Driving cabinet, use arcade monitor or flatscreen?

[ABACABB]

Hey guys, with all of the great info on here about building a racing cabinet I can't wait to have my own to run Model 2 and 3 emulators.  I want to build one in the style of the Sega model 2 cabinet.  I have been collecting arcade parts from various auctions and I am just about ready to start.  Originally I had planned to use a 32" flat screen as my monitor but in my latest auction, that I could not turn down, I bought an entire lot of Daytona USA parts and it included 2 original working monitors.  Now my question, to keep it a bit easier on myself should I stick with my flatscreen monitor idea or try to connect the monitor to a pc to run these emulators? 

This whole project will be quite challenging for me as I'm not that electronically savy but I feel there is enough info out there on this topic that I might just be able to pull it off. 

[brad808]

I have a driving cabinet and if I were starting from scratch I would go with the 32" flat screen. The reason why is the games being played and the emulators being used. Model 3 needs a powerful video card to run properly as well as some good driving pc games. The problem is getting a powerful video card that will display 15khz. Most newer cards aren't supported yet to display 15khz onto an arcade monitor. With mame/ model 2 it isn't a huge deal because those will run on almost any video card. There are options to convert dvi/vga etc to 15khz but those run more money. This is the problem I'm running into with my driving cabinet using a real arcade monitor+ crappy video card. Graphics need to be turned down to their lowest possible settings and some games still aren't running full speed. Because I already have the arcade monitor in I'll probably look at a good graphics card and then an external converter but like I said if I was starting from scratch just throw the flat screen in and be done with it.

[kahlid74]

Authenticity wise you'd want to use the original monitors but if you want to make it easier on yourself, use the flatscreen.  The original monitors may require additional financial/time investments to work properly.

[Afterburner]

I'd go with the flatscreen...you'll be much happier with it.

Far more versatile.  Sell the two working CRTs and put it toward the cab.

[ABACABB]

Thanks for the replies guys.    The flatscreen was the direction I was leaning. I guess I just wanted to hear that from a few who may be more experienced with this. 

[BadMouth]

Model 2 emulator and Supermodel support "unstretched" widescreen now, even for games that didn't originally have it.
Virtua Racing had an optional cabinet with a widescreen and the option is there in MAME and works fine.

[ABACABB]

Good point Badmouth and thanks for the input.  After all it was your driving cab thread I came across that got me into this project in the first place. Thinking of using smoked plexiglass over my monitor. I'm hoping with that I won't need a bezel and also could play both widescreen and fullscreen games without being able to see the outline of my monitor.

[RamjetR]

Model 2 Emulators on an LCD....

Here's mine...

http://www.youtube.com/user/ramjetr?feature=mhee

Let me know what you think... heaps of videos in my channel to go over for idea's and quality of display etc...

Ramjet

[ABACABB]

Model 2 Emulators on an LCD....

Here's mine...

http://www.youtube.com/user/ramjetr?feature=mhee

Let me know what you think... heaps of videos in my channel to go over for idea's and quality of display etc...

Ramjet

SHUT-THE-FRONT-DOOR!!!   Amazing videos Ramjet.  I'm even more excited about this build now.  I will be checking out all of your videos when I get a chance. 

[paigeoliver]

Any monitors you got in a pair of Daytonas have probably seriously seen better days (those games got operated for a LONG, LONG, LONG time), particularly if they are projection models.

[RamjetR]

Model 2 Emulators on an LCD....

Here's mine...

http://www.youtube.com/user/ramjetr?feature=mhee

Let me know what you think... heaps of videos in my channel to go over for idea's and quality of display etc...

Ramjet

SHUT-THE-FRONT-DOOR!!!  Amazing videos Ramjet.  I'm even more excited about this build now.  I will be checking out all of your videos when I get a chance.  

Thanks dude... when starting out... it only takes a couple of ideas the get the ball rolling... When it comes to an LCD though.... don't buy a cheap one. A crappy LCD with poor viewing angle will make even the best efforts go to waste. Mine is a 40" Samsung UA44D6600. It replaces the original rear projection system in my DX cabinet and cost $1750AUD 12months ago. Now I can get the same screen (and I did, 2 more infact) for $1345AUD. But the difference is the super clear gloss finish, excellent viewing angle, 100Hz for zero ghosting, 3D (like I need it, but it does work) and most importantly.... you cannot see pixels at an arms length away!!!!!! Number 1 thing to look for are pixels density being so close!

Do not scrimp and save on the TV/Monitor. You'll be sorry you did! A CRT is very forgiving in quality because it can mush pixels together and look smooth(ish)... LCD's can be very hard on an image and density of pixels is critical. Especially given how close to the screen you are. Take you time when choosing one. Take a laptop into a store and run the emulator on the screen to see what it looks like before you buy, and definately take your bezel into the store to overlay on the set to measure up for size.

I took 6 months looking for the perfect screen to fit  this cabinet and can't recommend it high enough. I'm super happy with my image quality.

Here's some build pictures of the cabinet... https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/113878401085172785670/albums/5706973562574671825
Ramjet

[boardjunkie]

A multi-mode CRT monitor (WG D9800 and similar) would be the best bet for making the games look as they were intended. Med res (and better) games will look bad at std res. And Std res games will look bad at high res. A multi freq monitor can display each game at its correct resolution so they'll look right.

[mrcram]

I am still finishing up my daytona twin now but I ended up taking out the original arcade CRT monitors (1 was bad, the other was fine) and decased 2 television CRT monitors with S-video hooked up to computer.  Practically free on craigslist.  Works for me and fit perfect without any adjustments.

[Brian74]

I just got done working on my driving cab for the night. I have a model 3 cab, the monitor had some bad burn in, so I opted to go with a 26 inch led lcd. There is some space on the sides and the top thou. Its not a big deal on the sides because the grills cover it. The top is a different story. I have the smoked glass that came with the cab. I plan on putting painted plexi behind my lcd to hide the space. So have you decided what you are going to do for controls?

[ABACABB]

I just got done working on my driving cab for the night. I have a model 3 cab, the monitor had some bad burn in, so I opted to go with a 26 inch led lcd. There is some space on the sides and the top thou. Its not a big deal on the sides because the grills cover it. The top is a different story. I have the smoked glass that came with the cab. I plan on putting painted plexi behind my lcd to hide the space. So have you decided what you are going to do for controls?

So you are saying that smoked plexiglass does not hide any gaps in your monitor/bezel?  Hmmmm....I was banking on the plexi hiding any gaps for me, I may have to rethink that plan.  For my controls, I'm plan on using original arcade equipment. First, I have a complete control panel from Sega Rally.  I am swapping out the single view change button for the 4 VR buttons from Daytona USA.  I have Daytona pedals and a Daytona seat.  Pretty much all Sega gear except for the force feedback motor which is from a Midway Crusin World cabinet.  It is much easier to get this force feedback motor working with a project like this than the Sega force feedback but it still pulls hard and gives true arcade quality force feedback.  I am going to hack a Logitech pc wheel to make this connect to a pc.  My only downside is not having an original cabinet to build in.  I will be building my cabinet from scratch.  I am only decent at woodworking but have a friend who is very good and willing to help.  I have been watching auction sites and cragslist for a Sega cabinet in my area for quite a while and have found nothing so this is why I'll be building my own cab.

[mrcram]

So you are saying that smoked plexiglass does not hide any gaps in your monitor/bezel?  Hmmmm....I was banking on the plexi hiding any gaps for me, I may have to rethink that plan.  For my controls, I'm plan on using original arcade equipment. First, I have a complete control panel from Sega Rally.  I am swapping out the single view change button for the 4 VR buttons from Daytona USA.  I have Daytona pedals and a Daytona seat.  Pretty much all Sega gear except for the force feedback motor which is from a Midway Crusin World cabinet.  It is much easier to get this force feedback motor working with a project like this than the Sega force feedback but it still pulls hard and gives true arcade quality force feedback.  I am going to hack a Logitech pc wheel to make this connect to a pc.  My only downside is not having an original cabinet to build in.  I will be building my cabinet from scratch.  I am only decent at woodworking but have a friend who is very good and willing to help.  I have been watching auction sites and cragslist for a Sega cabinet in my area for quite a while and have found nothing so this is why I'll be building my own cab.

If your original arcade controls are working (potentiometers) why not just straight plug and play them to an ultimarc U-HID?  I have all the original daytona arcade controls running to a mini u-hid.  Works perfect.

[brad808]

So you are saying that smoked plexiglass does not hide any gaps in your monitor/bezel?  Hmmmm....I was banking on the plexi hiding any gaps for me, I may have to rethink that plan.  For my controls, I'm plan on using original arcade equipment. First, I have a complete control panel from Sega Rally.  I am swapping out the single view change button for the 4 VR buttons from Daytona USA.  I have Daytona pedals and a Daytona seat.  Pretty much all Sega gear except for the force feedback motor which is from a Midway Crusin World cabinet.  It is much easier to get this force feedback motor working with a project like this than the Sega force feedback but it still pulls hard and gives true arcade quality force feedback.  I am going to hack a Logitech pc wheel to make this connect to a pc.  My only downside is not having an original cabinet to build in.  I will be building my cabinet from scratch.  I am only decent at woodworking but have a friend who is very good and willing to help.  I have been watching auction sites and cragslist for a Sega cabinet in my area for quite a while and have found nothing so this is why I'll be building my own cab.

If your original arcade controls are working (potentiometers) why not just straight plug and play them to an ultimarc U-HID?  I have all the original daytona arcade controls running to a mini u-hid.  Works perfect.

Based on the above it looks like he is planning on having working force feedback. Pretty sure the u-hid doesn't support that.

Sent from my Desire HD

[Brian74]

The smoked plexi probably will hide the space, but I just wanna make sure. So thats why Im putting something behind mine to make sure it does. Painted cardboard or something with do it too.