stretching.

1280x1024 is a weird resolution. Originally it was supposed to be displayed on 4:3 CRT with non-square pixels, similarly to CGA and EGA resolutions. Many graphivs cards supported 1280x1024 before LCDs become available.

great tip! Thanks! 🙌

Nice, I bought a used 5:4 monitor, thinking it was just some old but decent looking LCD, then I realized it was fairly modern, the NEC EA193Mi a 1280x1024, 19", IPS, 6ms. It even has DisplayPort along with VGA and DVI. I have 1600x1200 monitors, but this is honestly my favorite.

I love your videos, it's been one of my favorite channels for a long time

I had a lucky find when i'd moved into the place i'm in now, someone had left behind a beige acer 1024x768 4:3 LCD monitor, looking like it'd be from 2003/2004 or so. Works fine too, good for the older systems i have when i choose to use it.

Nice! I have 3 CRT monitors in the storage but I mostly use a LCD monitor with built in speakers with my Windows 98 retro PC for convenience and desk space.

Aweome Phil ,my favourite resultion 1024x768 .Running an old Dell Optiplex 740 with a Nivida Quadro nvs 210s on board chip great for old games.

The FX5200, old reliable.

Still have a 1280x1024 flat screen monitor that came with my Dell Dimension desktop in 2005 and I have to say it blows my mind how well this thing has held up! Still use it for my retro gaming rig (Pentium 4 with HT @3ghz and ATI Radeon x1950 pro AGP edition) all these years later and colours and response times are still great!

Thanks i just got one of these 5:4 monitors

We got rid of a bunch of old monitors at work. Kept a few. I have a nice 20" HP LCD monitor 4:3. I use it with an Lenovo superdock with pcie slot in it and a Thinkpad t60. I have an ati x1600 in the dock. Awesome computer for Windows XP and retro gaming.

I bought a couple of weeks ago a Dell E178FP for less than 20€, it's barely new, 17" at 1280x1024 and 5ms of refresh, and I am amazed that an old LCD has such a good image quality :)

I always try to play at a 1:1 scale, as I prefer to see sharp pixels rather than a larger but much softer image. On my 42GT60 1080p plasma 1024x768 displayed in 1:1 scaling is still bigger than 1024x768 on 17inch CRT monitor. My dad also has 42inch 1024x576 plasma and 800x600/1024x768 looks absolutely amazing on it. Even PSX (320x240) era games loom surprisingly good.

watching your videos since years, i bought 4 retro monitors, 3 of them square ones and one 16:10 dell that does 1600X1200 in letterbox mode, but i guess new ones will last me well beyond im dead ;-) although i still get tempted to buy more as they are still for sale at amazon

Yeah, I have a 1600x1200 and 1280x1024 old LCDs. VGA and DVI are a must for retro PC machines around the turn of the century.

I´m using a big old 27" DELL U2711 - it supports theses scaling features (pixel 1:1 or upscale aspect correct) with the black bars around in hardware in pure DOS ;)

The 1024x768 resolution is great don’t get me wrong, but my old Dell LCD runs at 1440x900 by default and it looks beautiful. Thanks for sharing Phil…good stuff!

I "harvested" 2 very nice looking 17 inch lcd monitors, but i did that just because i own a Dell 5:4 monitor that i love so much! If the panel ever dies, i can fix it by using parts of the other panels! This monitor is perfect for old retro pc games!

Phil I found the Dell 1908FP (5:4) absolutely perfect for retro gaming. You can even add a 10w Dell sound bar to the bottom of the screen. So compact! I purchased 5x of these screens and sound bars from eBay and Gumtree. $40 (AUD) for the screens and $25 for the sound bars. I found someone selling these screens for $5 each on Gumtree a few days ago.

i do have a 17inch 5:4 monitor which i own since i got it (late 2005) which is a Samsung Syncmaster 730b. I do have a 15inch 4:3 LCD as well, which is a Benq Q5T3. Work ok so far for old PCs.

I'm looking forward to getting my Checkmate monitor early next year. It's scaler even supports EGA and CGA out of the box.

Hello my friend! another interesting video from you.

So glad I bought a new-in-box 21-inch CRT monitor some years back when they were still affordable. Still sitting in storage for when my Philips 22" CRT inevitably takes a dump. I just hope it actually works when that day comes as I've never tested it.

17" is also a good option, the black border is a bit smaller. A good 17-inch I can recommend is a Samsung SyncMaster 720N and/or a Samsung SyncMaster 740N. Some of them even come entirely in beige instead of silver and black! Dell Ultrasharp monitors also make for a decent retro gaming monitor. There's also a Samsung SyncMaster 520N 15" LCD monitor from the mid-2000s for those looking for a 15" monitor, but don't want to use a late 90s-early 2000s LCD monitor.

Just get a native 1024 X 768 projector. Things are dirty cheap these days, can be found new and they work WONDERS for retro gaming and not only that!!!!!!

Might be worth looking into the monitor I used to use both for modern and vintage. The Dell S2218H, has VGA inputs and can be set to 4:3 and 5:4 even if the image is already widescreen and its IPS to boot so lovely colours.

Oh Nice!

This is a cool scaling option. These days NVIDIA offers the option for integer scaling, which means you can achieve a similar effect on high resolution displays when scaling from very low resolutions. For example, on a 4K screen, if you scale from 640x480, you will effectively get 2560x1920 with black borders around the image.

1024x768 was/is my favorite resolution

Awesome screen

Luckily I kept a few of the nice multisync Sony CRT's for when I want that experience. It wasn't from knowing they'd become scarce it's because I was lazy and had a pile of donated CRT's laying around that I finally went through a couple years ago.

For DOS and early windows I use a 17" CRT and have a 15" CRT stashed away for when the 17 dies. For my XP machine it uses DVI-D to get 120hz on my AOC 24.5" 1080p and I run all games at either 1440x1080 if supported and then 1280x1024/960 with some small black bars for anything else.

I would find something like a Dell SE198WFPv. Built around 2007 I think. Has 75 hz support up to 1024x768. Latency feels very good and can support higher res. DOS resolutions also fit the screen just fine. Also, the older Dell Workstation Monitors are great for XP machines, as it support 1600x1200 on the bigger models, has TONS of input connections (VGA, DVI, S-Video, Composite HD).

some displays have that centered feature build in on the adjustment controls

I don't do much retro gaming, but I adore my 16:10 1920x1200 Dell Ultrasharp IPS monitors. Combined with 'centered' GPU scaling that would allow native 1600x1200 4:3 displays with older games...

One option to get rid of the black frame, glue on some beige duck tape, it will emulate a CRT look and feel. On a serious note, something to watch out for when buying an old LCD monitor is coil whine. My monitor just recently developed whine, but only at high resolution. At low resolution no whine. So I need a new monitor.

I got to old dell panels from goodwill 4:3 aspect ratio and they were dirt cheap with the speakers attached

Regarding scalers, I got a "GBSC" scaler from ali express a few months ago and it has vga input, and many options for output. I should try hooking it up to a pc.

I have a small(it must be 12" at most) 1024x768 monitor for backup purposes. Sadly, the only CRT I have is a PAL/RGB(either will work, NTSC will also work, but the picture will be monochrome and quite noisy) TV that has a maximum vertical resolution of 576i(it is also capable of 480i, 288p and 240p) and can do up to 672 horizontally before starting to get too blurry, with 720 being the absolute max. For most situations, I just use my new-ish(2018 or so) 22" Phillips TV, that has a 1080p IPS panel and every input imaginable, from analogue RF to HDMI, the only thing it doesn't have is DP. It has a very sharp picture and no ghosting, but you do at times have to deal with poor aspect ratio. I have my Amiga 1200 hooked up to it, and it's really good as back in the day I used to have to have a dual monitor set up, as the OS was VGA and most games(Sim City 2000, Doom and a few others could run in VGA) run in PAL, so I needed both a PAL TV and VGA monitor. Since this TV does both, it's a winner for that.

That 15" real state at 1024*768 seems to match almost perfectly the size of a 17" CRT, not bad at all!

I still own Dell 17" 1280x1024 monitor, alongside with Dell P2723QE 4K 27", so I could always choose between 640x480 up to 2560x1600 for retro gaming. I still keep the old Dell 1280x1024 17" monitor, because it would be perfect for high end retro gaming with 1280x1024 or 1280x960 resolution, and I could connect to GeForce GTX 980Ti with DVI-I to VGA Adapter and enjoy games. Nvidia does pretty well with scaling, and 1 to 2 FPS loss is not big issue for GeForce GTX 980Ti😂.

I still have my old CRT monitor. 🙂

My Solution: I have a 1366x768 LCD for things that need 720p or 1024x768, but in my experience, S-Video on a SD CRT is good enough for 1024x768 because games designed to play nice with that resolution usually had readable text on a SD TV via S-Video and I also have resolution scaling on Windows. I like to prepare for the CRT Apocalypse and I have 3 monitors in mind, a 1440p, a 768p (or modified iPad Screen) and there are portable 3840x2400 monitors taken from Laptop screens. Those 3 monitors cover every resolution you would want to throw at it, 640x480, 800x600, 1280x720, 1024x768, 1600x1200, 1920x1080 and 1920x1200. I know 3840x2400 may make 1440p seem redundant if you don't care about 720p, but there are great 240hz 1440p OLEDs at non-laptop sizes, great for modern games and 640x480.

G'day Phil, I still have my DELL 1027x768 CRT (VGA) monitor & I also have a LG 1680x1050 LCD (VGA + DVI) for using with my XP PC, like my GPUs I like swapping them every now & then or just because I can't use the CRT with some like my Quadro FX5800 as it has 2x DVI + 1x DisplayPort + 1x S-Video. When looking for newer retro GPUs like my GTX260 it's a good idea to check the I/O ports for compatability with the monitor you plan to use, the 260 is a good example for why as some have 2x DVI + 1x S-Video while others like my Gigabyte SOC have 1x DVI 1x HDMI 1x VGA, so there are quite a few that are not VGA Compatible out of the box & you can easily get the wrong one.

I discarded so many CRTs that was still working perfectly but had no use for.

my CRT died earlier but i just fixed it up after some time of troubleshooting and recapping it and such. i remembered to discharge the flyback so i don't get 1000 volts through my heart when working on it.

I got myself a Dell P1914S IPS monitor for my retro machines. It can't beat TN panels in terms of response time, but the colors and viewing angle are nice. The only issue is the backlight bleed which is common with IPS panels. I wish someone made a 5:4 monitor with a VA panel, which would be a nice middle ground.

For MDA/CGA/EGA on flat panels we are well and truly sorted with the RGBtoHDMI. It's fantastic. We're just waiting on the VGA equivalent - something that will Just Work for all display modes from 320x200 up. The OSSC Pro and Retrotink 4k will probably solve the problem, but unknown ETAs and definite wallet pain apply. There is another project called the CRT Terminator which was announced on Vogons, with first units hopefully shipping in the new year. It is an ISA card with a DVI output, which connects via internal ribbon cable to the feature connector of your ISA or PCI video card, giving your retro PC a digital output with a range of scaling abilities. It's mouth watering but not perfect. The FPGA limits it to 60hz @ 1600x1200, so no 70hz DOS gaming on your Dell 2007FP. But it does have some very nice non-integer, but still crisp scaling options which means I'll be giving it a go on a 1280x1024 panel.

my 21" AOC crt died to capacitor plague before I knew what capacitor plague was. I would have kept it and fixed it had I realized that was the problem. I do have one of these 1280x1024 LCDs for my windows 98 machine though the samsung sync master we bought to replace the CRT when it died. Games look really nice on it actually like as good as I remember them looking on a CRT but its been so long so my memory could be fuzzy.

I have a few CRTs, dozens of 4:3s. I should be ok for the foreseeable future.

I wish affordable 4:3 ratio monitors, with modern technology, were still available. There are a few out there but, they are designed for commercial use and usually have touch screens. Like an information hub at a train station or airport. They tend to start at $1000 bucks. Asus has a very nice and affordable 16:10 ProArt monitor that is 28" diagonal. How does one change the settings so a web page uses the full width of a modern standard 16:9 widescreen monitor? That would be a neat video to make, Phil.

I didn't expect to see any channel recommending a TN panel.

I'd love to find a CRT but so far no luck, Meanwhile I do have a small RCA 4:3 LCD monitor that'll do the job. It's 15" I believe. It does have a single "dead" pixel that fixes it's self after 5-10 minutes of run time

Phil check the ossc pro! I think it is a good option for pc gaming.

Hi Phil, I ran some tests and a big issue with LCD is the time they take to refresh when the resolution changes. This can be reproduced for example in Jazz Jackrabbit, the menu does not have the same resolution than the loading screen and then the game itself. This leads to many blank screens that occurs sometimes for 3 seconds. With CRT it's instant and invisible.

Can you do a review on feasibility of using CCTV monitors for gaming purposes? CCTV monitors come in 4:3 ratio.

Right now, I have everything running through my main computer screen, which is a 4k 120 Hz HDR panel with variable refresh rate. I do have an older scaler, a Micomsoft XPC-4, which works most of the time, but it doesn't like VGA text mode, so it's not perfect. I'm interested in seeing how the RetroTink 4k performs. As much as I would like one or more CRTs for various use cases, I simply don't have the space, so I make do with what I got. We all know that a CRT is going to give us the most accurate image, but I appreciate these videos that showcase how we can get as close as possible.

Up until recently I've had an LCD (have a 19" and 17" still at home) but I wanted to be more period correct so I got a 17" LiteON CRT. It definitely looks more retro, but is a pain, as it is big, heavy and will die soon (at least it sounds like that sometimes...).

I play on an ASUS VB191. It's a 19 inch TN Panel but it has great color, for an old LCD panel, and it's relatively fast. Contrast isn't too shabby either. I've tried quite a few of the old 5:4 monitors and it's the best I've ever had. Recommend for anyone thinking about getting one.

Just curious, what is the model number of this ASUS 5:4 monitor? Thanks!

3:54 curious how one of those "screen magnifiers" would make this look 🤔

I wonder if Nvidia's scaling would solve my problem with Worms2 cutscene resolutions (and refresh rates?). An older Fujitsu LCD (which I have repaired and ultimately tried replacing because I won't be able to buy CFL tubes in the future) could handle that funky video mode (or refresh rate?), but on a newer Dell with LED backlights it's out of range. I remember using mostly only 60Hz capable monitors back in the day so it seems odd.

I'm using AOC G2590FX 1080p 144Hz + FreeSync for new and old computers because have Displayport, 2x HDMI and even VGA. Monitor support to set 4x3 aspect ratio or 1:1, so it's a good compromise for everything. Also getting high refresh rate on Win98 on 1024x768 100 hz with Voodoo 3, 85 hz on WinXP with GTX 470.

I personaly use 2 new old Stock Belinea 15 inch LCD Monitors. I think the Modell number is 10 15 55. Native Resolution is 1024x768 with 75 herz.

I use a Dell U2412M. It has multiple inputs, so it's connected via DisplayPort to my daily driver, and via VGA to the retro PC I'm using at any given time. It's 1920x1200, so I play games that support it in 1600x1200, but the scaled image isn't that bad either in 4:3 mode.

There are a few 1920x1200 monitors that do 'keep aspect ratio' scaling (eg benq g2400w), or you can probably find the same in a 1366x768 monitor as well

The 15" of the LCD monitor is probably equivalent to a 17" monitors display area as generally a lot of the screen's area is behind the bezel (to hold it in I guess). Most 17" CRTs having a 15" -> 16" viewable area.

Hi. We can still buy brand new 15 inch (1024x768) monitors with VGA interface. But they are POS monitors. I checked that some of these POS monitors have 8ms or less response time. I wonder if they are good for retro gaming...

Does it support 50Hz 17KHz modes?

3:53 I've always found that my monitors stretch the image for lower resolutions.

Looking around the difference price between IPS and TN isn't that much these days. What are your thoughts IPS ( generally better contrast ratio and viewing angles)

Sometimes GPU scaling in either Ati and Nvidia settings is not available. Maybe depending on driver version. Idk.Then I have to change settings at the monitor. So far I am satisfied with my Asus VW266, 16:10, VGA, DVI, HDMI that can switch between 1:1, 4:3 and streched.

i have spent years looking at the different monitor options... i have found there really isnt a one fits all screen other than a true CRT... UNLESS you are willing to go with a smaller screen thats also very high resolution. a fairly unknown possible setup is an ipad retinia lcd using a driver board. native resolution is 2048x1536.. you may ask why use that? its a perfectly scaled 1024x768. also the pixels are so small that you can run 800x600 and 640x480 just as well without seeing tons of blur. i just happen to use this combo on my old macintosh g3 and it looks very sharp. its also IPS with very VERY good viewing angles.

Another option is a modern 4K monitor. I use my daily driver 4K Dell with my retro kit, and I find that even when not integar scaling the pixel density is so high any scaling artifacts are really not noticeable in games.

👍👍

Phil - Have you seen the OSSC Pro or RetroTink-4K? The OSSC Pro is cheaper ($350 I think?) and can scale CGA/EGA/VGA to 1440P (70 Hz) with shadow masks (and aperture grills?). The RetroTink 4K is coming soon for $750 and appears to be the ultimate upscaler. It's been specifically tested with retro computers and perfect looking CRT masks.

Is it possible to rotate the display to get full 1024 pixel "wide", then the image will center itself using 768 lines out of the 1280. Most driver supports that but I don't know how it would look...

Phil… do you recommend a 1920 by 1200 monitor that you then can create a 1600x1200 resolution?

i was probably too late to be a victim of hard coded resolutions but i do still keep a couple of 5:4 1280x1024 screens for emulating games that i played at that aspect ratio on ps2 as a kid in an ideal world u would emulate dos and the entire emulation will have dlss/xess applied to it to help with crappy internal resolutions.

what about using widescreen monitor ?

Just got this monitor for free today HP ZR2440W 1920x1200 & ips panel. Bit slow 6 ms response time so not gonna be the best monitor for fast paced games but a good secondary & testbench pc monitor for sure.

How much for a 4k ips lcd instead of tft and shit? Oled is probably too rich for most in 4k or 8k full color

Tpg made monitors?

I prefer IPS screens for color accuracy and better viewing angles

I kinda use the Black Bars only on 1366x768 laptops that run Windows 7, but I prefer scaling on Windows XP somehow (I don't know, that's how I got used to it, I got myself some XP laptops way later than my first ever laptop with Windows 7. So maybe that's the reason why.) But as of LCD vs CRT Monitor for Retro Desktops? I use my Samsung LCD Monitor, 1280x1024, and somehow I prefer scaling on it too, even when playing on 1024x768 resolution instead of 1280x1024. It sometimes scales weirdly sure, but I do like the square-ish Bootscreen of Windows 98, instead of that weird native one (Which I think was 16:10... Which to me it does look weird, since this isn't what I saw when having a CRT Monitor in a time of my First PC as a kid) xD CRT is something I would love to see how things looked on those, (Because like I said, I had one only as a kid) but the problem is that I don't have a space to fit it anywhere. But also like you said, finding one is becoming more hard to find.

Those 5:4 displays are dirt cheap now, usually you can get them for a few bucks or even for free with almost retro pc. They weren't expensive back in the days and offices liked them for some reason and I'm actually like them too for use with spreadsheets, since you could see many rows.

Unfortunately a such screen is unavailable here in Leipzig, but it's unecessary for me: Age of Empires 1 looks still good on my LG widesrcreen ( the flatron W2442PE, which has still a good picture even on low resolution screen modes). But the switching between the different inputs are very long.

my monitor is 17" LCD from 2004 at resolution 1280x1024 , but I use it at 1024x768 :)

I would like a nice, good condition, 19 inch CRT monitor....but we know the prices of those down under, let alone one that isn't on deaths door. I have been using an old 4:3 LCD Philips monitor from 2007, and it isn't the fastest thing around, but it works. Can new 5:4 or 4:3 monitors be bought these days? And while I have you here; My 6600gt finally died in my XP box. Will something like a ATI 5670, 7770 or even a 750ti have decent compatibility with late 90s/early XP era games like the 6600gt does?

i have 4 different monitors one 24" 16/9 and one 22" 16/10 and one 19" 4/3 and a Bridge 17" CRT monitor 🙂

Very nice video and idea, but as always, there is no way to close all retro needs perfectly. I mean….if you want do go deep in past….Windows 95 era, where still a lot of 640x480 and 800x600 games. Also, owners of Voodoo 1 and 2 should mention that on base non IPS panels they look very bad. I this case CRT much better. When it comes to DOS games pre 95 period, a lot of games using 320x200/240. Any thoughts?)

Doesn't seem like a hot way to go, honestly. Backlight bleed instead of a pure black border and smaller image on an already small display. One's best off trying to find an LCD with a multiple of their intended resolution or searching a little harder for a CRT on real hardware. On an emulator one can run a "sharp" bilinear shader to fill the screen while keeping things approximately sharp and 'native' looking.

I use a 1280x1024 monitor with my daily driver as a side monitor I have a 15” crt that someone was giving away for free on facebook. It is 1024x768 at 60hz over vga.

What I don't like about LCD is that a lot of our order games was designed on a CRT so CRTs have a form of anti-aliasing themselves LCD is going to look a lot different than CRT

Retro tink 4k wird das Teil unserer träume... Schon der frameMeister konnte VGA Signale Skalieren... :-)

the perfect monitor for a 4090 to play alan wake on.