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Author Topic: The Monitor FAQ  (Read 185190 times)

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menace

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #40 on: April 10, 2005, 09:53:08 pm »
Taken from the sci.electronics.repair FAQ :

Note that due to the additive color scheme used in all emissive color displays like CRT or flat panel TV sets and video monitors, a single missing primary color (red, green, or blue) will result in the following appearance (for a white screen):

    Missing Color       Appearance
  ------------------------------------------------
       Red              Cyan (blue-green)
       Green            Magenta (reddish-purple)
       Blue             Yellow

This may best be observed with a test pattern a color on-screen display for which you recall the proper colors.


[I'm posting this here both as information and as a sticky note because I always forget  :))  By the way the sci.electronics.repair FAQ can be found at:

http://repairfaq.cis.upenn.edu/sam
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Re: FAQ: Do I need to discharge my monitor if I ... ???
« Reply #41 on: June 10, 2005, 03:25:11 pm »
I'd also like to add something...

For anybody mucking around on their monitor chassis, hopefully you know this already, but those barrel looking things standing up are capacitors. They're plastic coated around the sides and usually have metal showing on the top. Though it's not going to happen every time, touching that metal can give you a good zap - especially if you're hot and sweaty from digging around inside an arcade machine. It's those big ones near the power leads that have gotten me before. You'll see the same stuff if you pop open a power supply.


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Re: FAQ: Do I need to discharge my monitor if I ... ???
« Reply #42 on: June 10, 2005, 06:34:56 pm »
good faq..this should be sticky!!

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #43 on: June 12, 2005, 11:18:28 pm »
This needs to be in the FAQ.

Can I rotate a computer monitor?

Mario

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Re: FAQ: Do I need to discharge my monitor if I ... ???
« Reply #44 on: July 01, 2005, 02:53:57 am »
I would think that cleaning out the monitor should require a discharge too. If you hit the wrong wire or component, you could get a nasty shock
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Re: FAQ: Do I need to discharge my monitor if I ... ???
« Reply #45 on: July 26, 2005, 12:45:04 pm »
Is there any way to add pictures to this thread. I don't know enough about these monitors to know what not to touch if I ever need to remove my arcade monitor from the cab.

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Re: FAQ: Do I need to discharge my monitor if I ... ???
« Reply #46 on: August 05, 2005, 01:26:54 am »
If it looks like a suction cup, don't touch it. If it looks like a metal barrel either standing up or laying flat against the circuit board, don't touch it.

Monitors have mounts that are totally safe to grab. They usually have handles on them. Otherwise, they have metal frames that are safe to grab. You really do need to go poking around to hurt yourself.


menace

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #47 on: October 03, 2005, 03:08:31 pm »
HOW TO USE POWERSTRIP AS BY WPCMAME

 Here is a start

1. Windows XP on arcade monitor.

The aim om this guide is to setup an environment where applications running under Windows XP (including the desktop) works together with a low-res arcade monitor. It should be noted that even if applications such as word processing, internet surfing etc can be run on a low-res monitor, the picture quality (i.e. interlace flicker) is not suitable for longer periods of time. Games and movies does not suffer from this and works fine.

The guide only deals with the software involved. I use Ultimarc's J-PAC to connect my monitor to the graphics card but that is not necessary.

2. Software used.

In theory, no special software is required to run windows on an arcade monitor. The normal graphic card driver is fully capable of outputting the correct signals for the monitor. However, the graphic card driver doesn't normally include a user interface for setting up resolutions outside the standard 640x480, 800x600 etc. To avoid messing with windows registry settings this guide uses a tool "PowerStrip" from EntechTaiwan.com. There are other tools available but I have not tested them.

PowerStrip got 2 functions that we will use here:
1. It allows you to create custom resolutions and tweak existing resolutions via a graphical user interface.
2. It can automatically change the timing of the display whenever it changes. E.g. when a game asks for a VGA resolution (640x480), PowerStrip will automatically convert it into a resolution that works with the arcade monitor (640x480 interlaced).

3. Step-by-step guide

3.1 Install PowerStrip
Just download the trial version from www.entechtaiwan.com and run. The trial
version is fully functional but got a time limit (365 days) and a nag screen.

3.2 Verify that your graphic card driver works with an arcade monitor.
Obviously you need a VGA monitor to perform these actions.
(If any of the items mentioned below isn't available, your graphics card/driver doesn't support custom resolutions. Not much to do but get another graphic card)
1. Right-click on the PowerStrip icon in the task bar and select Display Properties/Change
2. Click on advanced settings
3. Click on "Custom Resolutions".
4. Go all the way down in the list of resolutions to the one that is labeled "640x480i (arcade)".
5. Select it and click on "add new resolution".
6. PowerStrip will now ask for confirmation and then switch to the new
   resolution. Connect the arcade monitor and one of four things can happen:
   1. It works. The windows desktop look stable but there is a lot of
      flicker on window borders and text etc. This is normal interlace
           flicker. We'll see later what we can do about it.
   2. The desktop is displayed but it is not centered, jumps up/down, is
           skewed etc. The signal from the graphic card is correct but you
           need to use the monitor controls to adjust the image.
   3. The desktop is visible but it looks like a jigsaw puzzle (the
           mouse pointer should look fine). Unfortunately your graphic card
           driver got a bug with "tiled" memory at low interlaced resolutions.
           PowerStrip can't fix the bug but it includes a workaround.
           Unfortunately the workaround will degrade 3D performance on the
           card with ~30%. Here is what to do:
      - Restore the display by pressing CTRL-SHIFT-S
      - Go to the custom resolution screen again
      - Double-click on the heading "Resolution" in the upper right corner.
      - A dialog box will appear asking if you want to turn
        off "tiling".
      - Select yes and then try to add the arcade resolution again.
   (You can also contact the driver manufacturer and hope that they fix
    the bug but don't hold you breath. ATI support answered me "We don't
    have the resources to deal with your problem". nVidia had a
    similar problem on some of their cards but I'm told it is corrected
    in their latest driver)
   4. Everything else. This includes half-sized desktop, no picture at
      all, colored lines across the monitor etc. Your graphic card/
      driver doesn't work with an arcade monitor. Try the monitor
      controls and see if you can get a picture but otherwise there is
      nothing to do. Press CTRL-SHIFT-S to go back to the VGA
      resolution.

7. If the desktop works, powerstrip will now ensure that the resolution
   640x480 always displays interlaced regardless of application.

   try mame pacman -resolution 640x480
 
   Of course, powerstrip must be running for it to work so when starting up
   the computer, the desktop will not be interlaced until powerstrip starts.

3.3 Plan the resolutions
Once you confirmed that your graphic card/driver works with the arcade monitor you need to look into what resolutions you need. Here are some things
to think about:
1. What applications will I run on the monitor?

- Only modern windows/directX games: 640x480i is actually all you need. If you wan't higher resolution you can use 768x576i or even 800x600i. (Only use resolutions with 4:3 aspect ratio or the game will look stretched). The drawback is that if you adjust the monitor to display more than 480 lines, lower resolutions will have black borders around the game area.

- Watching movies: Movies look best if the monitor uses the same resolution as the source. For DVD movies it means 720x480i (NTSC) or 720x576i (PAL). Other sources are probably made for displaying on a PC monitor so they assume 1:1 pixel aspect ratio. Use 640x480i for NTSC material and 768x576i for PAL.

- Emulated arcade games etc: MAME games use over 300 different resolutions. It is not practical to add all these resolutions and it is not necessary. I can write a long essay on how to choose resolutions but I leave that for some other time. If you are lazy just choose the same resolutions as the ArcadeVGA card got. (http://ultimarc.com/avgainst.html)

2. Interlaced or progressive scan.

Most arcade games use progressive scan displays. This means that they used a resolution with less than 300 lines (mostly in the range 224-256). While it is possible to create these resolutions there is also another possibility, interlaced display. The benefit of interlaced display is that it doubles the number of lines. These lines can be used to improve the game display via different filters, to display a higher resolution artwork backdrop etc. It also reduces the number of resolutions needed since you don't need both progressive scan and interlaced resolutions. The drawback is that the game doesn't look exactly like in arcades which is important to many people. (I have tried both interlaced and progressive scan on my monitor and the difference is hardly visible. Now when I know what to look for I can see it on a static image but not during gameplay)

What you should always do is to select resolutions with more than 400 horizontal pixels. The reason is:
1. Works with all graphic cards. Some cards have problems with low pixels clocks.
2. You don't need 2 different resolutions for mame games using 512x240 and 256x240 etc.
3. A mame game displayed at 672x240 instead of 336x240 makes no difference in the picture. The images will look exactly the same (yes, exactly).

3. Scaling artifacts/black borders
A fundamental property of arcade monitors is that they will always display the same amount of lines on the screen independent of the resolutions used. This means that if the monitor is adjusted to display 576 lines (PAL movie), a 480 line resolution (NTSC movie) will not use the full height of the screen (of course the same applies for games). There are two ways to partly solve this.
   - Use black borders. Resolution with less lines than the monitor is
     adjusted for will have black borders at top and bottom. This gives
          the best picture but depending on monitor size and viewing distance
          it might not be the best solution for everybody.
     Note that black borders should also be added at left/right or
     the picture will look squeezed vertically.
   - Use scaling. Resolution with less lines than the monitor is
     adjusted for are scaled up and resolution with more lines are
     scaled down. Since the scaling rarly is a whole number of
     pixels (e.g. scaling 576 pixels to 480 means removing every 6th
          line) it will add various artifacts. Also here it depends on
     monitor size and viewing distance if the artifacts are acceptable
     or not.

3.4 Create custom resolutions

First: Enabling low res resolutions
By default it is only possible to select resolutions with more than 400 lines in powerstrip. To change this we need to manually edit the powerstrip configuration.
  - Close powerstrip by right clicking on the icon and select close.
    (powerstrip updates the configuration file on close. If we edit
     the file without closing powerstrip our changes will be overwritten)
    Notice that the desktop stays interlaced when powerstrip is closed.
  - Open powerstrip's configuration file "pstrip.ini" in the application
    directory (normally "Program Files/powerstrip").
  - Under the section header "General Options" add the line
    MinLines=200
  - Save the file
  - Start powerstrip
  - Open powerstrip's display settings.
  - You should now be able to select resolutions like 320x200 and 320x240
    (Don't enable these resolutions yet. By default these are VGA resolutions
     with a high refresh rate)

- Quick and easy way.

The easiest way to add resolutions is to copy them from a working powerstrip.ini file.
- Exit powerstrip
- Copy all entries under the [custom resolutions] heading in a working powerstrip.ini file.
- Start powerstrip and go to the "custom resolution" window.
- Select all custom resolution in the listbox and press "add resolution".
- Restart windows.

Done.

(Here I will add my powerstrip.ini entries)

- Long and difficult way

- Step 1: Add resolution to driver

Go to powerstrip's "custom resolution" window. As an example we will add a
resolution to use for the game Gauntlet. Gauntlet uses 336x240x60Hz but this means a pixelclock of approximately 6MHz which is below what most graphic cards can handle. Therefore we double the horizontal resolution to 672.
Enter 672 and 240 into the size boxes and just ignore the other boxes and press "add resolution". Powerstrip will restart the computer. If everything worked, the resolution
will no be selectable in the powerstrip window.

(Many graphic drivers (at least ATI) are very picky on what resolutions you can add. Fortunately, once the resolutions is added you can modify it as you like.
If the resolution isn't added you need to fool the driver by adding a normal VGA monitor resolution. This means that the horizontal refresh should of 31KHz and a vertical refresh of at least 50Hz. In this case it means that we add a resolution of 672x240x120Hz. If this doesn't work try to add interlace.)

- Step 2: Adjust resolution

Once the driver has accepted the resolution, it is available for selection in the powerstrip window. Now we need to adjust the resolution to the monitor. Problem here is that if the resolution doesn't work you will not be able to adjust it since you can't see it on the screen.

I recommend to do it the following way
1. Download the "Low Resolution Modeline Calculator" (lrmc) from http://sourceforge.net/projects/lrmc
2. Let the tool generate the modeline

>lrmc 672 240 60 -cga

Modeline "672x240x60.11"  12.726000  672 688 752 808  240 244 247 262  -HSync -VSync

3. Close powerstrip
4. Open powerstrip.ini and search for the line "672x240="
5. Replace the digits with the ones generated by lrmc (note that powerstrip uses a difference modeline i.e. instead of "672 688 752 808 240 244 247 262" it should be 672 16 64 56 240 4 3 15", each value is subtracted from the one before.)
6. Start powerstrip and select the resolution.

- Step 3: Fine tune resolution (center on monitor etc)

 Here are the values for the AVGA resolutions (with doubled horizontal resolution)

How to use them:
1. Close powerstrip
2. Open the file powerstrip.ini
3. Add the following lines under the [Custom Resolutions] heading.
(If the heading doesn't exist, just create it at the end of the file)

[Custom Resolutions]
480x240=480,16,48,32,240,4,3,15,9072,7
512x240=512,16,48,40,240,4,3,15,9702,7
512x256=512,16,48,40,256,4,3,17,9702,7
512x264=512,16,48,40,264,5,3,17,9702,7
576x240=576,8,56,48,240,4,3,15,10836,7
592x240=592,16,56,48,240,4,3,15,11214,7
608x240=608,16,64,40,240,4,3,15,11466,7
768x240=768,16,80,56,240,4,3,15,14490,7
640x240=640,16,64,48,240,4,3,15,12096,7
640x256=640,16,64,48,256,4,3,17,12096,7
672x240=672,16,64,56,240,4,3,15,12726,7
704x256=704,24,72,48,256,4,3,17,13356,7
704x264=704,24,72,48,264,5,3,17,13356,7
704x288=704,24,72,48,288,5,3,19,13356,7
736x240=736,16,72,56,240,4,3,15,13860,7
784x240=784,24,80,56,240,4,3,15,14868,7
768x288=768,16,80,56,288,5,3,19,14490,7
424x272=424,16,40,32,272,4,3,18,8064,7
448x240=448,8,48,32,240,4,3,15,8442,7
512x240=512,16,48,40,240,4,3,15,9702,7
512x288=512,16,48,40,288,5,3,19,9702,7
632x264=632,16,64,48,264,5,3,17,11970,7
640x288=640,16,64,48,288,5,3,19,12096,7
800x288=800,24,80,56,288,5,3,19,15120,7

4. Save the file and start powerstrip
5. Go to to the "Custom resolutions" window.
6. Select "user defined" resolutions.
7. Mark all resolutions in the window
8. Click "add resolution" and restart windows if necessary.

All resolutions should now be available. To test them:
mame gauntlet -resolution 672x240

To change the windows desktop to one of these resolutions use the right slider in powerstrip. (The resolution will not be available in Windows' display properties)

This procedure worked for me with both a Radeon9200SE and a GeForce2.
« Last Edit: September 21, 2007, 08:35:18 pm by Peale »
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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #48 on: October 24, 2005, 05:54:24 pm »
Hey guys, this is my first post and I'm a super noob so bear with me.

How does an arcade moninter get it's power? My cab that I got has a broken power suply thing...do I have to have one of those to suply power to the moniter? I'm so confused  :-[

menace

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #49 on: October 26, 2005, 09:21:48 am »
the monitor typically gets its power through an isolation transformer (large heavy metal block) which in turn gets its power from the switching power supply (little silver box with row of screws on the end) of course i have seen them reversed as well.  if yours is set up so that all the power is routed through the power supply then yes getting a new one would give you your power back--simplest thing would be to plug in the machine and using a voltmeter check the screws coming from the power supply and make sure voltage is coming out.  if it isn't its likley dead or you have blown a fuse somewhere.
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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #50 on: November 14, 2005, 03:21:16 pm »
Menace, it's usually the other way around...

Over-simplifying:
110v power from wall comes in to cab, then splits so one set of wires carries 110v to the "silver box" power supply, while the other set goes to the isolation transformer. Then the power goes from that to the monitor.


NO MORE!!

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #51 on: September 14, 2006, 02:59:02 pm »
It would be cool if there was a post or guide in this thread on how to wire a monitor to an avga card. :applaud:

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #52 on: September 20, 2006, 08:21:40 pm »
I agree with above.
off to check out Avga card on google

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #53 on: October 03, 2006, 10:09:36 am »
Anyone use a flat panel LCD monitor for a MAME cabinet?  Not sure if it would look better or worse than a normal monitor.

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #54 on: December 09, 2006, 01:24:14 pm »
A MAME noob chiming in attempting to begin construction on a 2-player joystik/button cabinet. What are the common sizes for arcade monitors? I'll be using a CRT TV but I'm having a hard time finding a decent one to purchase for cheap. Obviously it needs to have s-video, but what size is common? 24"? 27"? Like I said, I'm looking to mostly play fighters and side scrolling shooters.

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #55 on: December 29, 2006, 03:47:36 am »
Here's a link to a thread in another forum with some lists of capkits. These are available from Zanen Electronics, adress info is included.

http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php
« Last Edit: January 13, 2010, 07:16:58 pm by SirPeale »

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #56 on: December 30, 2006, 05:16:08 pm »
For those who seeks capkits:

Zanen Electronics' E-mail adress is ZanenElectronics@aol.com

I can confirm this address works as I just got a reply with a quote, their prices are the lowest I found so far.




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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #57 on: July 31, 2007, 02:57:44 pm »
Thanks for all the great info! I have a bunch of arcade parts am I'm looking to build a whole cabinet of my own.

--
John George
« Last Edit: May 07, 2008, 01:43:10 pm by Peale »

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #58 on: August 02, 2007, 05:28:13 pm »
Maybe not for the average BYOACer, but should you ever start collecting original arcade cabs, this company could mean the rescue of your beloved (vector) arcade monitor.

Cinelabs www.cinelabs.com currently offers High Voltage Transformer replacements (sometimes called Flybacks) for:

- Wells-Gardner K6100 & K6400 - color vector monitor (Space Duel, Tempest, Quantum, Black Widow, Gravitar, Boxing Bugs, Aztarac)

- Atari/Amplifone 19" and 25" - color vector monitor (Quantum, Star Wars,The Empire Strikes Back, Major Havoc)

- Sanyo EZ-20 - color raster monitor (Donkey Kong (Jr.), Popeye, Mario Bros.)


These HVT's are often the cause of the "death" of any of these monitors. It is great to be able to get brand new replacements. And at affordable prices too.
These HVTs have been designed from the ground up specifically to replace the originals. They are *not* surplus TV HVTs that were "forced to fit and painted to match" for the occasion.

Mark Shostak, developer of these replacement HVT's and owner of Cinelabs, deserves much respect for taking the effort and risk of making these HVT's available at fair prices, and so helping to keep many classic arcade cabinet well and running, or making it possible to revive some of these fantastic classics back to glorious working order !

info@cinelabs.com
Cinelabs products are also available from Arcadeshop
« Last Edit: September 21, 2007, 08:36:48 pm by Peale »

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #59 on: September 21, 2007, 08:20:57 pm »
Added information on the P307 card for the K4600.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=45137.msg116724#msg116724

Feel free to fix it if it's screwed up.  Which it might be.

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #60 on: October 29, 2007, 07:26:39 am »
Northerngames brought this to my attention--Nanao monitor schematics as well as a few chassis pics(contributed by segasonicfan apparently):

http://files.filefront.com/Nanao+Schematicszip/;8697391;/fileinfo.html

thanks!
« Last Edit: October 29, 2007, 07:29:24 am by menace »
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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #61 on: May 12, 2008, 11:53:20 am »

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Lutus

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #62 on: May 12, 2008, 01:23:35 pm »
Here is a short video tutorial I did for Bender on how to adjust the B+ voltage on my Sanyo20EZ monitor in my Donkey Kong machine.


B+ Adjustment tutorial:  This method can be used for all monitors.  Reference your monitor's manual to determine the correct B+ voltage test point and what the expected B+ voltage should read.




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jono

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #63 on: May 16, 2008, 04:23:54 am »
what does adjusting the b+ voltage do? as in the appearance on the screen

Lutus

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #64 on: May 16, 2008, 09:34:29 am »
Maladjusted B+ can do many things to screen geometry.  In my case.  I could not tune in the FOCUS and my HORIZTONAL deflection was such that I could only fill about 45% of the screen with the video signal.  But mine was +88V when it should have been +108V.  Any lower and it might have stopped coming on.

B+ is often overlooked, but it should be checked anytime after performing cap kits, HOT and flyback replacements, etc...
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AndyWarne

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #65 on: August 25, 2008, 07:53:29 pm »
Question:  What is the specific function of a 1:1 Isolation transformer?   Isn't  it supposed to keep the AC at a steady 60hz?  Keep the spikes out so the monitor doesn't blink?

Answer (courtesy of Ken Layton): As pertaining to commercial arcade games the function is solely to isolate the monitor's "hot" chassis from all other components in the cabinet and keep you from frying if you touch the chassis. Only the monitor is connected to the output side of the transformer and nothing else.   The transformer was not designed as a voltage regulating/spike protecting unit.  It is a safety device for sure.
I think Ken must have been misquoted here as this is not really what an isolation transformer does. In fact its the opposite. The function is to render the monitor chassis "cold" as opposed to "hot" and allow it to safely be connected to ground along with all other compnents in the cabinet. It does not isolate the chassis from the other componets in the cabinet, it isolates it from the AC power input. One side of the output of an isolating transformer should always be connected to ground and to the monitor chassis. The game board or PC ground is connected to the monitor ground by way of the video harness and so the monitor chassis must be grounded and definitely not "hot".
Early TV sets were designed in the same way as older arcade monitors and did not have isolating transformers. This meant the chassis was directly connected to one side of the AC mains supply. This was OK as the chassis was completely contained within an outer insulating cabinet with no external connections (apart from the antenna which was easy to isolate using coupling capacitors). Later TVs and all arcade monitors have external connections so cannot be allowed to have live chassis.
These days providing isolation from mains is easier with switch-mode power supplies which are isolated by design.
In many cabinets the isolating transformer feeds everything in the cabinet especially in 240 volt regions where it also drops the voltage to 110v.
What would happen if a monitor which needs an isolating transformer was used without one? It depends on which way the AC power cord is connected. It would either result in building neutral being connected to ground which is against every electrical code in the book and dangerous or it would result in 110 volts AC being applied to the ground of anything connected to the monitor ie the PC casing and the controls in a Mame cab, which would instantly destroy the PC and maybe the user!

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #66 on: October 30, 2008, 10:19:16 am »
For the very brave of heart only: How to set-up purity and convergence:

http://personalpages.tds.net/~rcarlsen/cbm/converge.txt


This is about the best walk-through I've seen on the net. Text only, but pretty clear and complete IMHO.

Only do this if you have a poor convergence !!!!

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #67 on: November 12, 2008, 03:54:52 pm »
I recently contacted the author of the Powerpoint tutorial (discharge.ppt) and he gave BYOAC permission to post the file here for archival purposes.  (Attached as a .zip file)

A big thanks goes out to Russ from www.arcadegames.net for letting us use his great file.   :applaud:

~ DeLuSioNaL
Stop by my Youtube channel and leave a comment:

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #68 on: December 04, 2008, 12:50:00 pm »
The Powerpoint tutorial is good and note that it mentions to do this when the CRT has to be disconnected from the main board. This is the only time you should discharge a CRT, ie when you need to remove the anode cap.
There is no need to discharge in any other situation. But be aware there are other dangerous charges held in the power supply capacitors on the main board, especially under some fault conditions (eg open fusible resistors on the power supply outputs) where the charge is not drained away and can stay there for hours.
On a working monitor, the power supply caps would drain fairly quickly.

Andy

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #69 on: February 13, 2009, 12:26:02 pm »
continued...

Q: You said you would help me identify my monitor, so identify already...
A:  Ah the impatience of youth... ;D


The best thing to do first is look for a tag or sticker that explicitly says what model you have.  Please note that only manufacturer's and a few gifted arcade guys can identify using serial numbers --please find model numbers (it will say model:_____).  Failing that, look for identifying marks on the boards themselves (chassis and neckboard)  Sometimes there are numbers, sometimes there are letters that can help identify what it is you have. 

Last bet, take as good a top down picture as you can--this may require you to discharge the monitor and remove it from the machine but since it's likely not working anyways you will be doing this regardless (more on this later)

Armed with your picture, visit:
www.jomac.net.au/mon.htm OR

Bob Roberts-big bear bulletin board and see "whats my monitor" about halfway down the page. 

That link to Bob Roberts' Monitor ID page is dead: Use this one instead:

http://www.therealbobroberts.net/monitor.html

SirPeale

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #70 on: March 25, 2009, 09:02:03 am »
I work on monitors a lot, but don't want to buy a lot of "cap kits".  Is there a list of commonly used capacitors?

Ken Layton has created this list of capacitors that he commonly orders in bulk.\

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=80699.0

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #71 on: July 09, 2009, 02:54:32 am »
I recently contacted the author of the Powerpoint tutorial (discharge.ppt) and he gave BYOAC permission to post the file here for archival purposes.  (Attached as a .zip file)

A big thanks goes out to Russ from www.arcadegames.net for letting us use his great file.   :applaud:

~ DeLuSioNaL
The link to the PPt file in post 1 is no good anymore. And the zip DeLuSioNal29 posted is gone aswell..
Could someone post it again, please. I have a 21" monitor that I'm planing to strip down and use in my future cab, and I'm not that keen on being zaped. Thanx!

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #72 on: July 09, 2009, 06:58:20 pm »
You'll have to look through the wiki, and elsewhere online....unless someone posts a link to a hosted file, cos files still aren't accessible through here.
Yo. Chocolate.


"Theoretical physics has been the most successful and cost-effective in all of science."

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People often confuse expressed observations with complaint, ridicule, or - even worse - self-pity.

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #73 on: April 20, 2010, 01:00:40 am »
continued...

How to discharge a monitor:

See here for pictures and directions: http://www.arcadegames.net/sightsound/discharge.ppt


This link is now dead. has this information been archived somewhere? I need to take the case of my TV for space conservation in my cab and I'm scared.  ...very scared.

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #74 on: April 23, 2010, 01:11:54 pm »
There are many many many links detailing how it's done.  Google is your friend.

SirPeale

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #75 on: November 06, 2010, 11:35:17 pm »
Need a guide on wiring up a B & K Socket Adapter? http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=107069.0

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #76 on: May 27, 2017, 02:06:30 pm »
I am planning on using a PC monitor with a 412in1 Game Board.  My question about the monitor is how do you access the monitor controls once you have pulled it from it's case and mounted it in a cabinet?   I have 5 buttons on the bottom of the monitor for on/off, couple settings, & a menu.  Do I need to wire that button bar up to still be accessible?  The main concern is the power, how do I switch that to be controlled from the main cabinet power switch?

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Re: The Monitor FAQ
« Reply #77 on: June 28, 2020, 01:25:38 pm »
ATTENTION:

The monitor and power supply repair guides I have written over the years are now located at a new website link. Please go here now:

https://sites.google.com/site/mtpacifico/mikes_arcade/kens_korner