IBM T220/T221 LCD monitors: 4k in 2001

I still own a pair of T221s. But they're boxed up now (and have been for a long time) because they're a bit of a pain to drive. I bought them from someone in Japan I found on a mailing list (IIRC), when I made the wire transfer my bank made it seem like I was funding terrorism or something-- the negative experience was one of several that contributed to me eventually working on Bitcoin.

There was a long span when resolution was just stuck on 1080p-- hardly any more pixels than the 1600x1200 I'd been using for a decade on a CRT in in a worse aspect ratio.

Even once higher resolution monitors were a thing it took a while before the T221s had a reasonable competitor.

I first saw one of these in use for visualization at a large quarry a few years after they came out.

I also bought mine from Japan, around 2012. As nullc mentions, driving the monitor properly is a pain as you need one of a handful of graphics cards that could properly work with the dual DVI cables. I think I still have the specialized cable for the monitor, which was expensive itself.

Eventually purchased a Apple Cinema Display and sold off the T221 for more than I originally purchased it for as they are quite rare. It is an awesome piece of history but I am glad not to have it taking up space in my house.

The monitor is very heavy and built like a tank.