Usine widescreen flat monitor vs 4:3. Need opinions and facts.

[jukingeo]

Hello all,

I have been on these forums for a long time deciding on the type of mame cabinet to build.   I first started to lurk around here in 2006 and I been here off and on. 


I managed to build a system around a modified X-Box and I have also been dabbling with the Raspberry Pi, but this has proven to be unstable and likes to wipe itself out.

In terms of a monitor, I have decided against a CRT monitor mainly due to size and weight.   I am in my mid 40's now and I tend to move often, so a large full size cabinet is out of the question.   Given my premium on space, a slimline cabinet or even a wall mounted system would be the way to go.  So I am willing to forgo arcade accuracy in favor of alight weight, lower footprint cabinet.  So that being said, this dictates a flat screen monitor.   The problem here is that I have been noticing that 4:3 format flat screen monitors have been starting to dry up.  I do not see them new in the stores anymore.  In addition they seemed to stop at 21".   While I still can get one used, I worry about failure in the future.

So I am curious as to how one would adapt a widescreen monitor for arcade game use since this format was not native to the older games of the 80's.   I don't like the idea of stretching the screen either and everything looks out of proportion.   So what does one do in a scenario like this.   More so, what would one do for vertical cabiinets?

Even though I still intend to get a 19" or 21" 4:3 flatscreen, I am curious as to what one would do with a widescreen TV/Monitor and how that would be set up on a typical Mame system.

Thank You.

[yotsuya]

If you're worried about space and portability, go with a pedestal.

[bulbousbeard]

Just get a widescreen LCD and use a bezel that covers up the sides. You can also get some widescreen bezels that fill in the pillarboxed space:



That's a nice solution because you can still play widescreen games properly.

[jukingeo]

Just get a widescreen LCD and use a bezel that covers up the sides. You can also get some widescreen bezels that fill in the pillarboxed space:



That's a nice solution because you can still play widescreen games properly.

Hmmmm, I probably will track down a couple back up LCD's as I don't really like the idea of making a cabinet wider than it has to be if the image is going to be scrunched down anyway.   I have been looking here though and it seems there are many that are tolerating the wider cabinets to accommodate the wider screens, but yet, they are not shrouding off the sides or anything.  They are managing to get the games to run fully on the wide screen.   I am a bit perplexed by that as I would assume there would be some distortion in the width when a game runs since most games were made for a 4:3 display.

Then again the screenshots I have seen were mostly from Front Ends.  Could be that the front ends could be set to run 16:9, but the games would still be scrunched down to 4:3.

Would that be the case?

[MartyKong]

I'm looking for an answer to this as well.  My best guess is you can set a 16:9 monitor to play streetfighter horizontal games in there original settings. Classic games would show in there normal setting to the vertical height of the 16:9 screen. If using a 20" 4:3 screen, Classic games would look great, however I don't know how great horizontal games would be displayed? Maybe you can set lcd monitors to work for both? I'm sure there are members with lcd 16:9 and 4:3 arcade screens that might have way more insight on this than me. I know a lot guys will say only CRT but with a thin cab design it would be great to hear from other LCD arcade builders:) Thanks for any ideas! Marty.

[jukingeo]

I'm looking for an answer to this as well.  My best guess is you can set a 16:9 monitor to play streetfighter horizontal games in there original settings. Classic games would show in there normal setting to the vertical height of the 16:9 screen. If using a 20" 4:3 screen, Classic games would look great, however I don't know how great horizontal games would be displayed? Maybe you can set lcd monitors to work for both? I'm sure there are members with lcd 16:9 and 4:3 arcade screens that might have way more insight on this than me. I know a lot guys will say only CRT but with a thin cab design it would be great to hear from other LCD arcade builders:) Thanks for any ideas! Marty.

Yes, if you have a 4:3 screen you would be good for classic games both horizontal or vertical (keyword there is classic).   Now I know you can set a 16:9 monitor to run 4:3, but in a horizontal mounting this would require you to make the cabinet much wider than necessary only to mask off what is not used.   In a vertical setting though, I don't think it would matter too much as the screen would just extend above and below the bezel.   No need to make the cabinet wider.

So what I gather going vertical with a 16:9 monitor would be much easier than going horizontal.    Better yet, I think it is time to start snatching up some 17" to 21" 4:3 monitors.   At least going the latter route would ensure that if a monitor breaks, you would have a spare.   Already have two identical Dell 4:3 17" monitors and I recently put them aside to use ONLY for arcade machine purposes.   I would like to get 2 19" or 21" 4:3 monitors next.

[nitrogen_widget]

I do this also.
The chances of me using an arcade monitor for mame are slim to none.
If I ever own one it will be because it came in a working arcade cab I bought.

I have a few 17" 4:3 lcd's and a bunch of 19" 16:10 LCD's (comparable to 17" 4:3) i picked up for cheap or was given.
I also have a 20" dell with a shot input board.
I picked up a universal controller on ebay i'm going to try using on it though.

I also have another 20" 4:3 that needs a whole new backlight system that i plan to use LED strips for.

Plus i'm always on the lookout for 19" to 20" VGA CRT monitors.

And while people think the image is poor I won't turn down a free bigger CRT TV.
The trinitron, toshiba, and sharp crts don't have a bad picture at all when using something like an older ATI card or the RPI because the TV out is fairly decent.
I had retropie on my RPI 1 hooked up to my 32" sharp & it looked good enough to me.
I'm using a radeon 9550 with svideo out on the same tv for xbmc and it's fine for me also.
That TV does have component in & that looks amazing.

Also, a 24" widescreen will give you about the same real estate as a 19" 4:3 screen size.
overall the width of the screen is about 5" more than a 4:3.
decased you need about a 21-22" width wise to fit a 24" 16:9 in a cabinet.
totally doable with a 2 player CP.

[bulbousbeard]

You don't have to make the cabinet wider than it would normally have to be. You just cover up the sides with your bezel.

You can't magically stretch 4:3 games to 16:9 without either pillarboxing the image or cropping the image to preserve the aspect ratio.