Monitor suggestions

[nox771]

Hello all,

I've been wanting to build a MAME cab for a while, several years, but haven't had time for it.  I occasionally do follow the forum and all the great builds you guys do, and that gets the energy flowing again.  Fortunately I think I'll get a chance this winter, so I would like to start planning.  The first choice for me is the largest element in the cab - the monitor.

For space and weight reasons I want to use an LCD.  Actually the last time I considered a build I had an old 27" trinitron TV that I thought would work well.  I connected it up to the PC to do some experimentation and discovered that while most games looked ok, all the vector games looked absolutely horrible (seriously it was bad).  On the LCD the vector games look pretty good IMO, which is another reason I like going that route.

There are a few things about the LCD choice though that I could use some help on.  One is that I would like to get a large enough monitor to not have to rotate it.  However most large LCDs (all of them?) are widescreen format, not 4:3, so I'm concerned about the effective screen size when using a vertical game.  For people who use a non-rotating LCD what size do you find is good?  Also for a 4 player setup, how large of a screen would be recommended?  I want a large enough screen so the players 3/4 get a good experience.

Also it occured to me walking around the stores the other day that what may be more suitable instead of a computer monitor, would be one of the smaller LCD TVs.  While 32" might be large for a computer monitor, it is small in the world of TVs.  Spec wise LCD TVs seem like a good fit - lower resolution but large size.  They are probably cheaper than comparably sized monitors as well.  Has anyone used one in this application, and does it work well?  If so, what kind of inputs are recommended - hdmi? DVI? and how would vector games look - same as on a monitor?

A lot of monitors these days are glossy finished vs matte finish.  Does the type matter if a plate of plexi is used in front of it anyway?  I've read that glossy finished are better for contrast.

Finally, I would like to use light guns.  Since I'm using an LCD it would be the type with the light bars.  For that how large of a screen is recommended for good game play, and what distance from the screen are the light guns used?

If anyone has recommendations on models/types that would be great, but even size recommendations would be very helpful.  Thanks.

[Ummon]

It's all here. Search under those things and I bet you'll find what you're looking for (although you might want to check out the new sonic gun system by David Forley that has been discussed here lately).

[nox771]

Ahh.  Thanks for the tip on the sonic gun, I had not seen that before.  It's kind of interesting, I have several of those sound transducers that thing uses, but would never have conceived of that application.

[fronty]

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[system01]

I used a 20.1" Samsung LCD in my cocktail.  The thing to really look for is the viewing angle and the ms refresh.  20.1 was the largest 3:4 I could find for reasonable price, then I found a refurb for 200 USD or something.  It has 160° viewing and 5ms refresh, and even with a very low playing angle still keeps true, bright color all the way across.  I think your worries about players 1 & 4 (or far right and left) not seeing the entire field will not be an issue, as the picture seems to be so much closer to you than a tube.  Basically, if you were to take a bright poster and stretch it across where the screen would be, thats how youll see it.

Taken from http://www.nicetaco.com/tv.aspx#calculator (sorry for crappy formatting):

A 27" diagonal 16:9 (1.78:1) screen will have the following dimensions:
Diagonal Inches   Width Inches   Height Inches   Square Inches
27   23.5407   13.2251   311.3281

A 4:3 (1.33:1) screen with the same number of square inches as a 27" diagonal 16:9 screen will have the following dimensions:
Diagonal Inches   Width Inches   Height Inches   Square Inches
25.4587   20.3486   15.2997   311.3281

A 4:3 screen with the same height as a 27" diagonal 16:9 screen will have the following dimensions:
Diagonal Inches   Width Inches   Height Inches   Square Inches
22.0066   17.5894   13.2251   232.6216

A 27" diagonal 16:9 screen will display* a 4:3 program source at the following dimensions:
Diagonal Inches   Width Inches   Height Inches   Square Inches
22.0066   17.5894   13.2251"   232.6216
* - With window boxing (black bars on the sides) a 4:3 program source displays as if it were a 22.0066" diagonal 4:3 screen.

So even at 27", a widescreen with have approx the same height as a 17" 4:3 turned sideways.  13.2"-13.3".  IMO that sounds like plenty.

On later mame versions Ive seen that they added vector settings, like contrast and line thickness.  Havent messed with them though.

[nox771]

Thanks for the helpful info guys.  Yes I agree that the 27" trinitron would be an ideal size, but unfortunately it lacks decent video inputs.  The best it has is S-video, and that was what I tried that gave me the awful vector results (however for straight raster games it would probably be decent).  I wish I could buy a flat panel with that size and aspect but there is no such thing. 

I think I'll focus on a flat panel 27" or larger if I can get it at a decent price.  For all decent price panels that size I think they will be TN panels which usually have the fastest speed but the worst viewing angle.  The 5ms panel system01 mentions sounds like a TN, which you say looks great at all the angles you use it at, so that is encouraging.  BTW - this is a great flat panel info page I found on Anandtech:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=2049206&enterthread=y

It's good to know the LCD-TVs can work well, I think there are probably more options in that size range.  Thanks again.