accidently broke vacuum seal on monitor

[RetroHacker]

At least as a route operator, for what little catalog of 19" games we have left, we end up replacing burn-in and old monitors/tubes with new LCD monitors. AFAIK it is now "illegal" to produce official 19" CRT Monitors.

I can understand for a route operator putting games on location. But for home users, we strive to make the games look as good as possible. They just look so fake on LCD's. Used picture tubes are cheap and readily available, and swapping them into a game monitor isn't THAT bad a task. An LCD is just the lazy man's way out

And, a lot of it is personal preference. Personally, I hate LCD's with a passion - I don't even have an LCD computer monitor...

-Ian

 

[demogo]

I can understand for a route operator putting games on location. But for home users, we strive to make the games look as good as possible. They just look so fake on LCD's. Used picture tubes are cheap and readily available, and swapping them into a game monitor isn't THAT bad a task. An LCD is just the lazy man's way out

And, a lot of it is personal preference. Personally, I hate LCD's with a passion - I don't even have an LCD computer monitor...

-Ian

We should talk some time. I just took that f%*@king Amplifone monitor out of my Star Wars and smashed it with a hammer in my front yard. Then I popped a 20" LCD computer monitor in the cab. It's much better now.

 

[TheMooseMan]

I can understand for a route operator putting games on location. But for home users, we strive to make the games look as good as possible. They just look so fake on LCD's. Used picture tubes are cheap and readily available, and swapping them into a game monitor isn't THAT bad a task. An LCD is just the lazy man's way out

And, a lot of it is personal preference. Personally, I hate LCD's with a passion - I don't even have an LCD computer monitor...

-Ian

As a home collector myself with about 10 games, including Atari's APB, Toobin, A Neo-Geo gold, Joust, and Pac-man (all 19" mind you) I agree that the degradation in quality is substantial when switching from CRT to LCD. You lose your black intensity (that sounds like a porn movie) and the biggest thing is your aspect ratio. Things are stretched out like they shoudn't be, and pixels are a little more apparent. If you can get by these few things though, and have the option to buy a brand new 25" tri-sync monitor for about $350-400, or an off the shelf LCD and a converter for maybe $100 cheaper, the choce seems obvious.

Also, swapping tubes and yolks and cap kits may not be the "easiest" thing for home collectors.

Peter

 

[Talon2000]

Also, swapping tubes and yolks and cap kits may not be the "easiest" thing for home collectors.

Peter

Neither is rebuilding a power supply on an LCD, or changing out the CCFL's

 

[Chainclaw]

Thanks for all the info, guys. Sorry I haven't replied in a while, November and December are "I have no free time it's the holidays and stuff" season and my arcade monitor was the last thing on my list of chores.

My girlfriend is pressuring me to get this thing on the path to being fixed so we don't have a hulking broken cabinet in the living room, so I'll hopefully get some time to actively try and get this fixed in the next month or two.

A few notes on things:
I love LCD for higher res stuff, but for NEO-GEO and the other games I'm playing on this, CRT is the way to go.
Finding 19" TVs is really difficult. I had driven around between 4 or 5 thrift shops one day specifically looking around and found one place that had them. At that point I realized that at $30 - $50 a TV, I can't just blindly buy one and hope it works, I've got to read what you guys posted on page 2 in this thread more hardcore and figure out how to find what I need.

 

[Oryk Zinyo]

Look for free TV sets posted on craigslist. You shouldn't pay more than $5 to $10 for a TV set, depending on location.

 

[TheDrewster]

This set of tips and tricks are what made my last tube swap (a 25" monitor in my Simpsons that imploded from prolonged exposure to direct sunlight) super simple. This is my foolproof strategy:

First, you need:
1) A 1/4" screwdriver
2) The neck board from the broken tube (or a spot-on picture)
3) The part label from the broken tube
4) A plethora of thrift stores to scour
5) A friend as a spotter OR a ninja-like surveillance skill
6) A day off from work


Take your screwdriver, neck board and label to your nearby thrift stores. Go to the TV department (Follow the sound of "Monsters, Inc" or "Ms. Doubtfire" if you cant find them). Find TVs with a "19" in the model number and start popping them open (unplugged, duh). Compare part labels on the tubes and test the fit of the neck board on the end of the tube. If the neck board fits and the part label matches >98% of your original, take it. Just make sure no employees stop you and give you "WTF?" glares as you splay the TV's guts over the nearest patio table or dresser.

When you get the TV home, keep the purity rings with the tube and the yoke with the chassis and youre golden.

 

[Mitsurugi-w]

Just because the neckboard fits doesn't mean the pinout is the same. You're better off just printing out the B+K or Sencore manual (the one I use) and comparing the numbers. A lot of the time you can see the numbers through s slits in the case if you bring a flashlight.

 

[TheDrewster]

Just because the neckboard fits doesn't mean the pinout is the same. You're better off just printing out the B+K or Sencore manual (the one I use) and comparing the numbers. A lot of the time you can see the numbers through s slits in the case if you bring a flashlight.

As long as the key is the same (not necessarily fit, but be the SAME shape), youve got a darn good chance.