Comment by foobarrio

8 years ago

IMHO The weird 16:9 aspect ratio really screwed us for usability. A 19" 4:3 monitor has the same height as a 23" 16:9 monitor. However I remember 1280x1024 being commonly available on games and on Windows by the time Windows 98 came out and earlier in games.

My brother had a 486 that I think I could run the game Mechwarrior 2 by Sierra at 1280x1024. The refresh rate went down to 60hz but it was doable and we didn't have a top of the line system even at the time (mid-late 90's). Here's a 1024x768 screenshot:

https://r.mprd.se/media/images/94067-Mech_Warrior_2_Mercenar...

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foobarrio

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tjoff  8 years ago

The 1280x1024 resolution is weird though, it isn't 4:3. So everyone running it on CRTs got a stretched image. That resolution was for 17" and 19" LCDs which actually had that 5:4 aspect ratio.

But yes, 16:9 is a total abomination and it is a shame that 4:3 is completely dead. They make excellent secondary displays (and good primary displays as well).