The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Raspberry Pi & Dev Board => Topic started by: dth930 on January 03, 2021, 04:21:33 pm
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Is there a currently-recommended approach for attaching Retropie to a 15khz arcade monitor? In my case, it's a WG 25K7401. I've done a lot of searching and there are various opinions, most of them a few years old. I'm wondering if there's any new feedback.
I know there are a few options, each with their own ideosyncracies:
- j-pac + HDMI-VGA adapter - probably the easiest, though my cab isn't currently jamma. I could convert it easily. Also, most expensive but not unreasonable.
- HDMI-VGA adapter plus VGA-CGA adapter - may be fiddly to set up and the lowest quality option. A lot of parts and conversions.
- GERT VGA 666 - higher quality output than adapter above, but also fiddly to set up/configure and uses all GPIO pins
Which require reconfiguration of resolutions in Retropie?
Are there any options or additional considerations that I'm missing?
- Dave
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I use a JPAC. My cabinet doesn't use jamma either... I ended up just soldering wires to the board. I had one lying around so...
HDMI-VGA adapter plus VGA-CGA adapter - may be fiddly to set up and the lowest quality option. A lot of parts and conversions.
I had an HDMI-CGA adapter (or something like that). Several of them. Very disappointing. They had a lot of overscan, with settings to remove the overscan... but those settings didn't persist after a restart. Total crap. One of the 2 stopped working quickly, and I don't know if the second ever worked. Cheaply made junk imports. The ones that aren't are marketed cheaply go for $250, and probably have the same hardware ::)
I had a Gert VGA. I prefer using the Pimoroni Arcade X-Hat on the GPIO pins for cabinet functions... so I hate that the Gert takes up the GPIO. Besides, I think these days you can pipe out the same thing via composite without using the Gert.
All I know is that after fiddling with a good solution for a long time, I plugged in the Jpac and forgot about it. Done. Easy. There are probably some resolution purists that would go on about HDMI-VGA-JPAC but... if that's the hang up, don't buy a Pi to begin with. I can get a screenshot of that machine running here in a bit.
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Here are some pics.
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Thanks for the feedback. Those screenshots look good to me. I want things to look right, but I'm definitely not a purist.
I think I'm going to try the GERT with the J-Pac. I'll convert to Jamma so I can swap to a 60-in-1 if I ever want to. That's going to be the most flexible moving forward. I have a Pi4, so no component output.
And, to your point, if I'm not happy with that then I'll switch to a PC-based solution. That's probably what I should do in the first place, just for ease of setup and maintenance.
- Dave
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Pi4 has composite out via the audio jack. I use that on several of my machines so I can confirm the composite works. You need a splitter though, and you need to add a key to the boot config to use it.
I use an HDMI-to-vga into the JPAC. I've read hours of stuff about this particular subject and in the end none of it really stuck as important once I got that hook up going. But then again I'm not a purist. I'd love to see yours when you get it hooked up.
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Could get a RGB-Pi or Pi2Scart device probably the most straightforward
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Definitely go for the gert, the whole point of keeping the CRT is getting that real nice picture. It would be a waste to spend all that money just to end up with a blurry interlaced mess from the converter.