Custom 16:10 LCD cabinets inspired by the 90s Midway design

[scoodidabop]

So my buddy Neil wanted a couple MAME cabinets for his bar downtown and I was happy to tackle the project.  I did a lot of research trying to find the right LCD for the job (seriously, you'd think someone would've made a nice IPS 4:3 25" LCD by now!) and settled on the 16:10 aspect ratio since I found it a 16:9 stretched image to look a little too weird on retro games.  The 16:10 is a nice compromise.  The horizontal stretch isn't too distracting and you can find some nice specs on them too. More about the monitors later. 

Anyway I poked around here a lot looking for inspiration on an slim LCD-friendly cabinet but wasn't really happy with aesthetics of what I found.  Most of the builds situated the monitor too vertically, leading to a front-heavy appearance.  I'm a huge Killer Instinct fan and I love those 90's Midway cabinets so I took a cue from their book and angled the screen back more in an effort to make the viewing angle more comfortable.  It worked great!  I have about 100 pics of the build but I'll give you a highlight reel:

Concept small scale in cardboard with sides cut out in background, 3/4 MDF material used throughout:


Only about half the depth his big brother!


Coming along nicely. Coin mechs test fit:


Primered (right) and painted (left).  Rustoleum satin black.  Used reflective tape to diffuse the marquee light, which was a simple 24" of LED strip:


The final control panel:


Marquee:


Twinsies!  They're running Vision/CoinOPS and I set them up to system link for Halo 1 & 2 multiplayer (via wired controllers of course):


The cabinets are roughly 25" wide (slightly wider on the control panel) and just 22" deep on the base.  This design worked really well.  The viewing angle is comfortable and the aesthetic calls back to the 90s design in a nice way.  I used an SLG-HD from arcade forge on one of them and that thing really improved the look of the games.  I was skeptical of scanline generators before trying that one and it made me a believer.  With the results I got from that little unit I'm tempted to abandon CRTs completely in my cabinets given their bulky and heavy nature. Speaking of monitors let's talk about the screen I went with!

So I used the 16:10 24" ASUS PA248Q.  I picked them up for a little more than $200 each on ebay. They're amazing. I also purchased the slightly larger Samsung T260 and at 25.5" the larger screen was nice but lacked the clarity and richness of the ASUS monitors.  Here's a (large) comparison:



Totally unscientific but in the differences are immediately clear in person.  The ASUS is awesome.  Here's a larger pic of MKII:

CRT:


ASUS:


With this kind of vibrant image, coupled with the scanline generator, you get results like this:


It's not as pretty as a CRT but it certainly closes the gap a little!  For my next project I was planning on doing a Killer Instinct 3 (Xbox One) cabinet that looks like the KI 1 and 2 cabinets with a CRT but now I'm not so sure!

[Fursphere]

Those cabinets look great!   

Now you need a fancy Audio / Video KVM switch, and you could connect the two cabinets together for four player games.  (primary cabinet dual displays mirrored)

[sharpfork]

I'll defer the discussion about putting MAME cabs in a bar as well as the fact that they have coin mechs.

I really like the cab design.  You have a nice modern slim design with the intended classic references.

I have a few questions:

• What do you think it is that makes the Asus so much better than the about the Samsung display?
• What resolution are your games running at?
• Do the scanlines match the CRT output or are they every other line at the much higher resolution?
• How do vertical games look with the hardware driven scanlines running the wrong way?
• Did you try out software scanlines and other filters?

Thanks!

[Fursphere]

I have a few questions:

• What do you think it is that makes the Asus so much better than the about the Samsung display?

I actually have a few ASUS monitors (4 I think) and they all come up in windows as other brands.  I think the panels are made by AOC in the newer models.

[BobA]

Very nice looking cabs. 

[scoodidabop]

I'll defer the discussion about putting MAME cabs in a bar as well as the fact that they have coin mechs.

I really like the cab design.  You have a nice modern slim design with the intended classic references.

I have a few questions:

• What do you think it is that makes the Asus so much better than the about the Samsung display?
• What resolution are your games running at?
• Do the scanlines match the CRT output or are they every other line at the much higher resolution?
• How do vertical games look with the hardware driven scanlines running the wrong way?
• Did you try out software scanlines and other filters?

Thanks!

Hey sharp! Thanks! The coin mechs aren't functional. Neil just wanted that aesthetic.  There are "add coin" buttons under the control panel that are clearly marked and easy to access for his patrons.  I even substituted the "25c" labels on the mechs with some Neils Bahr graphics for some additional flair All 'free play' but if he runs into any issues he's just gonna take them to his mancave.

On to the questions.

It's tough to pin down exactly why this particular ASUS beats the Samsung display.  Maybe pixel density? The ASUS is also factory calibrated and intended for graphic design use. Check out the specs here: http://www.asus.com/us/Monitors_Projectors/PA248Q/ In person the ASUS looks much sharper with very clear color definition.  The Samsung panel lacked the same definition, which was most obvious when displaying text but certainly carried over into gameplay.  It's not a subtle difference between the two.  Unfortunately it's hard to capture on camera.

The panel is 1920x1200 and upscales the input (HDMI) to fit.  It's Vision/CoinOPS so I don't know what resolution each game runs at but I guess MAME handles all that scaling.

The scanlines do seem to match the CRT screen in terms of spacing and width.  The SLG-HD (http://arcadeforge.net/Scaler-and-Strike-Devices/SLG-HD%3D-YUV-Edition::97.html) has 2 dipswitches for adjusting the scanlines and you can shift them between odd/even as well.  I think I wound up on the "medium" setting for the ASUS panel.  "Low" was too fine and "high" was too wide.

I'll take a picture of a vertical game running on there tonight.  It doesn't look perfectly authentic but it looks decent.

I also tried Bruno's VGA scanline generator (http://www.brunofreitas.com/node/36) but the need for a component>vga converter added a layer of signal processing that I wasn't happy with.  The generator itself works pretty well.  I bought 2 of them but I think I'll just sell them on.  The software scanline generators in Vision/CoinOPS weren't the right width for the ASUS monitors.  Far too wide.

[scoodidabop]

I actually have a few ASUS monitors (4 I think) and they all come up in windows as other brands.  I think the panels are made by AOC in the newer models.

Interesting.  I have a 19" 16:10 AOC that I plan on putting in a bartop build.  It looks pretty good!

[yotsuya]

I'm really not a fan of slim cabs, but yours look awesome! Excellent job! 

[scoodidabop]

I'm really not a fan of slim cabs, but yours look awesome! Excellent job! 

Hey thanks! Me too generally.  Imagine my disappointment when Microsoft came up with this idea for the new Killer Instinct: http://madcatz.com/wp-content/plugins/Premium_Gallery_Manager/cache/pgalleryIMG_4963.jpg

Ugh. Viewlix style.  The big screen is nice and all but those speakers look like a cheesy car mod gone wrong.  Not very sexy, those viewlix.

[yotsuya]

I'm really not a fan of slim cabs, but yours look awesome! Excellent job! 

Hey thanks! Me too generally.  Imagine my disappointment when Microsoft came up with this idea for the new Killer Instinct: http://madcatz.com/wp-content/plugins/Premium_Gallery_Manager/cache/pgalleryIMG_4963.jpg

Ugh. Viewlix style.  The big screen is nice and all but those speakers look like a cheesy car mod gone wrong.  Not very sexy, those viewlix.

I guess I like that from the front, it looks like a regular Midway cab - hell, it looks like it might be in a recessed alcove in a wall. Great job with the control panel, as well. Very traditional.

[scoodidabop]

I guess I like that from the front, it looks like a regular Midway cab - hell, it looks like it might be in a recessed alcove in a wall. Great job with the control panel, as well. Very traditional.

Thanks! That's certainly the look I was going for!  Check out this comparison to the scale model:


Pretty close!  I'm pleased with the design and will be using it again. 

I didn't have a chance to get a pic of a vertical game running on it (sorry sharpfork) but here's a great example of the perceived detail increase when using a scanline generator:

OFF:


ON (the green textured background behind 'XBOX' has more depth):


EDIT: fixed image link

[lettuce]

With 4k screens becoming more reasonably priced now I guess we are indeed closing the gap on weather a CRT is the best solution going forward when you consider the weight, never getting 100% geometry and Convergence and other inherent issues that CRT's have.

Be interesting to see what results we get when these 4k ips panels hit when combined with nvidia Gsync and AMD's equivalent in the near future

I'm not sure I'm a fan of the 16:10 ratio on mame games though they should be 4:3, if your talking about Scanline generation yet have the aspect ratio completely wrong. I know this is probably technically impossible but would be awesome if mame was able to incorporate a 'widescreen' hack where it doesn't alter the aspect ratio of the game it just increases the viewing angle to fill a 16:9 screen.

Question on the SLG, what made you decide on a hardware solution for scanlines over using MAME's HLSL settings?. HLSL should almost definitely (I've never used a SLG) give your a lot better crt results than what an SLG ever could?

[johnm]

Question on the SLG, what made you decide on a hardware solution for scanlines over using MAME's HLSL settings?. HLSL should almost definitely (I've never used a SLG) give your a lot better crt results than what an SLG ever could?

He's using an old xbox for the emulation.

[lettuce]

Question on the SLG, what made you decide on a hardware solution for scanlines over using MAME's HLSL settings?. HLSL should almost definitely (I've never used a SLG) give your a lot better crt results than what an SLG ever could?

He's using an old xbox for the emulation.

Doh!!

[scoodidabop]

Ha! Yep. Xbox.  The HLSL stuff looks incredible from what I've seen though.  At the end of the day it's still a travesty that no one has started producing nice 25" 4:3 IPS LCD displays! C'mon people! Doesn't someone on the forums have a China hookup we can take advantage of for production?

[yotsuya]

Ha! Yep. Xbox.  The HLSL stuff looks incredible from what I've seen though.  At the end of the day it's still a travesty that no one has started producing nice 25" 4:3 IPS LCD displays! C'mon people! Doesn't someone on the forums have a China hookup we can take advantage of for production?

Ctrss was supposed to... For cheap, too!

[Locke141]

Ha! Yep. Xbox.  The HLSL stuff looks incredible from what I've seen though.  At the end of the day it's still a travesty that no one has started producing nice 25" 4:3 IPS LCD displays! C'mon people! Doesn't someone on the forums have a China hookup we can take advantage of for production?

1:1 LCDs are a thing http://www.eyevis.co.uk/squaretiles/] [url]http://www.eyevis.co.uk/squaretiles/ now[/url]. I read that there there are desk top monitored coming out next year. Then you would just need a software solutions should be posable to fill in. 

[BorgDog]

Ha! Yep. Xbox.  The HLSL stuff looks incredible from what I've seen though.  At the end of the day it's still a travesty that no one has started producing nice 25" 4:3 IPS LCD displays! C'mon people! Doesn't someone on the forums have a China hookup we can take advantage of for production?

1:1 LCDs are a thing [url]http://www.eyevis.co.uk/squaretiles/]http://www.eyevis.co.uk/squaretiles/] [url]http://www.eyevis.co.uk/squaretiles/ now[/url]. I read that there there are desk top monitored coming out next year. Then you would just need a software solutions should be posable to fill in.

1:1 would take all the fun out of building an automated rotating monitor cab! 

[yotsuya]

1:1 would take all the fun out of building an automated rotating monitor cab! 

Pffft. Gimme something that works right out of the box so I don't have to MAKE it rotate. 

[scoodidabop]

Honestly what would it take to get something like this done? I'm guessing someone would have to "pre-buy" a particular quantity to get production started?  Does anyone have experience with this?

[SavannahLion]

IIUC, 4:3 wasn't economical given a square or even a round piece of glass... too much waste.

[thatdudebutch]

DO you have the plans for the cab? Would love to do my own slim cab based off this design and the ASUS panel!

[scoodidabop]

Yeah I kept a template of the cabinet sides.  Lowes trimmed down the 4x8 sheet for me so it all fit in my Explorer and was big enough to get proper sizing out of them.  I'll transfer those dimensions into photoshop to make the plans.