What do you think about this LCD for my bartop?

[Unstupid]

Hey look first post!

Anyways,  I'm in the beginning stages of building a bartop machine specifically to run neogeo games under mame.  I'll start a separate build thread on the main page with the full details.  But my first hurdle I'm going to jump is the monitor since I'll be building the machine around that.  I want to go with a 15" LCD for the bartop because I don't want it too wide where it takes up a lot of space and I don't want it too deep (no CRT) for the same reason.  so I think a 15" is a good compromise for a bartop.  Only problem is it is VERY difficult finding any 15" LCD's with good response time.  The only one I could find that looks like it may work is this one: http://www.rackmountmart.com/rmLCD/ID-15A.htm .  I'm curious if anyone else has used one of these in their machines.  Also do you see anything I should be wary of in regards to this monitor?   Thanks for any help! 

[Donkbaca]

Just use a regular run of the mill lcd monitor, no need to spend that much money.  Response time is one of the most worthless stats on monitors, that along with dynamic contrast ratio.

[Unstupid]

Just use a regular run of the mill lcd monitor, no need to spend that much money.  Response time is one of the most worthless stats on monitors, that along with dynamic contrast ratio.

You really think response time is not important?  With modern games where a pixel changes are less subtle or more video like I can see response time not being important.  But older arcade games are notorious for their wide swinging pixel shifts.  Pac-Man for example, as he moves the pixel has to shift from yellow to black.  Games like Galaga as the bullets fly across the blackness of outer space don't the pixels have to shift from black to white to black?  Wouldn't these games be extra susceptible to ghosting on a slow lcd panel?

[Donkbaca]

It doesn't matter as long as you are below 20ms, and just about everything is.  Response time is supposed to be the time it takes a pixel to go from black to white to black.  There are 2 problems with this:

1)  This is not real world, pixels usually go from one stage of gray to another stage of gray, so even if this were measured properly, it wouldn't be all that useful in real world applications, which leads me to point 2:

2) Its never measured consistently.  Given the above, pretty much all monitor makers cheat, instead of a black to black response time they measure a grey to grey response time.  Problem is there is no universal standard in terms of where to start and where to finish.  The reality about LCD panels is there is a handful of panel makers and a lot of times you will find the same panel in different brands, or different panels within the same model.  Often times you will find one brand touting a 5ms response time, another will have an 8ms response time and they will both have the same panel.

3) Most people confuse response time with lag, they are different things.  Lag is how long it takes for the signal to go from your computer to get on your display, response time is just how fast the pixels change after the monitor tells them to change. So you can have a screen with good response time, but bad lag, and vice versa.  Lag is a LOT harder to determine though, since nobody includes it in their specs.

Here's my take on it, and I have done a lot of research, but by no means am I a expert or an afficionado, but for what its worth here are my thoughts:

Just about any modern LCD screen will do, most of them are plenty good enough for MAME use.  You don't have to worry about ms response times that much because most MAME games really don't play that fast, its not like you are doing modern fast twitch FPS games with a boat load of detail that needs to change quickly.    

A lot of people say they like the way CRT's look better.  I like the LCD look, and with different filters available, the casual player won't know the difference.

There is the whole IPS/PVA/TN thing with lcd screens.  People cream their panties over IPS, Personally, I prefer PVA, but really, once again, it doesn't really matter for the applications we are using these things for: PLaying 8-24 bit games.

That's just my 2 cents, yeah, you can go out and spend 500 bucks on a brand new IPS monitor, but really a used 15 inch one built within the last 5 years will probably look just as nice to 99% of people, and you will save like $450.

[Unstupid]

Thanks for the info... So there is no reason why this monitor wont work? 

[Donkbaca]

It will probably work fine.  Don't know why you would want to shell out that kind of cash for a 15 inch monitor.  Its a TN display, its a 16.2 million 18bit display, versus a 16.7 million 24 bit display that you would get from a VA or an IPS panel.  The colors won't be true 24 bit.  The viewing angles are ---smurfy---.  Basically, this is the cheapest LCD technology you can get.  The screen will be the same that you would get for under 100 bucks, brand new from tiger direct or new egg. You can probably get a used one with the same specs for somewhere between 50 bucks and free

[BobA]

Don't worry about the response time.  Any regular 15 inch monitor should work fine.  You can get alot of them for less then $25 on kijiji or other lists. You are looking at monitors that are way way too expensive.

 

[Unstupid]

I'm not worried about the price...  I'm going for ease of install!  This comes with the bezel.  No need to mask and paint!  I'm just going to throw a clear piece of glass on top and be done!

[Donkbaca]

I will make you a bezel for less than 400 bucks. In fact, I would do it for 200 bucks!