smeezekitty wrote:

I have to agree with the size issue. I barely have enough space as it is so I really don't have the space for CRTS where LCD will do just fine.
And for me sharp is always better. Blurry hurts my eyes

Tried the good old terminal emulator for linux? Emulates scanlines, and such. From 1980's terminals to pre-win pc screens.
In such a way, that some would get headace and hurtfull eyes from that little program.
Actually a pretty nice piece of software, sadly only for Linux and not Windows.

King_Corduroy wrote:

Yeah same here, I would like to know how you guys get such nice pictures of your screens. Mine always turn out blueish and over exposed.

Try a 6500K (or "cloudy") white balance at the lowest ISO setting you have. Then fiddle around with the EV or shutter time.

That's what I always do, but even then it looks nothing like IRL. Usually dark hues turn out black while bright parts are completely saturated. I think you'd need a HDR camera to capture the entire colour range accurately.

devius wrote:

King_Corduroy wrote:

...an older CRT monitor with analogue controls that is kind of fuzzy or a more modern 2000's CRT with digital controls and a much sharper picture.

It's possible that the picture you are seeing on that fuzzy 90's CRT isn't what it looked like when it was new. CRTs change their characteristics over time, and old ones need fine tuning from time to time to keep them looking good. I have a 2000's CRT that was fuzzy, but after opening it up and adjusting some trimmers it now has a super sharp picture. Never tried to do the same on a 90's CRT though.

I tried this with my 1995 HP once, but couldn't get it to look any better. Factory settings were perfect already. The only thing that's still bothering me is that blue and green gamma is very low compared to red, but I think that's actual wear on the tube itself and there's not much I can do about it.

brostenen wrote:

They are also really heavy, and take up a lot of space.

True. Moving a 35Kg 21" monitor around is no fun. Even the smaller 15" ones weight a lot. However I have a problem with LCDs and that is the lack of support for low resolutions. At least none of the ones I have allow me to use a resolution lower than 640x480. Are there any modern flat-screen monitors that can display resolutions lower than that?

devius wrote:

However I have a problem with LCDs and that is the lack of support for low resolutions. At least none of the ones I have allow me to use a resolution lower than 640x480. Are there any modern flat-screen monitors that can display resolutions lower than that?

Yes, there are new monitors that still support lower resolutions, but it is annoyingly difficult to find out which ones do. And even if a monitor supports the old DOS resolutions, there are more problems to look out for: Widescreen monitors often have no setting for the 4:3 aspect ratio, and only very few screens can display the 70 Hz VGA modes without dropping frames.

In my experience the best TFT monitors for retro VGA use are 24" 1920x1200 TN screens from Samsung (e.g. S24C450). They support 4:3, 70 Hz and work with any weird VGA modes. Unfortunately, production of these screens seems to have ended, dealers don't have them stocked any more.

5u3 wrote:

devius wrote:

However I have a problem with LCDs and that is the lack of support for low resolutions. At least none of the ones I have allow me to use a resolution lower than 640x480. Are there any modern flat-screen monitors that can display resolutions lower than that?

Yes, there are new monitors that still support lower resolutions, but it is annoyingly difficult to find out which ones do. And even if a monitor supports the old DOS resolutions, there are more problems to look out for: Widescreen monitors often have no setting for the 4:3 aspect ratio, and only very few screens can display the 70 Hz VGA modes without dropping frames.

In my experience the best TFT monitors for retro VGA use are 24" 1920x1200 TN screens from Samsung (e.g. S24C450). They support 4:3, 70 Hz and work with any weird VGA modes. Unfortunately, production of these screens seems to have ended, dealers don't have them stocked any more.

Ew, TN. Aren't there any viable VA or IPS alternatives that still have proper resolution support and scaling (read: preserves the aspect ratio on non-16:10 resolutions, including 16:9)?

Not having to put up with scaling or native resolution issues is still one of the big reasons I prefer CRTs. I just wish my FW900 didn't have some kind of HV circuitry failure inside; it was the best monitor I've ever owned while it lasted.

In my experience the best TFT monitors for retro VGA use are 24" 1920x1200 TN screens from Samsung (e.g. S24C450). They support 4:3, 70 Hz and work with any weird VGA modes. Unfortunately, production of these screens seems to have ended, dealers don't have them stocked any more.

I have found pre-2006 1280x1024 or 1024x768 screens to work well for old machines. The aspect ratio is close to correct
and they old ones usually handled the oddball resolutions

I've got my trusty BenQ 2420xt 120hz and it seems to be holding up just fine. I know that Doom, Keen and a bunch of old games display just fine. Haven't tried weird resolutions yet, and I don't have access to my machines now

I prefer a good 15" Sony Trinitron. But would be extremely difficult to find one in perfect condition.

kixs wrote:

I prefer a good 15" Sony Trinitron. But would be extremely difficult to find one in perfect condition.

A guy is selling one locally for 10€. How can you tell if it's in perfect condition or not?

devius wrote:

kixs wrote:

I prefer a good 15" Sony Trinitron. But would be extremely difficult to find one in perfect condition.

A guy is selling one locally for 10€. How can you tell if it's in perfect condition or not?

For that price I'd risk it if it doesn't look bad

5u3 wrote:

In my experience the best TFT monitors for retro VGA use are 24" 1920x1200 TN screens from Samsung (e.g. S24C450). They support 4:3, 70 Hz and work with any weird VGA modes. Unfortunately, production of these screens seems to have ended, dealers don't have them stocked any more.

I can attest to that. I've got a T240HD and it does a pretty decent job with DOS games 😀.

devius wrote:

kixs wrote:

I prefer a good 15" Sony Trinitron. But would be extremely difficult to find one in perfect condition.

A guy is selling one locally for 10€. How can you tell if it's in perfect condition or not?

You would have to test it.

Old Trinitrons have mostly problems with over brightness and contrast - it gets really bright over the years and no user setting can solve this. Also in higher resolutions (Windows 640x, 800x, 1024x) the sharpness and geometry can be way off and also no user setting can correct this (small corrections are always possible). All of this would mean that it is in a bad shape. But do note that some of these problems can also be linked to a bad VGA cable from PC to the monitor - so if you're gonna test it, take a good one with you.