I need a monitor for Donkey Kong - where can I get one?

javeryh

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I need a monitor for Donkey Kong - where can I get one?

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this but here goes... Does anyone know where I can get a 19" monitor with a VGA port that will fit in a Donkey Kong cabinet (vertically, of course). I want to buy something new and I'm looking at the tri-res monitor that ArcadeShop sells HERE (scroll down about 1/2 way). I see that it has a horizontal mount but presumably I could remove that bracket and use the mounting holes on the sides to mount it vertically, right?

The reason I want the VGA port is because I'm going to be running MAME inside and I want to connect it to a computer. Don't worry, I'm not altering the cabinet in any way (same CP, etc.)!

Thanks!!
 
If you're going to run MAME, why not use an old 19" CRT CPU monitor?
They're easy enough to find. If you actually want to use an Arcade monitor, there are alot of monitors that will work, but you will need a 15khz display card to run it. These Video cards are available from a variety of places .
Check out the J-pac. It may be what your looking for sir. http://www.ultimarc.com/jpac.html
Greg
 
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I want this thing to be as authentic as possible (but still have the ability to play a bunch of other 4-way one-button games so I'd really like to get an arcade monitor with a VGA port. I read that DK cabs are a little narrow and it's tough to get a horizontal mount monitor into a DK vertically but I bet someone around here has done that...
 
I am using one of these in my Nintendo D2K. Seems fine, pic is a little grainy though. Have to look at it once I get my artwork package in. No incentive right now....

Plus that would be used for vertical, not horizontal.
 
Yes - that is the one. I realize I'll have to mount it vertically. I'm glad to hear it will fit in a DK cabinet. Did you mean the picture in the link is grainy or the picture on your monitor is grainy? I wish I could find out more about the monitor since I don't like the idea of buying it blind.
 
He was probably talking about the picture the monitor displays, as I believe this is a common complaint of tri res monitors. It should work fine though.
 
If you are going to use MAME, the best way to display it is to use a standard resolution 19" arcade monitor along with an Ultimarc ArcadeVGA video card (like Gregatron linked to) in your PC. This will allow you to display DK in its native resolution (very, very important), and the results will be indistinguishable from the original hardware displaying on a standard arcade monitor.

You can use a PC monitor or a multi-sync arcade monitor (like the tri-res you asked about) and hook a PC with an ordinary video card up to its VGA port, but it won't look good. The reason is, an ordinary PC video card does not support the very low resolution of DK, so you will have to run the game at 640x480 or something, which means that MAME will have to use hardware stretching to fill the screen, resulting in distortion/blurring of the game.

For good/authentic looking results, you must display the game in its native resolution, and that can be done with certain software combined with certain ordinary PC video cards (that approach tends to be troublesome), or with the ArcadeVGA which is specifically designed for that purpose.

BTW, you might want to join the BYOAC forum. That forum is dedicated to MAME machines, while most people at KLOV are more interested in original hardware.
 
Yes - that is the one. I realize I'll have to mount it vertically. I'm glad to hear it will fit in a DK cabinet. Did you mean the picture in the link is grainy or the picture on your monitor is grainy? I wish I could find out more about the monitor since I don't like the idea of buying it blind.

The picture on the monitor is grainy. I have to look at the adjustments. Comes with a decent extender board for adjustments. I had a hell of a time getting this to work, turned out it was my jamma harness and the video ground wasn't proper...so a simple fix.

Monitor is great. It fits in the Nintendo upright easily, just cannot use the same bolt pattern due to the monitor cage. I'm sure if you want to remove it from the cage, the back door will go on. I will have to look at it again, just seems that it would be easier to drop this monitor in and raise the bolts from the existing spots. Or, of course, change the cage. Haven't decided. I want to sit it next to a Sanyo mounted in a Nintendo cab. (I'll put it next to DK3 and see)
 
Thanks for the responses guys. So if I understand correctly I can get the tri-res monitor and an Arcade VGA card to display Donkey Kong in its original resolution? Is this right?

This is VERY important to me as I want it to look like an authentic Donkey Kong cabinet (I will set the computer up to boot straight to a ffront end which will launch DK).
 
Thanks for the responses guys. So if I understand correctly I can get the tri-res monitor and an Arcade VGA card to display Donkey Kong in its original resolution? Is this right?

This is VERY important to me as I want it to look like an authentic Donkey Kong cabinet (I will set the computer up to boot straight to a ffront end which will launch DK).

If you get the ArcadeVGA video card you don't need a tri-res monitor. You would only need an ordinary, standard resolution monitor like the Happ Vision Pro. You could get the tri-res which I assume is more expensive, but you would only be using it in standard resolution mode (because DK and essentially all other classics are standard resolution), making the tri-res aspect of it irrelevant for your purposes.

The ArcadeVGA monitor comes with a breakout cable (or you may need to order it from them separately; it is called "VGA Breakout Cable") that connects to the card with a VGA connector, and to the monitor with individual wires (there will be a wire for red, green, blue, ground, h-sync, and v-sync). If you don't know how to hook those wires up to a standard arcade monitor, then someone here, or on BYOAC, or from Ultimarc can help you.
 
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