Monitor Trouble...

[Megane67]

Greetings,

I have a NEC MultiSync FE 1250 CRT monitor that sadly appears to be on the way out. After a few hours of use, it starts twitching and then turning off and on randomly. Turning the monitor off for 20 minutes or so helps but the problem eventually comes back.

Assuming I can't get it fixed for less than the price of a new monitor, I wanted to ask for advice. I've always had a CRT monitor up till now and I've read that LCD monitors had trouble in the past displaying the proper colors and resolution of games from the 80s and 90s.

I don't know if this situation has changed in the last couple years or if ScummVM and DosBox can be configured to adjust for this, but if not, I wanted to know if there is a LCD or other monitor on the market now that will make games on ScummVM and DosBox look like they're supposed to. I've researched the subject online but haven't been able to
gather much specific information about this issue.

I don't care about modern gaming for the most part. I have consoles for that and the most modern stuff I play on my computer are the Telltale Games, AGS games and 'Knights of the Old Republic'.

Any advice you could give me would be greatly appriciated.

Sincerely,

Megane

[bobdevis]

Buy a Full-LED monitor (so not Edge-Lid and not CCFL).
They are a bit more expensive but have none of the viewing angle, runny colors and uneven contrast issues of older flat-screens.

Some people still insist that good CRT's are still better but others say those people are just kidding themselves and are attached to the CRT's imperfections.
It's basically like the record-versus-CD debate that I'm sure you heard many times

[Bloodbat]

I have a Viewsonic VX1932 and, after some tweaks, necessary with any monitor CRT or LCD, things look like they're supposed to (or at least how my brain says they're meant to appear).
Do keep in mind that, nowadays, most monitors are widescreen, so, you'll have to get used to pillarboxing (or letterboxing in some cases, depends on the size and resolution of what you buy) to make them look completely right.
Also after your 22" NEC, an even bigger LCD will be bliss to your back
There's another important thing to consider that wasn't there before, and that is native resolution: CRTs were very noble and looked great whether you were at 300x200, 640x480 or 1280x1024 (if your monitor supported it, I'm pretty sure yours did, it even went higher ); LCDs are designed to look best at certain resolutions, so, make sure you have the graphics power to support the one your chosen screen uses.

[Red_Breast]

You could just try and get another CRT.
You'll find that many people are happy to get rid of their CRTs for free or very cheap. The problem is their weight.

Because of this you need to check the area local to you. Do you have any local shops with 2nd hand computer hardware or maybe the classifieds in local papers? Then you can just use a car or taxi to get it home.

I do like CRTs myself. The only good thing about flat panels I've found, apart from being flat, is that they are a little easier on the eyes over long periods. About a year ago a local PC shop had a Sun widescreen CRT going quite cheap. It was a nice size and would of been very expensive at the time of it's manufacture. It took me a few hours to talk myself out of it - stuff like 'look how many monitors / displays' you already have!

[Megane67]

Hello again,

First off, I want to thank you both for your help and suggestions, I very much appricate it. I've been in contact with my computer guy and he says it's not worth the expense to fix the CRT so I've been continuing my research online and have a few more questions reguarding LED monitors...

Buy a Full-LED monitor (so not Edge-Lid and not CCFL). They are a bit more expensive but have none of the viewing angle, runny colors and uneven contrast issues of older flat-screens.

Just so I'm not misunderstanding you, by Full-LED, do you mean a monitor with Red LED lights? There was only one monitor I could find information that wasn't an edge-lit LED and at $1,500, it was out of my price range. If not, do you mean an edge-lit "LED" monitor is what I should be looking for or a back-lit or am I just misunderstanding the terminology? Sorry, I'm still new at this.

Some people still insist that good CRT's are still better but others say those people are just kidding themselves and are attached to the CRT's imperfections. It's basically like the record-versus-CD debate that I'm sure you heard many times

Yep, and with CRTs in low supply these days, I don't have much of a choice anyway. Oh, I know I could try Craigslist or something and try to find another CRT but I already did that with the CRT that broke down in the first place when the monitor before that broke down. (Got it for $20 at a garage sale) and it barely lasted longer than a year this time, so...)

I have a Viewsonic VX1932 and, after some tweaks, necessary with any monitor CRT or LCD, things look like they're supposed to (or at least how my brain says they're meant to appear).

Another question I had was regarding panels. The Viewsonic VX1932 and another monitor I was looking at, a Samsung PX2370 23" Widescreen LED Backlit LCD Monitor both use Twisted Nematic (TN) panels, which according to general consensus on various boards are far from ideal. But then, I don't know if they mean ideal for games like 'Bioshock' and 'StarCraft II' and are TN panels even an issue with games as old as 'Day of the Tentacle', 'Earthworm Jim' or even something more recent like the Telltale Games?

I've read that Vertically Aligned (VA) and In Plane Switching (ISP) Panels show colors better but they are much harder to find and they may be meant for stuff like video editing and photography, rather than old-school gaming. Does the type of panel matter in my case?

Do keep in mind that, nowadays, most monitors are widescreen, so, you'll have to get used to pillarboxing (or letterboxing in some cases, depends on the size and resolution of what you buy) to make them look completely right.

Yeah, I was hoping for a "21-23" monitor that wasn't widescreen but that may not be an option anymore. Oh well, as long as the letterboxing doesn't damage the screen, I can live with that.

Also after your 22" NEC, an even bigger LCD will be bliss to your back.

Heh, well I wasn't planning on going larger than a 23" just to keep costs down and to make the games look as non-stretched out as possible, unless it doesn't really matter because of the letterboxing, in which case I guess I could consider it, depending on cost and reliability.

There's another important thing to consider that wasn't there before, and that is native resolution: CRTs were very noble and looked great whether you were at 300x200, 640x480 or 1280x1024 (if your monitor supported it, I'm pretty sure yours did, it even went higher ); LCDs are designed to look best at certain resolutions, so, make sure you have the graphics power to support the one your chosen screen uses.

Yeah, that is one of my biggest concerns with getting an LED monitor. Just to be sure, by graphics power, are you referring to my computer and/or graphics card or the monitor? If it's the former, I upgraded my computer about a year ago to a i3 540 processor with a ATI Radeon HD 5450 which has served me well so far for the most part.

The only time I've had trouble with resolution on this computer was trying to get AGS games to run at 320x200 that didn't have a graphics filter option in the setup, but since almost all AGS games can be run in 640x480 mode, it's rarely an issue. I don't know if DosBox games automatically upgrade a VGA game to 640x480 as I haven't had any problems with running EGA/VGA games on that either.

Anyway, thanks again for your help so far and any addition help is very much appriciated.

Sincerely,

Megane

[bobdevis]

What I meant with Full-LED is called Full Array LED Backlighting or RGB Dynamic LED Backlighting here.
You can see a lineup of monitors that work this way here. (Its a Dutch site but you'll probably get the idea even without translation).

Oh well, as long as the letterboxing doesn't damage the screen, I can live with that.

In every setup I have hooked up with a DVI (so not VGA) cable the video card can instantly see what the monitor can or can not do. I don't think you can screw this up unintentionally.

How lower-then-maximum resolutions are handled is configurable with the video card drivers and/or the monitor build-in menu.

[Bloodbat]

I have a Viewsonic VX1932 and, after some tweaks, necessary with any monitor CRT or LCD, things look like they're supposed to (or at least how my brain says they're meant to appear).

Another question I had was regarding panels. The Viewsonic VX1932 and another monitor I was looking at, a Samsung PX2370 23" Widescreen LED Backlit LCD Monitor both use Twisted Nematic (TN) panels, which according to general consensus on various boards are far from ideal. But then, I don't know if they mean ideal for games like 'Bioshock' and 'StarCraft II' and are TN panels even an issue with games as old as 'Day of the Tentacle', 'Earthworm Jim' or even something more recent like the Telltale Games?

I've read that Vertically Aligned (VA) and In Plane Switching (ISP) Panels show colors better but they are much harder to find and they may be meant for stuff like video editing and photography, rather than old-school gaming. Does the type of panel matter in my case?

Do keep in mind that, nowadays, most monitors are widescreen, so, you'll have to get used to pillarboxing (or letterboxing in some cases, depends on the size and resolution of what you buy) to make them look completely right.

Yeah, I was hoping for a "21-23" monitor that wasn't widescreen but that may not be an option anymore. Oh well, as long as the letterboxing doesn't damage the screen, I can live with that.

Also after your 22" NEC, an even bigger LCD will be bliss to your back.

Heh, well I wasn't planning on going larger than a 23" just to keep costs down and to make the games look as non-stretched out as possible, unless it doesn't really matter because of the letterboxing, in which case I guess I could consider it, depending on cost and reliability.

There's another important thing to consider that wasn't there before, and that is native resolution: CRTs were very noble and looked great whether you were at 300x200, 640x480 or 1280x1024 (if your monitor supported it, I'm pretty sure yours did, it even went higher ); LCDs are designed to look best at certain resolutions, so, make sure you have the graphics power to support the one your chosen screen uses.

Yeah, that is one of my biggest concerns with getting an LED monitor. Just to be sure, by graphics power, are you referring to my computer and/or graphics card or the monitor? If it's the former, I upgraded my computer about a year ago to a i3 540 processor with a ATI Radeon HD 5450 which has served me well so far for the most part.

The only time I've had trouble with resolution on this computer was trying to get AGS games to run at 320x200 that didn't have a graphics filter option in the setup, but since almost all AGS games can be run in 640x480 mode, it's rarely an issue. I don't know if DosBox games automatically upgrade a VGA game to 640x480 as I haven't had any problems with running EGA/VGA games on that either.

Anyway, thanks again for your help so far and any addition help is very much appriciated.

Sincerely,

Megane

I haven't had any problems playing games or movies Twisted Nematic or no, I play old games like DOTT and Sierra adventures and new games, yes including Starcraft 2, some Telltale games stuff and haven't really had any problems.

I letterbox or pillarbox anything that's not widescreen natively (or has some hack to do so without stretching polygons and such) and haven't had any problems so far.
DosBox will display your games at whatever res. You desire, it will scale them and such among other neat tricks DosBox does.
By graphics power I meant the graphics card for the most part, but that's a concern for new games mostly, they will look better at your screen's native resolution (or an exact division of it, yet it's not ideal) so, if you're planning on running...say...Crysis or GTA IV (both notorious for IMHO being poorly optimized) at 1920x1080 you'll need quite a powerful video card (with a decent amount of vram too...if you want to crank textures and shaders).
If you plan on running only old games and your desktop that's not much of a problem.