What specs to look for in a monitor?

[kelemvor]

I have an LCD laying around I don't use and was thinking about using it in my cabinet.  It's a Dell E196FPb.  Here's a link to the specs:  http://support2.jp.dell.com/docs/monitors/E196FP/En/about.htm#Specifioications

What am I looking for to know if it will work well or not?  Will this monitor work OK for me or should I be exploring other options?  I have a couple others I could swap out if there's something about this one that would not make it well suited for Mame.

Thanks.

[XyloSesame]

I have an LCD laying around I don't use and was thinking about using it in my cabinet.  It's a Dell E196FPb.  Here's a link to the specs:  http://support2.jp.dell.com/docs/monitors/E196FP/En/about.htm#Specifioications

What am I looking for to know if it will work well or not?  Will this monitor work OK for me or should I be exploring other options?  I have a couple others I could swap out if there's something about this one that would not make it well suited for Mame.

Thanks.

I inherited a Dell 1905FP and had the same question. I knew it was a sub-par monitor, so I was concerned about it's performance in a cab. What I did was this: plugged it in to my MAME box and played a variety of titles, both emu and PC-based, in both horizontal and vertical orientations.

This probably isn't exactly what you wanted to hear, but it was the best test for me. Framerates, refresh, and numbers and calculations mean nothing to me if the monitor doesn't suit my eyes; I was concerned with my personal real-world impression. I found the panel to be adequate for most gameplay, enough so that it will find it's way inside of my soon-to-be-built cab. Note that I say adequate and not stellar - it's all in the eye of the beholder...

More info on 4:3 panels can be found in a current discussion on the Monitor forum

[brandon]

I havent been to the BYOAC forums in a while and I'm really surprised to see so many folks using LCDs.  I'm not a "purist" or a CRT snob but I think any fixed pixel display is downright ugly when the image has to be scaled to fit.  Unless, its scaled to even numbers.  Like if the game was 400x300 and the display was 800x600.   Otherwise you have to use some sort filtering or end up with some sort of artifacts.  I actually owned that very same LCD and even for PC gaming I didnt like it.  Having to run every game at native resolution of 1600x1200 can be a major performance hit on many new games and letting the monitor internally scale the image up is VERY ugly IMO.  Like XyloSesame said, hook it up and see what you think. In the end it all comes down to what works for you.  After all, Pacman is still fun even on my ugly cell phone LCD   

[ChadTower]

Increasingly, people are deciding the ease of build with an LCD is better than a more difficult build and frequency issue with CRTs.  The LCD is just so much easier to mount and eliminates the whole "can I be happy with 60hz rather than 15" debate.

[XyloSesame]

After all, Pacman is still fun even on my ugly cell phone LCD   

Exactly...

[ChadTower]

On the other hand, CRTs are plentiful and free. 

[u_rebelscum]

LCD stats are, umm, not standardized.  There are something like 4 or 6 (depending how you group) different LCD technologies, each with their pluses and minuses.

Some viewing angles stats are at 10% brightness of straight on, others are at 5%.  (On the "plus side", the angles are so bad on yours, I bet it's at 10%.)  Not included in the viewing angle stat, the different techs act differently when viewed from the side: reversed colors (like film negatives), ghosting, fading, or darkening.

Response time is a weird thing for LCDs; the closer the colors/brightnesses are, the slower the change.  Black to white and/or white to black are the fastest (which one depending on the LCD tech), which is why they are usually the numbers you see.  Sometimes you see GTG (Grey To Grey) response times, which is usually 2x to 4x slower, again depending on tech (and generation of tech).  OTOH small changes can be 4x to 10x even slower, again depending on tech and generation.

Generally VGA cable (aka analog) LCD monitors are fuzzier than DVI cable (aka digital) LCDs.  This isn't as important for mame as it is with surfing, text editing, and graphic design, though.


I like trying on my shoes before buying.  Same with monitors, TVs, stereos, and cars.  So as XyloSesame said, see if the monitor is good for your eyes.  Big things you really should check out on your monitor are the vertical viewing angles and reversing of colors (if I'm right on the tech).  See if people of different heights can see the image on the screen; it would be bad if you could see the screen, but six old kids and 6 foot 6 giants couldn't (assuming you're between those two heights).