Multimedia Monitors?

[adonis_minus_20]

I didn't find anything already on the forums about these, but has anyone used them for an arcade cab?  A multimedia monitor is one that functions as both a PC and a TV monitor, and has inputs for both.  They are rather pricey though, so this may not be practical for most.  I want to get one someday, so that I can have one monitor for both my console and PC games, and still be able to play lightgun games for both, without having to switch monitors.  I'm assuming that when operating as a TV, that the output is like that of a regular TV.  Here's a link:

http://www.monivision.com/monitors.html#

Jim

[TacoTownCharlie]

I use one of those.  Its a Mitsubishi 37'' monitor.  I'm about half-way finished with my cab, the biggest design consideration I had (besides the width of the monitor shelf) was the weight of the monitor.  This thing weights 250 lbs!  I ended up building an inner frame and then putting plywood on the outside.

Like the monovision you link, this one has multiple inputs; I have it connected directly to the computer and it also has S-Video inputs.  It also has a serial port connector, so I could write a simple VB program to turn on the monitor or change the input or turn off the monitor from the computer.  Then you could have this program auto-execute when Windows loads and have one less button to push on start-up.

The max resolution is 1024x768@75; you can run windows just fine, but I wouldn't use it for serious work.  I have a DVD drive on the coumputer, and movies look great.  

All the MAME games I've played look great.  As a bonus, when you use artwork and bezels, even if the playing area is smaller - its still big!  The Act-Labs light gun I have works great, exactly as their web page claims.

You may want to check the documentation, but on my monitor if you give it an S-Video input it will line double the picture.  So it should look better than a like-sized TV.

I got mine off E-Bay for ~$300.  True, its almost 10 years old, but these monitors are not typically used in homes.  They are used at trade shows and board rooms, so they may have some marks from being moved but they have fewer hours use on them.

I've also used it for PC games like Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Crimson Skies - man it looks great.  Let me know if you have any other questions

[Silver]

I've got a similar device - its an old Hantarex display monitor. Has VGA, RGB,S-video and composite video inputs and will handle PAl/NTSC/Secam. Like the Mitsu it line doubles anything coming in at 15Khz, unlike the Mitsu it will only hit 800x600@60Hz max via VGA.

How do you guys have it wired? At the mo I've just got a TV-out from a radeon and running everything through that. Ideally I'd love to run mame games though the RGB input and use the VGa for stuff like Zinc. But I can't stick the different signals into the different inputs......

Any suggestions or thoughts on how to set this up?