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Author Topic: Brunswick bowling alley monitors any good?  (Read 2971 times)

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bugeye

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Brunswick bowling alley monitors any good?
« on: April 18, 2015, 11:28:31 am »
my local thrift store has 4 of them for sale and i am wandering if anyone has ever used these for arcade or old game console monitors. the models are 2004 36" BRUNSWICK model 57-500101. i am not sure if they have any screen burn in and they are 150 pounds a piece. i use consoles in rgb and would consider getting these if perhaps i could use one and put the others up for grabs for other gamers out there. i did download a manual and it sorta shows how to wire rgb and sync but not any examples at the outer connector (square din thingy). i assume they are 15hz compatible but the manual doesn't have that info either.
any help will be great

bugeye

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Re: Brunswick bowling alley monitors any good?
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2015, 12:08:05 am »
ok, i found some information about these monitors. it has a rgb and csync input for displaying tv or scorersheet video and its a wide screen display. the scorer computer sends scores via rgb and a composite to rgb converter is built into the the scorer computer to display tv,vcr or dvd and sends it to the monitor. the monitor schematics show "CERONIX Model 3693-CGA Monitor". i don't know if that is old school cga digital or just another name for rgb analog. i am still trying to yahoo all this input. i am assuming or hoping analog since cga digital was back in the 1980s and i need analog for my game stuff to work.

these monitors have square and rectangular connectors for rgb input and output. an interconnect cable came with it that plugs into the tv input and i am assuming just links 2 monitors together since the ends are the same as on the monitor in and out. this monitor has a video interface pcb inside that connects the chassis connections and i found the connections layout for it but i am confused about some things. some of the connections are red+ and red- and shows the colors for the wires. i am assuming red+ is the red and red- is red ground. there is also a DRAIN connection that shows no wire color and i have no idea what that means, perhaps a ground connection? below is the info

pin     wire color      connection

1        ORN              RED +
2        WHT/ORN     RED -
3        BRN              GRN +
4        WHT/BRN     GRN -       
5        RED              BLU +
6        WHT/RED      BLU - 
7        BLK              CSYNC + 
8       WHT/BLK       CSYNC -
9                            DRAIN

if this is analog i should be able to connect things up perhaps with a sega genesis rgb if the rgb neg are ground and rgb pos for the rgb. i usually connect rgb and a sync or csync and tie all the grounds together to complete my connections on a common rgb monitor but this monitor is unusual and i am asking anyone for some pointers before i start poking around. i am also aware of the dangerous voltages and will stay clear of the high voltage area.

i only have one of these monitors to try out before purchase (probably very cheap) and there are 3 more that are at the thrift that are on the concrete with a tarp over them and its supposed to rain here in california. i need to try this monitor out soon so the others are not exposed to the elements for too long. i would like to keep 1 or 2 and let some other arcade rgb people have the others if these monitors are capable of my interests. i was told that these came from my local casino and they have 25 of them that are possibly up for grabs. 4 will be enough and overkill for me but im still thinking about em.

thanks
anyone?
« Last Edit: April 24, 2015, 09:56:32 am by bugeye »

grantspain

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Re: Brunswick bowling alley monitors any good?
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2015, 10:48:14 am »
i used to service the monitors in a brunswick bowl but they were 2793,ok monitor with a pretty good picture

you are better off looking on the chassis connector to check if they are standard rgb,the 2793 were

bugeye

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Re: Brunswick bowling alley monitors any good?
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2015, 12:37:03 pm »
they are multiple pin square molex connectors. they go strait to the video interface pcb with rgb csync. i will need to know if the red-,blue-,green- are ground and if the + are the main rgb. probably wouldn't hurt to just try it out. hook all negatives together and connect the rgb and csync lines. i already have some nice rgb monitors (29" viewsonic presentation and 20"sony trinitron ) for my use and fiddling with the brunswick is just for hobby or perhaps future display.

bugeye

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Re: Brunswick bowling alley monitors any good?
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2015, 01:07:08 am »
well, i hooked a genesis to it and the picture is not looking good at all. horizontal diagnalish lines going though it and colors washed out. sync seems ok and not scrolling. i did at one point see red green and blue so the wires seem right. i did try reversing some of the rgb lines but it made it worse. some of the graphics look wrong and missing. i wired the molex connect  to a female scart connection with rgb and ground but i had to solder a wire inside one of my extra genesis to connect csync. the monitor dose not seem to accept composite video as sync so my ebay bought genesis scart connector won't work without the extra connection in the genesis. i should post a pic but will try another time.

the connections i made are rgb+, csync+ to the rgb, csync and rgb- and csync- all tied to ground and drain. removing the rgb and csync negatives made the screen go dim so they seem to indeed need to go to ground.

i also tried my snes but it seems my cables only send composite video and no image came up.

i would like to take my home made cable and sega to the thrift and see if the other monitors look any better. these monitors have probably seen a decade or more of constant use and possibly worn out.


Ken Layton

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Re: Brunswick bowling alley monitors any good?
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2015, 10:10:46 pm »
I worked on a couple of Brunswick 25" monitors a few years ago. They were Sharp Image/Kortek inside the case.