TV on a WG D9200

[Wienerdog]

Okay, I'm looking for some more options.  

I have an ATI AIW 8500 video card.  What would the TV picture look like on a WG D9200?  Does anyone have an AIW card or a TV Tuner card in their cabinet with a WG D9200?

What would be a 25" equivelant to the D9200?  27" honestly seems hugh and I'm trying to spend as little money as possible.  I just don't know if I will be happy with S-Video on a TV, but that has been my current solution.  

Thanks for the input.

[Wienerdog]

Can anyone help me out?  I'm pushing the end of my return period for my 27" TV...

[shmokes]

I don't understand what the problem is...I've got a 27" TV and TV looks great on it.  There's no reason that it wouldn't look good on the WG D9200.  I have an AIW card.  I don't have a WG D9200, but TV looks good on my PC monitor.  It looks good over TV-out on both my 27" S-video TV and on my HD 40" widescreen.  I think what I hear you saying is your not sure if the TV signal would look good over S-video.  Game systems, VCR's, DVD players, etc. all look better over S-Video on a TV than over composite.

[Wienerdog]

I don't understand what the problem is...I've got a 27" TV and TV looks great on it.  There's no reason that it wouldn't look good on the WG D9200.  I have an AIW card.  I don't have a WG D9200, but TV looks good on my PC monitor.  It looks good over TV-out on both my 27" S-video TV and on my HD 40" widescreen.  I think what I hear you saying is your not sure if the TV signal would look good over S-video.  Game systems, VCR's, DVD players, etc. all look better over S-Video on a TV than over composite.

Problem:
1.  Mame on a 27" TV over S-Video doesn't look as good as Mame on a  WG D9200
2.  My computer output to a 27" TV over Component connections(not composite) will only display 640x480.  I haven't been able to run Mame at that fixed resolution.  When I set resolution to 640x480 instead of auto, the game is still scrambled when it starts.
3.  I want to be able to watch TV on my cabinet

My question:
If I return my TV and buy a WG D9200, will I get a good picture from the AIW TV Tuner?

[RandyT]

My question:
If I return my TV and buy a WG D9200, will I get a good picture from the AIW TV Tuner?

I have used an AIW card to watch TV on a 21" VGA at 640x480 and it looked fine to me.

I have also used an AIW to feed a DVD sourced VGA signal to my DLP projector and it the picture looked great even though it was blown up to 9' across.  So the card should be plenty capable of delivering a good picture on a 27".

The D9200 should look at least as good as a simple television, but will probably be better as the combination will allow you to get rid of the interlacing.

RandyT

[Wienerdog]

Thanks Randy, I probably have the TV working now though.  I was having trouble getting the resolution, refresh, and mame flags set up correctly to display the picture right on my TV with Component output through an ATI HDTV adapter.  

I think my final problem was with the switchres flag.  I'm still not positive I'm getting the best picture I can, so I'll probably be back with more questions, but I am able to play games now.  

Oh, and the Keywiz is working good.  I hooked up one of my p360s right away on some scrap wood.  I don't have any buttons, but I'm using my stick!

[SNAAAKE]

dude you can buy seperate tv(atleast 25") for like $150 with only AV input...thats my local so If I were you I would just go for the d9200 and get another tv for tv viewing.
BUT,I do have an ati tv tuner and looks great on vga arcade monitor.you really wanna watch tv on a cab?  
Dont get it  
Thats the weirdest thing ever !  

[RandyT]

Thanks Randy, I probably have the TV working now though.  I was having trouble getting the resolution, refresh, and mame flags set up correctly to display the picture right on my TV with Component output through an ATI HDTV adapter.  

I think my final problem was with the switchres flag.  I'm still not positive I'm getting the best picture I can, so I'll probably be back with more questions, but I am able to play games now.  

I haven't dealt with the new component stuff very much, but I'm going to venture a guess that you would only be able to do normal TV resolutions or whatever resolutions the card supports in that frequency range.  This would probably mean 640x480 and 720x480.  The higher ones would have to be interpolated but the card may not support that using those outputs.

But in the end, you'll be limited to finding a resoluton the TV is stable at, locking the software at that resolution (no auto-switch) and use hardware stretching to fill the screen.

Oh, and the Keywiz is working good.  I hooked up one of my p360s right away on some scrap wood.  I don't have any buttons, but I'm using my stick!

Cool.


And Snaaake.....

In one breath you state that TV looks great on an arcade monitor, but watching it there is "the weirdest thing ever".  You don't get out much, do you?  

Watching TV on a cab is no different than using a cab for a jukebox, which I am sure that many people do.  If you don't have the space, or the money to duplicate all the goodies you put in that box you call an arcade machine, you might as well get some use out of it when no-one is playing.  Don't be so judgemental!

RandyT

[Wienerdog]

But in the end, you'll be limited to finding a resoluton the TV is stable at, locking the software at that resolution (no auto-switch) and use hardware stretching to fill the screen.

Ok, I'll make sure hardware stretch is on.  I thought that locking the software into 640x480 would be a problem with alot of games, but then I realized that many people can only get 640x480 on arcade monitors.  If it works for them, it should work for me.  

Snake,
I probably have the money and space to buy a D9200 and a 27" TV.  I'm just not that type of person.  I have to get everything on sale, and I go out of my way to save every penny I can within reason.  I won't sacrifice much quality on my expensive cab just so I can watch TV on it.  However, I won't spend the extra money for a D9200 if it I can't watch TV on it and it isn't going to be much better than mame on a TV with component.  It either has to have a better image and display TV, or have a MUCH better image.  

The arcade cab might not be the best entertainment center to watch a movie on (not sure yet, it depends on the design), but it is perfect for watching TV while running on a treadmill.  Keep in mind that not everyone has the same needs as you.  It's cool to hear how other people are making good use of their cabs.  Some people have no use for a rotating control panel, and yet 1Up goes down in history as a pioneer...

 

[SNAAAKE]

Okay if those are the odds then go with s-video tv.
Its not that bad.I mean s-video looks good but there are better opitions out there.
But since you wanna watch TV then s-video TV should work for you.Maybe you will get used to it !  

[Wienerdog]

I hope so.  I'm spending alot on the rest of the cab, so I'm not trying to save money here.  I just want to get the best hardware I should.  I'm going to do some more S-Video to Component comparisons tonight and hopefully get some decent pictures.  There are alot of comparisons of S-Video to Arcade Monitor, so I can extrapolate some comparisons of Component to Arcade Monitor by comparing S-Video to Component.

It's much easier now that I actually have games working right.  I've seen you guys talking about the percentage of games that work on 15khz arcade monitors and the percentage of games that work on the D9200 (basically all games but vector).  It sounds like I am stuck at a fixed 30kHz 640x480 setup with my component connection to the TV.  Does that mean I will have trouble on some games?

LOL, you can see I'm still trying to justify returning the TV and buying the D9200.  Thanks for the help.

[Frostillicus]

Wiernerdog -
If you want the best, you could look into getting one of those TV Tuner stand-alone things that have computer pass-through, co-ax cable, composite, s-video, audio connections, etc, instead of trying to feed the signal through your computer.  I have a cybersonic one I bought years ago to watch TV on my monitor (cheaper than buying a tv and i lived in small apt - hey i was in college and poor ), and it gave a good picture to the monitor no matter what I fed into it.  Capable of 640x480 800x600 and 1024x768.  And a remote.  
It's a simple solution, to me - though it means more money - mine cost 100 bucks back in the day - probably is cheaper these days.   If I ever decide to hook up a playstation or dreamcast to my cab it'll be the easiest way to do it by far (i have a d9200).

[SNAAAKE]

Wiernerdog -
If you want the best, you could look into getting one of those TV Tuner stand-alone things that have computer pass-through, co-ax cable, composite, s-video, audio connections, etc, instead of trying to feed the signal through your computer.  I have a cybersonic one I bought years ago to watch TV on my monitor (cheaper than buying a tv and i lived in small apt - hey i was in college and poor ), and it gave a good picture to the monitor no matter what I fed into it.  Capable of 640x480 800x600 and 1024x768.  And a remote.  
It's a simple solution, to me - though it means more money - mine cost 100 bucks back in the day - probably is cheaper these days.   If I ever decide to hook up a playstation or dreamcast to my cab it'll be the easiest way to do it by far (i have a d9200).

Thats the problem..$100 for the converter.
Better off just getting another small TV(21" maybe).

Or ati rage fury pro has AV input so if you can somehow feed the signal through video in then there ya go.
Like a cable box will do the trick.My brother watches TV on his computer monitor and looks great(through AV input).
The box he has outputs s-video and composite so he uses composite.
Thats a solution IF you have a cable box.Ati RFP only cost like $30.  

I dunno...I am just trying to throw in ideas.

[Wienerdog]

Sounds like some decent ideas, but I don't think they apply to me since I have the ATI AIW 8500.  It has a TV tuner built in.  

After having trouble getting Mame to work through my component connections, I don't assume anything.  I can still return the TV, but there is no going back from a D9200.  I don't see any reasons why it would not work, but I thought I would ask anyway.

[Frostillicus]

Wiernerdog -
If you want the best, you could look into getting one of those TV Tuner stand-alone things that have computer pass-through, co-ax cable, composite, s-video, audio connections, etc, instead of trying to feed the signal through your computer.  I have a cybersonic one I bought years ago to watch TV on my monitor (cheaper than buying a tv and i lived in small apt - hey i was in college and poor ), and it gave a good picture to the monitor no matter what I fed into it.  Capable of 640x480 800x600 and 1024x768.  And a remote.  
It's a simple solution, to me - though it means more money - mine cost 100 bucks back in the day - probably is cheaper these days.   If I ever decide to hook up a playstation or dreamcast to my cab it'll be the easiest way to do it by far (i have a d9200).

Thats the problem..$100 for the converter.
Better off just getting another small TV(21" maybe).

Or ati rage fury pro has AV input so if you can somehow feed the signal through video in then there ya go.
Like a cable box will do the trick.My brother watches TV on his computer monitor and looks great(through AV input).
The box he has outputs s-video and composite so he uses composite.
Thats a solution IF you have a cable box.Ati RFP only cost like $30.  

I dunno...I am just trying to throw in ideas.

It was 100$ back then, I don't know what they go for now. I would rather have had a separate TV than my setup.  I used to have an AIW card and the tv quality, quite frankly, sucked.  And it was a pain to switch software stuff - so I settled on that TV tuner thing.  BUT on the 27" monitor, which is pretty low-res to begin with, AIW tv might look good.  Let's see some pics when you get it working - now I'm curious