Any way to use a PC monitor on a jamma board?

endrien

Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Messages
932
Reaction score
1
Location
Canada
Tired of non working/fidgity monitors, is there a way to use a pc monitor in a jamma cab?
 
There is a CGA/EGA-to-VGA converter board that you can buy from the same folks that sell the 48/60-in-1. Costs about $50 or so (maybe less). Plug your games' video output into it, and plug your computer monitor into the VGA connector. Connect it to a +12v power source (from the power supply) and ground, and you're ready to go...
 
The pixelation of VGA does not look the same as CGA, so your Pac-Man or Street Fighter or whatever won't look as bright and colorful as when it's displayed on a regular CGA monitor.

Personally, I think this adapter is only useful for test benches when you want to use an LCD computer monitor as a test monitor because it takes up less space...
 
The pixelation of VGA does not look the same as CGA, so your Pac-Man or Street Fighter or whatever won't look as bright and colorful as when it's displayed on a regular CGA monitor.

Personally, I think this adapter is only useful for test benches when you want to use an LCD computer monitor as a test monitor because it takes up less space...

Well for me it would be helpful as instead of spending a fortune on a new monitor and getting it shipped here, I could simply get a 25' tv off the side of the street.
 
If the TV was VGA or HDTV with a VGA input. A simple TV on the street isn't going to work...
 
Well for me it would be helpful as instead of spending a fortune on a new monitor and getting it shipped here, I could simply get a 25' tv off the side of the street.

That's not going to help you connect an arcade board to a standard TV. The JammaBoards.com converter outputs VGA and higher signals (i.e., the type of video signals PC monitors and HDTVs accept) which a standard TV does not accept.

To connect an arcade board to a standard TV you'd need something like one of Jrok's RGB to NTSC boards - (Link).

Edit: I guess I type slow; two people beat me to that.

If I were going to compromise by replacing an arcade monitor in a machine with a non-arcade monitor, then I'd rather go the route of a standard TV with Jrok's board, than using a PC monitor. At least a standard TV has the same type of tube as an arcade monitor, so the scanlines, course triad shadow mask, and course dot pitch will all look correct at least (and if you find a TV with component [YPbPr] inputs, you can even get close to the quality of an RGB signal).

PC monitors just look totally wrong; the scanlines are wrong, the dot pitch and shadow mask are too fine (resulting in the graphics of classic games looking extremely blocky, or a pasty filtered effect if you go that route), and the image has to be drastically upscaled. An LCD PC monitor looks even worse. They don't have a shadow mask at all, they have viewing angle issues, they are flat, and the displayed image has a weird texture to it with artifical looking backlighting, as opposed to CRTs which generate all of their own light.
 
Last edited:


I have one of these. They are ok if you use it as a test bench monitor for your PCB boards. But the quality is not all that great. It's Fuzzy and a little more blurry than I think it should be. However the menu comes in pretty clear, its when it converts the signal that the quality isn't that good. IMO.

It's an OK item, but nothing I would use as a permanent replacement for anything.

However, this is my opinion, maybe others have had better luck.


;
 
Back
Top Bottom