Author Topic: Scored a 27" post-prod monitor with RGB (UPDATE 2: works great!) (Read 4286 times)

ARTIFACT · « **on:** August 16, 2007, 01:00:05 am »

Now... I don't have the cables that I need to connect my video card's RGB to this type of RGB...

Interestingly, I plugged via S-Video and it did not work

... the owner said that the unit SHOULD work though so I won't give up until I try the RGB inputs...
it's a professional monitor that he got with his super high-end editing system in the mid-90s. There are 2 types of RGB connections (9 pin, another one is a DB25 I *THINK*) and a component (but not the RCA kind... the big ass plugs kind ... hwo do you call them?

)

Here are pictures

Pretty cool for a "free" item!!!

Back label / model details ("April 1993"):

Connectors:

CLICK FOR LARGE VERSION

Model name in the front (weirdly it's at the top above the screen):

Now... IF I can't connect to it, I'm "ok" ... I actually have a pretty good picture using S-Video on the Sony 27" TV I have on my cab right now.
STILL! RGB... Yummm... Did I score an arcade monitor for free ... basically?

tell me what you think I should do to connect my Mame cabinet to this thing.

PS: a tip from me is to call around TV stations and post-production studios in your area... I BET you'll find more of these things out there...

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #1 on:** August 16, 2007, 01:14:41 am »

"Ummon" sent me a PM with an aswer for this:

"You see that RGB1 analog? That's called BNC. Same output as VGA but a different type of physical design. Get a VGA to BNC (5) and you're in business"

thanks for sending that.

The Chugnut · « **Reply #2 on:** August 16, 2007, 07:42:31 am »

I agree, VGA to BNC is nice and easy. The leads are readily available too!

Looks like you've scored a beauty - Grats!

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #3 on:** August 16, 2007, 10:23:22 am »

Thanks!

the nice thing compared to a lot of the "presentation monitors" that people seem to be finding left and right these days: IT IS ONLY 27" ... plus it's really about monitoring video / colors, so it has all kinds of adjustment knobs in the back for red, green, blue, etc.

I'll repeat my tip, as it is probably good for BYOACers: call your local TV stations, post-production studios, etc.. look them up and ask them if they have old video monitors they are willing to give - I believe that most of them are in the middle of switching ALL of their equipment to flat LCDs... go go go! They respond well to "Less land fill!"

ahofle · « **Reply #4 on:** August 16, 2007, 11:08:31 am »

Congrats, you won't be disappointed. Those things are usually built like tanks and last forever. Please post pics once you get it all hooked up! Good idea about calling the local TV stations too.

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #5 on:** August 16, 2007, 12:58:29 pm »

you bet!

i wil post pics in my project thread
... ohhh btw i got the rgb bnc cable !!! not home to check yet...

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #6 on:** August 16, 2007, 08:32:27 pm »

(nevermind - GOT IT!)

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #7 on:** August 16, 2007, 11:45:07 pm »

SCRATCH THAT!

Thanks Ummon for another useful private message!

I got it ALL working

it looks BEAUTIFUL! BEAUTIFUL!

I just went and uninstalled the 15Khz and 25Khz resolutions via the soft-15Khz tool

I guess it just sends 31Khz out now, BUT it looks just fine...

hwstretch 0
switch resolution 1
ddraw
etc.

BEAUTIFUL! OMG ... not blocky any more ... I see clearly delimited lines on games with lower res, it's all stable, etc..

ahofle · « **Reply #8 on:** August 17, 2007, 12:59:13 am »

Why did you get rid of the 15khz resolutions? Is it a VGA only monitor?

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #9 on:** August 17, 2007, 01:20:42 am »

Well it DOES switch resolutions fine, all the way down to the lowest res games it seems. With all the Soft-15Khz options "installed", it did not work. Now it does with the 31Khz option installed only.

All of the games I tried worked.

Soft-15Khz DOES make a difference... None of this would work before I used it and click on its "Install 31Khz Resolutions" button.

But everything looks really good... Again I have no complaint now. From Ms Pac Man to Super SF2: beautiful. It looks nothing like a computer monitor, more like what I remember as a kid (very pronouced scanlines on low-res games) and some of my experience with SCART TVs in europe.

I'm a happy camper

I will post some pics soon.

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #10 on:** August 17, 2007, 02:38:28 am »

I don't know how to take pics of monitor screens, but here are a few shots w/ LARGE versions (you can see the individual RGB pixels).
Mind you, these are just very small areas of the screen / close ups (~1/8th)
Wether this is how it's "supposed" to look or not, I am very happy with it. That's exactly what I was wishing to see on my monitor.

CLICK FOR LARGE 8.6 MEGA PIXEL VERSION (!)

tetsu96 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 17, 2007, 10:02:06 am »

Quote from: ARTIFACT on August 17, 2007, 01:20:42 am

Well it DOES switch resolutions fine, all the way down to the lowest res games it seems. With all the Soft-15Khz options "installed", it did not work. Now it does with the 31Khz option installed only.

All of the games I tried worked.

Soft-15Khz DOES make a difference... None of this would work before I used it and click on its "Install 31Khz Resolutions" button.

But everything looks really good... Again I have no complaint now. From Ms Pac Man to Super SF2: beautiful. It looks nothing like a computer monitor, more like what I remember as a kid (very pronouced scanlines on low-res games) and some of my experience with SCART TVs in europe.

I'm a happy camper

I will post some pics soon.

The pics look good. The large multisyncs really do a good job assuming their scan range supports the lower resolutions (and higher for the PC side of things).

One thing you may want to go back to playing with - scanlines. Don't know how configurable things are with your setup and Soft 15KHz, but using a 50% scanline effect with the resolutions (or more accurately, double the resolution) results in the same linedraw as native resolutions, and fills in the natural scanlines with another linedraw but at reduced brightness. Figure most single game cabinets had (or should have) been adjusted so that the scanlines were almost not visible so this is a way to approximate that without actually changing the focus of the monitor directly.

Good score whatever you do.

btw - are you using an AVGA or just a normal card? I've been using AdvanceMAME forever but I'm starting to want to try out baseline MAME again if that's what you're using with a typical video card.

ahofle · « **Reply #12 on:** August 17, 2007, 10:46:31 am »

Those pictures look to me like they are running at 15khz CGA resolutions, not VGA. Looks great whatever it is!

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #13 on:** August 17, 2007, 11:10:53 am »

Quote from: ahofle on August 17, 2007, 10:46:31 am

Those pictures look to me like they are running at 15khz CGA resolutions, not VGA. Looks great whatever it is!

i know!

im not adding fake scanlines to this!

the pictures dont show the brightness / visual i see in person. it looks a lot better

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #14 on:** August 17, 2007, 05:59:04 pm »

I'm going to have to decase this beast

it's actually THINNER than the 27" Sony Trinitron monster that I designed my cab around BUT it is wider in the back... and it is an inch or so deeper.

I am not scared to decase, but my worry is regarding repositioning all the circuit boards and mounting them in my cab... I hope the wires are long enough to give me some choices...

any input is welcome.

Terminatedrone · « **Reply #15 on:** August 17, 2007, 09:15:37 pm »

Quote

I am not scared to decase, but my worry is regarding repositioning all the circuit boards and mounting them in my cab... I hope the wires are long enough to give me some choices...

any input is welcome.

Without seeing inside, I'd imagine most of the cables aren't long enough to go too far from the monitor, but should be long enough to mount the boards to the side of the cabinet. Just pick up some little plastic spacers and drill it in. But, there should only be a few screws holding the case on, why not just take it off and look?

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #16 on:** August 17, 2007, 10:19:53 pm »

i did take off one part (the top comes of easily) to look down for a few minutes.

ill take some pics

stay tuned

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #17 on:** August 19, 2007, 02:35:34 am »

... this continues in my project thread (pictures, etc)

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #18 on:** August 26, 2007, 05:02:02 pm »

(nevermind - got it)

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #19 on:** August 26, 2007, 10:39:39 pm »

(nevermind - got it)

SOMEHOW installing advancemame +svgawin.sys (part of AdvanceCAB) FIXED my issue... now ALL resolutions display beautifully on the monitor


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