any pics of avga2 running on crt?

[scurvy]

i'm still a bit unclear on this.. does anyone run AVGA2 with  a crt? their website says its now for arcade monitors and pc monitors.. is there a difference between running mame on a CRT pc monitor with or without AVGA2?

[shorthair]

Not much. With a PC monitor, I'd suggest regular, hwstretch Mame. An avga is for arcade/multi-syncs...and maybe TVs, but not sure it's worth the bother.

[ahofle]

There are some comparison pics on the ultimarc website.

[scurvy]

ok so the AVGA site clearly shows a difference in pacman running on a pc monitor with and without AVGA.. what about newer games like mortal kombat or something? would like to see a comparison there

http://www.ultimarc.com/avgainf.html

[ahofle]

I think you will be disappointed with the ArcadeVGA and a PC CRT.  Andy came up with a neat little trick to make it work with native resolutions, but I think people read the too much into the "now works with PC monitors" statement.  If you are expecting it to look as good as an arcade monitor, you will most likely be highly disappointed.  It will look very blocky (you can see that the dots in Ms Pacman look like rigid squares for example).  If I were stuck with a PC CRT for a MAME cabinet, I would personally go with higher resolutions, Direct3D, and some of the new synthetic 'effects' in MAME such as aperture grill.

[shorthair]

Uhlll......aperture? Now that is nasty. Looks like a game shown on a needlepoint board or something. Actually, if you do the same as ahofle says - use a high resolution - but then set it to switch resolutions to fit' and then add scanlines 25%, it'll look almost just like real scan lines, but a little finer, a little kinder to the eyes. Of course, it won't fill the screen - which an avga will.

You could always go ahead an get one and then you'll be set for if you eventually can afford an arcade/multi-sync monitor.

[ahofle]

Uhlll......aperture? Now that is nasty.

Better not tell Aaron Giles that...
Anyway, I think they look quite good:
Aaron's aperture grill effects

[computarmann]

So does this mean that the stretching degradation issue of a PC monitor is maybe not as important as we have been lead to believe?

[ahofle]

It's all just personal opinion I think.  The effects are an improvement, but IMO still not nearly as good as a real arcade monitor. 

[shorthair]

I wasn't clear in my last on the effects. The dot pitch of a PC monitor is too fine, and it's different than an arcade/multi-sync, to look like an arcade/multi-sync. I meant if you scale up the res and use effects ON A MULTI-SYNC, the lines will look 95% like real generated scanlines, though a little smoother.

Something I noticed with the avga is that it makes a multi-sync display brighter. It's not just a monitor or mame settings. It's something signal-wise (I think, though I'm waiting for an answer from someone like Peale on this) that makes the monitor behave differently, and you can hear it in a sort of high-pitched sound the monitor produces only when doing true native resolutions.

Anyway, for the 'authenticity' gig, read the wiki.