To Use A TV Or Not To Use?

[lettuce]

Ok, im thinking of building a new mame cabinet when the warmer weather come, but this time i shall be starting from scratch, and not referbishing one. I have gotten a Toshiba 28" TV from ebay, for dirt cheap, was going to use it in my back room, has perfect picture, but the sound on it is buggered!. So am thinking of de-casing it and using it for a cabinet!. I just want to know, what, if any, problems i may come across using a TV rather than a monitor, through the VGAarcade card. Will the display fit the screen properly, any resoultion problems?? I have heard people say about overscan, what is this? Anything else?. Thanks in advance

[StephenH]

An ArcadeVGA card is not nessecary for TVs, and cannot be used unless you have an TV with RGB Scart Input.

Using a TV will not give as good of picture quality as an arcade monitor due to the NTSC / PAL / SECAM conversion involved.  However, many have reported good results with TVs.  To use a TV, you generally need a video card with TV out.   

Additionally, the input to the TV matters a lot in terms of the picture quality.  RGB Scart is best (European Standard) when viewing arcade games.   If a TV does not have RGB Scart (or if you are in another part of the world, such as USA, South America, Asia, etc) it is best to go with component input.   S-Video is the next best.   Using composite or RF inputs often leads to a very low picture quality.


Using an HDTV may or may not improve the quality of the picture, due to many HDTVs run at a higher resolution than many arcade games do.   Additionally, sometimes the stretch may look bad on a 16:9 TV for some games, where other games (Such as Capcom CPS-2) may look good on a widescreen TV.

[markb]

TV's are okay for games however they are not very good for reading text.

Pro's
Cheap for a big size screen
Can use Guncon 2's
Can use a cheap graphics card with TV-Out.

Con's
Picture is not as crisp as a monitor (Either PC or Arcade)
Require text to be set to 12point to be able to read it clearly.

I have a 24" TV in one of my set up's and it works fine with a radeon 9200se graphics card.

[GGKoul]

I have TV in my cab and I love it.  As I have a Xbox, PS2, Dreamcast, Genesis and NES all hooked up to my Cab.

[markb]

I have TV in my cab and I love it.  As I have a Xbox, PS2, Dreamcast, Genesis and NES all hooked up to my Cab.

Ah, but these are designed with a TV in mind. Even with a TV out card a PC is far superior on a monitor.

[lettuce]

I thought the idea of the VGAarcade card to get the arcade resoultions?? I shall be using the TV via the scart socket with a made up scart socket. I was told that there was no difference in the picture quality via this method??

[markrvp]

I thought the idea of the VGAarcade card to get the arcade resoultions?? I shall be using the TV via the scart socket with a made up scart socket. I was told that there was no difference in the picture quality via this method??

I do not know from experience, but I have heard that using the SCART connection on a TV gives the same quality as arcade (CGA) resolution.  However, being in the states where we don't have SCART, I can't test that.

[lettuce]

Just need to find where to get one of these scart cables from now then

[grantspain]

if your in the u.k try maplins.ask at the help desk they are all pc buffs and always want to help.

[Orclord]

Just need to find where to get one of these scart cables from now then

A normal Scart cable....Anywhere..

One to work with the ArcadeVGA.....You have to hack it yourself...

Not that hard....

http://www.mameworld.net/dosmame/advanced.php

http://www.idiots.org.uk/vga_rgb_scart/index.html

http://ryoandr.free.fr/english.html

[StephenH]

If you are using a SCART RGB in, you can use the ArcadeVGA and make a VGA to SCART cable.  Using SCART RGB actually turns the TV into an arcade monitor!   Sometimes though, you need to search for a service mode code to adjust the overscan.   

[mccoy178]

Question:  I have purchased a Dongle from ATI to convert VGA to RGB.  I need to get a Radeon 9500 card for it to work.  I am wondering how high the quality of the picture is as compared to an arcade monitor and s video.  I currently have s video and everything is great except text.  I am wondering if by "upgrading" to the component if the text will in fact become more legible?  Thanks in advance for your help.  Is the text very legible with an arcade monitor?  I hate splitting hairs, but before I kick out $500 for a Betson multisync, I want to know it's the cats meow.

BTW, who let Orclord in here?

[Orclord]

BTW, who let Orclord in here?

Slipped in back in 2002 when they were not watching..... 

Can't help with the question though...I have not used S-Video before...

Are you talking about text in windows ?

Interested because I'm gonna give S-Video a try on the next project ....Gotta a 32" Toshiba TV for free...

Blew the last 21" Tosh up with a scart hack.....Mind you it was very old and the hacked cable worked fine on a Grundig....Just don't want to take the chance on a 32" beasty....

 

[mccoy178]

Yeah, the text on the t.v. was hard to read.  Not too bad at 800x600, but still enough to make you squint a lot.

[nipsmg]

Is anyone else in the USA pissed off that we don't have scart connections on our tv's at all?

[mccoy178]

If you want me to be............

Heck yeah, that stinks!!!  I want my 50hzs and I want it now!

[daywane]

game play. just fine.
(Ms PAC ... The score is cut off a bit on the top) maybe others... WOULD HAVE NEVER NOTICED... till some one here asked
 me about it... now I can not take my eyes off it 

20 inch is great for a horizontal cab.

I am playing with our 32" now. Verticals seem fine .
I have svideo... I see other type behind the TV

I hope to try out this soon, componet.

I have arcades with arcade monitors. ( not Mamed) like best
Mame cabs with LARGE PC monitor. Like very much

1 arcade with 20 inch TV .... Very nice.   works fine.   paid $200.00 then
now about $100 will get you the same type TV

depends on your budget
arcade monitor= best you can get
PC monitor = very sharp and a huge amount of other perks ( I say best bang for the buck.... but I have never put a PC on a arcade monitor)

TV = low cost, Perks if you add consoles or VCR, DVD.
still a great picture to play games on.
(text is only hard to read in windows) Game text is no problem at all.
Most all windows fonts can be bumped up.

I am not a pro at this..... really just playing around... But I have used TVs and I find them usable just fine..