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Main => Monitor/Video Forum => Topic started by: Drew on April 09, 2002, 02:07:28 pm

Title: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: Drew on April 09, 2002, 02:07:28 pm
Well I basically know how I want my mame cab except for the monitor (which is a big concern...).

I was wondering how you guys did your monitors and what you would suggest (computer monitor, arcade, tv, and what method to connect them?). I know there are several threads about this but very few actually give opinions on what the best method to use is. I'm a newbie so don't worry about lecturing.

I don't care about the monitor rotating or anything, I'll be mainly using it for street fighter, mortal kombat, pac man, etc.
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: Thenasty on April 09, 2002, 02:10:29 pm
If you like it as Authentic as possible....Go for the Arcade Monitor....
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: darkmanx on April 09, 2002, 02:18:10 pm
most authentic is going to be an arcade monitor.
most universal (usable for arcade, pc, pc games, etc..) will be a computer monitor - however for a big one it will be DAMN expensive
most affordable for a big size will be a tv. you can get pretty good results with the right video card and s-video.
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: SirPoonga on April 09, 2002, 02:33:38 pm
See, I want to play PC games on my cabinet too.  I bought a 20" trinitron monitor from ubid.com a year and half ago for $150.
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: Drew on April 09, 2002, 02:40:17 pm
I don't really care about pc games, this is strictly an arcade cab.
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: JustMichael on April 09, 2002, 02:54:33 pm
First off, there is no "best".  You should take a look at what types of games you like to play them most.  If it is fighting games, then you will probably want an arcade monitor.  If you like the vector games, a pc monitor that does at least 1024x768 would be good.  Also how much are you willing to tinker?  Some people swear by Advanced Mame and an arcade monitor but say it was a pain to set up.  On the other hand a pc monitor is just plug it in and go.
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: Drew on April 09, 2002, 03:20:14 pm
Quote
First off, there is no "best".
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: JustMichael on April 09, 2002, 03:48:39 pm
Games like Star Wars, Asteroids, BattleZone, etc.
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: MrArcade on April 09, 2002, 05:50:43 pm
I think your best bet is to pick up a cabinet with a decent monitor in it.  Give the arcade monitor a try.  If you are not happy...then decide if you want to go with tv-out or a pc monitor.

Arcade monitors do well.  Some arcade monitors do better than others...and some video cards display MUCH better on arcade monitors than others.

I hope this helps.

Mr Arcade
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: SirPoonga on April 09, 2002, 11:58:46 pm
Quote

I probably know the answer to this in the dark regions of my brain but what games qualify as vector games?

This is an easy one.

We were talking about this post on chat, sorry if this offends you, but this was one of those way too obvious answers:


<SirPOOnga> "I probably know the answer to this in the dark regions of my brain but what games qualify as vector games? "
<SirPOOnga> should I answer that?
<JustMichael> I did.
<planetjay> The one's that use VECTOR MONITORS
<SirPOOnga> i will answer it...
<SirPOOnga> Just like pj's
<HowardC> say anything non-raster... that'll get him


Goto www.klov.com.  Look up battlezone, asteroids, gravitron, tempest, space dual.  Look at the monitor they use.  You can find a bunch of good history on vector monitors all over the internet.  There were basically only about 4 brands that ever made it out, only 2 of which most manufactures used.  One usually caught on fire as you will see in klov with any game that used electrohome monitors.Oh yeah, those monitors are sometimes called X-Y monitors (as most people on ebay list them that way).
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: Alienreb on April 11, 2002, 05:43:08 pm
Here is my take on all of this......

Arcade monitor
-------------------------
+ Authentic arcade quality
- Pain in the ass to set up no matter how technically gifted you are.  This is one of those things that you'll have to tinker with to get it just right.  Expect to be up a while trying to find the resolution that will fit your screen perfectly.  
- Expect nothing more than to use it for arcade games
- Tend to be a bit pricey for anything above 19"


PC Monitor
-------------------
+ Easy to configure.  Plug and Play, baby!
+ Versatile for many applications
+ Unsurpassed picture quality
- Sometimes, the picture quality is so good that it makes many arcade games appear "grainy" and you see a lot of jagged edges.  
- Can't go above 21" without paying a lot of $$$$

Television
----------------
+ Good picture quality using S-video or component TVs
+ Big screen action
+ Extremely versatile.  Surf the net, watch TV, and play arcade games in your cabinet
-  Not quite the quality of an arcade monitor
- Some setup involved

You make the call.  People have different preferences when it comes to this so you just have to decide what you want.  

If you want my personal opinion, I would go with a television using s-video.  I am currently using a Sanyo 27" television with s-video and picture-in-picture, and I love it.  It has 600 lines of video resolution, and I cannot tell you how happy I am with this model.  I went with some high quality, gold-plated s-video cables(don't skimp here!) and have that running through a TView Gold scan converter.   The scan converter automatically centers the picture and stretches it to the TV screen.  You could use the regular TV-Out on your card, but then you'll need a seperate program (ex. TV Tool) to optimize it to the screen, and even those don't do a great job.     The TView Gold scan converter is the best scan converter I've seen in a while.  If you get a chance, pick one up.  They will save you a lot of hassle and will extract the best picture from the video card to your TV that it can.   So here is my setup:

27" Sanyo PIP TV
TView Gold scan converter
ATI Radeon 8500 64mb
RCA Digital High Definition S-video cable

If you want a true arcade experience, then you need to steer clear of PC monitors.  Trust me,  a good TV or arcade monitor will give you that authentic arcade feel.  
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: Zipper on April 12, 2002, 03:20:07 am
I went for an open frame 19" SVGA Arcade monitor from Hantarex.
It cost a pretty penny (
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: lakkdainen on April 12, 2002, 10:06:22 am
I went with an EYGO monitor.  It is a 27" VGA (640x480, 60 hz) monitor.  Cost only $175.  It  has the benefit of  plugging right into your computer, no hassle.  The sharpness is between that of a standard size monitor and a TV.

I personally think TVs are too fuzzy, so for me it was perfect.  The price was right, and the ease of setup is great.  You might want to check it out.
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: Bugfinder on April 12, 2002, 10:25:44 pm
Quote
Also how much are you willing to tinker?
Title: Re: Your preferred way to do a monitor?
Post by: Malenko on April 14, 2002, 11:18:54 pm
I can give pretty good feedback on this since Ive had 2 of the 3 in my mame cab at one time or another.

I started off with a 20" bought it brand new for 109 bux, only bad thing was it had no S Video just composite. It had a picture quality close to an arcade machine (I had a mortal Kombat arcade machine set up next to it and the pictures were nearly identical.)

My sister needed a TV so I gave her that one (well lent it to her but I'll never get it back but thats a whole other story) so I got a 21" TV WITH S-Video in.  Did the mortal Kombat/NBA Jam test ( both games in the same cab, just switched PCBs) and the  pictures were practically indistinguishable. I asked a few friends which looked better (them not knowing one was an arcade monitor and one was a TV and most people said the arcade looked justa little better.

Well my TV in my room broke so out came the 21" TV from my mame cab and then I ordered a 20" Magnavox MagnaScan monitor (well I won it on Ebay) it hooks up to a standard VGA cable but has RGB/ H&V Sync inputs in the back. It has an awesome picture but I cant compare it to MK/NBA Jam cause I sold that cab to afford a new monitor (still have some PCBs so I can play them on MAME legally anyway)

Of all the displays Ive had in my mame cab I like the PC monitor best. S-Video does a wonderful job, but composite leaves alot to be desired. Ive never messed with hooking up a PC to an arcade monitor but if I did, I'd use Andy's J-Pac in a heart beat.

Yeah, so that post was a whole lot longer then I thought it'd be, so if your one of those people that scrolls to the bottom for a summary, here it is:
I like the PC monitor best, then a TV and Im scared of an arcade monitor to PC hook up (unless its a J-Pac)

Thom