Help me choose a monitor

Discussion about displays and related hardware including MiSTer filters and video settings.
Insert Disk Two
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Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by Insert Disk Two »

I want to buy a 24" 1080p monitor to use specifically with PAL cores - Commodore 64, and Amiga. I need to make sure that it supports 50hz without any resampling to ensure smooth scrolling. Can someone suggest any latest models I can buy (so available from places like Amazon) and are compatible?

  • Ideally IPS
  • Very low lag/retention
  • Freesync support
  • Smooth scrolling at 50hz
  • Strong brightness (the higher the nits, the better)

Thanks!

PS. I know I can get 27" monitors but for this particular case I prefer a smaller monitor

Insert Disk Two
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Re: Help me choose a monitor

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rhester72
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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by rhester72 »

At the prompting of another user here, I got this:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-23-8- ... Id=6555709

and literally could not be happier.

Noteworthy features:

  • There's NO frequency it hasn't synced to perfectly, including weird 55 and 57Hz arcade ones
  • PAL is perfect and entirely automatic
  • TATE in both directions!
  • Can display the live frequency on OSD independent of MiSTer
  • FreeSync Plus (which in my experience works poorly with MiSTer and has a case of the 'shakes') and HDR (which looks WONDERFUL on MiSTer) support
  • Two inputs
  • External speaker support
  • Ultra low-latency gaming setting

It's a gaming monitor, it's inexpensive, and it's almost perfect for use with MiSTer.

There's only two real drawbacks in my usage:

  • The stand is a bit wobbly, mostly due to how the stem connects to the baseplate...if you game hard and try to (for example) use an arcade controller on the same table the display is sitting on, that won't be a pleasant experience, but you can absolutely mount on a better (rotating) VESA mount if desired, and
  • Input switching (if that's something you do frequently, I do because it's also my primary desktop monitor) is more complicated/requires more clicks than it really needed to be, so there are some questionable UI choices with monitor control itself

That being said, I'd buy it again in a heartbeat with zero reservation. Chances are it's in a Best Buy not far from you!

Insert Disk Two
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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by Insert Disk Two »

Hmm I am not in the US. What is the model number for it please?

mikeboss
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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by mikeboss »

after reading this thread viewtopic.php?t=2113 I bought the ASUS ProArt PA248QV. no regrets.

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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by rhester72 »

Insert Disk Two wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2024 6:48 am

Hmm I am not in the US. What is the model number for it please?

XF243Y M3bmiiprx

Insert Disk Two
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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by Insert Disk Two »

mikeboss wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2024 11:14 am

after reading this thread viewtopic.php?t=2113 I bought the ASUS ProArt PA248QV. no regrets.

I am getting that one too :D

Do you use it for PAL machines too? C64? Amiga?

PikWik
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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by PikWik »

i do want to note, that thread discussion was still in the early days of scanlines and shadow masks. a 16:10 monitor is no longer needed for correct looking scanlines when not using integer scaling (ie. scale to top/bottom of screen, regardless of integer)

also noteworthy, that monitor has a little bit more response time than what modern gaming monitors have, which makes sense, the ProArt is not a gaming monitor and was created more for graphic design.

https://www.techreviewer.com/tech-specs ... or-gaming/

i will repost this here from that same thread above, because i think these specs do matter -

Asus ProArt PA248QV
https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/ ... ay-pa278qv ")
Resolution - 1920×1200 (16:10)
Refresh Rates Supported - 48hz-75hz
VRR - Adaptive Sync (FreeSync compatible)
Rotation - Yes, both 90 & -90 (VESA compatible)

Color - Adobe RGB 74.5 % (sRGB 95.8 %)
Color Depth - 8 Bit
Input Lag @ 60Hz - 9 ms
Response Time @ 60Hz - 12.4 ms

Release Date - May 15, 2020
Average Price - $210 USD


Acer Nitro XF243Y Pbmiiprx
https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/ ... y-pbmiiprx
Resolution - 1920×1080 (16:9)
Refresh Rates Supported - 20hz-144hz (165hz in extreme mode)
VRR - FreeSync
Rotation - Yes, both 90 & -90 (VESA compatible)

Color - Adobe RGB 76.0 % (sRGB 99.4 %)
Color Depth - 10 Bit
Input Lag @ 60Hz - 9.3 ms
Response Time @ 60Hz - 9.3 ms

Release Date - October 14, 2020
Average Price - $200 USD

biggest differences would be color depth, 8bit vs 10bit, and the response time. the ProArt has a slightly laggier response time compared to the Nitro. as the techreviewer article points out above, there is some slight ghosting with the Asus ProArt. if youre fine with that, then disregard

rhester72
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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by rhester72 »

It may be a case of seeing what I want to see, but the 10-bit capability of the Nitro seems to make an observable difference, at least with hdr=2 (a value of 1 has no effect). From a sheer relative brightness and color saturation level, it's as close as I've ever seen to CRT-like images.

thorr
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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by thorr »

I am only joking, but get a PAL CRT. ;-)

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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by Syntax Error »

I take no responsibility for anything i say or do, induced by circumstance, humans, dogs or otherwise infected triffids , but

depending on your budget and quality of eyesight i bet an original curved crt will always be your best frend but

if you're a poor bum on a small wallet like this one i got

https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1713976 ... zwart.htmll ( https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1713976 ... zwart.html )

Dell SE2722H - Full HD VA Monitor - AMD FreeSync - Antiglans b/c i recently acquired a real Atari STE again ... mostly in it for the computer cores i barely ever play the arcade cores, but it happens so at €99 (at time of buying cheapest option) compared to 300-400 for a 14 inch original recapped Atari (or a 12 inch in a lot of cases) .. this has hdmi and vga direct inputs and can do 15khz and other rates as well as full hd ("1080p") you could use both outputs on the mister. I havent tested all cores but for instance on an Atari ST or C64 i get total deepspace black using the direct vga and not a glitch or water ripple in sight (on the real Atari using a din2vga converter i get some "water ripples") but since you're talking mister i guess thats not an issue. Its a flat lcd tho but the vga direct is real, i saw b/c for instance the Alice MC-10 wont work it gives some kind of "cant do this sync error" but otherwise NES , amiga, megadrive, c64 , Atari ST ... apple II and some others i tested all give perfect crisp image.

Personally given my budget i cant do better than this , 27 inch too and brand new

and available :) the website linked , well its called "pricewatch" so thats what it does, its dutch but im sure they send to the states or uk, ofcourse if sent out of europe you'll probably have reverse santa-tax like overhere you get if buying from the us or uk (2 years ago i bought 3 atari 2600 style joysticks from Canada , 9pin at €12 (for 3) , by the time it was at my door it was like €79)

I get my stuff from all over europe and even some from the UK but on ebay it seems santa tax is included in the price, and wether i get something from finland, germany, poland or luxembourg (...psu s kungfu carts ST2FM, sidecartridge ... the Mister i have comes from spain, it was a prefab all-stack system which was sold as "an A1200" and came with a card with workbench license and whatnot)

okay but to the topic, not sure if its what you're looking for and the price went up a little but its probably worth checking out , you wont have to worry about older parts or capacitors needing replacing and it probably wont start smoking when you're out for five to get some crisps or pizza lol

my 2 (... more like 22 i guess) cents , maybe its of use

:geek:

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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by lagerfeldt »

I bought quite a few monitors and tested, you might want to read this:
https://misterreplay.com/mister-fpga-gu ... #chapter10

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akeley
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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by akeley »

PikWik wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2024 6:27 pm

also noteworthy, that monitor has a little bit more response time than what modern gaming monitors have, which makes sense, the ProArt is not a gaming monitor and was created more for graphic design.

https://www.techreviewer.com/tech-specs ... or-gaming/
[...]
biggest differences would be color depth, 8bit vs 10bit, and the response time. the ProArt has a slightly laggier response time compared to the Nitro. as the techreviewer article points out above, there is some slight ghosting with the Asus ProArt. if youre fine with that, then disregard

I have the 27" version of this monitor an this is pretty much true. Lag is one thing, but the motion blur/ghosting is really worse when compared to my OLED TV and Acer Predator gaming monitor. I haven't used it with MiSTer, but played some modern games on it and I suppose it'd be similar experience.

So, if you don't want to follow thorr's advice above ;) I'm pretty sure there are some better modern panel options out there.

CRT SCR$ Project - building a collection of high-quality photos of CRT displays
CRT ART Books - retro-gaming books with authentic CRT photos

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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by mikeboss »

Insert Disk Two wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2024 6:09 pm
mikeboss wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2024 11:14 am

after reading this thread viewtopic.php?t=2113 I bought the ASUS ProArt PA248QV. no regrets.

I am getting that one too :D

Do you use it for PAL machines too? C64? Amiga?

amiga/minimig in PAL mode is what I mostly use. the ASUS ProArt syncs to any odd frequency (AMIGA PAL 49.92 Hz / ATARI ST 7X.xx Hz / arcade cores with XX.xx Hz). I specifically chose the ASUS ProArt because of 16:10 DAR (1920x1200) and the VRR capability.

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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by lagerfeldt »

Yup, ditto here.

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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by rhester72 »

mikeboss wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2024 8:00 am

amiga/minimig in PAL mode is what I mostly use. the ASUS ProArt syncs to any odd frequency (AMIGA PAL 49.92 Hz / ATARI ST 7X.xx Hz / arcade cores with XX.xx Hz). I specifically chose the ASUS ProArt because of 16:10 DAR (1920x1200) and the VRR capability.

Is the VRR stable? That's one area I've found the Nitro line to fall short.

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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by mikeboss »

rhester72 wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2024 12:25 pm
mikeboss wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2024 8:00 am

amiga/minimig in PAL mode is what I mostly use. the ASUS ProArt syncs to any odd frequency (AMIGA PAL 49.92 Hz / ATARI ST 7X.xx Hz / arcade cores with XX.xx Hz). I specifically chose the ASUS ProArt because of 16:10 DAR (1920x1200) and the VRR capability.

Is the VRR stable? That's one area I've found the Nitro line to fall short.

yes, it works fine for me. as I said: no complaints.

rhester72
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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by rhester72 »

mikeboss wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2024 4:26 pm

yes, it works fine for me. as I said: no complaints.

Might I ask what specific VRR settings you have in MiSTer.ini and what monitor settings you changed from defaults?

I was actually quite surprised by the jitter on it because that's kind of the whole point of the Nitro line.

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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by Lightwave »

PikWik wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2024 6:27 pm

a 16:10 monitor is no longer needed for correct looking scanlines when not using integer scaling (ie. scale to top/bottom of screen, regardless of integer)

The 16:10 aspect ratio still has the benefit of being closer to 4:3, so there is less wasted space (visible black from pillarboxing) on the sides with 4:3 content and the display is physically taller at the same screen size (say 24") vs 16:9

Also if your monitor is serving double duty (i.e. PC and MiSTer) you'll likely find the extra vertical space beneficial. I've been using 16:10 monitors exclusively since I switched from CRT in 2006 and it bothers me when I have to temporarily use someone else's 16:9 monitor for development or design.

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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by Insert Disk Two »

How is the input lag on the Pro Art?

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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by Lightwave »

Insert Disk Two wrote: Sat Sep 21, 2024 6:00 pm

How is the input lag on the Pro Art?

Input Lag:

7.0 ms Native Resolution @ Max Hz
8.6 ms Native Resolution @ 60Hz

The ASUS PA278QV has exceptionally low input lag. It's a little higher if you run at 60Hz or with the backlight-strobing feature enabled, but it shouldn't be noticeable to most people.

From here:
https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/ ... ay-pa278qv

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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by Insert Disk Two »

That's not the ASUS ProArt PA248QV though :/

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Re: Help me choose a monitor

Unread post by lagerfeldt »

Insert Disk Two wrote: Sat Sep 21, 2024 6:00 pm

How is the input lag on the Pro Art?

Completely negligible.

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Re: Help me choose a monitor,

Unread post by Lightwave »

Insert Disk Two wrote: Sat Sep 28, 2024 9:12 am

That's not the ASUS ProArt PA248QV though :/

Oops sorry, I missed that somehow but I do have the PA248QV myself.

I measured latency at native resolution with the Time Sleuth a few years ago to confirm, I can’t recall the exact number but it was indeed very low.

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