color problem

[bscottberg]

I have been batteling  a problem for a few days where I can't get any color on my arcade monitor.  I only can get a washed red, blue or green by adjusting the monitor in the back.

I am running an arcadeVGA card to a jpac with a monitor that I know was working properly as recently as a week ago.  The drivers have been re-installed a trillion times in the last three days and appear to be working (galaga icon is present and functional)

I've tried every resolution, frequency, and both 16 and 32 bit color settings that are supposed to work for windows with the arcadevga and an arcade monitor. 

For a while I thought maybe that was just how windows should look but the games would work after following the mame config changes i.e. directdraw, turn hardware stretch off, auto arcadevga resolution tool etc.  still no avail though. 

Any help, pointers or advice is greatly appreciated.

[Ken Layton]

And the make and model of the monitor in question is.....??

[bscottberg]

The tube itself has a zenith sticker OEM 136437
and E1A1101 beneith that - hopefully that is a model#.

I am not sure if any of this stuff will help but it is in a wells gardner chassis model 25k7131 120V 60hz 100W max wells gardner.

It is a 25 inch monitor and from about 1991.  I have owned it since 1994-ish just never done anything with it other than turn it on until now.

[bscottberg]

sorry to post again, but I plugged the jamma into a working Ninja Turtles PCB and the color is perfect. 

[Kevin Mullins]

Future reference: WG 25k7131 is your monitor model.

You say you have re-installed the ArcadeVGA drivers a bunch, but is there ANY other video drivers installed? (factory built in video, etc)
Those need removed and or disabled. (seems to cause problems from everything I've heard)

Just to clarify..... you have a JAMMA wired cabinet, that you have plugged a TMNT pcb into and it works fine.
But with the ArcadeVGA setup you get washed out colors. (?)
Is the picture good, stable, and clear other than the color issue?

May just need to re-adjust the monitor to suit the ArcadeVGA if it's JUST a color issue.

And is this the first version ArcadeVGA or the newer one with PC resolution capability?

[bscottberg]

I assumed the problem was the drivers so I tried the ATI driver removal utility from Ultimarc and re-installed the drivers.  I also tried the same approach with the force install of the arcadevga drivers mentioned on the ultimarc site.  and in case it comes up, I did reboot when prompted (except for the force install where instructed not to). 

and Yes the jamma harness into the tmnt harness works fine other than a slight tweak on v-hold.  When I plug into the arcadevga setup the colors are washed.  Other than that the picture is clear and stable.

and finally this is a brand new ArcadeVGA card that came in the mail from Andy 2-weeks ago at most. 

As for re-adjusting the monitor, that is what I am hoping is the problem, I have just run out of adjustments to try.  i.e. adjustments in mame, in windows, etc.....

Oh and thanks for figuring out the model number for me.

[Ken Layton]

Remember that most arcade monitors (like the one you have) require a video input signal of up to 5 volts. Most computers don't output a voltage more than 1 volt.

[bscottberg]

The ultimarc site says the following about the arcade VGA:

<<Some monitors (not Hantarex or Wells-Gardner) need a 5 volt video RGB signal and the ArcadeVGA card supplies 1 volt. To boost the signal level you can use our Video Amplifier >>

Is there any way to test if this is the problem or is it more of a buy one/ make one to find out?

Thanks again for all the help!

[Kevin Mullins]

As for re-adjusting the monitor, that is what I am hoping is the problem, I have just run out of adjustments to try.  i.e. adjustments in mame, in windows, etc.....

You may need to try adjusting the monitor itself......
http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF%20Monitors/Wells%20Gardner%2025K7191.pdf
The second page in this .pdf shows the pots on the neck card.

Start by turning them all down, should almost kill the picture entirely.
Turn the DRIVE pots up just a tad each. R, G and B.
Then use the CUT OFF pots and see if you can get a good balance of the colors.

As for possibly requiring a video amp like Ken had mentioned....it's hard to say right off if you will absolutely need one. I've had to use one on the Japanese monitors for sure. Wells Gardners usually don't have much trouble with the weaker signal it seems. But if you have the newer ArcadeVGA as you described, then it most likely is only outputing about 1 volt because it was designed to run pc monitors as well. The older one wasn't, so it has a higher output strictly designed for arcade monitors. I would try to adjust it out first using the actual monitor adjustments, but keep in mind you might still need one.
And if you do adjust those while running the ArcadeVGA keep in mind that TMNT may look wrong if you plug it back in. 

[patrickmaher]

You may want to contact Andy at Ultimarc with the details of your problem.

About 9 months ago I bought an ArcadeVGA and J-PAC from Ultimarc and the color on the monitor looked black and white to me. Adjusting the color pots on the monitor would make the screen tint red, green, or blue depending on which pot I turned.

In the end I contacted Andy and he said that my J-PAC had a problem with one of the resistors and I was missing the red color. He replaced the J-PAC and that solved the problem. This may be a different problem but he will probably be able to help either way.

[bscottberg]

I've e-mailed Andy, plus I have attached the best pic I could get of the screen with my camera.  This is with a primarily blue-ish hue which is the most viewable I can get the screen to look.

[bscottberg]

I worked with Andy via E-mail.  He sent me out a replacment J-Pac and I had everything up and running in about 10 minutes from the time I opened the package.  He was great to work with and I will buy from him again!!!!!!!!