Questions about the three monitors I can use for my arcade set-up

[Dragonman73]

Ok, I'm trying to get my arcade parts together and I have a question about the three monitors I have available to use. I can't decide which would be the best route, and I don't want to spend money on parts I don't need or won't work.

Monitor # 1  

27" samsung crt television, circa 2001

Pros: Large screen, auto sensing to same channel when powered off, plastic bezels available for size.

Cons: composite in, picture quality may not be that great, heavy has heck, video card choices limited for composite input,

Monitor # 2

NEC 21" CRT computer monitor

Pros: still a larger screen, VGA inputs, picture quality better than television

Cons: no plastic bezels available for size, still heavy

Monitor # 3

19" samsung LCD flat computer monitor, (not widescreen)

Pros: DVI or VGA inputs, great picture, plastic bezels available for size, super light and easy to mount.

Cons: Screen not as large as first two and would look funny in a average size cabinet, flat screen would not look "authentic" for old games.



So that's what I have sitting in storage to use in whatever I decide to use, honestly I would love to use the 27" television but I am having trouble finding a good quality video card that has a composite out since that's the only input my tv has. Most of the video cards I have seen with composite out has only 32 - 64mb of onboard memory. I don't think that's enough.

I really wanted something with at least 256mb of ram on it, but those cards I have seen only have a s-video output. The reason behind a card like this is that I am using Hyperspin as my FE and it is flash heavy.

Another option is to use a VGA to S-video converter box like this...but I am unsure how the picture quality will look going through one of these:  http://cgi.ebay.com/PC-MAC-VGA-TV-AV-Composite-RCA-S-Video-Converter-Box-/310293626584?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item483ef0fed8

If anyone has any suggestions on a video card that I might have overlooked please let me know, I am using Windows XP pro as the OS and a motherboard with a 3.2 ghz celereron pentium D processor, 2 gb or ddr ram. It has both PCI and AGP slots.

My last option is to use the 21" NEC monitor but I really wanted to use a plastic bezel over the monitor and I can't find anything in a 21", the only sizes I have found are 19" and 27"...and maybe a 25".

Thanks in advance for anyones help in figuring this out  

[boardjunkie]

The TV would be the best option since it is std res, but you would need to hack it to take RGB signals. If you try to use S video, it'll look like crap. The computer monitor and the flat panel will look crappy as well.....because they are "too perfect" as far as resolution goes. Most games are std res, and displaying them on anything but a std res monitor will make them look weird.

My advise would be to obtain an actual arcade monitor....that will get you where you need to be with the least amount of hassle.

I have lots of arcade equipment, parts, monitors, etc....but for my upcoming MAME cab project I plan to use a 20" Sony Trinitron TV as a monitor via RGB hack. Everything looks great on a regular arcade monitor, but I think the Sony tube will get the best results available. To my eye they always had the sharpest image quality....

[Dragonman73]

hmmm, I didn't know about the RGB conversion, still learning this stuff..I might look into that.

I would really like to use one of the monitors I had on hand, and the RGB hack might be a viable solution.

Thanks for the help  

Edit: I found this thread talking about converting a TV to a arcade monitor by replacing the chassis....anyone done this?

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=21565.0

http://www.8liners.com/datatech/monitor.html

[boardjunkie]

Hassle. There's no guranatee the yoke will be compatible either. For that kinda money you can buy a used arcade monitor and be done with it.

[ahofle]

To be honest, I'd go with option 2 and make your own bezel if you are using a standard sized cabinet.  If it's a larger than average cabinet (ie a 4 player cab), it might be a little small though.

[Dragonman73]

To be honest, I'd go with option 2 and make your own bezel if you are using a standard sized cabinet.  If it's a larger than average cabinet (ie a 4 player cab), it might be a little small though.

Thanks, I made a new post in regards to using my 19" monitor. I'm really liking the weight savings over using an LCD over the crt...my cabinet is a 4-player Run and Gun, which I was going to convert over to a two player, with a trackball mouse...I had the 21" in it originally and it even looked too small. I may end up building a new cabinet to accomodate the 19" and make it look like it belongs.

With that 21" monitor in the cabinet it was super heavy.

[ahofle]

With that 21" monitor in the cabinet it was super heavy.

I've never understood the 'heavy' argument with CRTs.  How often do people lift these things?  You put it in the cabinet once and you're done for decades!   

[boardjunkie]

The Run/Gun was originally a Simpsons or a Ninja Turtles cabinet. It had a 25" monitor in it.....