Arcade monitor vs TV questions

[manig]

Hi,

I currently have a MAME cab with a standard 19" arcade monitor. The cabinet looks like an Atari cab that was later upgraded to a Final Fight machine. I've wired the r,g,b,sync from the VGA directly into the monitor, as have many others here.

Everything works great, except that the monitor is too small!

So I have some questions:

1) Will a 25" TV fit into this (i.e. cabs with 19" monitors) arcade cabinet? As with most 19" monitor cabs, there is a large border around the display, and eyeballing it, I think at least a 25" display would fit.
2) If so, will it fit without having to take the tube out of the TV box?
3) How does the image quality differ between, a TV with s-video and an RGB arcade monitor?
4) Subjective question: is upgrading to a 25" monitor even worth the cost/trouble?

[1UP]

A decent arcade monitor is often the same or cheaper than an SVHS TV.  Also, all TVs still have an interlace flicker that will be annoying at close range.  I'd recommend the monitor.

[manig]

hi, thanks for the reply.

any pointers on where to obtain just an arcade monitor? are they easily available from arcade parts shops?

for me, ordering a brand new wells-gardner online is out of the question; shipping it to canada would simply cost too much, and i'd much prefer purchasing a used one.

thanks!
-Mani

[Macros]

for me, ordering a brand new wells-gardner online is out of the question; shipping it to canada would simply cost too much, and i'd much prefer purchasing a used one.

Where do you live in Canada? If you live in Ontario you can get a 25" monitor from starburstcoin.com. I bought a brand new 19" monitor from them for $225 can$. Or go to the auction and buy a crappy cabinet with a good working monitor then part out the cabinet and sell the bits and pieces on Ebay. Bring some tools to the auction so you can remove the monitor on the spot, that way it will be easier to transport the cabinet without concern over damaging the monitor.

[Lilwolf]

if you plan to go the windows route, I would strongly consider going SVid instead of an arcade monitor if you don't one one already.

http://www.xiaou2.homestead.com/turbo.html

this is a great show of the difference between a SVid tv and a SVGA.  I'm not sure how much better the arcade monitor is.  (anyone with both setup's and a digital camera willing to do some closeups?)

But the TV-out route will help the setup considerably and allow you to run windows applications/emulators.  There are only super old video cards that can handle the windows on an arcade monitor (g200 I think is the best right?)

I'm going arcade monitor next probably, but because I have a working 19".  If I didn't own it, I would definately go SVid

[Agent Davis]

Manig,

I'm a good person to answer this since I did exactly what you asked.  I had an old Atari cab (missile command) and removed the 19" monitor and replaced it with a 25" TV.  I actually had to remove the TV from the housing to install it.  BUT, I believe my cab is a bit less wide than many 19" cabs.  My cab opening is 23.5."

The thing you have to do is measure, plain and simple.  There are thousands of cabs and they come in varying widths.  Also, some TV's housing is larger than others. So measure the inside width of your opening as well as height and then look at some 25" s-video tv's and measure them.

I really wish I could have kept it in the housing because it would have made mounting easier.  It would have also been a lot easier to move because I could just remove the TV and move them separately.  I'm moving out of here soon and moving a 600 lbs. cabinet is not fun.

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