On PC games I'll mostly be using 1024:768 I guess, also I plan to play some SNES/N64 games on it.

I'd prefer something new, i.e. something that's still in production, as lifespan is limited when it comes to screens in my experience. But used would be an option as well if there's an outstanding piece.

It's been a long time since I had a 4:3 screen, but I obviously miss them. I'm guessing for you neither black bars nor stretching are ok? If small black bars are ok, I'd recommend a 1280x1024 screen as you can fit 1280x960 on it with very small black bars at the top and bottom. 1280x960 is also nice because it's exactly double 640x480.

do they still make them?

I think both a stretched picture as well as black edges on top or bottom are suboptimal for immersion, which is why I play games, so. I'll only be playing games from around the '00 era in the near future so it makes sense to get a separate screen.

Not sure...

EDIT: 5:4 monitors (i.e. 1280x1024) seem available but not 4:3.

I just found an interesting offer on Amazon:

Acer V196Lbmd 48,2 cm (19") (VGA, DVI, 5ms)
1280 x 1024 pixel/image
frame rate: 75 Hz
Brightness: 250 cd/m2
Contrast – Dynamic: 100 m: 1

€ 150

Let's see, I might just get that one.

Do old games actually look noticeably better on IPS screens?

I haven't looked for any, but I bet they are still out there - if only for industrial / medical purposes requiring a specific size screen to fit into a particular place.

You can find 1600×1200 screens made today, but they are so expensive that at first I thought it was some bad joke…

Most of them are touchscreens.


Still haven't decided on what I'll get. Was looking at a BenQ, but looks like there's an annoying power LED right at the bottom mid, which is a dealbreaker for me (BL912, apparently an Amiga-fan favorite).

Another one: HannsG HX194DPB, nice price, but can't find much information on it.

As long as you're ok with small black bars or a bit of stretching.

Yea seems like one has to get an expensive touchscreen or used unit otherwise, which is a shame in my opinion.

Here there are lots and lots of dirt cheap used ones in select 2nd hand shops and there tend to be several in the places where you leave electronic waste. I am sure many of those still work.

CRT's "pixel" is not always square, while 5:4 LCD's pixels are almost always true square.

But that is not a 4:3 screen, is it? That is the so called SXGA resolution with the aspect ratio of 5:4.

With it your older games are either stretched horizontally, or you have black bars on the top and bottom. Isn't that immersion breaking then?

As it happens, I am writing this message on my old Linux desktop which is connected to an old IBM ThinkVision flatscreen monitor, which is using that 1280x1024 resolution (5:4 aspect ratio). Beside it is a slightly bigger 4:3 flatscreen monitor (some Dell monitor, I recall it can do up to 1600x1200), and in the basement I have a true 4:3 tube monitor (I think it displays up to 1024x768).