Doubts on TVs

[Stormdemon]

I'm planning on buying a SCART TV for my future MAME cabinet. I've been testing several models and sizes. I've tried a modern 28' Philips with flat screen and the quality, contrast, colors, etc are superb. The size of the screen makes game look amazing. I've also tried and old 19' with convex screen and round corners.

Surprisingly, although the picture quality is worse with the 19' TV, the overal effect is much more authentic and remembles much more an Arcade monitor

Definitelly, I think I'll buy a TV with convex screen and round corners. The problem is that they're hard to find. It would have to be an old TV, or a budget TV, which are not very reliable. Any maker in Europe that builds good TVs with this convex style? The perfect solution would be a modern TV with SCART connector, good quality in building and quaility, but with old-style screen (convex and round corners).

Also, I think 28' is too much. The resolution of old games makes them look too pixelated, don't you think? Would it be better a 25' screen or even 20'? And isn't it bad for your eyes to stare at a very big screen so close to it? I know it's non-interlaced mode, and the picture is very stable... but I'm not sure.

Finally, I've seen some TV catalogues which include some models which are not called TVs, but monitors-receivers. Since I'm not using my TV for watching programs, but only as a SCART monitor, do you think it would be a good idea to look for that kind of screens? I guess they're just the same as a TV-set, but cheaper. Correct me if I'm wrong. Eg: http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelList?storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&catGroupId=11074 (bottom of the page)

[b3atmania]

A SCART-TV is quite like an arcade monitor. Be aware that you cannot rotate a TV reliable. They are not build for that and often don't include an easy way to degauss.

As for the screen-size, I agree 28inch is too large. 21 or 25inch is probably best for a cabinet where players sit close to the screen. Sitting too close to a TV can indeed be dangerous to your health. Monitors (even arcade ones) have enhanced radiation shielding to allow viewing from upclose. TV's also have radiation shielding, but not to the same extend.

[CCM]

Also, I think 28' is too much. The resolution of old games makes them look too pixelated, don't you think? Would it be better a 25' screen or even 20'? And isn't it bad for your eyes to stare at a very big screen so close to it? I know it's non-interlaced mode, and the picture is very stable... but I'm not sure.

WOW!  I definitely think a 28 FOOT tv is too big!  I even think the 20 foot tv would be too big...

sorry, couldn't resist... I'm bored at work on a Friday...

[RandyT]

As for the screen-size, I agree 28inch is too large. 21 or 25inch is probably best for a cabinet where players sit close to the screen.

Not true.  The benefits of a larger screen become very apparent when looking at vertically oriented games on a horizontal CRT.  On a 27" monitor, they appear very close to their original 19" vertically oriented counterparts. Plus you get a nice big screen for horizontal games.  You adjust pretty quickly.

Sitting too close to a TV can indeed be dangerous to your health. Monitors (even arcade ones) have enhanced radiation shielding to allow viewing from upclose. TV's also have radiation shielding, but not to the same extend.

Where is all this "enhanced radiation shielding" you speak of?   I know that pretty much all CRT's have to have safety circuitry built in to limit the amount of X-Ray radiation put out by the tube.  Physically, they don't look much different than a TV set.

RandyT

[Wienerdog]

Not true.  The benefits of a larger screen become very apparent when looking at vertically oriented games on a horizontal CRT.  On a 27" monitor, they appear very close to their original 19" vertically oriented counterparts. Plus you get a nice big screen for horizontal games.  You adjust pretty quickly.

RandyT

I beleive this too.  Get smoked glass and a 27" screen and you don't need to worry about rotating a monitor.  

[Stormdemon]

Yes, but displaying vertical games on a horizontal monitor will always suck, no matter how large the image is. I say this because you will have to use hardware stretch and interlaced modes, which flicker and have a very poor quality. Also, you're not using real native res modes, so it's not the real thing. When I build my cabinet, I will rotate my TV (possibly manual rotation), whenever I wish to user vertical or horizontal. Now that I have an ArcadeVGA and perfect RGB display, I don't want to know anything about stretch anymore.

[RandyT]

Now that I have an ArcadeVGA and perfect RGB display, I don't want to know anything about stretch anymore.

If you get a multi-frequency monitor, everything should display without stretching.

Besides, after you get into the meat of the mechanics for a rotating monitor and dealing with the degauss problems that can be caused by doing that, you might not want to know about that anymore either .

RandyT

[Stormdemon]

If you follow simple precautions you will not have to worry about degaussing: if your tv/monitor is on, just switch it off and wait for 5 minutes; rotate it and switch it on. If you do this whenever you want to rotate, you will not have any problem. I've been rotating my TV for many months without any distortion in the picture, color, magnetization etc.

[grafixmonkey]

Also, I think 28' is too much.

WOW!  I definitely think a 28 FOOT tv is too big!  I even think the 20 foot tv would be too big...

sorry, couldn't resist... I'm bored at work on a Friday...

Don't worry, none of us have ever heard that joke before on this forum.