Experience using a consumer CRT tv in a MAME cab, anything I'm not thinking of?

[TheRetroCarrot]

I have a couple fairly nice consumer CRTs I've rescued from a local business with flawless glass, great convergence/geometry before adjustment. I've been thinking of using either a 32" Sony that can be component modded (AA-2D), or a nice 27" Toshiba CZ27V51 that already has component inputs. I'd probably look at running a Mister as I believe they can output native 240p over component?

Has anybody done something like this before and can think of some particular challenges they ran into? The plan would be to decase the whole thing and design a cab around it similar to the style of a candy cab. I've built plenty of arcades in the past with LCD monitors, I just don't actually enjoy playing on them very much with the LCD display.

[emphatic]

If you're not already familiar with Arcade Controls, have a look in this section for inspiration: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.p ... ,10.0.html

I would go for a lowboy design myself, pretty easy to design around the screen of your choice. Make a bezel around the screen that is square and held in place by gravity and you should be able to rotate even a 32" in just a few minutes if you can lift it. If you choose to do this, it would be cool to see your progress.

[TheRetroCarrot]

Oh wow thanks! What a great community, love following builds and lots of great ideas.

I'll be documenting this as I go, I've built a few in the past and regret never taking any photos or anything as I went. I fell in love with the candy cabs on my trip to Japan so I'm fairly set on that. I also want to do a rotation mechanism. I think I'll be using the monster 32" after all, since after cleaning up the 27" and working on it a bit I've noticed a very slight amount of burn in at the bottom. It's still a very usable display but given the work it takes to build a cab I'd rather just pass it off to someone wanting a display for console gaming.

Currently playing on this guy I did, I've since added coin slots on a new front panel and moved the USB connection to the back. Haven't quite decided if I want to do the dyed shou sugi ban look again or a painted and decaled cab:

https://imgur.com/a/rGLc8Dv

[SuperSpongo]

One thing that comes to mind: for a seamless experience, it would be nice if you didn't have to use the remote control of the TV at all.
I built a cab with a Sony CRT as a monitor and the Sony could be configured in a way that it turns on when you plug it in an immediately switches to a certain channel (RGB in, in my case).

If that's not possible, there's also the option of using the front controls of the set. I once wrote a small Arduino program that simulates presses of the "Channel down" button for another build. When you plug the Arcade Cabinet in, the Arduino powers up, "presses" Channel down to wakeup the TV from standby, presses Channel down again to switch to the correct input.

[TheRetroCarrot]

That's a good tip, that's one of the biggest things for me is if somebody didn't know the build, they could walk up and think it's a factory arcade. That's been a nice thing using LCDs in the past is they almost always have a wake on power, there is actually no access to the power button at all on the above arcade without loosening the display mount and I've never had to touch it once. It's nice to have the fallback of the remote, but I'd much rather have it turn on when power is provided. I'll have to come up with something once it's disassembled, the front panel needs work anyways, for some reason the volume up sometimes triggers channel down at the moment.

Also thinking I'll likely just use CRT Emudriver with a dedicated PC so I'll probably mod the chassis for RGB rather than component. Just makes things simple and easily configurable, I like MAME I've never run into a game that wouldn't work between that and FB Alpha. Thinking for the screen I'll do something similar to the Egret II Mini actually, have the front panel be a 2 piece with the screen mounted behind the front sheet, and then have a spring assembly with a magnet lock so you can pop it out, rotate, and pop it back in. I thought about making it motorized but that's just more things to break.

[Bratwurst]

Perhaps not the most elegant solution but you could wire in a momentary switch to the power button of the television's chassis, then mount it wherever's convenient and easy to obscure. Just inside the coin door for example.