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MAME resolution q' -> Should I expect games to fill arcade monitor?

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quarterback:
Just as an overall reply.

My original question about whether or not I should expect games to (inherently) fill the arcade monitor, was answered and I do get it.   But no adjustment of my monitor's controls will cause any (not "all", but "any") games to fill the screen fully.

The DOS non hardware stretch issues and the powerstrip issues are separate.  I'm not expecting powerstrip to work in DOS.  But I was expecting that there was some way to use -resolution to change the way that DOS mame games look on a monitor (arcade or pc).  If that's a faulty expectation on my part, then so be it.

So I bought a 21" computer monitor today.    If I could have gotten powerstrip to work -OR- dos mame to change the shape of the game -OR- the hardware controls on my monitor to fill the screen, then I would have kept fighting the good fight.   But I couldn't.  I spent over 12-hours just on Friday trying to get one, all or any of these things to work with the arcade monitor.  And after spending many many days on this, and many many hours on Friday, I chose the path of least resistance.

Therefore, instead of spending ~$160 on a new 19" arcade monitor and then ending up spending more money on a computer (so I could run powerstrip) or more money on an arcadeVGA card, I spent $35 on a  21" pc monitor.  It'll be a bit of a ---smurfette--- to mount in my cocktail cab, but it'll work with the hardware I have, it'll work with the software I have and cost me far far less in time and cash than the arcade monitor option.

Howard_Casto:
Are you going to get mad if I tell you that you probably wasted your money?

Arcade monitors always look better and the problem you are now telling us (which you didn't before) is quite common. Usually a cap kit or some minor misc repair will fix a monitor that can't stretch all the way.  If not then you are simply running the wrong freuency and a tweak in the settings or a new video card will fix it. 

I think a lot of people have the misconception that working with an arcade monitor is a plug and play procedure.  Unfortuantely, no matter which method you choose, a fair amount of setup and compromise is involved. 

A pc monitor is going to give a very "pixelated" display.  Some people tolerate it because either they aren't really familiar with how the games should look or don't have access to an arcade monitor.  It's a shame to just ditch one because it might need some repair though. 

Hiub1:
I agree with Howard. Having an arcade monitor really boosts the experience of having an arcade. Once I saw how MAME looked, I never wanted to go back! I would say that you should keep at it, I really believe that if you were to install XP you should have it working in no time.

Off topic, but Howard I just finished setting up Johnny5, and let me tell you it looks freaking fantastic! Really adds a professional touch to the cab! One thing I would suggest you tell people is to turn off any windows animations, because prior to that I could see the window shrinking before Johnny5 came up with the AHK. Also I could not get either the CPO or instruction cards to show up, but other than that everything is flawless. Good touch with the aligning hotkeys, I wasted a bunch of time trying to get everything nice and neat and then I found the hotkeys doc!

Anyways, thanks!

quarterback:

--- Quote from: Howard_Casto on May 08, 2006, 12:08:51 am ---Are you going to get mad if I tell you that you probably wasted your money?
--- End quote ---

I won't get mad, but I also don't share that opinion.  I'm a child of the arcade heydays and I remember playing these games on an arcade monitor.   I'm fully aware of the difference.  My cocktail cab is sitting right next to my upright, and just 2 days ago, I was simultaneously running the same games on one (with the arcade monitor) and the other (with the PC monitor).   

You may think that playing games on a PC monitor is a waste, but I'll never be convinced that the $35 I spent was a waste of money (unless the monitor stops working tomorrow).  The tons of hours I spent prior to making that purchase are the waste, IMO.  If I had bought the PC monitor three weeks ago, this would all be old news.   That $35 bought me a full-screen playable machine almost instantly, which is a small small price to pay.   Certainly not a waste to me.


--- Quote ---I think a lot of people have the misconception that working with an arcade monitor is a plug and play procedure.  Unfortuantely, no matter which method you choose, a fair amount of setup and compromise is involved. 
--- End quote ---

It's all relative.  But I spent more time in one day messing with the arcade monitor than I spent in a year setting up the PC monitor in my upright.  And it's not like I only spent one day messing with this arcade monitor.


--- Quote --- It's a shame to just ditch one because it might need some repair though. 
--- End quote ---

I had already made the calls to Betson and gotten a shipping quote for the Tovis monitor Ken mentioned in the Vid/Mon forum.   I was already willing to drop $160 to get a brand new, clean and shiny monitor into my house.  But that $160 would only be worth it to me if that was the end of it.  If I could have spent $160 and been up and running, I would have done it.  But nothing in my recent experience leads me to believe that would happen. 

I simply don't have the time to dick around with it any more and hope it all works out this week, or next week, or the week after that.  The only reason I started on this particular arcade monitor project was because I already had this emachine mobo which can output arcade monitor frequencies.  A mobo which, even though it's old, can run the classic arcade games in DOS.  I had no interest in spending *any* money on this project.  I was doing it because it was, effectively, free and could easily be done with things I already had on hand.   However, if it worked out, I'd buy a brand new monitor and drop it in. 

In other people's lives it may be worth it to them to spend hours and hours and hours getting it to work so they can have the full-on arcade monitor experience.  For me, getting all the parts, wires, screws etc off my dining room floor and getting the machine running is more important.   And I'm so much closer to that today than I was on Friday.   

In fact, if I had bought this PC monitor on Friday, I'd now be posting pictures of my completed cocktail cab.  As it stands, I'm going to have to try and find a couple more hours this week to work on it.  But if I can get about 2-3 hours on it this week, I'll be full on good to go and be basically done.   And that, to me, is more important.  Particularly since I think the PC monitor looks great.  It's cooler than the fully flat-screened trinitron Dell in my upright simply because it's not-a flat screen.  No it doesn't look exactly like an arcade monitor, but it's good enough for me.

Clearly different things are more important to some people than others.  I hate microswitch joysticks, others love them.  I can't imagine playing these games on an LCD, but some people are very happy with an LCD.   To each his own.

quarterback:
BTW, I completely appreciate everybody's help on this.  My arcade monitors aren't going anywhere right now (except back into the basement)  and I'm sure I'll be revisiting the arcade monitor setup again in the future with some different machine.
Cheers
qb

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