buying tv for cab....does it have to have s video??

[hulkster]

i was looking through some ads in the sunday paper, and i i saw some 27" tvs on sale for like 150 bucks or something, but it didnt have s video.  im wondering, does a tv have to have s video for it to be a good monitor choice for a cab?

[bionicbadger]

Yes you need s-video, unless you have component inputs on the TV and component outputs on your video card.  

[tmasman]

There are cheap converters (or cables) to convert from s-video to RCA...
You have to realize that you'll be sacrificing quality though...

I'm actually MAMEing a cabinet around a 19" TV with RF input only... I'm using a NVidia MX 420 Video card w/ s-video out & an RF modulator to put the image on the TV...
It's actually not a bad image! (It could be better, but it looks great during game-play...)

Anyhow, you can use any TV, it's just a matter of being happy with the image quality. For the price I'm paying: (Free TV [broken, no sound], $20 modulator & $10 ebay vid. card...) I'm happy!

[hulkster]

so does everybody who goes the 27 inch s video route, just fork over the cash and buy one?  or is there some super cool place to get cheap tvs?

[SpamMe]

I got mine used (27" zenith w/svideo) locally for $125, you may want to go that route.

[JustMichael]

While you don't absolutely have to have an s-video input on the tv, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED[/u].  A video card with component output and a tv with component input might be even better (don't have so don't know for sure).  There was a huge difference in look from the composite in (the RCA connectors) and s-video in on tv's that I looked at.

[hulkster]

okay, so if i were to get one used, wheres the best place to go?  newspaper ads?  flea markets?  or just friends that have them.

[TalkingOctopus]

I bought an open box Sharp 27" TV w/ S-video and component inputs at Best Buy for $175.

[bionicbadger]

Used is usually cheaper, if you can find a scratch and dent or open box sale you should be able to get a good deal too.

As for used, look in your newspaper, local classified paper (if there is one), local forsale newsgroups, garage or yard sales, goodwill or salvation army stores, etc.

And be patient, it might take a while to find a good deal.

[unclet]

I got my 27" JVC from a newspaper ad for $100.   Looks great, plus I like JVC better than Zenith and Sanyo, so I was lucky.

[eightbit]

I recently bought a Sylvania 27" at  Sams club for $180. After unplugging it and plugging it back in (even for extended periods) it comes back on, on the channel it was before it was unplugged.

It does not have s-video input but it looks better than some of the super cheap tv's that do have s-video input like the apex ones I've looked at. So be wary of the super cheap tv's don't buy them JUST because they have s-video.

[william1983]

you can get a BRAND NEW

27 inch symphonic tv with composite and s video inputs for a 130 bucks new at walmart..

the tv is HUGE i love it!!!

[night]

i paid a bit more and got a 27" philips component in for 216. great picture though

[hulkster]

okay, thanks guys.  i have a radeon 7500 graphics card with svideo out and was wondering if this is a good card...powerful enough...to play all my games.  my processor is only a 1.1 ghz p3 and am noticing some slow down, but i think some of it has to do with my sound card believe it or not, cuz the sound isnt that great.  its an old sound card.  you think if i had all that stuff, but upgraded my processor and got a new sound card, the games would run better?

[greven grevs]

I just bought a Radeon 7500 to use with my 27" TV [RCA about 6 years old]but mine came with 1 RCA video jack , no S-Video. The games still look great during gameplay but my frontend [myHTPC] isnt to sharp. I may return the video card and look for a 7500 with S-Video.

And like others have said , buying used is a great way to get a TV. Here on base we have a local classified paper and 27" tvs can be found for $30-$50 every week. This could be due to the fact that alot of times service members are getting shipped overseas and want to lower their wieght in shipped goods.

[JustMichael]

Video cards have very little effect on Mame (except if using things like hardware stretching,  etc. that actually use the video card's hardware).  If you wanted to improve the way Mame runs get a faster "full version" processor.

[hulkster]

"full version"  huh??  

[grafixmonkey]

You guys will laugh at me, but I took my arcade PC over to circuit city with an S-Video cable and wandered around plugging it into TVs to see what looked nicest.  I ended up with a 27" RCA flat-tube that was even sharper than the Sony 27" flat tube, when run at 1024x768 through the s-vid cable.  I can even kinda-sorta read the text in Notepad with it (but I have an actual small computer monitor hidden behind the cab for that purpose cuz it's difficult.)

Got it as an open-item special for $240, but it was a pretty nice looking flat screen, and there were round-tube TVs on open-item special for a lot less.  (I know you guys like round tubes better.   )

And by "full version", JustMichael probably means an actual Pentium4 as opposed to a Celery (er, Celeron,) or an Athlon instead of a Duron, and any of the aforementioned before ever getting a Cyrix chip.  (buy a box of potato chips before getting a Cyrix chip.)  Last I looked, a Celeron 1 GHz processor would be something like a P4 750 MHz, prolly similar performance gap between Athlon and Duron.  (Duron might perform something like 70% as well as an Athlon the same speed.)  Intel might want you to believe it, but the clock speed is not the determing factor in how fast a chip runs.  

[JustMichael]

hulkster081, like Duron or Celeron which have parts disabled because they didn't meet spec.

[Xiaou2]

 Actually, its true.  Flat tubes produce a better picture.  More vibrant and clear.. and lower glare issues.

 Also... you get what you pay for.  Some tv's may be cheap... but that also means that thier resolution might not be as good.  Also thier life expectancy and overall picture quality may fade a lot sooned than a higher priced tv.

  I say spend your money well on the display... else you regret it every time you look at the thing in disgust.

  Graphicsmonkey's idea is good too.  Just bring a friends laptop or pc arround and check out the picture quality.  I did this with plasma/projection tv's to see what they would look like for replacing my monitor, at bestbuy... however,  they are still way out of my price range - as only the 4,000$+  plasmas were clear enuff to do the trick.

  Finally... tv out cards also have play into how good your display looks outputted.  Newwer ATI's seem to have some great results... however make sure its Built by Ati, and not Powered by Ati.   Try not to get generic noname cards for the task... as you might get pretty horrid results.

  As for composite out... no way.  Its detail and color information loss is disgusting and will make your stomache turn.  (Converters from rca to svideo wont help that either... as the loss has already happend and cant be undone)

  Id be currious to know how the new component out card look in comparrison...

 

[paigeoliver]

Also, these days it is very possible that the new tvs that don't have s-video actually do have it, but it is just not present at the back of the set. Take the plastic back off it and you might be pleasantly surprised.

Reason being is that some manufacturers use the same set of monitor boards for multiple monitors and simply don't cut the holes on the back of the set for the s-video on the cheaper models (really, I am not kidding).