Looking for hardware / encoder advice - what should I order?

[ChoiceStriker]

Hey guys, sorry to post this in two different forums, but I wasn't getting any hits in the project announcement thread (which I'll keep updated at http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=81913.0), and I thought I'd get more hardware help here.  Also, I've searched for answers, but every situation is different and I hope someone will be kind and patient enough to help out a relative newbie.

Here's what I need advice on: I recently bought an empty Midway Universal cabinet that used to contain a Gauntlet Dark Legacy (seller kept the board).  It also had a WG U5000 inside that I want to connect to a MAME PC.  I need help with what hardware I need to make this work.

These are the controls I want to put on the machine - I'm going to keep this simple:

2 Happ Supers
7 player buttons for each side
P1/P2 buttons and a few other service buttons
Trackball.

That's it.  I don't know what kind of encoder or other parts will be best (specifically for connecting to the monitor), so here are my questions:

1. Is there something from a company like Ultimarc that handles both the traditional controls and the trackball?  Or do I need a separate encoder for the trackball?
2. Will a J-Pac be enough to connect all of the regular controls (minus the trackball)?
3. To connect to the arcade monitor, do I need an ArcadeVGA as well?  Or can I get away with the J-Pac and software like soft15 (the video card is an ATI 9250)?

I'll be hugely grateful to anyone that can help straighten me out with what I need so I can get things ordered and get going!!!   Thanks in advance!

[Blanka]

The minipac handles all sticks, buttons and trackball
Don't forget to pick the right adapter for happ or suzo (ultimarc) trackballs.

[ChoiceStriker]

Thanks Blanka.  I didn't see the minipac at first because it's not really obvious on Ultimarc's page.  That's a good idea, though. 

What about the video stuff, though?  Should I just plan on getting the minipac and an arcadevga?  Is that the simplest option?

[AndyWarne]

This might not be the best choice, as this is a JAMMA cabinet. The easiest solution is the J-PAC as this simply plugs into the JAMMA connector and will connect the controls and video.
It will not connect the trackball though so you would need a separate interface for that, such as the Opti-PAC. There is also the U-HID Nano which can be used for this, see www.u-hid.com
Unfortunately this is a medium-resolution monitor which is not good news. med-res monitors mean no native resolutions for most classic games. The only games you will be able to run in native res are the games which originally used medium-res monitors.
The ArcadeVGA card can be used but will be useable in only two resolutions, 512 X 384 and 448 X 384, which are 25Khz medium-res. The Tri-Sync utility needs to be run after installation to enable these resolutions.

[ChoiceStriker]

Thank you, Andy.  I guess what's confusing me is the video function of the J-PAC versus what the ArcadeVGA does, and what exactly you mean by "native resolution."  Will something displaying at non-native resolution be stretched or distorted, or will it simply not display at all?  And is there any way to correct this?

Simply put, can you tell me what hardware is absolutely essential for me to be able to view ANY game on the monitor (if this is even possible with this monitor), whether things will be stretched or distorted, and whether this is correctable?

Here are a couple of different scenarios/configurations - can you tell me what I'll actually be able to see on the screen with each of them? 

1. PC connected to arcade monitor with J-Pac, controls connected with J-PAC and Opti-PAC.

2. PC equipped with ArcadeVGA connected to arcade monitor, controls connected with J-PAC (or I-PAC?) and Opti-PAC.

There are so many variables here and I'm not sure I understand what will give me the outcome I'm looking for.  I know I'm a noob at this but I want to learn.  Thank you again for your help and patience. 

[AndyWarne]

The J-PAC does not convert the video, it only amplifies the signal. So you would need to send a suitable 25Khz-res signal to the monitor.

The ArcadeVGA can do this, at least once Windows has started. It will send a 15Khz signal until that point which the monitor will not display.

Once you have a working resolution of 512 X 384, all games (except those which were originally 25Khz) will need to have hardware stretch or D3D scaling enabled. This is not much different from running a normal PC monitor with Mame, using a normal VGA card, and stretching is by default enabled in Mame.

The difference is that if you are using a PC monitor you have (for example) 1280 X 1024 or whatever resolution Windows is set at, which Mame, helped by the video card drivers and hardware, can re-sample the game screen  onto. As this would be a relatively high resolution compared to the game resolution, the results are good (although not much like an arcade monitor).

With a medium-res monitor fixed at 512 X 384, and a game wich runs for example at 320 X 240, there is not a great deal of leeway for the re-sampling to work with and also the two resolutions are not exact multiples. So the result is generally not so good because in order to scale, lines will need to be inserted by the scaling process, and these lines will be visible owing to the relatively low resolution being used by the monitor.

But at least all games will run, its just a case of whether the result is acceptable.

Andy