Monitor Vs Television?

[J8son]

I spent some time reading the monitor FAQ and what I'm gathering is that, for ease of use + quality, overall a television is typically better.

However, hypothetically speaking, if you were going for the absolute most accurate representation of a real arcade monitor, what would be the best solution: a 25" CRT flat screen monitor OR a 25" flat screen Television?

[qrz]

it is possible for a tv and a monitor to use the same CRT .  indeed,  have seen that in yrs past....
thus , the difference would be in signal and deflection processing ....
the monitor would likely be frequency agile , whereas the tv would be fixed to format standards.
meaning the monitor "could" have better resolution.....

qrz

[J8son]

it is possible for a tv and a monitor to use the same CRT .  indeed,  have seen that in yrs past....
thus , the difference would be in signal and deflection processing ....
the monitor would likely be frequency agile , whereas the tv would be fixed to format standards.
meaning the monitor "could" have better resolution.....

qrz

So what your saying is that If I had the correct MAME software settings to artificially generate a more traditional output, plus I plan to use a "tinted" Plexiglas from a manufacture that has told me it adds more of a real arcade feel, the TV set up could work just as well?

[Justin Z]

It could.

I would suggest, though, that if you plan to emulate vector games, you'll appreciate the higher resolution that monitors tend to have when compared to TVs.  Asteroids looks like hell on my 27" TV.  It's halfway decent on my 21" monitor, because I can crank the resolution up to 1600x1200.

[J8son]

I'm looking to emulate games from more of the 90's area (IE: Mortal Kombat, Alien Vs Predator, X-Men, etc...).

How would a 27" tv stack up when emulating those?

[ArtMAME]

Those 90s games actually look great on a TV. 

If you are wanting to emulate 100% arcade resolution, feel, ambiance, etc. then you want to use an arcade monitor.  It may prove more expensive and time consuming if you go this route though.  You can get a suitable TV new for $200 to $300, but you can easily spend twice that for a new monitor of equal size.

If it is 90s games that you are mainly concerned with, using a TV will be tons easier, and the games will look great anyway. 

If you have money and time to play around with, a good hi res multisync monitor will prove more versatile, especially if you want to go back and play classic or vector games.

When comparing TVs to arcade monitors, many people will tell you it is a matter of opinion, taste, money, etc.  and I agree.  I have experimented a lot with both TVs and arcade monitors, and there are some differences in the way the games look.

But again, if it is 90s games you are after, there is no need to spend twice as much for a display.  The games will not look "twice" as good on an arcade monitor.  They will only look "slightly" different.

[Justin Z]

This is especially true if you purchase a TV that has component inputs.  Although I am not a strict purist like some here, I honestly have a hard time telling the difference between an arcade monitor and a TV when running a game like Mortal Kombat.

So yes, I'd agree that a TV is definitely the way to go for you.  There are some threads you can search for that have various suitable TVs (I picked mine up off Craigslist for $100 -- a Toshiba 27A34), but Toshibas and JVCs seem to be the most common ones.

[J8son]

This is actually the 27" Emerson TV I've had in my bedroom for about a year that I'll be using: http://www.emersonaudiovideo.com/products/tv/ewf2704.html

It also has a "Power On" feature that I never considered before. But then I read that this is important in-case of power outage, your TV will return to its previous input channel (since there would be no way for you to reset it once it's in the cabinet).

[ArtMAME]

Looks like you got a winner there J8son.  Have you fired up the games on that TV yet to see what they look like? 

If they look good to YOU, then that is all that matters since it is YOUR cabinet.

You will need a video card that has at least S-video.  Component inputs are a bit better, but you will need at least a Radeon 9550 or better to use component inputs.

Honestly, with 90s games, it is hard to tell the difference between S-video and Component inputs so you will be good to go with an inexpensive video card as long as it has S-video.

[Justin Z]

I agree with ArtMAME.  I used to have an S-Video setup and I bought a new Radeon video card to switch over to Component.  There is a difference, but it is slight.  If you use a high quality S-Video cable as I did the difference is even slighter.

I also agree that the TV you have should work perfectly.  The Power On feature is great to have, too.

[J8son]

Sweet. I'll post some pics when it's done (but will probably be about a month).