CRT replacement -- please recommend me a monitor!

[ibd]

Hi all,

I recently got more into several connected "retro" hobbies: Retro gaming via emulation, CRT monitors (including maintenance, calibration, and repair), and CRT shader development.

I am looking for a new monitor that can combine some of the benefits of CRT monitors with more modern technology.
Please recommend me a monitor with the following features:
- Can strobe for blur reduction. I would like low crosstalk.
- Can strobe at 60 Hz or even 50 Hz for emulation purposes.
- Has a high resolution, ideally 4k or higher, for shaders and photo editing. Simulating things like shadow masks requires incredibly high resolutions to look good.
- Has a bright display, ideally HDR. This is useful for example for black frame insertion, if done in software, to retain a reasonable overall brightness.
- Has accurate colors after calibration. This is for photo editing. I have a colorimeter and will calibrate the display, so I don't need perfect colors out-of-the box. But the gamut has to be reasonable.
- Is flat. I dislike inwards curved monitors. I'm fine with with a slight outwards curve as you have on most CRTs, but that's irrelevant here.

I am absolutely fine to do hacks or even DIY modifications.

The "blur busters approved" monitors on this page: https://blurbusters.com/faq/120hz-monitors/ have too low of a resolution for me. Resolution seems to be an issue in general. That article was published 5 years ago. Have there been "good", according to my list above, monitors released since then? I'm looking forward to your recommendations & discussions.

-- ibd

[Falkentyne]

No single strobe monitor has 4k resolution. It doesn't exist.
You would have to go with a strobing TV for that (like some of those LG models) and I know absolutely nothing about that.
The only monitors that do 60hz single strobe are the ORIGINAL Benq Z series (Probably best among them is the XL2720Z), and the Viewsonic XG2431, which can SS 60hz also, but these are 1080p monitors.

The XL2720Z can single strobe at 50hz but it's bugged, because if you try to do it directly at 50hz, it won't strobe, the backlight gain increases by 1.8x and the monitor will trigger overcurrent protection and power cycle if the persistence (Strobe duty) is too high. You have to use a custom vertical total to make the monitor think it's running a 60hz resolution, then it works but is rather buggy (Strobe duty/phase don't behave as expected). And the flicker is far worse than you've ever seen a 50hz PAL TV run at.

As far as the XG2431,
You can create custom resolutions with toastyX CRU, but you would have to test yourself if 3840x2160 will work interpolated at 60hz on that monitor.

[Crazyness]

if acer 1080p 390hz can single strobe,than 4k monitor single strobe already exist.

flat..
HDR400
can strobe..

[ibd]

@Falkentyne
Thank you. What are the other options besides a "single" strobe?
Let's drop the 50 Hz requirement.
Could something like a 120 Hz strobe + BFI work to achieve a passable 60 Hz display?
Would there be other 4k monitors that are suitable that don't strobe?

@Crazyness
Sorry, I don't follow. Can you elaborate, please?

[RealNC]

No single strobe monitor has 4k resolution. It doesn't exist.
You would have to go with a strobing TV for that (like some of those LG models) and I know absolutely nothing about that.
The only monitors that do 60hz single strobe are the ORIGINAL Benq Z series (Probably best among them is the XL2720Z), and the Viewsonic XG2431, which can SS 60hz also, but these are 1080p monitors.

Well, there's probably more. My ViewSonic XG2703-GS (1440p) can single strobe down to about 50Hz when using a custom mode with CRU. But it's not something people test for so unfortunately there's no list of monitors that can be forced into single strobe mode.

[ibd]

Regarding the 120 Hz strobe + BFI for every other frame = 60 Hz, I found this source: https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/inde ... _insertion
, which says that it is possible. Still, I wonder if the overall picture quality would be ruined by the black content but strobed image, or not.

Is this related to what is meant by "single" strobe -- strobing once per new frame vs. strobing multiple times per new frame?

I also found this monitor: https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/gigabyte/m32u
Which seems to have some excellent features:
"The Gigabyte M32U has an optional backlight strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion (BFI), to help reduce blur. Unlike most monitors, the M32U supports BFI even with the variable refresh rate (VRR) feature. With VRR disabled, BFI is only available at 120Hz or 144Hz."

Edit: Thanks to mods approving my early posts. I've done more research since I wrote the post above

I've found this post by the man himself: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7694&start=10#p59387
Still, I have yet to find any actual photos of someone using hardware strobes 120 Hz + software BFI, for example via RetroArch.
Does anyone have any links to find photos of this setup?

I have also come across several well-written and extremely detailed feature requests in RetroArch to add (even) better BFI, so there definitely seems to be a use case for this.

[Crazyness]

@Falkentyne
Thank you. What are the other options besides a "single" strobe?
Let's drop the 50 Hz requirement.
Could something like a 120 Hz strobe + BFI work to achieve a passable 60 Hz display?
Would there be other 4k monitors that are suitable that don't strobe?

@Crazyness
Sorry, I don't follow. Can you elaborate, please?

I completely misunderstand the question
at that time i was posting in some other thread..
so i just by default answered ..
well..happens i guess.

I understand it in a way that 120hz strobing is desired not 60..
and that you dont care about native 1080p and lower ppi using scaling,
to make it 4k.

@Falkentyne
i responded after you in a way that i am all mighty
sorry about that, stay safe.

[ibd]

I've come across the Eve Spectrum, now Dough Spectrum, 4k 144 Hz monitor: https://dough.community/t/eve-4k144-spe ... tion/29258

Beyond the basic support for arbitrary refresh rates of strobing (https://dough.community/t/blur-buster-e ... tion/29085), it seems supremely "hackable" and can achieve very good 60 Hz strobing using custom timings: https://dough.community/t/blur-buster-e ... n/29085/35

HOWEVER, there's a couple of points that stop me from immediately ordering this monitor:
- The price seems to have increased to ridiculous levels. More than 1000 Euro to order one now including the stand. The early price seemed almost half of that!
- Many reports of buggy firmware and poor customer service on the forums. Also, features which are promised for a long time did not appear (e.g., VRR + strobing). To be fair, it's apparently not usual in this market to have a strong firmware update program anyway, but still...
- Seemingly bad reputation with delayed shipments, name change, no refunds paid out, etc. do not build trust. Many stories on their forums and on the internet (e.g., https://twitter.com/rtingsdotcom/status ... 3452298257).