URGENT vision pro svga/vga monitor displaying windows with .78mm dot pitch

[rlemmon]

 was going to order the vision pro 19" vga/svga monitor tomorrow (and exited as hell) and i was doing some last minute research.

I read on another sit that because of the .78mm dot pitch size windows is illegible. Anyone have any insight ?


I use my mame cab as my primary computer, if the dot pitch will be an issue I'm not getting it.

any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks guys

P.S. I originally posted this in the monitor forum, then it occurred to me that allot of us probably don't often view that forum.  Sorry for the double post but I really needed an answer ! Saint please dont send someone to my door to break my knees for double posting 

[Fozzy The Bear]

.78 WTF!!!! That's a huge dot pitch!! are you sure that you didn't misread that and that it's not actually .28  I don't think there is an apeture grill sized at .78 on any VGA monitor.

BUT if it is then it's a piece of crap!

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[rlemmon]

Yep I read it right here's a link to the spec page

http://www.happcontrols.com/monitors/491337vp2lg.htm

I read that since its for arcade cabs the dot pitch is higher to create a more authentic arcade appearance.

Are you saying that with that high od a dot pitch winows would look horrible ?

Thanks fozzy

[Fozzy The Bear]

Are you saying that with that high od a dot pitch winows would look horrible ?

With that high a dot pitch, windows would be totally unreadable.

I don't know of any modern VGA Arcade monitors that are that bad... and I do use several multi res monitors in the Arcade. I strongly suspect that might be a Typo on the Happ site. You should contact them and check it out. It also claims to be VGA / SVGA  yet it only does 640 X 480 acording to the spec.... which wouldn't qualify it as SVGA.

I'd also be concerned by the Goldfish Bowl shaped tube.... Not great!

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[rlemmon]

Well I called arcadeshop ( were i was going to order it) He said he thinks its a typo that it should be more like .28 

I was looking at similar monitor at betson and it also had a .78 dp

http://www.betson.com/products/amusement/IMP-44-4019-01

I thought they made there own monitors that they sell but it could be the happ one.

So mabey its not a typo. I guess I will have to call happ monday   

[tetsu96]

The bigger the monitor, the bigger the dot pitch can be before it's a problem.  And you're also right that larger dot pitches are more suited for arcade monitors as the resolutions they display at are typically lower than most windows applications.

But .78 is high for a 19" monitor which is supposed to run 640x480.  I'd suspect MAME would do just fine with it though Windows may not be the happiest fun place to be.

[ahofle]

Who told you it would be illegible?  Windows is perfectly clear in 640x480 interlaced (although it flickers) on a STANDARD RES ARCADE MONITOR!  I can only imagine the monitor you are considering which actually supports true 640x480 and 800x600 would be crystal clear since it wouldn't be interlaced.  If the monitor says 640x480, then I'm not sure why you think Windows wouldn't be legible at 640x480?   

[Fozzy The Bear]

Who told you it would be illegible?  Windows is perfectly clear in 640x480 interlaced (although it flickers) on a STANDARD RES ARCADE MONITOR!  I can only imagine the monitor you are considering which actually supports true 640x480 and 800x600 would be crystal clear since it wouldn't be interlaced.  If the monitor says 640x480, then I'm not sure why you think Windows wouldn't be legible at 640x480?   

0.78 Dot Pitch is 3 times the pitch of a cheap PC monitor.  Just because it supports 640 X 480 does not mean it actually displays 640 X 480.  It's most certainly not going to display it in focus and readably. He made it clear that his Cabinet is ALSO his Primary PC....  This monitor would be a very very bad choice for that application. He in fact needs a monitor with at very worst a .30mm Dot Pitch, even then it's not going to look great. 

I'm also a little unclear as to why he wants this monitor. It's only going to run at PC frequencies and not at arcade ones. So there is absolutely no advantage here, because you still can't run mame games on it at their native resolution. In fact if you run at VGA and SVGA then it's pointless buying an Arcade Monitor at all. Buy a large PC Monitor. They're way cheaper.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[rlemmon]

Who told you it would be illegible?  Windows is perfectly clear in 640x480 interlaced (although it flickers) on a STANDARD RES ARCADE MONITOR!  I can only imagine the monitor you are considering which actually supports true 640x480 and 800x600 would be crystal clear since it wouldn't be interlaced.  If the monitor says 640x480, then I'm not sure why you think Windows wouldn't be legible at 640x480?   

0.78 Dot Pitch is 3 times the pitch of a cheap PC monitor.  Just because it supports 640 X 480 does not mean it actually displays 640 X 480.  It's most certainly not going to display it in focus and readably. He made it clear that his Cabinet is ALSO his Primary PC....  This monitor would be a very very bad choice for that application. He in fact needs a monitor with at very worst a .30mm Dot Pitch, even then it's not going to look great. 

I'm also a little unclear as to why he wants this monitor. It's only going to run at PC frequencies and not at arcade ones. So there is absolutely no advantage here, because you still can't run Mame games on it at their native resolution. In fact if you run at VGA and SVGA then it's pointless buying an Arcade Monitor at all. Buy a large PC Monitor. They're way cheaper.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

Thanks Julian for everything I'm glad I didn't order it !

 The reasons I was going to get one were that, I have a flat screen CRT and it has always bothered me beings that it wasn't curved like a real arcade monitor and didn't have a nice molded plastic bezel around it. I just kind of think my cab looks cheap in a way, with the monitor I have. 

I also liked the idea that It was plug and play and I didn't need an avga card or have to screw around with splicing a cable to it. ( my luck i would cut the wrong wire and kill it)   

I have looked for a 21 " CRT ( I don't like LCD) PC monitor but there around $400.00 and I just cant justify spending that much and theres also the fact that my cab probably wouldn't be deep enough for a 21" PC monitor. I think its 18.5" or so.


Thanks for all your help. I really do appreciate it 

[BobA]

Crazy price on the 21 inch crt.  I got one for $89 and so did a few others.  You might want to look at this thread.  The screen has a nice curve to it as well and looks good as a primary monitor on a PC. I just looked and this outfit is still selling them.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=60265.0

Edit: Noticed the shipping went from $15 to $18 but still a great deal. Some monitors say Canada and others say USA/Canada shipping so be sure to check.

[Silver]

Reading the specs of that Happs monitor, it looks like a fixed frequency monitor (only supports 31.5Khz) and lists one resolution - 640x480.

So a large dot pitch won't really look that bad at 640x480. Dot pitch usually means sharper picture (dot pitch being - roughly - the distance from one phospher to another of the same colour in adjacent triads on the shadow mask of a monitor). But at a fixed lo-res, its not such an issue.

However, it is clearly designed for commercial gaming use - probably VGA arcade games - and not for running windows as a desktop PC.