Standard or Medium Resolution -- Does it Matter?

[smaxdot]

Okay well I'll probably be picking up the cabinet that I'll be converting to MAME on Friday....  the guy says he probably has a few I can choose from..they will all have working monitors..  My question is:

Should I go for one that is standard resolution (he has some Tekken cabinets I believe) or medium resolution (Virtua Fighter series cabs)?  Does it really matter?  And I guess most importantly: Will I be able to play all the ROMS on either a standard res monitor or medium res monitor assuming I configure the emulation software properly?

Thanks for your help!!

- Dave

[Minwah]

There are a lot more standard res. games in MAME than medium - some medium res. games which spring to mind are Paperboy, APB, 720 etc.

To play medium res. games on a standard res. monitor you would have to use hwstretch or direct3d stretching.  Personally I would go this route (standard res screen) rather than get a medium res screen and have to stretch all the low-res games...

I believe some of the screens Sega used (possibly even in Virtua Fighter?) are switchable between 15 & 25khz - that's something to check for

[wpcmame]

The VF monitor is dual scan 15+25Khz via a switch. I think it is recommended that you turn the monitor off before switching.
Ask your self if you will:
- Shut down the cabinet.
- get behind the monitor and switch resolution
- start again and wait for boot etc.
just to play a game or 2 and arcade perfect resolution.

I wouldn't get the VF cabinet just for the medium res monitor but they look nice and I might have bought one if it wasn't for the weight(~250Kg if I remember correctly)

[b3atmania]

Many 25kHz monitors can switch to 15kHz if required. You just have to find one that can do it automatically since powering down the monitor to switch games will suck. Since you mentioned Virtua Figher, I have seen them with Hantarex dual 15/25kHz autoswitch monitors. You should check for that with your supplier.

For a long time 25kHz were avoided since MAME only had the old Atari System 1 (Paperboy, 720, etc.) games that needed it. Recently MAME started support for Sega Model 1/2/3, Konami DJ-Main, Sega System 24, etc. These need 25kHz in the arcades and cannot be displayed on standard res. monitors.

You need to figure out what you want to play and if you want your cab to be ready for the time more 25kHz games will start to appear. Keep in mind many still unemulated Midway games require 25kHz monitors...

[smaxdot]

Thanks for the helpful responses.... I've asked the guy I'm buying from if he has one of the switchable monitors...  if not I'll make sure I buy a cabinet with a standard monitor, not one that only outputs medium res..

Regards,

- Dave