Can someone explain (or guide me) on Mame video emulation?

[southpaw13]

So I just got an Arkanoid machine and I noticed how smooth the ball travels.  So I booted up my Mame machine and it is not the same.  I am using an LCD monitor with an Nvida graphics card.  So the ball on my Mame machine will travel smooth for a little bit, then it looks jagged or ghosted, then looks smooth a little again and the cycle continues.  So I am assuming that this is caused from Mame trying to stretch the screen to fit my LCD resolution.  Is this correct?  Do I fix this with an ArcadeVGA graphics card?

Thanks for suggestions....
Southpaw

[BobA]

You might like to provide info on the MAME rev, computer specs, video card specs and monitor res so someone can give you a good guess.   I don't think an arcade vga card will help you since you are running on an LCD. Sounds like a case of underpowered CPU.  I just checked my mame arkanoid and it ran well on my computer.   AMD quad core, 4GB DDR2 ATI 4770 video, Windows 7 64 Bit Mame rev 0.132.

[I/O]

(A search may show the real issue is likely that) Arkanoid used a geared spinner (as does Pole Position), which makes for a more detailed tracking.

[southpaw13]

Running at 100%, no frames lost.  I am not talking about the controls but the actual ball moving on the screen.  It's jerky.  Mame version 109.

Thanks,
Southpaw

[bigster]

Might be your lcd monitors refresh rate

[orchidius]

Computer specs might be the issue, do you have any info on that?

offtopic:

AMD quad core, 4GB DDR2 ATI 4770 video, Windows 7 64 Bit Mame rev 0.132.

... Isn't that thing enormously overpowered unless you're inventing ps3-emulation? o.O That thing costs more then my entire cab will cost... ànd it's better then my current gaming rig o.O

I doubt it's the LCD refresh rate, but have you got any info on that?

[BobA]

Computer specs might be the issue, do you have any info on that?

offtopic:

AMD quad core, 4GB DDR2 ATI 4770 video, Windows 7 64 Bit Mame rev 0.132.

... Isn't that thing enormously overpowered unless you're inventing ps3-emulation? o.O That thing costs more then my entire cab will cost... ànd it's better then my current gaming rig o.O

I doubt it's the LCD refresh rate, but have you got any info on that?

There are only $400 worth of parts in my main rig so its not too hard of a hit on the wallet.   My guess is that with no frames lost something is set incorrectly in Mame or it needs an update on the video driver.

[southpaw13]

Tell me if I am wrong....
If the game is running at 100% with no frameskipping, then the computer is not the issue right?
The LCD monitor is not 'ghosting' so it can't be the monitor right?

Should I try and post a video of both to show comparisons?

Thanks...

[Haze]

for things to be perfectly smooth the monitor refresh rate must equal the game refresh rate *perfectly*

most modern monitors have a fixed native refresh rate and resolution which will not match that output by the game, this will result in non smooth scrolling (or in this case, ball movement)

MAME can slowdown / speedup the emulation to match the refresh rate of the monitor, but that will cause the game to run at slightly the wrong speed (and the sound pitch to be slightly off)

older style monitors were more flexible, and could often display different modes, but even then getting Windows to use the correct mode wasn't always easy.

it's a problem to which there is no real solution, it's a limitation of modern technology that's either going to cause some scrolling artifacts, or your games to run at the wrong speed.

[southpaw13]

Thanks...

Does CabMame help a little?

[Haze]

Thanks...

Does CabMame help a little?

I assume it just has different variations on the same tricks.  The problem is modern hardware moreso than the emulator, the needs of 100% accurate emulation exceed the needs of general users and conflict with the direction taken by modern technology and thus the hardware being produced.

[southpaw13]

Understood...thanks for the info....

I am going to try an ArcadeVGA card I have....
Then possibly add PowerStrip....

Or I might start with SmoothMame which is at version 135...
and CabMame that is at 138...

What's the best starting point???

[DaveMMR]

What's the best starting point???

Buying an arcade monitor.     

Without getting into the technicals everyone else is way more qualified to provide than I am, an LCD Monitor and the CRTs used in arcades are two different beasts and it'll never look quite "right".   

[Haze]

Understood...thanks for the info....

I am going to try an ArcadeVGA card I have....
Then possibly add PowerStrip....

Or I might start with SmoothMame which is at version 135...
and CabMame that is at 138...

What's the best starting point???

SmoothMame is the worst of the bunch, not only will it cause the games to run at slightly the wrong speed it will also introduce timing errors into the emulation, and cause many situations where the video / sound sync is incorrect because it's a absurd hack that just attempts to change the refresh rate of the emulated machine rather than trying to adapt the overall emulation speed so that things stay properly in sync and the internal game timings remain correct.  Believe me, you *really* don't want to be doing that.

I don't know much about CabMame so I can't comment.

The only way you're going to get it closer to perfect is with an actual arcade monitor and lots of difficult custom resolution tweaking etc. and even then you might struggle to get what you want under modern operating systems (and you're more or less forced to run games at their native orientation, so unless your monitor rotates then vertical games are never going to look quite right anyway)

[southpaw13]

Thanks....I wish things were just a little easier.......

I guess I need to find a combination that I can live with....

[I/O]

Running at 100%, no frames lost.  I am not talking about the controls but the actual ball moving on the screen.  It's jerky.  Mame version 109.

Thanks,
Southpaw

OH. I was thinking the bar. A little older version of MAME might work.