Monitor Orientation

[mike boss]

Guys looking around I think this post could go in many sections............so forgive me if I've placed it in perhaps the most "non ideal" location.

My question pertains to three bar top machines with horizontal displays
a 48-in-1 board with vertical games and lastly
a PC going to be set up to run MAME and vertical games only

(1) Using the advanced settings of my video card I can change my monitor display. Options can be found to rotate image 90o, 180o, etc. I assume doing this would in turn display vertical games they way they should be displayed. Or does MAME itself contain this option ? (I'm using MAME32(ui)) OR do I have to rotate the image of my monitor and change the settings in MAME itself ?

(2) My bartop machines have horizontal monitors. I know if I were to simply plug in the 48-in-1 I would have an empty space to the left and right of the image. If I simply rotate the monitor would t hat rectify the issue ?

(3) The 48-in-1 boards do have an option to output the image to PC monitor. Something I am considering for when I fix these machines for resale. If I were to rotate a stardard (non widescreen) monitor onto its side and install it would it display the image correctly ?

If so, is this because the board itself is set to display a certain image ? Forgive me for this NOOB question. My brother had purchased a AERO FIGHTERS game from auction with vertical monitor. He installed the board and had no issues. I would assume if he pulled this monitor and installed it onto any other machine be it horizontal or vertical it would display correctly. My guess is that the monitor can display any image (or for that matter any monitor can display any image) but it depends what is outputted by the board/PC/etc.

Any info guys would be a big help, thanks for helping a NOOB out !

[RayB]

Depends if your monitor has a gravity detectomometer.

[Beretta]

not sure about the 48-in-1 boards and what not.

but ya mame has options to rotate the image.

if you took a standard 4.3 monitor flipped it on it's side 90 degrees.. and then rotated the image in mame it would fit perfectly.

you can test this your self by loading a game up in mame, going ot video options and rotate it 90 degrees.. cock your head left or right you'll see how nicely if fills the screen.

im not sure what they originally used in the arcade, i think they just mounted a monitor on it's side.. but maybe the used a special monitor.. i dunno..

i know people have flipped their monitors on their side and it works fine just dont move it while it's on or you might end up with blotchy colors, this can be fixed by degaussing the monitor.. if you leave it off for a little bit, rotate, and then turn it on the auto degauss will kick in and all will be well.

[Kevin Mullins]

Depends if your monitor has a gravity detectomometer.

Silly wabbit .....

[Kevin Mullins]

Hey now..... where'd my original answer go in regards to this thread ?!?
I had answered some of this in "the other thread".

[mike boss]

they've moved and locked the other post. so any info would be great.

[Kevin Mullins]

(2) My bartop machines have horizontal monitors. I know if I were to simply plug in the 48-in-1 I would have an empty space to the left and right of the image. If I simply rotate the monitor would t hat rectify the issue ?

If so, is this because the board itself is set to display a certain image ? Forgive me for this NOOB question. My brother had purchased a AERO FIGHTERS game from auction with vertical monitor. He installed the board and had no issues. I would assume if he pulled this monitor and installed it onto any other machine be it horizontal or vertical it would display correctly.

Simply put... there is NO difference between a Horizontal monitor and a Vertical monitor aside from the way it's physically mounted.
The software or game programming determines which way the image will be orientated.
Hence why the 48-1 displayed correctly on your brothers monitor, it was written to be displayed on a monitor orientated vertically.
If you plug that same board into a horizontally mounted monitor the image will be SIDEWAYS.

Now if you are running MAME or some other similar emulation software, sure you may be able to rotate the image to work on your horizontally mounted bartop monitors, but the image will certainly be resized according making them even smaller.
And then you will have the black bars to the left and right of the image.

[mike boss]

thanks for the info guys !

I think when/if I go with the 48-in-1's in the bartops I will use PC monitors.
I will simply mount them vertical to get the best (and maximum) image.

[mike boss]

thanks again for the info guys.
I'm still a NOOB so I'm sure I have dumb questions at times.
I was just farting about in MAME right now, but I was unable to find the option to rotate the image.
I'll take a closer look later.

I do however feel good now knowing that the board itself (as per what I thought) sends out the correct image. And that a horizontal and vertical monitor are the same. This way I can keep the existing monitors and simply reorient them.

[Kevin Mullins]

If you plan on using MAME and also playing both horizontal and vertical games, then you may want to go into the TAB Menu while in a particular game and use the rotate function there.
You can Globally rotate MAME, in the mame.ini, but this will also rotate the menu.

I'm not a MAME'er..... so someone else may be able to help with suggestions there, or just play with it..... that's what I do.

[SirPeale]

Hey now..... where'd my original answer go in regards to this thread ?!?
I had answered some of this in "the other thread".

There were no other posts in the other thread.

[mike boss]

Guys thank you again for your help. Now I've got it.

As long is your monitor is set up with the same orientation as the signal getting sent you will have no issue. But again the signal and monitor orientation must be the same (be it horizontal or vertical). Also there is no difference between a horizontal and vertical monitor other then the positioning.

So for example if I was playing MAME off my PC, the PC and MAME are set up to display (as most computers are) a horizontal picture. If I simply turn that monitor onto it's side I would simply turn the image onto its side also. However if I tell MAME to rotate the image and have the monitor set up as such I would display the correct image.

With the 48-in-1 board, the board itself sends out a vertical signal. So by turning the monitor onto its side and nothing else I will display the correct image.

With the bartop machines that I purchased I wanted to be sure that if I simply rotated the monitor I would display the correct picture. I'm glad to know that I will indeed get the desired result. Once I begin the project I will simply get some 15" flat monitors with a 4"x3" aspect ratio. The board itself will send out the vertical signal, and the simple rotation of the monitor would yield the desired result.

As far as MAME goes I was aware that by rotating the image I would also rotate the menu. If I were to go with a MAME machine for vertical games that would be the sole purpose and therefore it wouldn't matter if the menu,etc were rotated.

I'm using MAME32 (I believe now called UI) would I be able to rotate the monitor the same way shown here ? When I was going through the options last night I didn't see the option. I would need to do so via the INI file ?

[Kevin Mullins]

mike - sounds like you got a good handle on it now. 

Hey now..... where'd my original answer go in regards to this thread ?!?
I had answered some of this in "the other thread".

There were no other posts in the other thread.

It must have been the timing then..... because I had responded to the other thread shortly before it got moved.
No biggie. 

[mike boss]

Thanks  guys, I really do appreciate the help. As a NOOB I'm often daunted by this hobby. At times I think i'll break something, or won't be able to repair any damage I've done.
(call it paranoia) I do feel like I have a solid grasp of this "issue" now and I thank you guys again.

This forum has been a big help me, even with some issues I was/am having with a SONY PVM 25" monitor. (speaking of which I've accepted defeat, and will keep this simply for parts and take the loss.....money wise that is)

Anyway perhaps if I could ask one more question, how do change the INI file in MAME to get my desired result. Do I simply enter 90 ? (assuming it would go clockwise)

thanks again

[Kevin Mullins]

Open the .ini with Notepad change appropriate ZERO to ONE, etc.
Basically it runs that particular option on or off.

So say "ror" would be to "Rotate Right", zero is OFF, one is ON.
(can think of it as (1) YES or (0) NO too if it helps any)

Be sure to SAVE or the effect won't happen.
I tend to open the .ini and just leave it open while fartin' around with changes, make some changes, hit save, open MAME and see what it does, if it's not what I want just close MAME, your .ini is still sitting there, make changes, hit save, try again.

Make sense ? 

[Rickn]

Perhaps it was all in the posts... but for sure if you take a monitor that was built assuming it would be in a horizontal mount.... and you then turn it to vertical!

Well then expect to need to manually degauss and it may not clear up all your issues.

Do not do it with the monior powered or it will be even worse.

I can give you a complete technical explanation, but way too long winded.

When we set-up monitors, we do it in an east west direction as the magnetic condition as there is very little influence from the north and south magnetic fields. Then we turn it north and south to make sure it has no issues, but each time we manually degauss.

Turn it vertically and expect issues.

Good luck
Rick