Cool! a vector monitor PC interface

[Frostillicus]

Well, it probably is old news to most, but I haven't seen it in the searches.  

http://www.zektor.com/zvg.htm

*sigh* I wish I was going to vegas for the CGE...  

[SirPoonga]

Do they say why you'd want to do this?  I don;t see any suggestions on uses...

[x-wing]

I agree, SP.   Not only the question "Why", but "How?".  I mean these X-Y monitors are getting more scarce (& expensive) by the day.  It's not like people just have these laying around, so I would expect an extremely small market for this adaptor.

I can't believe someone would pick one up to use with a PC.  Hehe, post on RGVAC that you are looking for a X-Y monitor to connect to your PC so you can play MAME on it.   You'll probably get lots of offers.  

[SirPoonga]

OHHH, to run Vetrex.

[Frostillicus]

Am I the only one who thinks it would be nice to build a dedicated vector cabinet?  You just don't get the same quality with a pc monitor.  Besides, the interface would come in handy to those with a vector cab, but a non-working PCB - like my friend's Zektor.  He really wants to play that game, and this could be a good option since he's got the cab, monitor, controls, etc.

[Dave_K.]

I already have a vectrex, I'd use it to play mame tempest on my vectrex's vector monitor.  Or better yet, on my oscilliscope (like in their example pics).

-Dave

OHHH, to run Vetrex.

[SirPoonga]

I think having a vector monitr cabinet is cool.  But it looks like right now it'd only work with that vetrex emu.  Probably won;t work with mame that well without changes.

[Dave_K.]

Oh yeah, its not support under normal Mame, but the webpage says it works with CinEMU (which plays all Cinematronics Vector Games).  The pics show Asteroids running (which is not available for the Vectrex).

-Dave

[Frostillicus]

Yeah I just thought it was neat.  I have a vectrex, and I probably play those games more than any other system I own...gotta love vector games  

They *say* it will probably be incorporated into emulators this fall, but who knows? Might never happen...

[kf6bbl]

Hi Folks! Just wanted to drop in here and add some info.
You can blame any lack of info on zektor.com on me  
Some of the info on the web page was out of date, so let me bring you up to speed on where we are now.
We have been working with the author of Retrocade on this project. Retrocade will fully support the ZVG, so naturally any vector game Retrocade can run will display properly on the ZVG.
As Frostillicus mentioned, the idea of this product is so you can make a PC based multigame vector cabinet. I can tell that Frostillicus is a hardcore vector fan, and can't stand the thought of running vector games on a raster display  
The story on MAME is like this: MAME emulates 1000s of target systems, and only something like 30 or 40 vector  games (that's all there is!). It is hard to make a project as big as MAME optimized for a small subset of games, and support special hardware like the ZVG. If you were to make a dedicated multi-vector cabinet, it would be wise to use an emulator such as Retrocade that has been special built for that purpose. This is not to say that MAME will never support the ZVG. We would like to see it supported there, but we are focusing our energy on Retrocade to get it released.
Thanks for reading. I'll be happy to entertain any questions.
-Bill

[Dave_K.]

I'll be happy to entertain any questions.
-Bill

Does the board have hard requirements on the type of vector monitor used?  I noticed only a couple listed on the page...yet the pic shows Asteroids being displayed on a o-scope.

-Dave

[kf6bbl]

It's pretty flexible on monitor types. It has three ranges of output gain, three ranges of speed, edge bloom and pincushioning can be turned off, and color/B&W selected. So with those options on board, it can be used on the Wells Gardner and Ampliphone found in Atari systems, Electrohome G05 B&W, and Sega/Electrohome G08. IIRC, that is the majority of monitors out there. I know there are some oddballs out there like Hanterex, but we've looked at all the input requirements and tried to cover all bases. One thing we are working on right now is determining some component values to allow it to drive the Vectrex monitor. Just a wild idea, but I would love to see someone take a PC104 embedded PC, a ZVG, and a Vectrex and create a standalone emulator that is portable! I might have to get a Vectrex and tear into it  

[StephenH]

Yes, There is a PC version of MAME that can output vectors!   It is LaserMAME, at games.lasers.org.

[kf6bbl]

Yes, There is a PC version of MAME that can output vectors!   It is LaserMAME, at games.lasers.org.

As far as I know the LaserMAME software is modified to run a ISA card that he has designed. His software won't run the ZVG.
Right now the only software that will run the ZVG is Retrocade. The entire interface will be open soure and there will be a Software Dev Kit so that MAME people and others can work on it.
-Bill

[Frostillicus]

I can tell that Frostillicus is a hardcore vector fan, and can't stand the thought of running vector games on a raster display  

How did you guess? I enjoy vector games on the WG D9200, but man it just doesn't compare to a real vector display.  with the bright spots..and the clean lines...mmmmmmm.....flicker

Knowing that it would work with the g-08 is the whole reason I'm in this.  My buddy has a Sega Convert-A-Game zektor cab that he has never really had working right - he bought an extra monitor in the hopes that would fix it, but alas, it was something else.  So now he has TWO g-08's that are collecting dust and I was like "too bad we can't hook this up to our computer...."  And voila, I found zektor.com.  We aren't even going to bother wasting the time to fix the Sega What-a-Shame cab and hopefully turn it into our first multi vector system.

kf6bbl - you are doing a great thing, IMHO  off to play my vectrex now...