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What was the largest 4:3 monitor, period?

hunterjwizzard

hunterjwizzard

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Forget LCD vs. cRT, what was the single largest full resolution 4:3 screen ever made? Specifically thinking in terms of 1024x768 resolutions and not just really big TVs(of which there were a few).
 
It was hard to beat 21" of monitor grade CRT. I have multiple that top out at 1600 x 1200 but there were similar sized tubes in monochrome that could do considerably higher resolutions because the aperture grille/shadow mask couldn't get fine enough.
 
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I'd think there might have been something in the "business projector" space-- early enough that 4:3 would be more important than 16:9, and expensive enough to cast a big image.
 
Hak Foo said:
I'd think there might have been something in the "business projector" space-- early enough that 4:3 would be more important than 16:9, and expensive enough to cast a big image.
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Projectors were always traditionally lower resolutions. 640x480, 800x600 and the much more expensive models were 1024x768.
The target market for those were people who wanted to do Powerpoint Presentations. Things you don't normally need a lot of pixels. ;)
 
hunterjwizzard said:
Forget LCD vs. cRT, what was the single largest full resolution 4:3 screen ever made? Specifically thinking in terms of 1024x768 resolutions and not just really big TVs(of which there were a few).I sec
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hunterjwizzard said:
Forget LCD vs. cRT, what was the single largest full resolution 4:3 screen ever made? Specifically thinking in terms of 1024x768 resolutions and not just really big TVs(of which there were a few).
Click to expand...
I serviced Tektronix 21" color monitors back in the 80' while with the feds. They were used on some of out digitizing tables for map making. Required routine P/S and deflection circuit attention.
 
The bigger the tube the higher the voltage and the more complicated the scanning. A 36" Sony TV was a thing but that was because it was still a 640x480 resolution.
A theoretical 36" computer monitor at any resolution above that is going to absolutely fight to get all those lines drawn, then return to the top of the screen in time to receive the next frame/field. You could interlace the refresh but nobody will buy your product.
 
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Do progressive scan TVs count? They made those in 4:3, and pretty large as NeXT says. Not sure if any of the 4:3 models were capable of more than 480p though.

The 16:9 CRT TVs were typically capable of 720p and came in varieties of 36", maybe 40"?
 
NeXT said:
The bigger the tube the higher the voltage and the more complicated the scanning. A 36" Sony TV was a thing but that was because it was still a 640x480 resolution.
A theoretical 36" computer monitor at any resolution above that is going to absolutely fight to get all those lines drawn, then return to the top of the screen in time to receive the next frame/field. You could interlace the refresh but nobody will buy your product.
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Just a note: Back in the 90's the last CRT tv that I had was a 35" Philips rectangular tube consolette. The thing was very heavy to move but had a gorgeous picture and audio.

Also, 30" plus b/w tv's were available in the 50's but were pricey. My Mother's sister had one but she could just about afford anything.
 
I know there existed a 1920x1920 screen at one point that was pretty book, but thats 1:1 :P

There also exists a 16:18 monitor now that is effectively 2 screens bolted together.

Also 40" tub TVs DID exist in the late 90s, they were the top of the line(considered better than projection TVs), but quite fragile.


I now wonder - if I could get my hands on one of those big-screen projection TVs from the late 90s/early 2000s - and replace the original projector with a nice modern one... really wishing I'd dragged that one from the dumpster home now.
 
How precise do you need to be for 4:3? Does pixel aspect ratio matter?

Visit Wikipedia's List of largest video screens and inspect all of the options. Amidst the jumbotrons and their kin you will find all sorts of unusual shapes and resolutions. For example, the Prismview display at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah (entry #57) is 1,858 by 1,402 pixels, and 1,858/1,402 = 1.325... which is not far off from 1024/768 = 4/3 = 1.333... Unfortunately, the pixels must not be very square, since the physical dimensions of the screen are 37m by 20m, a ratio of 1.85. Sounds like they're pretty wide!

Still, there may be something in there that meets your needs, and if there is, it's probably a lot bigger than anything we're talking about here.

But you may be able to go even bigger if you consider projected images --- people project videos onto e.g. the cliffs of Dover from time to time using some very bright custom projection equipment.

PS: You may argue that these displays aren't monitors per se --- but I'll bet you that several of them have displayed giant BSODs at one point or another :)
 
stepleton said:
PS: You may argue that these displays aren't monitors per se --- but I'll bet you that several of them have displayed giant BSODs at one point or another :)
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Oh I wouldn't argue that, those are absolutely still "monitors" lol.

Mostly I started this thread because every time I start a weird thread on here I get some good conversation and learn some things I didn't know. But also I've been curious what else is out there.

If a magical wish-granting entity were to appear before me tomorrow and tell me I could have any sort of monitor setup I liked, I would ask for my current 16:9 4K screen in the center, then flanked on either side by 2560x1920 screens(4:3 with the same vertical resolution as the middle) of whatever size was needed to make them the same as the 4k screen. I've always wondered how close to physically possible this is.

I'd also really like to play my vintage games on a bigger monitor. Maybe this winter I'll build a setup in the garage with a projector.
 
NeXT said:
Projectors were always traditionally lower resolutions. 640x480, 800x600 and the much more expensive models were 1024x768.
The target market for those were people who wanted to do Powerpoint Presentations. Things you don't normally need a lot of pixels. ;)
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I used to work in VR about 20 years ago. We had 10' rear projection screens that were fed with Christie Mirage projectors at 1280x1024. IIRC they cost $50K each.
 
I wish I could remember who it was but it was a NuBus video card for mac. When me and a fried found it we were baffled by how much memory it had (it might of been a RasterOps) and sure thousands of colors at 1024x768 but it had a greyscale mode resolution that was in equivalence to a 2K resolution which even for the 90's was insane..
 
At $dayjob we had a 1280x1024 Dell projector that would throw a 10-foot diagonal at 4:3.

Barco made some really massive units, with outdoor capable units that could throw much larger than 10-foot diagonals.

But the largest 4:3 CRT I personally saw was a 38 inch. The biggest that I personally used was a 21-inch Sun 'Purple People Eater' GDM-5410.
 
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