Dotronix DSV25 25" Monitor.. Worth it?

[Organic Jerk]

I have come into contact with someone in NJ who willing to sell me a DSV25 25" monitor by Dotronix  and I'm wondering what you guys think about the product.

It supports RGB and Composite video, but no S-video..

When looking for a manual pdf for it, funny enough google gave me groovygamegear.com
http://www.groovygamegear.com/PDF/DSV27monitors.pdf

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=87&products_id=269

Looks like Randy's offering the 27" inch version..  that gives me a bit of confidence, to say the least.

Anyone have any experience with these?  reccommend?  stay away?  The size seems perfect and an RGB connection would be even better than S-video, no?


EDIT: Well I called Dotronix and the first person I talked to (I would imagine she was a receptionist, since she was ready to transfer my call) told me with almost utter certainty that it would not work with a PC, despite the connection.  When I started asking her for specific reasons that's the case, she started to waver in her certainty and asked me to call back on Monday and ask for someone she knows would know...

Can anyone speak towards the usage of the DSV series as arcade monitors when hooked up directly with the RGB connection to a PC?  Does the video card have anything to do with it?  Can I use my current video cards (Geforce4, Radeon 9700) or do I have to buy an ArcadeVGA?

[Organic Jerk]

*bump* ... nobody? 

I'm not sure what I should tell this guy..

[btp2k2]

I looked at these too, was very tempted by the price.

In my opinion, there were just too many variables at play to seriously consider this as an option. I decided to go with a Betson.

Consider this...you drop 275 for the Dotronix, then another 100 for a AVGA card....might as well just go that extra 100 and get a tried and true solution that you know will function

[Organic Jerk]

Well I would be getting the 25" Dotronix for $80, so it's a steal in my eyes...

I'm just trying to make sure that its a steal that will work for me...


I ideally want to make sure I know exactly what my options are with this thing.. what will I need to make it work and such, given that I play a large amount of other games as well as mame (console emulators, PC games).

[Organic Jerk]

Well after looking at a spec sheet for a Wells Gardner K7400 (which I'm guessing is a typical arcade 15khz display), I've seemingly confirmed that the Dotronix would abide by this limitation, and therefore would need an ArcadeVGA to function properly..

So Randy's talk of the card on his page wasn't just of mentioning it for like minded people, but of necessity.

I would really hate to have to settle for buying an ArcadeVGA, as it's based off a Radeon 9250.  In my opinion that's really a rather weak base to start from.  Although very understandable for the Mame-only crowd, I've already got a few games that I want to play on my cab but can't because of no native Directx 9 support (ie: Marvel UA, Raiden 3), which the Radeon 9250 suffers from.  Not only that, but the low Pixel Pipelines leave much to be desired.  As it stands I was planning on putting a Radeon 9700 I have into the cab, which would have solved everything on that front...  that is, until this monitor showed up.


There's also mention on Randy's monitor page of something called Powerstrip, which I'm now looking into.. (weird territory for me, to say the least)

The reason I'm so adamant about this monitor is because I've been having such a hard time trying to find a TV to fit my cab that meets my restrictions.  Finally I find this guy in NJ who happens to have a video monitor that not only fits the size I need, but doesn't have the whole video labeling issues, ("VIDEO 1"), seems to have an RGB PC connection, AND only costs $80 ...you can understand why I'm just a bit hopeful..

The reason I havent just bought a WG D9400 already is really because of the price.  I simply just can't afford to spend $500+ on the display alone for the cab... at least not yet.  And by not yet I mean for a LONG TIME.

[Organic Jerk]

Opinions? Confirmations?  Condemnation?

Some input would be greatly appreciated as I have yet to respond to the guy...

[ahofle]

Sorry I didn't see this earlier.  I have one of those Dotronix 25" monitors.  I can assure you it works just fine with an ArcadeVGA and MAME, but you won't be able to use it with a standard video card (unless you get powerstrip working with it).  Mine has quite a few years of usage on it as one of those store display setups (got it used for $25!!!) but it still looks terrific.  There is a somewhat beefier (but still not stellar) PCI express version of the ArcadeVGA if you are worried about the Radeon 9250 platform.  You won't find many 25" arcade monitors out there, much less for $80 so I would jump on it if I were you.  You will also need to hack a VGA cable into a DB9 cable (I have the pinouts if you want), but that's child's play.  I also like this monitor because it comes in a metal enclosure, so it's easier to mount than a naked arcade monitor and you don't have to worry as much about kids/cats electrocuting themselves.

[Organic Jerk]

I have one of those Dotronix 25" monitors. 

Awesome!  It's good that at least I'm not the only one looking in this direction..  Well it looks like I'm at least going to definitely take a trip to NJ with my PC and give this baby a try with Powerstrip via the writeup from here.

When you say pinouts, what are you referring to?  I'm guessing a diagram of some kind to editing the cable pins?  Any kind of info would be helpful.

Thanks for responding.. I was starting to consider just settling for a sub-par TV for now until I could afford a D9400, but that would have costed me $60 more anyway...

[ahofle]

I can't explain to you how much better an arcade monitor looks than a TV when set at the proper resolution in MAME -- definitely do it.  I'm sure you are going to do this anyway, but make sure you check out the picture to make sure there aren't any glaring problems.  I've also tested just about every other emulator and they all look great (daphne, nes, snes, nintendo64, genesis, atari, mess, etc).  About the only downside I've found is that 800x600 interlaced is a bit cut off on the top and bottom.  I'm not sure if this is just my monitor.  There is a vertical adjustment, but shrinking it makes the other resolutions too small (big borders on the top and bottom).  I rarely need 800x600 so I just live with it. 
Yes, the pinouts are the mappings between pins in the VGA and DB9 cable.  You'll need a multimeter to correctly splice the cable.  Here are a few pics of Robotron on my Dotronix DSV25:
http://hofle.com/mame/robotron-arcademonitor-ddraw.JPG
http://hofle.com/mame/robotron-arcademonitor-ddraw2.JPG
http://hofle.com/mame/robotron-arcademonitor-ddraw3.JPG

Here are the pinouts going from a VGA cable (DB15) to a DB9 cable (to connect to the DSV25), courtesy of arzoo:

Here's a link for the standard DB15 pinout:
http://pinouts.ru/Video/VGA15_pinout.shtml

On the DB15, pin 13 is the hsync and pin 14 is the vsync. Both map to pin 6 (composite negative sync) on the monitor's DB9 connector. Note that the monitor does not use a standard DB9 mapping which uses pin 4 for the hsync and pin 5 for the vsync. So here's the complete pin mapping:

DB15 -> DB9 Dotronix
1(red)->1(red)
2(green)->2(green)
3(blue)->3(blue)
10(sync gnd)->4(gnd)
10(sync gnd->5(gnd)
13(hsync)->6(comp neg sync)
14(vsync)->6(comp neg sync)