Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum

Main => Monitor/Video Forum => Topic started by: JoeStrout on January 01, 2012, 02:49:59 pm

Title: Looking for 10-inch LCD for minicab
Post by: JoeStrout on January 01, 2012, 02:49:59 pm
I bought one of those iCade units on sale at Bed Bath & Beyond for $50 today.  I plan to make a cute little MAME bartop out of it.

I've disassembled the control panel, and should have no trouble incorporating my own controls (the ones that come with it are far too clicky for my taste).  There's also plenty of room for a computer (especially if the Raspberry Pi works out!), so the last remaining big challenge is the display.

The cabinet limits me to 220mm x 250mm (or 8-3/4 by 10 inches if you prefer).  That's a 13-inch diagonal, but of course I have to allow some extra room around the display itself, so probably a 10-inch display will work best.  (The iPad itself measures 9-3/4 inches diagonal).

So.  Any suggestions for a decent 10-inch display that won't break the bank?  Some options I've found:


That last one looks like the best so far -- 4:30 aspect ratio, 600x800 resolution, and not a lot of extra wasted space around it.  Most others I can find, it looks like I'd have to take apart Ben Heck-style, which makes me a little nervous; this one could bolt neatly right in.  Assuming it fits — I can't find the actual dimensions of the case, but it looks like it should work.  $160 is more than I would like to spend, but not outrageous.

Any other options I should be considering?

Many thanks from a first-timer,
- Joe
Title: Re: Looking for 10-inch LCD for minicab
Post by: Blanka on January 01, 2012, 03:17:37 pm
Just use it with the iPad. Run that one on iMAME, and pronto. Nothing beats the iPad display. 1024x768 decent IPS panel. Especially if you need a vertical orientation: no other display will offer decent viewing angles when mount vertical.
Title: Re: Looking for 10-inch LCD for minicab
Post by: JoeStrout on January 01, 2012, 04:14:25 pm
Quote from: Blanka on January 01, 2012, 03:17:37 pm
Just use it with the iPad. Run that one on iMAME, and pronto. Nothing beats the iPad display. 1024x768 decent IPS panel. Especially if you need a vertical orientation: no other display will offer decent viewing angles when mount vertical.

I have another one that I'm using with the iPad.  I'll keep that, but I don't expect to play it very much once I have a real MAME minicab.  The games I most want on this are [Ms.] Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, Galaga, and Q*Bert.  All of these are 4-way games, except for Galaga which is 2-way.  With the iCade's 8-way joystick, these are hard to control, and Q*Bert is not playable at all.  I could (and probably should) swap out or rotate the restriction ring to make it a 4-way joystick, but Q*Bert still wouldn't be playable.  And then there's the fact that I want a cabinet my 11-year-old son can use for parties with his friends, and I am not letting them use my $700 iPad perched precariously in the iCade (their marketing fluff about "secure iPad mount" is pure nonsense; it balances loosely in there and falls out easily).

So, any suggestions for a 10" LCD?  (You have a good point about the quality of the iPad display... I wonder if it's possible to get one's hands on a nonfunctional iPad whose display is still good, and extract it somehow?)

Thanks,
- Joe
Title: Re: Looking for 10-inch LCD for minicab
Post by: JoeStrout on January 01, 2012, 04:30:00 pm
Quote from: JoeStrout on January 01, 2012, 04:14:25 pm
You have a good point about the quality of the iPad display... I wonder if it's possible to get one's hands on a nonfunctional iPad whose display is still good, and extract it somehow?

Hot dang, looks like you can just buy these, and for considerably less than I was going to pay for the PYLE:
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPad-Replacement-screen-display/dp/B003UGP2WC (http://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPad-Replacement-screen-display/dp/B003UGP2WC)

I wonder how hard it is to interface with it, though?  Anybody here have that kind of electronics-fu?
Title: Re: Looking for 10-inch LCD for minicab
Post by: BobA on January 01, 2012, 04:52:04 pm
Very hard.
Title: Re: Looking for 10-inch LCD for minicab
Post by: JoeStrout on January 01, 2012, 05:32:10 pm
Apparently so.  I've learned that the iPad display uses an LVDS interface; you pretty much need a driver board to speak to it.

There are such driver boards, but they tend to have to be very closely matched to the board... I haven't yet found one that the maker will claim works with this display.

However, the guys over at Motor City Technologies managed to figure it out, and build this display into a monitor with VGA or DVI inputs (http://www.display-touch.com/open-frame-displays/9-7-lg-open-frame-display-vga-ipad-lcd/prod_24.html (http://www.display-touch.com/open-frame-displays/9-7-lg-open-frame-display-vga-ipad-lcd/prod_24.html)).  Thin bezel, price not too outrageous compared to other monitors of probably much lower quality.

So, there you go... anybody needing a 10" display for a mini-cab, this Motor City monitor might be your best bet.  But I remain open to other ideas, and if I find something better, I'll post about it here.
Title: Re: Looking for 10-inch LCD for minicab
Post by: Blanka on January 02, 2012, 07:29:22 am
Just throw in that $700 iPad. iPads are SO 2011.... If you still use pads in 2012: get a 2012 one: the Samsung 7.7 or the iPad 3 with retina display. Most others have left padding behind in 2012. My kid is currently killing the iPad gift of my boss.... Don't care about tablets. Pieces of ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.
Title: Re: Looking for 10-inch LCD for minicab
Post by: Singapura on January 02, 2012, 08:20:42 am
Hey, that was my idea! I have an iCade waiting for the RasPi to come in. I'm using it with iMame4all right now but I want to be able to install a more recent version of Mame. I was thinking of this one (http://www.dealextreme.com/p/portable-7-tft-lcd-monitor-with-av-in-480-x-234-12v-dc-65333). I want a decent bezel with nice art to make it look more like an arcade cab so the monitor needs to be a bit smaller.