Arcade monitor to TV?

gozer5454

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So were getting close to the year 2010. Has anyone made an adapter which will run arcade game monitors to a standard RGB TV set?
I knew I wasn't going to see flying cars by 2010, but surely someone has made this converter???? There has to be a way to convert a standard video signal from a arcade game to a regular old TV off of Craigslist for cheap????


Am I wrong? If I am, wouldn't some smart KLOV member make some good cash building something like this for all the fellow cheap KLOV members when they loose a monitor?
 
I already said they made a converter. It's called an RGB-to-NTSC converter.

Here's one type:

http://www.jrok.com/hardware/RGB.html

It'll allow you to play Pac-Man or Mortal Kombat on a TV. BUT - it's not going to force-rotate the Pac-Man so it displays up and down in the same orientation as the MK. That is a software issue. If you want that, then you need to go to MAME, which was (partly) designed for that purpose...
 
ok, I stand corrected yet again.

I'm a little surprised you didn't work in a classic "Airplane" quote though, mode.

"Yes, someone makes the converter". "And don't call me Shirley". :)
 
Cut me some slack, jack! Chump don' want no help, chump don' git no help. Jive ass dude don' got no brains anyhow!
 
Cut me some slack, jack! Chump don' want no help, chump don' git no help. Jive ass dude don' got no brains anyhow!

I could watch that movie all day. I really need to buy Airplane 2 though. Shatner steals the show.
 
So were getting close to the year 2010. Has anyone made an adapter which will run arcade game monitors to a standard RGB TV set?
I knew I wasn't going to see flying cars by 2010, but surely someone has made this converter???? There has to be a way to convert a standard video signal from a arcade game to a regular old TV off of Craigslist for cheap????


Am I wrong? If I am, wouldn't some smart KLOV member make some good cash building something like this for all the fellow cheap KLOV members when they loose a monitor?

By RGB TV, you mean Component right?

Jrok is good
Neobitz is good
and the cyprus one is good to.
 
Thanks guys for the input. Yes, this is exactly what I meant. I've seen these before, but never paid much attention to them. However now my buddy and me have come across a few games with dead or dying monitors which run between 27" to 32". Replacement stuff at this size starts getting real expensive. However buying a $50 board and a 27" TV off CL seem to make economical sense.
 
So whats the picture quality look like compared to a real arcade monitor ?
 
So whats the picture quality look like compared to a real arcade monitor ?

Well... that's the question ;)

Composite video = pretty crap regardless of the encoder used

s-video = Totally dependent on how good the video decoder in the TV is.
I've got a Zenith that does a killer job on s-video the picture quality is awesome. But at the same time I've got a Toshiba where the quality of the image is in all seriousness just a little better than composite.
So with s-video you're dependent on how good the TV's video decoder is.

Component video = very good on pretty much anything I've tested
I've yet to see a TV do a bad job with component video.

- James
 
I've rebuilt lots of arcade machines using regular TV's. Stuff like multigame pcbs and neo geo looks good with the s-video output. I woundn't bother with anything under S-video, (remember that you have little play in adjusting the vertical and horizontal width of the monitor). The trick is too find a TV that restores the power when power is applied to the TV, that way when you turn on the arcade game the monitor will automatically come on as well. I had 4 or 5 different machines that used a regular TV for the monitor, but as of right now I don't have any. I still have some rbg to ntsc converters left though.
 
A $50 converter board from discrete RGB to Composite or SVid = bad quality. To Component you've got pretty good quality but lose half the bandwidth of the red and blue channels due to the component spec.

Why not spend $90 on a replacement monitor chassis and connect to that 25 to 27 inch TV tube instead? At this size, most all chassis and tubes are directly compatible, regardless of the manufacturer of each.
 
how good does the video image look

I already said they made a converter. It's called an RGB-to-NTSC converter.

Here's one type:

http://www.jrok.com/hardware/RGB.html

It'll allow you to play Pac-Man or Mortal Kombat on a TV. BUT - it's not going to force-rotate the Pac-Man so it displays up and down in the same orientation as the MK. That is a software issue. If you want that, then you need to go to MAME, which was (partly) designed for that purpose...

i wonder how the video looks with this convertor
 
If your TV has a comb filter in it the s-video WILL look better.
 
Component is NOT RGB. With a proper RGB TV, an arcade board can be displayed in perfect quality using 10 cents worth of resistors.

S-Video does look decent on a CRT, but on a LCD or Plasma is where you really see the difference between S-Video & RGB. And it is a HUGE difference.
 
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