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Author Topic: Trying to decide on new monitor (for new project)  (Read 2380 times)

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Damage_Jack

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Trying to decide on new monitor (for new project)
« on: August 06, 2008, 06:39:11 pm »
Hello all,

I should start by saying that i have lurked off and on @ this site and its forums for years now. I have been in the planning stages for way too long... btw,I live in the Maryland,US.

I have decided I want to build a Cab capable of Mame, an assortment of other emulators and a jukebox that supports .flac ,with a modular control panel. I figure it will allow me to scale my controls from basic to more and more specific and allow me to use the cab from the beginning. ( It will be a living room Cabinet...gf willing.)

My problem lies in deciding what monitor to choose.
  As I understand it, If I go with a standard Arcade monitor ( or a Nieman display) and an AVGA card or soft-15Khz I would be able to play most mame games except I might have to manually adjust screen geometry every time the resolution changes.( I DO NOT like the idea of making adjustments every time I start a new game at all.)
  I had been leaning towards the digital multisync monitors, but there seems to some problems with quality. I like the idea that a digital multisync would allow me to boot into XP, allow for a nice looking Jukebox, as well as a nice looking frontend, as well as play any standard console emulator at native resolution.
   The Wells Gardner D9400 sounds nice except for the lingering stigma of the WG quality in question. Haven't read much about anyones recent experience with new ones of those.
  The Betson Multisyncs are made by Kortek and I have read a few accounts of the quality being poor on those as well.
  The Billabs Wei-Ya multisyncs sound good but have recently read that some or all of those are discontinued? It doesn't help that the Billabs website is pathetic. I have tried emailing the sales department and have not  received an answer.

  So if I don't go with any of those(if those are options to start with), I'm left with abandoning an authentic looking monitor and going with a PC monitor of some high resolutiuon. Thoughts include a high end widescreen lcd that I can pivot from vertical to horizontal, but that really would look more like a new age cabinet.

I really would like to be able to run Mame, console Emus, a Jukebox software(supporting .flac), perhaps hookup my Dreamcast ( although I dont like that I cant find any guides on  converting the analog portions of the DC controller to arcade controls. :( )

I was thinking a nice 27" monitor would have been nice, allowing for vertical and horizontal games to look equally nice with no rotating, but with the quality/availability of the digital multisyncs in question, I really don't know what to do and feel as though I might end up with this project on hold forever.

I would appreciate any help, suggestions, or recent experiences with any of the ideas/monitors I mentioned.

Damage Jack





Rickn

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Re: Trying to decide on new monitor (for new project)
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2008, 07:45:41 pm »
If you go with my monitor and run it at 31Khz (640X480) .. no adjustments will be needed after making the first adjustment to match the video card.

In fact to be honest if you use a multisync monitor and constantly switch between resolutions... no matter who's monitor, you are asking for problems.

We design these to autoswitch at turn on a series of relays switch sweep capacitors in and out to match the resolution. huge swings in high voltage and demands on the horizontal output.

Yes during the design ctcle we stress test and life test them to switch as much as evey 60 seconds... it is just not something we recommend.

If someone else claims it is ok... beware

Rick Nieman
Rick@Niemandisplays.com
Always happy to help.., for the best in displays
Rick Nieman
Rick@Niemandisplays.com
www.niemandisplays.com
1023 Rife Rd Cambridge, Ontario Canada N1R5S3
519-621-1722

Damage_Jack

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Re: Trying to decide on new monitor (for new project)
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2008, 08:08:27 pm »
Thanks for the response rick. But wouldn't running one of your monitors at 31Khz (640x480) defeat the attempt at authenticity because I wouldn't be running all games at their native res. ?Only those that run at 640x480 would be authentic, right? ( or am I missing something? ) Essentially wouldn't running them on a tv achieve the same thing?

 If I am sacrificing authenticity I might as well got with a high res. monitor to get better looking vector emulation.
-Damage Jack

To be honest, the more I have read and researched the more confused I get.

Arm123

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Re: Trying to decide on new monitor (for new project)
« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2008, 01:46:18 am »
RickN, is really the way to go.  Everyone will agree, his products are rock solid.

If you look around this forum, you ll soon find that RickN goes above and beyond when it comes to support.  Thats SUPER important when when problems occur.  He even hepls out people that didnt even buy a product from him.

Hes the man you should be talking to for a new monitor.

grantspain

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Re: Trying to decide on new monitor (for new project)
« Reply #4 on: August 07, 2008, 06:48:46 am »
just a bit of info
if you have a multisync disconnect the sync wire and then press it on and off the sync pin,watch what happens with the screen and listen to the chassis
not very healthy at all
ps don't really do this

isucamper

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Re: Trying to decide on new monitor (for new project)
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2008, 08:38:28 am »
In fact to be honest if you use a multisync monitor and constantly switch between resolutions... no matter who's monitor, you are asking for problems.

I want to be sure I understand what your saying, as I am building my first cab and was planning on getting a multisync monitor to use with an AVGA card in order to get authentic resolutions with games in MAME.

Are you saying that by doing this, since games running in MAME have such a wide range of resolutions, switching between games a lot will be hard on the monitor and will decrease it's lifespan? 

I thought the whole point of AVGA was to support multiple resolutions on a single monitor?
THE SYSTEM          Popeye