TV help, please...

[colopioneers]

Hi all,

I tried searching for this, couldn't find anything real close, so forgive me if this has already been discussed.

I've finished my cabinet, and have been playing around with different display options.  Of course, a monitor looks wonderful, but my small wallet doesn't permit me to buy anything larger than about a 19" monitor.

So I'm trying out a TV.  The TV itself isn't one of the best on the market, but it's an Apex 24" with composite as well as s-video inputs.  For the converter, I was able to buy an Avermedia QuickPlay pretty cheap.  

I connected everything (yes, I'm a noob) as the instructions specified.  And, as you could probably imagine, the picture pretty much sucks.

So, after this long winded explanation, here's my questions:

1.  I'm using the composite inputs.  Would I be better off using the s-video?

2.  Is the QuickPlay really as cheap as the price, thus giving me the crappy picture?

3.  Would using a different FE such as AdvanceMame (I read that it's designed to work with TV's...) work a little better?  I'm currently using (don't laugh or flame me) Mame32.

4.  Or, should I just give up and save my money for a real monitor?

Thanks guys!

[Acids]

Its very hard to say for sure how good its gonna get.

But for picture quality, use s-video it will get a better picture.

You dont need any special version of mame because the video card is pretty much hardware locked for a few resolutions compatable with a tv..

But in saying that if you strike a good mix you will be very suprised.
So, get that cable.   Its gonna help.

[cdbrown]

Windows and mame32 will look pretty ordinary on a tv, but games look great.  I have my display settings as 800x640 and used large fonts.  The writing is unclear.  The higher the display setting the harder it is to see the text.  Any sort of graphical FE, where the game menu is in a large font is going to be better than mame32.  Best option is to play with the display settings both standard and advanced.  My radeon card with the latest drivers has various options to help improve picture quality of TV's and also has various settings depending on the region (Pal, NTSC, Secam, etc).

[colopioneers]

Guys,

Great tips!  Thanks a ton for the help.

I'll get an s-video cable and play around with a few FE's.

Thanks again!