Arcade/tv monitor and eye strain

[Ghoul]

I was wondering if anybody has experienced problems with eye strain while using a tv or arcade monitor. I know it doesn't occur with my pc monitor, but I've never really sat in close proximity to an arcade monitor or tv running arcade games for hours at a time.

Also, any idea which is more problematic to the eyes, a tv or an arcade monitor?

[SNAAAKE]

Of course its your tv..get a hybrid svga arcade monitor and everything would be okay.

I can't ever think of myself using anything else then these vga arcade monitors..super clean.

[SirPoonga]

I was wondering if anybody has experienced problems with eye strain while using a tv or arcade monitor. I know it doesn't occur with my pc monitor, but I've never really sat in close proximity to an arcade monitor or tv running arcade games for hours at a time.

Also, any idea which is more problematic to the eyes, a tv or an arcade monitor?

maybe adjust your contrast and brightness?

[Ghoul]

Ahhh no no no I don't have a problem (don't have a cab right now), I was just wondering if it was an issue because I would certainly rather have a smaller pc monitor than poor eyesight and a headache.

[dhansen]

I haven't noticed any... however remember that these games were mean't to be played on a REAL arcade monitor... I've seen TV's and PC monitors with MAME running on them and to me it's just not the same.

Please no flames, this is just my opinion... However I must admit it would be nice just to plug a monitor in with out having to make a cable hack or worry about sending the wrong frequencies to the arcade monitor.  But when you see Pac Man running vertically on a true arcade monitor it can't be beat...

Doug

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah I think I know what your problem is....  Remember a tv is meant to be viewed from a distance....  You need to turn the brightness and contrast down a good bit for it to be viewable head on like that.  It is harder on the eyes for extended periods but it's much cheaper than a arcade monitor and gives you a more authentic picture than a hybid or a svga monitor.  

[Xiaou2]

 On my ATI card, there is a slider for Flicker Removal
called LUMA.   At the minimum setting, you do notice the flicker a lot.  Near maximum, you can see how much more steady the picture gets... yet,  the details get a little blurred.  

 I think it may have to do with the rate at which the signal is ran from the card to the tv.   In the ati cards,  I think they may institute a method of interlacing (splitting the picture into two parts, and displaying each part every other frame)... to achieve higher detail levels... and of course, that makes the picture much more flickery.

 I havnt noticed any strain from watching the tv whle playing tho.  Tho I do sit at least 4 ft away form the 27" display.   I think the only time I notice a strain, is when I was trying to read something in a resolution of 1024*768 - genral windows... (thats probably when the interlacing goes on)

 

[)p(]

They are 60hz so they cause eye strain... and In Europe tv's run at 50hz...when you glance at them from an angle you can see how badly they flicker...
It depends on the person how much it effects them..I myself get eye strain very fast from low refreshrates...and back in the day I could not play games with a bright background like frogger for very long...and yes weareing sunglasses helped but made me feel like an idiot  

Peter

[Ghoul]

So the feeling I'm getting is that it is more of a problem with a tv than an arcade monitor?

[Howard_Casto]

Yes and no.... unless I'm mistaken arcade monitors have similar refresh rates to tv's.  The problem is that tv's don't have quite as stable/sharp a picture due to various issues.  As )p( said, some people can't handle regular arcade monitors for long periods.  I knew this one guy that can't play anything for a long time, period.

Anyway long story short  people that are snesitive do seem to have the most trouble with tv's simply because they give the wrost picture quality.  But, don't think that switching to a arcade monitor will fix your problems. The best thing you is actually find a arcademachine running at the res you would normally run mame in and play the heck out of it.  If you have eye strain after that then you are kinda screwed unless you use a svga monitor (bleh)  in your cab. Or you could be all cool with the shades and what not.  

"We've got a full tank of gas, a half a carton of cigarettes, the federal police are on our trail, it's dark, and were wearing sunglasses."  

[Xiaou2]

Heh,  Interesting... about the sunglasses.   Maybe thats why some of the older games had that dimmed plastic over the monitors.  

[)p(]

Heh,  Interesting... about the sunglasses.   Maybe thats why some of the older games had that dimmed plastic over the monitors.  

Yeah I think so also...is seems that scientifc research found out that anything below 85hz will always be a strain on your eyes.

For me this nand the abiltiy to play vector games at highres was reason enough to go the pc monitor route.

Peter

Peter

[mattv]

I have nothing intelligent to add; but after reading this thread I now have really sore eyes. Maybe the trick is not to think about it.

Certainly agree with the TV brightness/contrast thing though. TV's with the contrast and brightness set super high sell better in a showroom situation and as a result the default setting on most sets when you take em out of the box is stupidly high.
( I don't know why, I mean once you have the thing home you've already bought it, right? no need to be extra bright then)

[Analog-X]

I always have my Contrast to Full Setting and my Brightness between %50-%60 setting.   If its a PC Monitor I set to 85hz Refresh rate or higher.

[rampy]

I guess mom was right about sitting too close to the TV then, huh?

Besides eye strain, I think I pulled  a back muscle hunching over as my stools weren't adjusted to the right height... This arcade cabinet thing is a dangerous hobby: circular saws, routers, and splinters oh my!

rampy

[mikenotbob]

Peter,

Besides the pains of hooking up an arcade monitor when I built my cab in '99 (pre j-pac, pre advancemame, etc), running vector games in high-res was 90% reason why I went the PC monitor route.  I bet quite a few people forget this point.

-mike

[Minwah]

I'm going to use a PC monitor for the very same reason (vector games).

Then again, with news of Ulitimarc's new video card, it may be more tempting to use an arcade monitor...