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What is the best Arcade Monitor to get?
rdowdy95:
I am thinking of upgrading my current 27" TV svideo to an arcade monitor. I would be just plugging the monitor into my video card which is a Radeon X1300 Pro card via the 15 pin analog monitor cable. I was looking at either the Wells Gardiner D9400 or the Betson Imperial Monitor. Now do those monitors have the geometry settings so I can make sure everything is on the screen like meaning no overscan? That is what I would really like.
Also if I am not using powerstrip program or arcade vga card will it still make the games look good? Or do I need to setup this powerstrip program to make sure it displays the games nicely.
ahofle:
The whole point of using an arcade monitor is to get authentic CGA resolutions, which means you'll need an ArcadeVGA or software like Powerstrip/Soft15khz. Otherwise you are wasting your money IMO.
To address your other question, I know the Betson has on screen geometry and size adjustments and I'm pretty sure the 9400 does as well. Billabs is another maker of 27" multisyncs.
DeLuSioNal29:
As far as the monitor goes, I just bought a Betson 27" Monitor. According to the people here on the forums, it's been known to be more reliable than a Wells Gardner, which is why I bought it. My buddy also has this monitor. So far I love it. It's so crisp and accurately recreates the arcade feel.
It's on sale right now for $374 (normally $469) which is an AMAZING price! It will cost about $100 to ship, but I picked mine up directly at Betson's facility so I lucked out and saved on shipping. (You may need an SUV or a hatchback to pick it up as the box is pretty big and you should not really take it out until you are installing it). Betson has several showrooms around the country.
The monitor itself has a standard VGA hookup, similar to a normal PC monitor, so no other equipment is necessary. It will work great with Ultimarc's VGA2 card. Although I eventually will purchase the arcade VGA, for now I have an Nvidia GeForce 7 working with Powerstrip and it works like a champ (you must cut and paste the extra 15kz resolutions into the powerstrip.ini file, then reboot)
Find out how here: http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Custom_display_modes_(Windows)_-_Powerstrip#Step-by-step_guide
The actual stuff that you need to paste into the .ini file is here: http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Custom_Powerstrip.ini
Last but not least... Here's a link to the monitor: http://www.betson.com/products/IMP-44-4070-RT
Enjoy!
~ DeLuSioNaL
joeH:
I've had the Betson for almost a year and a half now and have not had any problems with it. It's a great monitor. Too bad I had to drive all the way to Phoenix to get it though. ;D
NoOne=NBA=:
I've got a Happ 27" VGA/SVGA that I love.
I prefer able to properly display 640x480 and 800x600 for PC games over absolutely arcade authentic.
Arcade games look reasonably authentic with it, and it displays vector games better than a true arcade monitor.
I also have a 25" arcade monitor, in my sitdown cab, that is CGA/EGA.
I don't care for it quite as much, but it's still a huge step up over a TV.
With the ArcadeVGA, it will display 640x480, but it's blurrier than using a VGA monitor.