First Cab: 27" Television Recommendations

[GlennEdwards]

Hi All,

I'm just about to embark on building my first cabinet (based on the Ultimate Arcade II). I've been planning this thing for ages, and recently designed my own marquee, and control panel, which I've just received, along with some side art from MameMarquees.com..

My maximum monitor width within the cabinet is 26", which is enough for a 27" television (without side speakers)..

I'm in the UK, and basically I'm after some recommendations as to some good TV's to buy (new or used). My main requirements are:

-- 27" diagonal
-- No wider than 26"
-- Has an S-Video input at the rear
-- Auto Power On (after power loss)

I really need the "auto power on" option, as I would like to leave the TV's power button pushed in, so that whenever I turn on my arcade cabinet, the television automatically comes on, and goes to the correct channel / aux input..

On eBay I've seen a few Sony Trinitron 27" televisions, seem to be newer ones with a black casing, and the speakers at the bottom of the screen (although of course these will be muted in the cabinet).. do these do "auto on" after power loss etc..

Thanks,

Glenn

[StephenH]

Since you are in the UK, you may want  to get the ArcadeVGA card, and go with a TV with a SCART RGB Input instead of S-Video.   This will actually turn your TV into a real arcade monitor!    The picture quality of SCART RGB will be better than S-Video by far!

[exiges]

Most TV out cards with S-video outputs have the choice of sending an S-Video or Composite signal.    I maybe wrong but I'm sure S-video is similar quality to RGB SCART.

To answer Glenn's question over monitors, you should be able to find a Sony Trinitron PVM-2730QM in the UK relatively cheaply (it's an obsolete model) if you Google it.  That's what's in my cabinet currently. It accepts SCART, S-Video, TTL

What's handy about it, is that it comes in a "cube" frame so that it can be mounted/stacked easily.

[pakoman]

No way, S-Video looks like crap when compared to RGB-SCART.

RGB - Scart is the way to go when using a TV for an arcade cabinet, and the most faithful to a real arcade monitor.