Hantarex Polostar questions

[GameBase]

I'm on the verge of buying a Hantarex Polo Star 21 inch Monitor for my cab.  If any of you would be so kind as to confirm the following before I part with my hard earned cash, I'd be very grateful!....

1)  The monitor controls are on the back, so I'd also have to purchase an extension cable from Hantarex if I want to be able to make setting adjustments from a convenient place (i.e. the side of my cab).  If so, does anyone know how much this cable is?

2) The monitor won't be 'damaged' (as I've read in another post) by switching resolutions (or switching from 15-25-31khz) 'on-the-fly'.  In fact, if someone could explain _how_ the switching from 15-25-31khz works that would be great.  Will my GFX card 'tell' the monitor which mode to change to when a game is run (say from a MAME frontend)?  I'm planning on using AdvanceMame btw.

3) Does anyone know the actual horizontal width of the monitor?  I assume 21" is the diagonal measurement.  Just wanna make sure it will fit in me cab!  

4) It degausses on power-up, but if I fit a switch, I can get it to degauss on-demand.  I should only need to degauss after rotating the monitor.

5) I'll be able to play 15Khz and 25Khz MAME games, run windows, play PC games and console games..... _without_ having to purchase a card such as Ultimarc's ArcadeVGA.  My current gfx card is a GeForce4, Anyone know if this card can output to all the required frequencies of the Polo Star?

6) Has anyone else actually GOT one of these monitors and can comment on how good/bad it is?


Thanks for any info you can provide!

[DaveJ-UK]

1.) Ask Hantarex

2.) It could well be damaged by running at a frequency that it was not designed for. Having said this, I have accidently run my Hantarex MTC 9000 at incorrect frequencies before and had no adverse affects since.

3.) Yes, 21" is the diagonal measurement. You should be able to figure out the width using a bit of basic math as long as you know the ratio, which I believe is 4:3.

4.) See the monitor specification. It should be possible, but when you rotate it you should turn it off anyway so it will degause when powered back on.

5.) You will be able to run MAME (or any other application for that matter) at the frequencies the monitor supports. You will not be able to run Windows without an ArcadeVGA since AdvanceMAME relies on changing registers on the video card to get the required frequencies, which Windows will not let you do.

6.) My Hantarex MTC 9000 does the job just fine. If the specification meets your needs it should be fine.

[b3atmania]

1)  The monitor controls are on the back, so I'd also have to purchase an extension cable from Hantarex if I want to be able to make setting adjustments from a convenient place (i.e. the side of my cab).  If so, does anyone know how much this cable is?

I paid 15 euro for mine.

2) The monitor won't be 'damaged' (as I've read in another post) by switching resolutions (or switching from 15-25-31khz) 'on-the-fly'.  In fact, if someone could explain _how_ the switching from 15-25-31khz works that would be great.  Will my GFX card 'tell' the monitor which mode to change to when a game is run (say from a MAME frontend)?  I'm planning on using AdvanceMame btw.

The graphics cards feeds the monitor a singnal. Basically it feeds the monitor colors (RGB) and a sync pulse. The sync tells te monitor at what speed it should write lines. This is expressed in the horizontal sync (measured in kHz) and the vertical sync (measured in Hz). You won't damage the Polostar by feeding it sync signals within its specification.

3) Does anyone know the actual horizontal width of the monitor?  I assume 21" is the diagonal measurement.  Just wanna make sure it will fit in me cab!  

See the PDF on the Hantarex site.

4) It degausses on power-up, but if I fit a switch, I can get it to degauss on-demand.  I should only need to degauss after rotating the monitor.

Are you talking about fitting a switch for the power or a dedicated degauss switch?

5) I'll be able to play 15Khz and 25Khz MAME games, run windows, play PC games and console games..... _without_ having to purchase a card such as Ultimarc's ArcadeVGA.  My current gfx card is a GeForce4, Anyone know if this card can output to all the required frequencies of the Polo Star?

Check the AdvanceMAME compatibility list. It seems the GeForce4 works, but won't do interlaced modes. I recommend getting an ATI-chip based card. A decent one will only cost like 10 euro on eBay.

6) Has anyone else actually GOT one of these monitors and can comment on how good/bad it is?

I have the 25inch Polostar and am quite pleased with it. I found it would sync immediately 9 out of 10 times. I think it best to disable the video sync for a second before setting a new mode. Then it will sync perfectly everytime. As you already figured you need to get the contols extension cable to conveniently adjust the picture. Great monitor all round that is reasonably priced.

[GameBase]

Thanks for your info!

Are you talking about fitting a switch for the power or a dedicated degauss switch

A dedicated degauss switch.  I read on the main site that it's possible (and even how to do it) but just wanted to confirm that it's possible with this monitor.

I have the 25inch Polostar and am quite pleased with it. I found it would sync immediately 9 out of 10 times. I think it best to disable the video sync for a second before setting a new mode. Then it will sync perfectly everytime. As you already figured you need to get the contols extension cable to conveniently adjust the picture. Great monitor all round that is reasonably priced.

OK, a little confused here... (please pardon my newbie-ness).  I'm not sure what you mean here regarding disabling the video sync.  How is this accomplished?

It seems the GeForce4 works, but won't do interlaced modes.

When would I need to use interlaced mode?

Thanks again.

[DaveJ-UK]

From what I understand, interlaced modes scan the screen twice to build up the picture, rather than once. This is done by drawing odd lines on the first then even lines on the second. This eliminates the screen flicker you have in non-interlaced video modes, most notably within Windows.

[wpcmame]

When would I need to use interlaced mode?

When you want to display more than ~300 lines in 15KHz mode.

Since your monitor supports higher frequency (31KHz) there is normally no need for interlaced displays.

An example: Popeye uses a vertical resolution of 448 lines. Originally this game was displayed on a 15KHz monitor by using interlaced mode. The interlace causes some flicker on thin lines due to the low refresh rate (30Hz).

With your monitor you would display the game non-interlaced (i.e. no flicker)
using the 31KHz mode instead.

[b3atmania]

A dedicated degauss switch.  I read on the main site that it's possible (and even how to do it) but just wanted to confirm that it's possible with this monitor.

Very interesting! Where did you read that? I would very much like to have a degauss switch too.

OK, a little confused here... (please pardon my newbie-ness).  I'm not sure what you mean here regarding disabling the video sync.  How is this accomplished?

I found out by disconnecting the VGA cable shortly. When put back in it would sync correcty. Mostly though you can just switch modes again and it will sync properly. I am thinking of writing little program that can be invoked commandline that disables the sync for a period. This effectively "reset" the monitor so it will properly sync when a new mode is set.

When would I need to use interlaced mode?

With the Polostar you don't have too, like wpcmame already said. Although you may want to run Popeye interlaced anyway for authenticity reasons.

[GameBase]

A dedicated degauss switch.  I read on the main site that it's possible (and even how to do it) but just wanted to confirm that it's possible with this monitor.

Very interesting! Where did you read that? I would very much like to have a degauss switch too.

http://www.arcadecontrols.com/arcade_rotate.shtml#Problems
Check out comment 3 near the bottom of the page.

With the Polostar you don't have too, like wpcmame already said. Although you may want to run Popeye interlaced anyway for authenticity reasons.

Great, thanks for your help everyone.