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LCD monitor advice

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Blanka:

--- Quote from: Ummon on January 11, 2009, 08:55:41 pm ---Seriously, several topics and a lot of talk in each over the last two months. If nothing simply under 'LCD', add user Blanka. He's said a lot.

--- End quote ---
:notworthy:

Where to find a big 4:3 LCD
Ideas for a 32" LCD
4:3 or 16:9 for Possible Bartop?
20in+ LCD (not widescreen if possible) Sellers??]4:3 or 16:9 for Possible Bartop?
Arcade LCDs any good?
That's just a small selection on topics with my reactions.

To make things even easier:
What do you want?
Size
15 inch  4:3 screens in 1024x768 are made, get an old IPS/MVA screen
17-19 inch  does not exist in 4:3 (it's 5:4 only)
20-21 inch get an DELL 2001FP for 20 inch 4:3 or a Samsung 214T/Eizo S2100 for 4:3 21,3 inch
24-27 inch: These are all 16:10. Excellent are the 24 inch HP LP2475w, Hyundai W241D or Eizo S2431W, the 26 inch LG W2600HP (don't be fooled by US only LGW2600H-PF, that one sucks), 27 inch Dell 2709W
30 inch: Don't buy computer 30 inch screens. Their 2560x1600 pixel resolution is a pain to support.
Bigger: go shop for TV's, best from LG or Samsung, as they make the best panels (S-IPS and S-PVA), all are 16:9. Try to find a 1920x1080 panel. Stay away from the 768x1366 pixel panels as their resolution is too low for a cab. It has to few pixels for HD gaming and for decent tridot-overlays and is harder to drive 1:1 mapping with PC's.

ALWAYS enable "SYNC WITH SCREEN/VERTICAL REFRESH" in every game/emulator you use. Otherwise LCD display stinks!
NEVER mount TN displays VERTICAL! Horizontal they look OK, but vertical it is depressing.

kagaden:

--- Quote from: Blanka on January 12, 2009, 01:47:01 am ---Bigger: go shop for TV's, best from LG or Samsung, as they make the best panels (S-IPS and S-PVA), all are 16:9. Try to find a 1920x1080 panel. Stay away from the 768x1366 pixel panels as their resolution is too low for a cab. It has to few pixels for HD gaming and for decent tridot-overlays and is harder to drive 1:1 mapping with PC's.

--- End quote ---

Agree with everything (also the buy on Samsung models) but the above bold. It's not quite as simple as that, it really depends on what you're looking for.

My 32" 720p (768x1366) Sammy looks gorgeous at 3 feet away, and is the native resolution for SFIV arcade when it hits on the PC. :) Getting a 1080p display would be a waste.

For my setup:
- No ghosting/latency for gaming.
- 1:1 pixel mapping was perfect out of the box with an nVidia 9800GT.
- The jump from 1080p from 720p is minor at best at close distances especially when upscaling games. My home theater has a 61" Samsung 1080P LED DLP as well and did some side by side comparisons. The real jump is from standard def to 720p.
- Find an emu with some good blitters and scanlines you like to clean up the image.
- A 1080p display will require more videocard horsepower.
- A 1080p display will give you smaller icons on your desktop due to the higher resolution. This can make it difficult to read if you're back a ways.

For Consoles:
- If you're hooking up an Xbox or PS3, 90% of HD games run in 720p anyway, a 1080p display will simply upscale the source. This may be okay or bad depending on the TV.

So in the end, I recommend 720p for:
- Under 37" and under 5 feet to the screen.
- Upscaling older games (less horsepower).
- Newer console/PC 720p games.

I'd recommend 1080 for:
- Vector games where more resolution cleans up the image dramatically.
- If you're getting something that's at or over 37" and will be sitting about 5 feet or more away from the screen.
- Blu-Ray, if you plan on watching HD videos on your cab.

Blanka:
I only explained the preference for 1080 partly.
Under 3 feet distance, pixels of 768x1366 screens are too big IMO
1080P panels cost only 50 bucks more nowadays then the 768p screens, yet they are future proof for Blu-Ray, PS3 gaming (PS3 does work at 1080 lines)
720P does not have 1:1 pixel mapping on 768x1366 either, so it always scales, not matter what screen you use. Real 720p displays only appear in some notebooks.
Why didn't they make those displays 720x1280 anyway? What sick technician decided to get 1366x768 mainstream? LSD tripped one? :badmood:
1080P panels mostly are the newest panels in the line-up, and have better viewing angles/contrast.

Blanka:

--- Quote from: Turnarcades on January 11, 2009, 09:32:16 pm ---If you're a purist I hear they don't look quite right

--- End quote ---
I'm a purist. Serve that pixelart as blocky as possible! I love my 5x5 non-smooth upscaling on a 1600x1200 screen  :notworthy:

Zobeid:
I put a new 19" LCD arcade monitor (from Happ) in my cabinet.  I love it, but I ran into a few small issues, or quibbles, I didn't expect. . .

The aspect ratio is not a true classic 4:3, which means everything was just a little distorted.  (Turns out this is common to SVGA computer monitors, but I just never knew it before.)  Most people would never noticed, but it bugged me.  I eventually found that if I put Windows into the monitor's native resolution and made sure MAME didn't change it, then I could get it to "letterbox" the image with small black bars at the top and bottom, and the correct aspect ratio.

The LCD is very bright but doesn't produce a truly dark black background -- which actually makes it better than a CRT for use in well-lighted areas.  (If only the machines at the convenience store back in the 1980s had LCDs, they would have been easier to play!)  If you put it into a dark corner, where an arcade machine belongs, then the gray background can be annoying.  For the old timey space games, it's a bit like playing in the fog.  I tried putting a bezel of smoked glass over the screen, as somebody else here on BYOAC suggested, but the results were mixed.  It darkened the background, but it darkened everything so much, I then had to adjust the monitor and video settings to compensate, and that made the background lighter again. . .  I eventually put a non-smoked bezel on and decided to live with the fog.  (From past experience, LCDs get darker as they age, so it may look a lot better in a couple of years than it does now.)

I have a rotating monitor, and when it's turned vertical (clockwise from the standard position), then the viewing angle becomes marginal.  It's actually the two-player games where this is a concern -- for the player on the left, for player one, it's still playable but the image is just starting to go a bit dark-and-funny from that position.

I wouldn't use one in a cocktail cabinet, I'd be too concerned about the viewing angle issue.

Aside from that, I highly recommend the LCD monitor.  It's compact, lightweight, doesn't require degaussing, and made my rotating monitor rig surprisingly easy to design and build.  It's not "authentic" for CRT games, but looks great anyhow and probably handles vector games better than most CRTs, due to its sharpness.

The purpose-built arcade LCD from Happ made things really easy, from an installation standpoint.  It's a solid piece of gear.

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