Best monitor resolution?

[Fuzzball]

My current 4k monitor is close to packing in and I am looking to replace it. However, I have always regretted buying a 4k monitor and actually want to go to something lower. I am also now looking to go from a 27" to probably a 24" as the 27" is a bit big for the desk it is now on.

Looking at 24 inch monitors (IPS LCD monitors that is), I have 3 main resolution options - 1920x1080, 1920x1200 or 2560x1440. As Mister FPGA will one of the main devices connected to it, which is the best resolution for the Mister FPGA?

[lagerfeldt]

1920 x 1200 works very nicely. It's 16:10 format which suits the usual source material in 4:3.

Usually you can get 5x integer vertical scaling, and nice looking video processing with evenly spaced scanlines.

You'll also generally use more of the screen than 1920 x 1080 (16:9), so smaller black bars.

24" is a nice size for gaming at medium to close range. 27" would make me dizzy, I use that in my iMac 5K for other stuff.

Perhaps take a look at 24" 1200p monitors here: viewtopic.php?t=6969

[FoxbatStargazer]

I agree with 1920x1200 being very nice, assuming the other monitor qualities are equal. At 1080p you have to rely on cropping to hit 5x. For 1440p you are practically limited to 1920x1440 so its going to be a lot of black space, even though it would be a bit sharper.

With freesync support on mister now I would also keep an eye for that, with a range at least 48-75hz or so. That will let you experience a lot of cores at weird refresh rates optimally (PAL stuff, arcades, wonderswan)

[Fuzzball]

Thanks for both replies.

I agree with 1920x1200 being very nice, assuming the other monitor qualities are equal. At 1080p you have to rely on cropping to hit 5x. For 1440p you are practically limited to 1920x1440 so its going to be a lot of black space, even though it would be a bit sharper.

With freesync support on mister now I would also keep an eye for that, with a range at least 48-75hz or so. That will let you experience a lot of cores at weird refresh rates optimally (PAL stuff, arcades, wonderswan)

I think I am leaning towards a 1440p monitor although I fully accept what you are both saying about 1920x1200 monitors. If the only disadvantage of 1440p is slightly wider black bars at the side, I think I can live with that. (I assume both resolutions will fill the full screen vertically). If there are other disadvantages though then that would change. I can't find many 1920x1200 monitors with 48-75hz VRR range. There is one Iiyama monitor but it only does it over DisplayPort not HDMI. There is one Samsung that may do it over HDMI but I am not 100% sure. However, there are plenty of 1440p monitors that do it but they tend to start at 27" and I was hoping to downsize a little bit. I also think 1440p monitors give the option of better response times too. I am not really sure how important that is though.

Mainly just thinking 1440p as there are more options to choose from.

[lagerfeldt]

I assume both resolutions will fill the full screen vertically

How much of the vertical resolution a core will use depends on its resolution. While many arcade cores are theoretically 240p they don't necessarily use all of that.

So it won't necessarily fill vertically unless you compromise on integer scaling or there's a meaningful crop solution, as mentioned by FoxbatStargazer.

And it won't be the same, no. 1200p allows for 5x scaling while 1080p will be 4x or needs a dynamic crop feature to reach 5x (AmigaVision is a good example of that).

Even with today's decent buit-in scalers, integer scaling looks better. Add scanlines and shadow masks and it becomes even more important with integer scaling.

Perhaps I wouldn't mind non-integer scaling so much on my LG C-series OLED in my living room, but then I think that's better reserved for modern gaming like my PS5, and I prefer the 24" 1200p for MiSTer.

I can't find many 1920x1200 monitors with 48-75hz VRR range.

See the link I posted further up.

There is one Iiyama monitor but it only does it over DisplayPort not HDMI.

Depending on the type of VRR type or monitor, it's often via DisplayPort, so you get a HDMI > DisplayPort converter or cable.

See the article I linked to earlier.

With freesync support on mister now I would also keep an eye for that, with a range at least 48-75hz or so. That will let you experience a lot of cores at weird refresh rates optimally (PAL stuff, arcades, wonderswan)

Are you experiencing problems with PAL or odd refresh rate cores?

I don't use VRR and I have no problem with PAL or NTSC cores or settings, or any odd refresh rate. So I can experience all of those cores just fine without VRR active.

VRR seemed to make no difference in my tests (in the link mentioned earlier) so I skip it to avoid any additional lag as well.

Wonderswan at 75.4 Hz will default to the 60 Hz compatibility mode even with a 75 Hz screen (in my tests) since it's too high, VRR didn't make any impact on that either in my test.

[Longtime4321]

Why do you want to get rid of your 4k monitor?
4K (2160p) is a 3x integer upscale of 720p, which is 3x 240p. It's basically perfect for MiSTer.
If you're getting degraded preformance on your pc, lower the resolution to 1080p.

[Fuzzball]

Why do you want to get rid of your 4k monitor?
4K (2160p) is a 3x integer upscale of 720p, which is 3x 240p. It's basically perfect for MiSTer.
If you're getting degraded preformance on your pc, lower the resolution to 1080p.

I'm getting rid of it because it is broken. The screen has gone in all 4 corners. I'm not going to get it repaired as I have always regretted buying a 4k monitor. I use it for work and find I never end up using the native resolution of the monitor anyway as I find everything too small for my ageing eyes. But using it at 1080p I then find the opposite issue - i.e. everything looks too big. I know Windows has UI scaling in the display settings which works okay but I also use Linux and find the same settings to be problematic.

If 2160p is perfect for Mister because it is exactly 3x 720p (i.e. 9x 240p) then surely 1440p is almost as good being exactly 2x 720p and therefore exactly 6x 240p?

Anyway, I have now ordered a 1440p monitor with VRR. It might not be the monitor I would have gone for if it was just for the Mister but I am looking for something that was the "best" compromise for multiple uses. I can live with setting Mister to 1920x1440 and having black bars at the side. Or just setting it to 720p.

I've stuck with 27" which wasn't my original plan but there weren't many 1440p monitors that were smaller and I wanted a Dell monitor because I get a reasonable discount on it. 27" was their smallest 1440p.

[FoxbatStargazer]

4K is only a perfect 3X scale if you output 720p from the msiter, which does not look great if you apply shaders and shadow masks. And that's assuming your monitor has an integer scaling option, many simply don't. 1440p is about the sharpest you will ever get out of a monitor with mister and will show max detail for those scanlines/shadow masks.

If you use integer scaling the amount of black borders you will be dealing with, I doubt you will find the mister too big/zoomed in at 27". And if you end up wanting to fill instead of integer, you have the most pixels possible for mister to interpolate with.