[ale] LCD monitor question

[Ken Arromdee]

Okay, this is only vaguely related to Linux (obviously, I'm planning to run
Linux using the monitor, but that isn't really the problem), but I want to
buy a 17" LCD monitor.

The trouble is that a 17" LCD monitor typically has a screen size of
1280x1024, which is a 5:4 ratio, not a 4:3 ratio.

If I want to run in 1024x768 or some other 4:3 mode on this monitor, and scale
up, the proportions will be wrong unless the monitor is smart enough to
scale it up to fit the screen *and* put black bars on the top and bottom.

Which monitors will scale the resolution up and put in the black bars?  (I
tried Google.  This was almost never helpful; just about everyone who
mentioned that monitors can do this didn't name any.)

(Note: I'm aware that not using the native resolution on an LCD monitor might
produce a bad picture regardless of whether it's 4:3 or not.  Please, I don't
need advice on this.  Some programs, particularly older Windows and DOS games,
can't run in the native resolution.)