TR Forums

If any of you recall from this thread here viewtopic.php?f=29&t=56391&st=0&sk=t&sd=a I am trying to go with a retro build here. My next step in the process is going for a monitor. Preferably, I'd love to go with the genuine old school feel with a monitor that has a resolution of 800x600. I've run dosbox on the computers back home with a 1600x1200 LCD and the it just seems too blurry for my tastes. So I'm trying to avoid having to use them large monitors to run games that were meant to be run at smaller resolutions.

So my question is, is it possible at all to find monitors with low resolutions? Will I ever find a 800x600 LCD? Should I just look for CRTs? Any suggestions?

1024x768 15" LCD looks like the smallest you can buy new. Anything smaller than that and you are probably going to have to mod a laptop screen.
(Ex: http://cgi.ebay.com/NEC-800x600-TFT-Col ... dZViewItem)

What about more "Industrial" displays. Anything that is used on a plant floor or something like that might be a bit smaller and have the lower resolutions you are looking for. I'll use my google foo to find what it is I'm talking about and post back in a little bit.

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

1024x768 15" LCD looks like the smallest you can buy new. Anything smaller than that and you are probably going to have to mod a laptop screen.
(Ex: http://cgi.ebay.com/NEC-800x600-TFT-Col ... dZViewItem)

No modding for me. That looks excessively complicated.

Also try looking around for some sort of car-puter screen.

I might be able to hook you up with a genuine Sony Trinitron CPD-1304HG. That's 13" of high-quality CRT, and it was still working when it went back into my parents' attic a year ago.

This doesn't look retro at all, but it retracts into a 5¼ drive bay:
http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Acce ... 413-03.asp

JustAnEngineer wrote:

I might be able to hook you up with a genuine Sony Trinitron CPD-1304HG. That's 13" of high-quality CRT, and it was still working when it went back into my parents' attic a year ago.

This doesn't look retro at all, but it retracts into a 5¼ drive bay:
http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Acce ... 413-03.asp

Only if you are willing to part with the CRT. If it has nostalgic/sentimental value I can more than respect that.

That bay monitor thing also kind of creeps me out.

Hey, look what just popped up on the front page:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/15568

JustAnEngineer wrote:

Hey, look what just popped up on the front page:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/15568

I saw that and thought of this thread. Thoughts? On my part, I think they should have made a 5.25" one, it would be a useful (fun?) Vista SideShow screen. That is assuming SideShow is actually useful, I've only read about it in passing.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

Hey, look what just popped up on the front page:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/15568

Indeed. However that price tag is far too steep. That and it is the first step in making transformers become a reality and I don't know if I want a part of that...

On a more serious note. Did LCD's ever have a native resolution of 800x600 or was the smallest always 1024x768?

SecretMaster wrote:

On a more serious note. Did LCD's ever have a native resolution of 800x600 or was the smallest always 1024x768?

I guess you're asking as desktop displays? Because there have been many old laptops with 800x600 and some of the photo-frames out now use 800x600 panels.

Bigbloke wrote:

SecretMaster wrote:

On a more serious note. Did LCD's ever have a native resolution of 800x600 or was the smallest always 1024x768?

I guess you're asking as desktop displays? Because there have been many old laptops with 800x600 and some of the photo-frames out now use 800x600 panels.

Yeah desktop displays. I could have sworn old Dell monitors had 800x600, but maybe I'm wrong.

SecretMaster wrote:

Yeah desktop displays. I could have sworn old Dell monitors had 800x600, but maybe I'm wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_monitors
They don't list anything smaller than a 14" 1024x768.

There are 7" 800x480 displays...