Want to gauge demand for pc-jamma bridge

[iscariot]

I've been considering building an all-in-1 to jamma that handles IO/Audio/Video to the jamma standard.  Does something like this already exist?  I was looking at the existing chinese timer boards and it'd function something similar to that, but so far I only see those that are compatible with the xbox and would require serious modification to use on the PC.  Would anyone be interested in something that handled this all across a single USB port for a computer?

[MonMotha]

There are several products along these lines.  I don't know of any that handle audio or video over the USB port.  Video is especially problematic (it basically needs Superspeed USB 3), though USB audio could work well enough if done right (and it almost never is).  Audio and video are both easily pulled off their corresponding ports on the PC with standard passthrough cables, so most people don't seem to care.

The most popular device along these lines is probably the Ultimarc J-PAC.  There are also some semi-application-specific interfaces out there (e.g. Minimaid IO for Konami "Bemani" titles), and some lesser known/cheaper names mostly from China.  There's also a bunch of non-JAMMA encoders that have screw-down terminals (I-PAC, Keywiz, GP-Wiz, etc.) or connectorized pigtails (Zerodelay), or even low-cost models where you just solder down wires to the PCB.

[iscariot]

Thought about that.  The thing is tat the J-PAC is expensive, and really doesn't do much more than handle the 10 or so buttons per player.  There's no audio, and the video circuit isn't very good.  It only handles direct video and can't step down to NTSC.  It also can't digest audio.  For the $$ it just doesn't seem like it's that good.  There are docks out there that are usb2 that push VGA, IO, and sound.  I was thinking something along those lines wouldn't be too tough if:

It only handled 640x480/320x240
It would output mono sound to the finger board
It handled all 1/2p IO and took advantage of the extra pins at the end for more IO, and had some sort of input for extra

Looking around there are cheap amps for under $10, and finger boards aren't too pricey.  I was kicking around the idea of having a usb2/3 device that handled all of the stuff with limited need for setup

Just my thoughts on it.  Wondering ifsomeone had gone that route.

[paigeoliver]

If you actually made something that handled video conversion, controls and audio in one board then people would be lining up to buy it. However the sheer reason it doesn't exist leads me to believe that there is some hurdle to building it.

[yotsuya]

Thought about that.  The thing is tat the J-PAC is expensive, and really doesn't do much more than handle the 10 or so buttons per player.  There's no audio, and the video circuit isn't very good.  It only handles direct video and can't step down to NTSC.  It also can't digest audio.  For the $$ it just doesn't seem like it's that good.  There are docks out there that are usb2 that push VGA, IO, and sound.  I was thinking something along those lines wouldn't be too tough if:

It only handled 640x480/320x240
It would output mono sound to the finger board
It handled all 1/2p IO and took advantage of the extra pins at the end for more IO, and had some sort of input for extra

Looking around there are cheap amps for under $10, and finger boards aren't too pricey.  I was kicking around the idea of having a usb2/3 device that handled all of the stuff with limited need for setup

Just my thoughts on it.  Wondering ifsomeone had gone that route.

Go for it! I like to see people come up with new things!

[ark_ader]

Can you still get the original finger boards?

[iscariot]

Yeah, they're just ISA edge connectors.  My thinking here would be to do it one of two ways:

Cheap(3 connections):
USB-> jamma edge connector for IO
Sound jack for unamplified sound -> on-board amp for audio
Post connector for video or a VGA port for video

This puts everything on the machine in use.  You have to have a sound card and a video card that can output.

Pricey(1 connection)

USB connector to a board with sound/video/IO with the audio amp and a video converter w/a breakout connector for VGA.

The cost here is the big one.  I'm thinking that it'd be a bit more than the JPAC but it'd offer more features.

[pbj]

I think you're 10 years too late.

Fewer CRTs every year and they've gotten rare in the Project section here. 

Anyone that can figure out how to use your board can also use a JPAC.  I share many of your sentiments about that product but I recall it used to be considerably more expensive and it's $59 these days.  You really think you can squeeze out enough profit margin?  Very easy to overestimate demand in this hobby.

[MonMotha]

If you think the JPAC is expensive and doesn't do enough video processing for the money, I kinda wonder what you think you're going to do with this design...  Video scalers aren't exactly the simplest things.  Decent performance USB video is also not the cheapest thing in the world, but at least "standard res" is low enough that you can (probably) do it with only high-speed USB 2.0 and don't have to go to super-speed USB 3.

IIRC, Andy sells a little audio/speaker amp that pairs with the JPAC nicely.  A lot of later cabinets had non-standard stereo or line-level audio with amps built into the cabinet, so I think that's a good compromise.

As to the video amp, yeah, it's not the greatest thing in the world.  Again, cost is a factor, especially in the relatively limited volume these things are made owing to the declining popularity of standard res CRT arcade monitors (most VGA-capable ones don't need an amp at all - they just plug straight into a PC) and general declining popularity of even JAMMA. The Minimaid IO has a super nice video amp, but the amplifier on that thing would be cost prohibitive on something like a JPAC (a Minimaid IO will run you about $300).

Also, they're not actually ISA edge connectors.  The pad pitch is 0.156", whereas ISA was 0.1".  If you're doing a custom PCB, this isn't a problem of course.

[iscariot]

Andy?

[brad808]

Andy?

Andy is ultimarc

Sent from my Nexus 4