I'm a dad now: MAME + HLSL + bezels ...and input lag?

[Antiriad]

Hi!
Having recently become a dad, in the last period (a bit for storage and a bit for economy) I sold some of my Jamma stuff and my CRT. Of course I have no regrets but, having still in a corner of the house my well-wheeled PC with gaming monitor, and seeing on YouTube all these videos of MAME with bezel and HLSL, I'm tempted to spend some time to get some emulation box like that. Before starting, however, I would like to know from someone more experienced and updated of the "scene", if it is possible to get emulation with bezel and filters while maintaining an input lag at least acceptable.
If so, any suggestions about the software to be adopted? Groovymame? I also heard about a certain Retroarch feature called "run ahead"...
Thank you!

[Classicgamer]

One man's acceptable is another man's unacceptable....

A lot of lag is caused the display rather than the emulator. Specifically, some flatscreens cause lag with their scaling and processing to make the image fit the fixed pixel display. In other words, choosing the right monitor (or tv with game mode) makes a difference, as does outputting the right res for the monitor. I used to use my 1080p Sony PS3 monitor. Any gaming monitor will be good in this respect.

Another form of perceived lag is from the USB joystick. Some are better or worse than others. You might notice some eBay sellers offering "zero lag USB encoders". So, buy a decent joystick.

Then, there is the effects like shaders. Personally, before I switched back to using a CRT, I never found the lag from using HLSL to be problematic on a decent computer. Either way, the results from not using shaders is going to be more bothersome for most people as old 240p games look hideous on HD displays without them.

I usually only notice lag on games where I am super familiar with the original PCB. It was the look of badly scaled graphics on the HD display that caused me to switch back to crt.

[Antiriad]

Thank you so much for your feedback.
Actually I use a gaming monitor with a response time of 1ms and a Hori Real Arcade Pro EX modded full sanwa by the guys from FocusAttack, my PC is equipped with an i5 + GTX970 so hardware-side I should be covered. : D

I wonder if GroovyMAME is the best way to mantain a low input lag (keeping all the HLSL whistles and bells).
Thanks!

[Classicgamer]

Thank you so much for your feedback.
Actually I use a gaming monitor with a response time of 1ms and a Hori Real Arcade Pro EX modded full sanwa by the guys from FocusAttack, my PC is equipped with an i5 + GTX970 so hardware-side I should be covered. : D

I wonder if GroovyMAME is the best way to mantain a low input lag (keeping all the HLSL whistles and bells).
Thanks!

I only just started using GM with my CRT arcade monitors and it is fantastic. It is easily the best mame build for 240p crt vintage gaming. I was never able to get games to look and feel 100% authentic for all games with my arcade VGA or soft 15khz, or with my ultracade UVC but now, with GM, games look and feel exactly how I remember with no tearing or image artifacts.

I have never tried GM with an LCD panel. I have read it even has some benefits when gaming on HD displays but someone else would be better to comment on that.

I know that some people use GM to output correct res and refresh before feeding the signal through a framemeister to properly scale it for an HD display. Personally, I would rather use HLSL with an HD display. Even the very best scalers only make 240p games look ok without shaders?


On a seperate but related note, I think you'll end up regretting selling your CRTs. They aren't getting any easier (or cheaper) to find. Right now, it is still possible to buy new 19", 25" and 27" CRT arcade monitors and the 25" and 27" can found with tri-sync capability. I recommend snapping one up now because I doubt any will be available new 6 months from now.

Even if you buy it and put it in storage, it is worth getting one while you still can... if price is an issue, you could still find cheap (or free) crt TVs on Craigslist with component video.

[Xer Xian]

Here's a couple of threads where you might find some useful information:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=62433
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=63132

[Antiriad]

Here's a couple of threads where you might find some useful information:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=62433
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=63132

Ciao Xer Xian,
thank you very much for the links.

In the end I chose groovymame: in addition to "frame delay 1" there are other options in the mame.ini config file to check to reduce input lag?
Many thanks!

[SNK-NEO-GEO]

Congrats on becoming a dad:) I also sold all my toys during that time. Handheld gaming was what I did the most when I had a chance. I second that you should have not sold the CRTs, storage or keeping them at a family member would have been a good option.

Maybe an option if space is a factor, find a 15" PC VGA monitor on Craigslist for free and an old PC, setup GroovyMame 31khz and emulators and call it a day.. kids takes a lot of work/time or you can tell your significant other, He is your son until he reaches the age of 5:) seriously man, you will have a blast at 5 and up, below that age have Mami do the job:).

[evil_ash_xero]

On a seperate but related note, I think you'll end up regretting selling your CRTs. They aren't getting any easier (or cheaper) to find. Right now, it is still possible to buy new 19", 25" and 27" CRT arcade monitors and the 25" and 27" can found with tri-sync capability. I recommend snapping one up now because I doubt any will be available new 6 months from now.

Could you point a finger in the direction of where I could get some of those new CRT arcade monitors? I wouldn't mind snagging one before they're gone.

[gray117]

the last crts I know of are wei-yas ...
http://www.weiya.com.tw/products.asp?le=english&fid=26

Not the best, but afaik the only place selling any as new products (no idea if actually new or NOS).

Shipping is the kicker...

[evil_ash_xero]

the last crts I know of are wei-yas ...
http://www.weiya.com.tw/products.asp?le=english&fid=26

Not the best, but afaik the only place selling any as new products (no idea if actually new or NOS).

Shipping is the kicker...

Can you buy them with a shell?
What sort of inputs do they have? I'm quite unfamiliar with arcade tech.

[gray117]

The shell is an arcade cab ... but seriously no - people only generally want these bare. You can simply mount in a box of you're own - think Shou did this a year or so ago for some wei-yas he got.

As tri-syncs they'll just have contacts for R,G,B and H V sync... for 15khz the H will be the combined sync. Most likely these will be supplied with vga plug for connectivity though probably nothing stopping you from even wiring these in directly to the contacts.

If your setup is vga/scart/both, you can just connect your vga source direct or for 15khz those scart to vga cables that don't do what most people hope they do (upscan the signal) will actually be perfect for you - connecting the rgbs pins from scart to the rgb h pins for vga, without changing the signal type ... either that or just get someone to make you up such a cable...

[Antiriad]

Congrats on becoming a dad:) I also sold all my toys during that time. Handheld gaming was what I did the most when I had a chance. I second that you should have not sold the CRTs, storage or keeping them at a family member would have been a good option.

Maybe an option if space is a factor, find a 15" PC VGA monitor on Craigslist for free and an old PC, setup GroovyMame 31khz and emulators and call it a day.. kids takes a lot of work/time or you can tell your significant other, He is your son until he reaches the age of 5:) seriously man, you will have a blast at 5 and up, below that age have Mami do the job:).

Thank you!

Well, actually at my parent's house there's still a good old 20'' cathode TV with SCART RGB input, and I also have a 15'' VGA CRT monitor... I could use the latter with AdvanceMAME + VGA666 on my Raspberry Pi 3 (I should get pixel-perfect video modes on-the-fly easily).
However I think I've already reached a good compromise with MAME + HLSL + bezels on my gaming PC.