computer CRT in new cabinet?

[AtariMaster]

All,

 

I would like to use a CRT in a new cabinet. Is finding a new or used computer CRT going to give the cabinet the look and feel of a tradition arcade cabinet if done right? Is the computer CRT "too good (higher resolution)" than the old arcades used? I can find a computer CRT for $50-$200 depending on size. which is way less than $600+ for a Makvision which I'm afraid will feel too big but what do I know at this stage of my plans.

 

Thanks,

Andy 

[UberCade]

All,

 

I would like to use a CRT in a new cabinet. Is finding a new or used computer CRT going to give the cabinet the look and feel of a tradition arcade cabinet if done right? Is the computer CRT "too good (higher resolution)" than the old arcades used? I can find a computer CRT for $50-$200 depending on size. which is way less than $600+ for a Makvision which I'm afraid will feel too big but what do I know at this stage of my plans.

 

Thanks,

Andy 

 

If you want the best possible experience, get an arcade CRT. Yes they cost more than a computer CRT, but IMO it's worth it to the purist. $600 is a little high for an arcade monitor. I picked up a Betson/Imperial 29" CRT from an arcade distributor in Hayward, CA for $450, and it worked out well because they're only an hour away from me. The benefit of having an arcade CRT is if you get a multi-sync and you use an ArcadeVGA graphics card, you can play games in their original pixel perfect resolutions.

 

A computer CRT can run at many resolutions, probably down to 640x480 by default, but I'm not sure how it would fare at lower arcade resolutions. There's a software tool called Soft15Khz which can mimic the effect of a true low-res arcade monitor on a computer CRT, but I'm not sure how it works or exactly what's required since I've never used it.

 

Of course if you don't care about having the original resolutions displayed, you can just get a computer CRT and lock the resolution at 640x480, or 800x600, or whatever, and use standard D3D and hardware stretch to play all the games. That's how MAME is configured to run by default so it's real easy to set up. One of the problems with getting a computer CRT is they're very limited to size. I think the biggest you could probably find, if you're lucky, is a 24", but there may be bigger ones out there, maybe 27"? Unfortunately finding a brand new computer CRT is next to impossible these days, and I'd never consider buying a used CRT, since they do have limited life spans, and for all you know you could be buying a CRT with only 10% of life left in it. 

[AtariMaster]

I am still shopping for an arcade CRT but while I'm looking I bought one of these new in the box. http://www.elotouch.com/products/discontinued/CRTs/1945c0608.asp

 

It has the rack mounting tabs in four places so I can secure it to a cabinet really well. The resolution only goes down to 800x600 on my windows 7 slider. I plan on using it on a vertical build to play the classics.

 

I hope to find a new arcade CRT for horizontal games.

 

Thanks for the reply. It was very informative. It does cause me to want to ask more questions though. X-Arcade says to stay away from the tri sync but do you think they are okay if I run a ArcadeVGA? I don't know much about it but if I need a video card that's the one I'm buying.

 

Thanks again,

Andy

[jonnieboyrevel]

Ultimarc do an ArcadeVGA 5000 graphics card that apparently will reproduce all of the native resolutions down to 15khz. Regardless of monitor.

I don't have one though so can't comment on if they are any good...