Monitors, Bezels, mounting issues

[RastafarIan]

I am planning on using a 19' monitor for my cab. I still am not sure whether I will use an arcade, tv, or pc style monitor, but am leaning toward pc right now.
I definitely do not want a flat style screen.
I want a nice arcade bezel around the screen, whatever type.
I am wondering how these plastic Happs bezels are working out for some of you guys who have tried them.
I know a typical pc style monitor has a 18' viewable area (measured diagonally). But, if I get a happs 19' bezel how is that going to work out on a pc monitor? Will the curved surfaces match?
Any other bezel ideas?

Also, there is a lot of variation in the case dimensions of a typical pc monitor. They tend to be in fancy cases that look hard to mount. What about shelling it? Anyone had any luck/bad experiences with that? Seems like it would make it easier to mount the face of the monitor cleanly.
Also, any suggestions for PC monitors that are easy to mount and work well in a game cabinet?

[anthony691]

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND USING A PC MONITOR!!! The only monitors I have found easy enough to shell are any Sun monitors as they have a cool inner metal case for rack mounting. I have a 23" viewsonic in its case in my cab right now. As for the bezel, go to craft store, buy really thick mat paper (about 1/8 inch) I don't know if that is exactly what it is called..., but it will be easy to find. I just cut mine perfectly to size and painted it black. It is ARCADE PERFECT! good luck!

[Howard_Casto]

I highly reccomend AGAINST a pc monitor. They are very innacurate when it comes to reproducing a "arcade like" image.  Quite frankly they are too high end to display old-school raster images.  Get a tv for the least amount of work or a true arcade monitor for the most accurate image.  

Bezels are very tricky.  But if you go look over on the faq there are a few tutorials on how to build your own.  

[Ted_Striker]

I'm using a Happs Bezel with a PC Monitor (19").  The bezel looks great and can be cut to fit your application with a utility knife.  Because of the shape and mounting angle of my monitor there was an eighth inch gap between the monitor and bezel.  I spray painted the beige plastic on the front of the monitor a flat black.  This made the small gap un-noticeable if you weren't looking for it.  My cabinet also has smoked plexiglass.  The combination of the smoked plexi and the happs bezel look perfect.

So get a happs bezel and cut it to size.  They look great.  It will match up with your pc monitor but you might have to get a little creative to make it "perfect".

[anthony691]

Since when is high res a bad thing? There is no question in my mind... Okay I'll tell you my sad sad story, I like to call it Woes of an Arcade Monitor. I was a newb. I was so ignorant, I could just plug the JPac into my relativly new arcade machine (1996 Run and Gun 2) and I would be done. I plugged everything in, but only like 50 games worked on its super low crappy resolution.
    A good arcade monitor is expensive too, you also need to mess with things like an isolating transformer; and don't forget the death charge you need to release from the tube too many times was I electrocuted to even think of doing this again! I thaught once would be enough, but I got a nasty shock from my iso trans when I was taking it out. Okay so maybe I wasn't shocked, but I could have been.
     For the love of God don't make the same mistake I did. If this is your first cab use a PC monitor.


Oh, Casto I challenge you to tell the difference between a pic of my screen with an arcade monitor and with a PC monitor. Give me a day or 2 to find the pics. There is no difference. Unless you are a arcade perfectionist (the knid of person who dosn't use an IPac because they think it is too slow) In which case you SHOULD have an arcade monitorm otherwise there iis no reason.

[Smittydc]

Depending on the design of your cabinet, you can use a real arcade bezel, like these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3212608683&category=13718 Paint the front of the monitor casing black and it looks fantastic.

The space invaders deluxe bezel frames my 19" monitor perfectly.

Alternately, get a big piece of posterboard from an art store, as someone above suggested.

[SNAAAKE]

if you wanna use a PC monitor then you could just make your bezel.

But I am against true PC monitors too(Who ever knew I would agree with Howard ever ! ).

If you can,try and getting a VGA arcade monitor !.Eygo 19 monitors are cheap but hard to find.

Those are nothing like you generic PC monitor and you can get the 19" monitor bezel from happ and you have it.

Eygo 19" worked great for me.

Here is a picture on the 19" with happs's 19" monitor bezel installed if you are wondring how it might look.

[Larry Smith]

If you want a pc monitor look for an IBM p200 or equivilent Sun brand 20" monitor on ebay. They are easy to shell,cheap, high resolution, and they have a larger dot pitch than more modern PC monitors. So they don't look "too sharp". Although they are not an exact match for an arcade onitor they look very close when running advancemame. A few words of caution though:
they require special cables that are hard to track down and expensive so make sure that the monitor to PC cable is included also, Sun made a lot of fixed frequency monitors that are difficult to impossible a get working with a PC stay away from those.
Lastly although i haven't made mine yet the face of the monitor case makes a good template for making a more slanted arcade style bezel out of cardboard.

[Chris]

Also, rumor has it that the Act-Labs lightgun doesn't like the Sun monitors...

[Lilwolf]

For the monitor issues.  Take a look over at Oscars site and decide what looks the best.

My opinion... best to worse

1) Arcade Monitor (running either ArcadeVGA or Some hacked cable)
2) SVid with a good TVout card (ATI or NVidia ViVo or Malox)
3) B-Grade VGA (Hagstroms monitors, EYGO's (what I have).  These are large low resolution monitors
4) SVGA... the better the farther you go down the list.

Remeber, the original monitors had 320x200 resolutions on them.  They look to blocky... without the scanlines ect.

[Odonadon]

For the love of god, why would you want to use a PC monitor?  The games look like junk on it.

Going TV is the only way to go.  It's the most versitile, durable, and not to mention best bang for your buck.  Don't bother shelling the TV.  Drill some holes, and hook a few PC fans up to it.  That'll keep it nice and cool, gaurunteed.

The games look great on TV - much more accurate than PC monitor.

Odonadon

[Larry Smith]

Why use a PC monitor? Vector games!
Vector games look MUCH better on a PC monitor and with the right filter effects it looks almost as good as an actual arcade monitor on raster arcade games. See http://advancemame.sourceforge.net/rgb.html for examples.

Lastly with a PC monitor you can use windows and play all sorts of PC games.

[anthony691]

Why use a PC monitor? Vector games!
Vector games look MUCH better on a PC monitor and with the right filter effects it looks almost as good as an actual arcade monitor on raster arcade games. See http://advancemame.sourceforge.net/rgb.html for examples.

Lastly with a PC monitor you can use windows and play all sorts of PC games.

I completly agree! Replying to someone else, the lightgun dosn't work well (if at all) on sun monitors. Oh, and I don't really want to play PC games on my cab. Still I think PC monitors are the way to go. As I have said before I have had my heart broken by a CGA monitor and won't let that happen again.

[Odonadon]

Why use a PC monitor? Vector games!
Vector games look MUCH better on a PC monitor and with the right filter effects it looks almost as good as an actual arcade monitor on raster arcade games. See http://advancemame.sourceforge.net/rgb.html for examples.

Lastly with a PC monitor you can use windows and play all sorts of PC games.

.

Okay, you're right about the Vector games.  But why waste CPU power adding effects to reduce quality of your PC monitor for raster games, when a TV does it by itself?  You can buy a good 20" TV for half the price of a 20" (viewable) monitor.

I can use windows just fine on my cab, not that I have one single PC game that I want play standing up using arcade joysticks and buttons lacking a comfortable chair with proper surround sound setup.

Odonadon

[Larry Smith]

New TVs are half the price of new monitors but I'm talking used.
IBM P200's sell used on ebay all the time for under $100.
IMHO some older monitors look better than newer monitors for arcade games because they have a larger dot pitch .31mm vs ~.24mm. and the faces are not as flat. It sounded like what he was looking for.
PC monitors, Arcade monitors and TV's all have their pro and cons, just do a search to find many many threads explaning all in detail.
I too have had problems with an old fixed frequency monitor.
I downloaded the right software used the right video card and tried everything i could think of but  it never worked right. The type of monitor I'm talking about is SVGA and multisync so the only difference between it and a regular monitor is the funky cable.

I would love to hook a lightgun to my monitor; does anyone know whether the problems with Sun monitors are because most are fixed frequency or if it has to do with cabling?

[shmokes]

Won't most PC games run at 640x480?  If so why would you need a PC monitor for Windows games?  This is very important to me as I'm putting a force feedback wheel on my control panel with pedals on the floor and I want to be able to mix up some great Windows driving games with classics like Spy Hunter.  I was planning on using a TV, but I may have to bit the bullet and pick up a D9200.

Ugghh....that would also mean cancelling my preorder for 2 act-labs TV guns and switching to the regular USB ones...actually just one, since there is no confirmation of 2-player support in any but the TV version.

[ashardin]

I think what it comes down to is personal preference.  I run a 21" sun SVGA monitor in my cabinet and like it, but its true, it is too "sharp" on the old games.  I won't say they look like crap though, they look very nice.  

I am able though, to play Golden Tee PC at 1024x768 and it looks great, Tiger Woods 2002 can run the same.  I play some PC games on there on they look great too.

I think the mail reason I did it was simplicity and versatility.  My arcade cab doubles as a jukebox at well so I have no problems with Windows text (you will NOT be able to read text if you hook up to a TV).

That all being said.  I'm on my 4th go around with the bezel and haven't been happy with anything I've done.  My next move is smoked plexy so I don't have to worry about it at all.