Recommendations for 26" TV for MAME cabinet..

[GlennEdwards]

Hi All,

I'm at the stage now where I need to purchase a 26" 4:3 CRT TV for use in my MAME cabinet. I'm planning on connecting the TV to the PC via s-video, and want a TV with speakers on the bottom, so as not to use up any of the valuable horizontal width in the cabinet..

Can anyone in theUK recommend a TV that I can purchase..either new or second. The TV must be 4:3, CRT, and have auto-on after power loss (this is essential so that the TV comes on when I power up the cabinet), I don't want to be faffing with a remote control to turn the TV on after the cabinet is powered up..

Thanks,

Glenn

[ZeroPoint]

Just want to give you some advice when selecting av TV...

1. Select a TV with at least one Scart connector. You will be able to use a RGB connection with this that is superior in quality over S-video. No need for overscan adjustments if you are happy with a interlaced picture. This is the easy way. No "real" arcade resolutions, but excellent quality for any game and dvds up to 1024x768.

2.  If you want to use "real" progressive arcade resolutions you should search for a TV where you know how to access the service menu. (Search the internet for a service manual before you select a TV.) This is where you adjust the overscan (geometry settings). Beware that some newer small TVs has no horizontal size adjustments. Stay away from these if you can. It is not possible to use all native arcaderesolutions on a TV mostly because of the limitations in the horizontal line frequency. (Most games work perfectly, but you have to accept either top/bottom black bars on some games or a stretched picture.

I am currently writing  a guide for using scart-tvs. Stay tuned...

[GlennEdwards]

Hi ZeroPoint,

Thanks for that advice.. I'm definitely looking forward to reading your guide 

P.S. You mention to use Scart RGB to connect the PC to the TV, which I'm all in favour of, as I know it looks much much better than s-video. What gfx cards are there that will allow this kind of connection? Can I use an nvidia card with VGA output, and get some kind of VGA to RGB converter? or is there a better way?

One more question are the majority of true arcade games displayed progressively, or interlaced? I always thought the games I played in the arcades were shown on interlaced..

That's something I need to think about then, as obviously the games in my arcade cabinet would look much better shown progressively rather than interlaced.

Is it possible then to connect my PC via Scart RGB to a TV, and have the picture displayed progressively?

Many Thanks

Glenn

[StephenH]

Get the ArcadeVGA from www.ultimarc.com, it can output arcade resolutions, and then you need a VGA to SCART cable.    Most TVs are 15Khz, and the ArcadeVGA outputs at that frequency, not at the VGA frequency of 31Khz, which can damage it.   Using SCART RGB, actually turns the TV into an arcade monitor!!!

[GlennEdwards]

Just been reading the ArcadeVGA FAQ, and I'm definitely going to be ordering one..

Not all I need is a SCART RGB capable TV, which 99.999% of TV's are, so no problem there, but I need a 25" - 26" TV that auto-powers on after a power loss i.e. doesn't go into standby when powered on.., and also doesn't have side speakers (bottom speaker is ok)..

I need the TV to operate this way, so that when I turn the cabinet on, the computer, speakers, marquee light, and TV al come on, without me having to get the TV remote to bring the TV out of standby..

Does anyone have any reccomendations for an 25" - 26" TV's that will auto power on after a power loss?

Thanks,

Glenn

[ZeroPoint]

I don't think you will find a TV that automatically auto-powers on after a power loss.  TV-manufacturers would not allow this to happen because it would be kind of dangerous. Think of it this way: You go on a holiday and in the meantime you have a short powerloss in you home. You TV would automatically power-up and in the worst case scenario you could return home to no home at all. CRTs are dangerous this way, specially when they are old and full of dust and bad circuit boards. You will probably have to modify your TV or just use the remote (recomended!).

Turning your scart-tv into a arcade-monitor by using RGB is somehow true, but with some limitations. How many horizontal lines you can draw (vertical resolution) depends on a combination of the horizontal frequency (also called "line frequency") and the vertical frequency (refresh rate). For example if you have a h.freq. of 15720 hz and a v.freq. of 60 hz you will be able to draw 262 lines each frame. (15720/60=262). Note that not all of these lines are visible. Scart-TV have limitations on both h and v frequencies. Typically limited to 15500 to 16000 hz h-sync (not quite sure) and 50 or 60 hz v-sync. Using f.ex. 55 hz v-sync would most likely not work.

Regardless of the limitations...using a scart-tv as an arcade-monitor is an excellent choice. The standard dot-pitch of regular TVs gives an authentic look of arcade games. But as I mentioned earlier you have two choices. Either use interlace (doubling the horizontal lines by drawing the odd and even lines each frame) and hardware scaling or adjusting the TVs overscan (224 visible lines at 60hz recomended) using native resolutions on most games and hardware scaling on those who doesn't fit.

The ArcadeVGA card is very nice, but it doesn't really work well with a scart-tv. You will be able to display most resolutions very well, but again you will be stuck with some limitations.

Hope this is not confusing...I am currently writing a guide for this...unfortunately I don

[horseboy]

Actually, many TV's autopower on after power loss. 3 in my house do. Do you have a cable box? Many people have thier TV's plugged into the outlet on the back of the cable box so that when you turn to box off, the TV goes off. Turn on the box and the TV goes back on. The two cable boxes in my home are hooked up this way. It has been discussed numerous times. TV's that auto power on are obviously much more cabinet friendly.