Monitors with variable refresh "Gmame+powerstrip"

[kalars123]

So after I got done with my UMK3 restore/mame hybrid, I've been kicking around the idea of a bartop.  However after spending $700+ on a WG 9000 lcd for UMK3 machine I'm not sure i'm willing to part with that much money for a bartop.
I started testing my LCD's I have for compatiblity with Calamity's Groovy Mame+Powerstrip method of variable refresh rates at native resolution.

So far I have tested 2 of them, and both will refresh at a custom refresh rate at 1920x1080

Viewsonic Va2223wm 21.5 LCD monitor: reports refresh rate with 3 digits of accuracy XX.X
Asus VH222h 22" LCD monitor: reports refresh rate with 2 digits of accuracy XX

I think that this new method of variable refresh@native resolution is an important step towards making LCD's a viable solution to CRT replacement.

Setting this up to test your monitor is very simple

Download calamity's newest mame build
http://mame.groovy.org/WindowsATIDrivers/groovymame64_0145u4.013f.rar
Download newest version of Powerstrip
http://entechtaiwan.com/files/pstrip.exe

Install Powerstrip and leave the default settings

Extract Groovy Mame to a fresh folder to avoid over-writing your current setup, rename groovymame64_0145u4.013f.exe to mame.exe for ease of use
Run command line
Mame -cc
to create a new mame.ini
Edit the mame.ini in these sections to turn on the variable refresh rate
replace the bold area's with the proper information for your monitor, in the monitor_specs0 line the last 2 sets of numbers should be your monitors last 3-4 digits of it's native resolution IE 1920x1080
#
# CORE SWITCHRES OPTIONS
#
modeline                     1
monitor                       lcd
monitor_connector        auto
monitor_orientation       horizontal
monitor_aspect            XX:X
monitor_debug             0
monitor_doublescan      1
monitor_dotclock          0
monitor_ymin               0
cleanstretch                0
changeres                   1
redraw                        0
monitor_specs0            29000.00-50000.00,50.00-70.00,0.636,3.813,1.906,0.318,0.064,1.048,0,0,XXXX,XXXX
monitor_specs1            auto
monitor_specs2            auto
monitor_specs3            auto
monitor_specs4            auto
monitor_specs5            auto
monitor_specs6            auto
monitor_specs7            auto
magic_resolution           auto
powerstrip                   1


#
# WINDOWS VIDEO OPTIONS
#
video                     d3d
numscreens                1
window                      0
maximize                    1
keepaspect                0
prescale                    1
waitvsync                  1
menu                        0

save the INI, now your all set up to test things out

Just run mame with whatever game you would like to try a few good ones are, MK,donpachi,loht,mpatrol.
Check your monitor's OSD info for what it reports as the refresh rate and compare that to F11 inside mame if mame reports 100% no frame-skip and your monitor is reporting a refresh rate close to what is expected congrats you have a monitor that is suitable to be put into an arcade machine.

If however your monitor goes all wonky or reports out of range better luck next time.

Lets get this list of compatible monitor's going especially for all those Bar-Tops out there.

[Calamity]

This is an exellent initiative, kalars123.

Check your monitor's OSD info for what it reports as the refresh rate and compare that to F11 inside mame if mame reports 100% no frame-skip and your monitor is reporting a refresh rate close to what is expected congrats you have a monitor that is suitable to be put into an arcade machine.

I just wanted to point that the apart from what's mentioned above, the monitor must show SMOOTH scrolling at any refresh selected, with absolutely no hiccups or stuttering: that's the real proof that the monitor is custom refresh capable.

[kalars123]

This is an exellent initiative, kalars123.

Check your monitor's OSD info for what it reports as the refresh rate and compare that to F11 inside mame if mame reports 100% no frame-skip and your monitor is reporting a refresh rate close to what is expected congrats you have a monitor that is suitable to be put into an arcade machine.

I just wanted to point that the apart from what's mentioned above, the monitor must show SMOOTH scrolling at any refresh selected, with absolutely no hiccups or stuttering: that's the real proof that the monitor is custom refresh capable.

Yes Calamity this is very important, the best came i've found that stuttering and hiccups are easy to detect is MK1 press start screen, the tearing there is very bad.

After a week I decided bump this up.  Everyone is these a feature that you all are just not interested in? Or is it to hard to setup? Is it having to have powerstip on your cab.  This is an important feature of groovymame This+HLSL effects is a 90% match for having a CRT after having both setups in my Cab, I can say while a CRT definitely has that arcade feel. But an LCD is much more convenient.

[lettuce]

Shinobi is another good game to test, as the sound skips a tad on the first level with vanilla MAME and has screen tearing. Super C (super contra) has sound skipping also

[Calamity]

Shinobi is another good game to test, as the sound skips a tad on the first level with vanilla MAME and has screen tearing. Super C (super contra) has sound skipping also

Yes but these games run native at 60 Hz so they should be smooth on any LCD provided you use GroovyMAME (just without the powerstrip option).

The tricky games to test are the ones that are in the 54-59 Hz range. Some good games are:

- argus: 54.00 Hz, scrolling background
- mk: 54.82 Hz, character selection screen
- twincobr: 54.88 Hz, scrolling background
- irem games (rtype2, loht,...): 55.02 Hz, all of them have nice scrolling backgrounds
- tdragon2: 56.00 Hz, scrolling background
- mpatrol: 56.73 Hz, scrolling background
- donpachi: 57.55 Hz, scrolling background
- snowbros: 57.50 Hz, transition between screens
- boogwing: 58.00 Hz, scrolling background
- bublbobl: 59.19 Hz, transition between screens

[Paradroid]

Very cool thread...

I have a few 4:3 Samsung LCDs kicking around. Older models (although not ancient). I also have a registered version of Powerstrip.

I'll give these a spin at some stage and see if they can handle custom resolutions. Should be easy to discover since all the steps are listed right here!

[jrose78]

I have a question on the install. If I download Groovymame it contains only 1 exe file and does not have any folders (artwork,hlsl,nvram). Are we suppose to download regular mame then install groovymame exe over the mame exe??

[kalars123]

Very cool thread...

I have a few 4:3 Samsung LCDs kicking around. Older models (although not ancient). I also have a registered version of Powerstrip.

I'll give these a spin at some stage and see if they can handle custom resolutions. Should be easy to discover since all the steps are listed right here!

that's the easiest way yes