CGA LCD Monitor for Bench Testing

Commander Dave

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--> Rant is way at the end for the trolls and those who like that kind of thing <--

I am setting up a bench to test / repair early 80's type boards. Galaga is a good example since I am working on a few now. I need something like a CGA LCD Monitor to hang on the wall because I don't have very much bench space. Should I just grab something like a Vision Pro from one of our fine vendors here or has someone got something else? I have had zero luck with a CGA to VGA converter. At this point I just want to plug it in and see it work. See the rant below if you like, otherwise I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks, -Dave




BEGIN RANT --> Okay.... I thought it would be easy to get a CGA to VGA converter and just use a small spare monitor. I had bought a CGA/EGA/what-the-freak-ever to 2VGA boards a couple of years ago and was working with it tonight. For testing, hooked up my 60 in 1 board using the CGA connector on my JAMMA harness and it worked fine. So, I started testing out some boards. COULD NOT get the F'n converter board to play. I worked and adjusted and it would either be tearing or no signal. Just to be sure I hooked up the exact same setup to a real monitor and it came right up. I almost hit that converter with a small sledge but thought one of you guys might buy it - but after a couple of hours F'n with it, smashing it would be SO satisfying. Anyway - I want a freekin plug-n-play solution without putting a big ass monitor on my bench so that is what the request above is for. Dang I'm still peeved. I'm grabbing a drink and going to bed. F*** that S***. <-- END RANT
 
Tha vision would be ur only choice Without a cga to vga adapter or a scart supergun..

Send that card to me and ill give ya enough for a six pack
 
That's about what I figured - Thanks. Are there any better converters out there or do they all work great for everyone but me? LOL

Oh, did you want the board pre- or post- smashed? 😀 PM me you're address and an offer before I turn back into Bruce Banner and regain my common sense. 🙃
 
Not sure what is happening with your converter, but I have the GBS8200 (2 of them actually)

And for 95% of the CGA boards I test they work well enough. I have used them on everything from Golden Tee to Mrs. Pacman / Galaga

Mine goes from the JAMMA harness to the converter through a 2 way VGA switch then into a 42" LCD TV. The only issue I have is some times on a few boards I get the "brightness shift problem" Where after a few min the brightness starts creeping up and it gets to bright. This is a Clamp SP ST setting but as it is only to test I don't worry about it to much.

The ones I have issues with are ALL EGA boards, Brightness issues right away, and some of the oddball Midway that use the 57Hz sync
 
Not sure what is happening with your converter <snip>

I'm not sure either. Probably bad Karma. Too many Christian's fed to the lions in a previous life. I'm glad you aren't having the same issues. Here are a few questions (for anyone) that bounced around in my head last night:

1. When people put LCD's in classic games, what do they use? Converter or dedicated CGA LCD?

2. Who makes the dedicated arcade LCD's? I only saw the Vision Pro series so far which has a HAPP label on it but I think is manufactured by Kortek.

3. Where is a place I can get a 19" at the best price point? I read that some have a angle of viewing issue but that shouldn't be a problem for a test bench.

Thanks for any info guys.
-Dave
 
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The wells gardner arcade flat panel works great, great side angle viewing or you can get one specifically for cocktail angle viewing.
 
The older Bally/Midway games like Galaga, Pacman, etc require extra resistance on the sync wire to sync properly as well as the V.Pos needing to be adjusted to above a setting of 27. You can either install an 8k-10k ohm resistor in line with the sync wire, or you can plug another VGA cable into the input connection just as a dummy connection. Assuming your sync is hooked up properly (based on positive/negative/composite-whatever the game requires), it should work.

Assuming the converter is working that is.
 
just fyi as an applied test from my experience-
galaxian and pacman work properly with a gonbes cga-vga card with no added setup or parts.

galaxian and pacman work properly on the WG flat panel.

Interestingly the W-G flat panel works properly with a pesky pcb like Nibbler, whereas nibbler won't work properly at all with the gonbes.
 
The older Bally/Midway games like Galaga, Pacman, etc require extra resistance on the sync wire to sync properly as well as the V.Pos needing to be adjusted to above a setting of 27. You can either install an 8k-10k ohm resistor in line with the sync wire, or you can plug another VGA cable into the input connection just as a dummy connection. Assuming your sync is hooked up properly (based on positive/negative/composite-whatever the game requires), it should work.

Assuming the converter is working that is.

I appreciate the tech info on it. I think I am just going to go the expensive route and get a CGA LCD. The info will be good for future searches, however. :)

Thanks! -Dave
 
twisted quarter. You can talk to them first. Very helpful when i had questions
 
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I am setting up a bench to test / repair early 80's type boards. Galaga is a good example since I am working on a few now. I need something like a CGA LCD Monitor to hang on the wall because I don't have very much bench space. Should I just grab something like a Vision Pro from one of our fine vendors here or has someone got something else? I have had zero luck with a CGA to VGA converter. At this point I just want to plug it in and see it work. See the rant below if you like, otherwise I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks, -Dave

I got my new Wells-Gardner CGA LCD monitor in today from TwistedQuarter.com. I was immediately in a good mood when I plugged in a Galaga board I was working on and it came right up. Beautiful picture and best of all, the Galaga board I had been repairing is working! I posted a picture below but it still have the protective film across the LCD and I didn't hit the auto-adjust so the picture doesn't look as good as it should.

I'm VERY happy with my purchase and thanks goes out to Twisted Quarter who sent my order super fast.
 

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I got my new Wells-Gardner CGA LCD monitor in today from TwistedQuarter.com. I was immediately in a good mood when I plugged in a Galaga board I was working on and it came right up. Beautiful picture and best of all, the Galaga board I had been repairing is working! I posted a picture below but it still have the protective film across the LCD and I didn't hit the auto-adjust so the picture doesn't look as good as it should.

I'm VERY happy with my purchase and thanks goes out to Twisted Quarter who sent my order super fast.

Glad to hear this.
I had the wrong name written above. I remembered it had quarter in it...

As year after year goes by we are going to be more thankful that this type of resource exists and is so well engineered for arcade applications.

It will retrofit right into an old arcade frame, too. Bonus.
 
There are actually a handful of consumer LCD that support 15KHz and 25KHz resolutions...

I started researching this a while back: http://www.arcade-projects.com/foru...ays-that-support-15khz-and-25khz-resolutions/

I'm currently using a NEC 1970NX 19in LCD on my test bench for arcade boards... no converter required. though you do need to put some resistors on the RGB lines as arcade boards can output up to 4V and VGA is really designed to work with less than 1V. Certain monitors may also need you to use a sync separator.

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As for alternative adapters to the shitty Gonbes

The OSSC is the the best of the best: https://www.videogameperfection.com/products/open-source-converter/
it has something ridiculous like 0.2ms of lag (less than 2 scanlines), has scanline emulation and scales by perfect multiples.

the next best option is the Micomsoft Framemeister line: https://www.amazon.com/DP3913547-Framemeister-Micomsoft-Upscaler-Denpashinbunsya/dp/B00QUBK6RK
This was the best option until the OSSC came around but it's got a little bit of lag (about 1 frame I believe)


if the OSSC is a Ferrari and the Framemeister is a Porsche then the Gonbes is a Yugo
 

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Does it need to be a 19" monitor? I've had great luck with my PS One LCD. It syncs to just about anything I throw at it.

Can you add some detail about the product?
sounds like yet another good solution. never heard of one.
 
I use one of these https://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=RGB2TV (It's the poor man's JROK) then you can run video to tons of cheap screens. I was using this 7" headrest display for a while but now I'm using a 4.3" TFT, I'm thinking of mounting it in the control panel of my supergun.
 

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