WG 9000 LCD / ArcadeVGA 3000 Recommendations

[gorphusis]

Seems like there aren't that many people using a Wells Gardner 9000 Series LCD from what I can tell on here. So here I am seeing what people would recommend.

I'm running a Capcom blue cabinet and was using a WG K7000 in it.  When it came to choosing a new monitor, I decided on the 26 inch 9000 Series LCD (for better or for worse).  I have an ArcadeVGA 3000 card which I have mixed feelings about.  It more or less does what it needs to.

Where I'm running into an issue is which direction I should go moving forward.  Currently, I have it hooked up using a JPAC through the Jamma harness with the ArcadeVGA.  I'm finding almost all games require adjusting and naturally, the aspect ratio is completely off.

After playing around with HLSL on Mame, I'm finding it to be a potentially viable solution.  I tried it out on my 27" LCD on my main computer and the effect is quite decent IMO.   So, that leads me to my question.  What would you recommend?  Dumping the ArcadeVGA and using a normal video card and run the video directly to the LCD?  Or keep the ArcadeVGA and output at 15Khz through Jamma?  At this point, I'm running out of justifications for using 15Khz and the ArcadeVGA. 

Your input would be greatly appreciated!
 

[sandheaver]

If the 9000 accepts output at its native resolution from the PC, I would connect it directly to the PC and forget about the J-PAC for the purposes of video.  Use the J-PAC for everything else (ok; not audio.  JAMMA audio is monoaural.)

People continually poo-poo LCDs on this forum, and that is a bit of a shame; with a tiny bit of effort, they can look really good.  Given that CRTs aren't manufactured anymore, eventually most folks will come around to the practicality of LCDs.  There are even a few 120hz LCDs today that use backlighting tricks to virtually eliminate blur.  Technically, the blur is still there, but the backlight is off between frames, so you don't see it.

Drive the LCD at its native resolution, if you can.  Then tweak HLSL to look good on that monitor. 

[gorphusis]

Thanks for the reply. I noticed most aren't fans of LCD and I was torn when deciding to switch.  I did see one review from a user on here and in the end, I chose LCD because of practicality.  The 26" LCD was a perfect fit in my cabinet too which I'm thankful for.

I was leaning towards outputting at native resolution of 1366x768.  It'll look a heck of a lot better than trying to keep the resolution non-interlaced at 15khz of 640x280.  How I'm not going to miss that.  Not to mention the idiosyncratic behavior of the ArcadeVGA and its problems with having to use DirectDraw (I realize it's Mame and it's use of hardware stretching) and switching solutions to play certain games.  Don't get me wrong; the card has some benefits but for me, they are outweighed by the cons.   

Tweaking HLSL will require a bit of work but I'm sure I can make it work. I suppose I could have saved money and bought just a run of the mill computer LCD.  I find this has a more polished look but that's just me.