Another Arcade Monitor to PC Questions Thread

[Superdude]

Hello, I am very new at this Mame arcade scene.  I wanted to build an arcade cab for Mame. I recently attended an auction and found a Konami Run and Gun jamma cab with a 32" monitor.  I bought it and brought it home. I got it very cheap, but it was all beatup.  I finally finished fixing all the gouges and imperfections on the cab.  I am ready to start bulding the guts.  

I am running windows xp with a raedon VE Dual Display edition video card. Now I have been reading that Windows will destroy an arcade monitor unless you can set your video card to 15Hz.  What are my options to run windows on a arcade monitor.  I have read through some threads specifically on this topic but I am still a bit confused.  Here are some questions:

1) Ultimarc is suppose to come out with a video card for arcade monitors. It sounds great but is this really true?  The reason why I doubt this will not come out soon because it sounds like a HUGE undertaking. This would probably be the best solution if I get this card and the JPAC. Is this true?

2) Let's say 1 doesnt happen, since my card has tv out is there a way to change to 15Hz?  I hate to get a scan converter since it is alot of cash, but I thought I read somewhere if the card has tv/out you still can change the vga out to 15Hz.  Is this true, or wishful thinking?

3) Any other suggestions?  I think I should have bought an empty cab and gone either pc monitor or tv.  I heard good things about arcade monitors and thought everything would be okay.  Whoops... I was wrong.

Thanks again for helping/reading, any words of wisdom would help me a ton!

[SNAAAKE]

Well,
Madsmurf has a converter that can be used for this as I too am getting 32" showcase type cab with monitor but the dude is asking $200 lowest and I still gotta wait to get money just for that.

[Superdude]

Snaake,
Would this make sense? If I go ahead and use Arcade OS temporarily and wait to hopefully Andy's Arcade card is reailty?  Or should I just finish the cab with a game everyone wants that is 4 player and sell it and start over but with a tv? Or I could keep the cab and put in a unmamed game like NFL Blitz or Wayne Gretzky Hockey and keep it for my rec room and save up and start over.
Any suggestions are appreciated.

[rampy]

If I understand correctly you could get the JPAC and use it with your existing card and arcadeos without too much fuss (i'm making some assumptions there... I don't have your vid card or a jpac)... (it's do the conversion from VGA to rgb and bring it down to 15khz)

I wouldn't think you'd need both...

You could also hack the TV out to go to the arcade monitor I believe...

A lot of it depends on what you want to play/your goals for your cabinet are.  

I wouldn't doubt andy from ultimarc's ability to come through for a second... there will be an arcade monitor ready video card... (assuming no unforeseen circumstances) at some point in the near-ish future...

Does the rest of the cabinet meet your MAMEing/etc needs, i.e. controls/layout/look etc?  that could help decide if you keep the cabinet or try to recoup money and buy something else...

good luck!

rampy

[Superdude]

Thanks Rampy,
I really don't mean to dismiss andy.  It just seems too good to be true.  But then again Andy has some stellar products which I will be ordering from.

Anyways, my cab does fit exactly what I want for my mame arcade system.  IE Control Panel and Monitor size etc, the only problem is this:  
I want to build a cab that plays my all time favorite sport games.  Ie Open Ice Arcade, Wayne Gretzky Hockey N64, NHL 94 SNES, NBA Jam Arcade, Blitz, etc....  Now I got it all to work on Windows, but if I go to Dos I would lose a few games.  Plus I dont think SNES9x will work on the arcade monitor in dos.
 

[Anonymously]

You could also hack the TV out to go to the arcade monitor I believe...

Do you know where we can find information about this?  Have anybody tried it?

[rampy]

You could also hack the TV out to go to the arcade monitor I believe...

Do you know where we can find information about this?  Have anybody tried it?

I had mispoken... sorry for any confusion... there is a hack where you use the VGA pins directly and get the sync from the TV out signal or the like (it's in the BYOAC tutorial/faq somewhere)... a little bit different than what I assumed...

my suggestion wait for the new wizbang vid card... or use a jpac and some software solutions...


BTW... maybe you could use powerstrip or a simliar utility to get windows running well on the arcade monitor although that's been quite the issue (check other threads in this monitor forum) for some people...  I'm using a 21" SVGA so I don't have that issue personally =P (not that I wouldn't like to use an arcade monitor ...)

rampy

[tom61]

1) Ultimarc is suppose to come out with a video card for arcade monitors. It sounds great but is this really true?  The reason why I doubt this will not come out soon because it sounds like a HUGE undertaking. This would probably be the best solution if I get this card and the JPAC. Is this true?

I think it's more a matter of when rather than if.

2) Let's say 1 doesnt happen, since my card has tv out is there a way to change to 15Hz?  I hate to get a scan converter since it is alot of cash, but I thought I read somewhere if the card has tv/out you still can change the vga out to 15Hz.  Is this true, or wishful thinking?

On a very few early TV-out cards, there is a bug that when TV out is enabled, it puts out 15kHz on the VGA port. Made most consumers mad, and could damage a PC monitor of that era(most didn't have sync protection then). Problem is that cards are old, and don't support Mame well. (pre-VESA 2.1, and low memory)

If I go ahead and use Arcade OS temporarily and wait to hopefully Andy's Arcade card is reailty?

Sounds like the best bet.

[SNAAAKE]

Snaake,
Would this make sense? If I go ahead and use Arcade OS temporarily and wait to hopefully Andy's Arcade card is reailty?  Or should I just finish the cab with a game everyone wants that is 4 player and sell it and start over but with a tv? Or I could keep the cab and put in a unmamed game like NFL Blitz or Wayne Gretzky Hockey and keep it for my rec room and save up and start over.
Any suggestions are appreciated.

You could use arcadeos for now and then get andy's card whenever it comes out and yes it is too good to be true..I still cant believe that it is coming out.

Reason i am trying to get that scan converter because I wanna play dreamcast too using vga box and without any hassle and i use ps2 via rage fury input so i need windows.

Get the jpac and be safe because.just trying just blow up your monitor.

[AlanS17]

If you're not completely comfortable with the whole idea of using the arcade monitor, I would be glad to buy the machine off your hands.  

My machine wouldn't need to play all those games you're talking about so I should be fine off. How much do you want for it??? And where do you live???

[Superdude]

I think I will go with the Jpac and arcadeos way.  If it doesnt workout, the machine is for sale. Thanks for all your comments and suggestions, it helped me tremendously. I'm glad you guys stepped in before I blew up my monitor!