LCD/TFT Monitor

[Andreas]

Has anyone had any luck buildinga a mame cocktail cabinet with a LCD/TFT Monitor?  I am desperate.  

[shmokes]

I don't know of anyone who's done it, but why would luck be involved?  LCD monitors are made to interface with PCs which just happens to be an ideal platform for MAME.  Couldn't you just plug in the monitor and be done with it?

[Andreas]

I thought so as well.  I am using a P4 1.8GHZ Processor with 512MB RAM, 40GB Hard Drive, Windows XP PRO, Invidia 64MB Video Card, and a Samsung 191T LCD Monitor.  I am using Mame32 version .6or .66 (I forget).  And the games are not filling the screen, they are sluggish, and the sound echoes.  I have tried refresh rates and have played with numerois settings to no avail.

[paigeoliver]

LCD screens are not very suitable for use with MAME. THey have a limited field of view, a FIXED resolution (which is why the games aren't filling the screen), and they usually have low refresh rates.

Some screens will auto scale their input to fill the screen, but it often looks like crap. A better solution might be to run all your games at the native resolution of the screen, and let MAME scale them up for you (which is fine if it is a 640x480 screen, but is not fine if it is like a 1600x1200 screen).

You might also run into a problem with the fact that the screen may be difficult to see from the angle you have to view it from. Laying down my laptop screen on top of my cocktail table shows me that it is viewable from that angle, but doesn't look too hot because it is just at the edge of the things field of view.

[GSXRMovistar]

Nice build here using and LCD/TFT screen (hacked laptop) but the owner states there are problems with viewing angles.

http://www.inanna.com:16080/~calhoun/ibox/

[Andreas]

There have been absolutely no problem with the viewing angle whatsoever.  I was told by someone to use Mame32 version .57 and it would not be a problem.  I haven't tried it yet but will do so tonight.  I know this can be done.  It has been done, I just can't find the person that has done it.

[RandyT]

I thought so as well.  I am using a P4 1.8GHZ Processor with 512MB RAM, 40GB Hard Drive, Windows XP PRO, Invidia 64MB Video Card, and a Samsung 191T LCD Monitor.  I am using Mame32 version .6or .66 (I forget).  And the games are not filling the screen, they are sluggish, and the sound echoes.  I have tried refresh rates and have played with numerois settings to no avail.

I think you might be barking up the wrong rope.

The LCD is just a display device and really shouldn't affect the operation of the system one way or the other.

I would say you have some system/software configuration issues.  If you get it working on a standard monitor, you should be able to to just plug in the LCD and go.

There is one thing to note:  unlike CRTs, LCD's have a native resolution.  this means that any resolutions other than the native one will be interpolated.  Depending on the quality of the interpolation, a better quality picture may be achieved by forcing the application to use the native resolution and using hardware stretching to fill the screen.  This will bog your system down doing it this way, but you'll probably have to experiment to see how much.

BTW, LCDs work best at 75 to 90 degree viewing angles.  This varies from LCD to LCD, but it's probably pretty close for desktop styles.

RandyT

[Andreas]

That all makes sense.  This is a fairly new monitor with 170 Degree viewing angles so the pictice is quite impressive.   Mame32 version .67 was not allowing me to change certain settings (meaning they were gray'd out and already selected).  However I just loaded version .57 onto my laptop and it is allowing me to adjust setting I was unable to do before.  I'll try it tonight on the cabinet.  Thanks

[StephenH]

I run MAME on a Laptop with an LCD display.   It works pretty well, but ocasionally I have to fiddle with the video settings.

Yes, LCDs do have a fixed resolution.   Because of this, here are my recommendations:

1) Set MAME to use the LCDs Native Resoultion (Note: you may have to fiddle a bit with the resoultion for vertical games)

2) Enable stretch

3) You may want to play around with scanlines, for a more authentic look.