NEC Multisync XM29 Plus w/ArcadeVGA?

[JettaGLI]

I have started on my Mame project but I am going slow and I have a few questions! I have access to Gov. Excess equipment and like an Idiot I recently threw out a NEC multisync XM29. When I found out that they are decent for Mame I nearly had a heart attack.  I rushed back to the "excess Junkyard" I found the last XM29 plus left for $100 and brought it home.





I connected my Dell D800 (also excess-ed! Woohoo) and here is what I get.





This was just a test run. I plan to use a Dell GX270(excess-ed).

Will it look any better with an ArcadeVGA card?

I would love to hear any opinions. I have searched the forums and found that some people are using NEC multisync presentation monitors. I just haven't seen any pictures or info on how they have them setup. I am pleased with the way games look anyone have pics of a NEC multisync with an ArcadeVGA?

[JettaGLI]

Ok obviously I must be the only NEC Multisync XM29plus owner in the forums.

Anyone have an idea if this will work with a Lightgun? It does have S-Video. Anyone?

[horseboy]

NickG uses one. He mentions it at the end of this post.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=57883.msg571265#msg571265

You may want to PM him and direct him to this thread. I also have one on the way, so I will be interested in any info you find out.

[JettaGLI]

Very cool! Thanks for the reply! I will be very intrested in what you think of it. I have no idea what I am comparing it with. I will take some better pictures tonight. I am really impressed with the picture quality.

Thanks for the link, I honestly had forgotten what games looked like in a arcade. Maybe if I post a pic of a game I could get someone to post an Arcade Monitor pic and see the difference. I haven't even begun to play with all of the settings. I do know that DVD picture is probably better or equal to my 19" LCD. Dragon's Lair also looks incredible.

[JettaGLI]

Ok I checked the NEC out again after reading that thread and it looks like a regular PC monitor. I haven't played with any of the settings yet I will do that tomorrow morning.

[JettaGLI]

I appologize my photo skills are horrible but I think you will get the idea. Everything looks flat. I am guessing that an ArcadeVGA can help this. Here are some pics







It looks the same as if I played the game on my 19" LCD. If anybody has tips on settings for the XM29 plus please let me know!

[ccarlesco]

I've got 2 Mitsubishi and 1 Nec 29" monitors.  In my opinion they are the best mame monitors you can find.  If you use an arcadeVGA card you get the best of both worlds.  You can run PC games at native res, mame interfaces at 1024x768, perfect scanlines, digital position memory and a wide variety of inputs.

Bottom line is that if you want to see a real difference in mame get an arcadeVGA.  Your monitor is one of the few that supports 15hz and you can reap the benefits of native arcade scanlines.

[JettaGLI]

   SHWEET! Thanks ccarlesco for the info and for the reply I am getting wood to start cab tomorrow. man this is great news I could still kick myself in the ass for throwing out my first NEC XM29.... I just thought it was a waste of space.

Is it possible to stand vertical or just keep it horizontal? I  was just curious. I will probably just leave it the way it sits. Vertical games would look great but I am not even sure if its possible. Ehh I guess I will just leave it alone no sense in changing it it has plenty of room.

[Silver]

Some of these NEC's can go up to 1024x768. Can't remember the exact models (XM29, XM29 plus etc..).

So if you have just plugged up a laptop via VGA you could be running games at 800x600 or 1024x768. Which as you say looks pretty good - but this is basically just a very large PC monitor.

The NEC's will also support low resolutions - 15Khz horizontal scan frequencies, same as arcade boards - which is what makes them unusual (apart from the size!). Some models also support 25Khz. I have tested 2 NECs - a XM29 and a XM29Plus, and while they both did 15Khz and both went up to 1024x768, only one of them supported the 25Khz region. This is not a big issue as only a small number of games used this.

An ArcadeVGA should work great - and its a simply VGA cable job too.

It will work (like any CRT) standing vertical although, although the heat flow inside is designed for horizontal mounting so if going vertical make sure it has plenty of air space for cooling. I remember one of the NEC's being quite noisy when on - it had 4 or 5 80mm fans which I managed to replace with quiet fans. The other was much quieter. Not an issue if its going in a cab though.

[horseboy]

Ok Silver, thanks for the info, but I have a question for you. I still get a bit confused when it comes to the video side of this stuff. The reason I got mine is because it is capable of supporting many different horizontal scan frequencies. I have read though, that even though it supports the lower frequencies, it will still not look as good as an arcade monitor because it was designed for a much higher resolution. What are your thoughts on this?

[Sprucemoose]

I have one of these bad boys.  They are awsome!  The monitor works with a lightgun.  If I remember correctly it took me a minute to set it up.  I think the had my cable in the wrong vga slot and it caused my monitor to reset if I used the lightgun really fast.  PM me if you have problems and I will check my setup.

[Silver]

I have read though, that even though it supports the lower frequencies, it will still not look as good as an arcade monitor because it was designed for a much higher resolution. What are your thoughts on this?

What we are talking about here is basically "dot pitch". which is typically used to refer to the size of the individual "dots" that can be shown on a monitor. (Technically its the distance between the sub-pixels of the same colour). Crudely put, this is how much detail a monitor can show within a cetain area....

So with PC monitors or LCD's, which have a very small (i.e. fine) dot pitch - e.g. 0.25mm - they can show up far more detail than an old arcade monitor, and hence it looks blocky and bad compared to the arcade original.

Typical CRT (not-LCD/Plasma) TV's and arcade monitors would have a dot pitch of anything from 0.60mm to 0.90mm. so they can draw much less detail in a certain area, and look great with arcade games.

Some info here: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_crtfaq.html#CRTFAQ_011

And for comparision, Retroblasts review of a new, top-end 29" 15-50Khz Wei-Ya Arcade monitor has a dot pitch of 0.68mm. http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/weiya.html

The NEC XM29 has a dot pitch of 0.60mm, so I reckon should be fine.

It's probably fair to say that as it does have a 28" screen that is capable of (very good) 1024x768 display it is going to be sharper that a 2nd hand 19" arcade monitor, but you are getting the best of both worlds. (IMHO).