mame32 with s-video card and TV question

[Mike Toms]

I'm trying to decide between using a TV and a 21" SVGA computer monitor for my mame cabinet and other emulators/games.  I would like to use a 25" TV to get the larger display, but I'm not sure which s-video card would be best.  Also, which 25" TV has a good s-video picture at 800X600.  If anyone has any input on which video card or TV I should get, please let me know.

: Also, I've used ATI tv out cards before, but I heard that matrox twinhead has the best s-video output because it uses a seperate tuner or something and ati and nvideo do not.  Anyone know if this is true?

[aramis]

I suggest doing a search on this topic...you will find plenty of discussion on it. But, since I'm a nice guy, I'll re-cap it all here...  

- Not all ATI cards are true ATI..."powered by ATI" means it is NOT a true ATI card, and may have crappy TV-out. A true ATI typically uses a better tv-out chip, and thus has excellent, easy to use TV-out.

- For the most part, the only GeForce cards that have good (full-size, centered) tv-out are the cards with VIVO ability. These use a Philips combo chip, not the typical Conexant or Chrontel chip.

- I've never used a dual-head Matrox's TV-out, so I cannot comment on that. However, everything I have heard is that ATI is the way to go.

- You DEFINITELY want to use S-Video and not Composite...I'm sure you are aware of that.

- To me, a pc monitor does not look arcade-authentic, and I did not want to add system overhead by enabling software scanlines. So, I went with a 25" S-vid TV.

- Another choice is to use a scan converter. Your vid card then does not need to have tv out. However, I personally cannot comment on the quality of the tv picture (as compared to say an ATI) as I have not yet tried one.