Mame on newer larger plasmas leds etc

[bcgamer]

Hi guys

  Im getting ready tobuild a new cab i currently own a twoplayer shinobi cab running mame with a tankstick
What i want to build is a 4 player ipac crazy unit but want a large plasma or led style monitor.

What im concerned about is how the mame roms look on a bigger wider screen...do they black out on both sides? Is there a limit as tohow big you want to go?  Friends come by a lot and i want a much bigger experience so we dont have to cram around a small monitor

Thanks in advance

[rCadeGaming]

Appropriate screen size is all dependent on your viewing distance.  If you have a 27 inch TV right now, play some games on it with your face 27 inches away from the screen.  That will give you an idea of what it's like to play on a 55 inch at 55 inches away.  It's all relative, know what I mean?

Just do the math to find what viewing distance you like as a percentage of screen size.  Then measure the viewing distance of your cab and that will tell you what screen size to go with.

The primary concern for a flat screen is input lag.  Don't confuse this with response time.  Not the same thing.

http://shoryuken.com/forum/index.php?threads/sub-1-frame-hdtv-monitor-input-lag-database.145141/

Edit:  That link seems to have stopped working, here's a new one

http://forums.shoryuken.com/discussion/145141/sub-1-frame-hdtvmonitor-input-lag-database/p1

Keep in mind that most MAME games are meant to run in 4:3 and most new monitors are 16:9 or 16:10.  You'll be running letterboxed with one of those (or stretched, which will look awful).

Whatever you go with, use a computer with HDMI out and output the TV/monitor's native resolution.  If it can only do 720p, run MAME in 720p.  If it can do 1080p, run MAME in 1080p.

[bcgamer]

Makes complete sense and that is my biggest concern
I want to go to a nice 42inch monitor hd but need to research this properly and see what has worked for other folks onhere

Thanks!!

[rCadeGaming]

42?  Is this going to be a showcase cab?

[rCadeGaming]

Oh yeah, drop the x-arcade stuff.  The sticks and buttons are crappy Chinese knock-offs of Happ parts.  If you're trying to build a cab that's halfway playable and presentable you need to build your own panel.

[bcgamer]

Ya I'm taking my time with it but diving back into it now

Going to drop the xarcase and build a big 4 player cp, it will be a showcase type of setup I do a lot of entertaining and want to have the biggest monitor I can work with... Wall mounted. 

Going to add the old emulators as well just want to build it for future expansion I guess. I went small the first time so I could understand it but want a bigger setup

But the monitor thing has me stumped I want it to look and play great but not at the expense of laaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggg

[rCadeGaming]

Ok, I see now.  Is the TV going to be only mounted to the wall, and the panel will be completely separated?  That would be optimal, as you could just back the panel up a foot or two if you find the TV to be too big.  Sounds awesome.

Lag is a problem, but if you can find something that's listed in that I linked to you'll be safe.  For example, the 50 inch Panasonic TX-P50S20B has 16ms of lag, which isn't bad.  1 frame at 60Hz is 16.67ms, anything under that is pretty good for a flat screen. 

The only challenge is finding something on that list that you can find in the store right now.  Go through the models, and if you're lucky you'll find something.  If not, read how to measure input lag, and go to the store and do some testing for yourself.

The last thing is that these classic arcade games ran at about 240p, so they're going to look really ugly and blocky when blown up on a huge 1080p tv.  It sounds like you could use MAME's new HLSL effects to fix this pretty well by giving it a simulated CRT look.

[bcgamer]

Exactly yea


Was going to build a nice stand for the big control panel to sit on that way I can position it as far away as I want to

That was my worry with the mame roms being blown up, I wasn't aware of the hlsl feature ill have to check it out for sure

Ill just hit up the local Craigslist and see what I can find on there for those models, thanks for the breakdown