Arcade Monitor with JPAC

[savj14]

I was wondering if anyone has any input good or bad on using an Arcade Monitor, JPAC, and a normal VGA Video Card(Anything other than the ArcadeVGA). Can you achieve good results with this setup??

I have read the PowerStrip write up and that seemed to make me more confused than before I read it. Is it possible to use an Arcade Monitor and still run Games at their Native Resolutions and obtain results as good or similar to Using an ArcadeVGA??? Or do I have to buy the ArcadeVGA. I really don't want to buy the card if I don't have to.

I know you can add custom resolutions, but which resolutions do I need to add???
Do I have to double the Horizontal Resolution or can I add the exact resolutions that the ArcadeVGA has on its card(if possible)??

What are the negatives of using a Normal VGA card opposed to the ArcadeVGA, other than adding custom resolutions and any other tedious setup?

Thanks in advance.

[savj14]

Any one out there?   

[shardian]

I've tried researching this too. There is no clear cut solution. each situation differs depending on the monitor and the video card chosen. Sometimes you need a signal amp. You also have to consider the time span before the computer loads the video card drivers. A 25khz signal can damage the arcade monitor. As I understand it, this can be fixed by using a dummy video card, or getting a special circuit relay to send the signal.

I really hoped that someone else would answer you, because I have never done this myself. After all the time I've invested with still no clear cut answer, it is worth the extra $50 to get a arcadevga and be done with it.

[Thenasty]

Normal PC parts (cards, Monitor etc...) EASY less work
AVGA/Arcade Monitors (15khs) Harder.. little work

Its up to you. Some games are made to run with Arcade monitors so, all those games will look good in the original than a PC monitor.

Some games are higher RES and it won't look good in Arcade Monitor (15khz) but will in PC monitor.

There are hybrid Monitors out there (more $$$) but it seems like it will cover all of the above. I don't have that setup tho so I can't give a little of it.

I only have Arcade Monitors (15khz) setup with ArcadeVGA on my setup and I was just looking for a little of Authentisity on my part.

But if you don't care about the Original BLURRY looks of the original Arcade Monitor output, the a normal PC card and Monitor will be enough.

[CheffoJeffo]

Yes, you CAN achieve good results using something other than an ArcadeVGA. Resolution is less important that frequency, though, and you need to be able to drive an appropriate frequency for your arcade monitor.

The JPac will protect your monitor from improper signals.

You need to make sure thaty our video card is pushing appropriate frequencies (typicaly 15KHz) and if that is confusing you, then I would suggest the ArcadeVGA (no negative connotation intended ... I use the ArcadeVGA to avoid the hassle).

Cheers

[savj14]

Yes, you CAN achieve good results using something other than an ArcadeVGA. Resolution is less important that frequency, though, and you need to be able to drive an appropriate frequency for your arcade monitor.

The JPac will protect your monitor from improper signals.

You need to make sure thaty our video card is pushing appropriate frequencies (typicaly 15KHz) and if that is confusing you, then I would suggest the ArcadeVGA (no negative connotation intended ... I use the ArcadeVGA to avoid the hassle).

Cheers

I see what your saying about the frequency and completely understand that. PowerStrip actually has an Arcade Profile that you can add to your custom resolutions so your video card can use it. The settings for this is

640x480
Horizontal: 16Khz
Vertical: 30Hz
Interlaced
Pixel Clock: 13.582

I would assume that I could use my Arcade Monitor + JPAC and run this on my PC with my normal VGA card, since it is set to use the correct Frequency.

Assuming this would work and I can use the Arcade Monitor with Windows(I'm sure the display will be blurry and flickery due to Interlace) I would be able to Fire up MAME32 and use this monitor for emulating games. Now the problem with that is I am sure I need to add some resolutions so that the games fit nicely and run at 15Khz. If 640x480 is the only resolution the monitor can handle I am not sure how the games might look.

For example I play alot of Games that use 400x256, Like NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat series. I assume I would just add this resolution using PowerStrip and make sure it is using 15khz??? This is what I get when I add the resolution

400x256
Horizontal: 16Khz
Vertical: 60Khz
Pixel Clock: 7.590

I'm not sure if the pixel clock is too low or not. Or maybe if I use this and set it to interlace, that might be the best way. I have also heard of just doubling the horizontal resolution and the results barely noticeable. This is what I get when I add the same resolution with a doubled horizontal resolution:

800x256
Horizontal: 16Khz
Vertical: 60Hz
Pixel Clock: 14.501

To be honest I just want it to look close to Arcade Quality and fill the screen. I have been using a PC monitor for the longest time and I want to be able to tell there is a difference when using an Arcade Monitor.And do all this using my existing Video Card.

[savj14]

Here is a pretty good article on this. Some of this in the PowerStrip write up on this forum but there is some good info in here. http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Custom_display_modes_(Windows)_-_Powerstrip

Especially this portion of it:

What you should always do is to select resolutions with more than 400 horizonal pixels. The reason is:

    A. Works with all graphic cards. Some cards have problems with low pixels clocks.
    B. You don't need 2 different resolutions for mame games using 512x240 and 256x240 etc.
    C. A MAME game displayed at 672x240 instead of 336x240 makes no difference in the picture. The images will look exactly the same (yes, exactly).

Is Part C actually true??? I wonder if this will still make a MAME game operate and look in its Native Resolutio.

[SirPeale]

My experiences have been different.  Without a J-PAC I've been able to get a VGA signal to several different monitors without damage.  Of course, I load a driver to get a 15KHz signal fairly quickly, but there have been instances where I couldn't do it right away.  Everything was fine.

Of course, this was just straight textmode stuff, not Windows resolutions.

[savj14]

Yes, you CAN achieve good results using something other than an ArcadeVGA. Resolution is less important that frequency, though, and you need to be able to drive an appropriate frequency for your arcade monitor.

The JPac will protect your monitor from improper signals.

You need to make sure thaty our video card is pushing appropriate frequencies (typicaly 15KHz) and if that is confusing you, then I would suggest the ArcadeVGA (no negative connotation intended ... I use the ArcadeVGA to avoid the hassle).

Cheers

Let's assume I have a hacked cable from my Arcade Monitor to my VGA card on my computer. I would not be using an ArcadeVGA or a JPAC right now. I do however have PowerStrip installed and have setup 20 or so Resolutions that are using a Horizontal refresh of 16Khz. PowerStrip has a predefined Resolution which is as follows:

640x480i(Arcade)
Horizontal: 16Khz
Vertical: 30Hz
Interlaced
Pixel Clock: 13.582

Here is the idea on how to use my Arcade Monitor in Windows without using an ArcadeVGA or a JPAC.

1. Turn on my PC with my Computer Monitor still hooked up like usually.
2. Let it boot up into Windows.
3. Go to my custom Resolutions within PowerStrip
4. Select 640x480 Interlaced, Running at 16Khz Horizontal; 30Hz Vertical Refresh rates.
5. Once Selected my Computer Monitor will go out of sync due to the refresh rates.
6. Unplug my computor Monitor from the VGA Card
7. Plug in my Arcade Monitor using the hacked VGA cable.

Does anyone see any issues with this setup???

[dynamite]

I could very well be wrong here but if it were me and my machine I'd be worried about zapping the video card when swapping the vga cables while the pc is running. It's not to say that I haven't done it before, but I wouldn't do it on a good machine everyday or at least everytime I wanted to play on the cab.

Personally, I would think it would just turn out to be just a huge hassle having to do that all the time. If it's a money issue for you, then maybe you could try it until you could afford to spring for the arcadevga and hope you don't blow your monitor in the mean time.