XRGB vs 1084s vs Sony PVM vs NEC xm29

[angrycoder]

I have a ketsui PCB arriving soon and am looking at getting an RGB setup going again. I have the following options available.

1) xRGB2+ - VGA out to 26 inch sony lcd tv.
+ already have an scart to jap RGB cable and scart cables for all my consoles
- may not be the best picture, but its probably the 'easiest' solution

2) Commodore 1084s with a custom scart to rgb switch box
+ already have the monitor and cables
+ picture is nice, nice, nice!
- picture is small, monitor takes up a lot of room considering how tiny it is

3) Sony PVM 2530 or 2030
+ larger RGB screen than I have now
+ cheap ($40-$30) craigslist via local pickup
- needs custom cables
- takes up a lot more room
- dude on craig's list sounds creepy in emails

4) NEC xm29
+ from my research, sounds like the best option quality wise
+ has a lot more connection options than the Sony PVM
- needs custom cables
- $300!! ebay via local pickup - is this price even reasonable?
- fucking huge
- fucking heavy

So, oh wise RGB guru's, what are your suggestions?

Either way, I am going to have to make a custom RGB cable for my supergun. I am leaning towards just using the xrgb for now. Would the sony or NEC be a big enough jump in quality to justify the hassle?

[EOJ]

Sony PVM monitors are great, I have a 2530 and a 1910. Be warned the 2530 usually has discoloration when in TATE. If you position it just right and happen to live in a space where all the magnet fields align just right, it will work fine. At my previous apartment it was always discolored in the left side of the screen, degauss did nothing to help. In my current apartment it only displays properly when it's in ONE corner of ONE particular wall. Weirdest shit in the world.

The 20" or 19" versions work fine either horizontal or vertical, so those are better unless you want to drive yourself crazy trying to find a 'sweet' spot in your gaming space for the 25" one.

The NEC monitor is also excellent, but as you found, also more expensive. I'd skip your options 1) and 2). LCDs usually have some input lag, and even with an XRGB it doesn't look quite as nice as on an RGB monitor. Plus the setup is pricey. The Commodore monitor is too small, so don't even consider it.

[angrycoder]

Thanks for the info EOJ.

I did some experimenting today with ye olde 1084s and while it looked amazing, it was just way too small for me. The xrgb2+ actually looks pretty damn good, but I am still fiddling with the colors. I've got a pretty nice ghetto tate setup going with the xrgb, my lcd, a stack of books and a cutting board supporting my stick and the screen. Heh.

I think maybe I'll give scary craig's list dude a call tomorrow and see about the 20 inch PVM.

What am I getting myself into with cables for the PVM? I found a PDF manual and it looks like a 25 pin parallel port connector? Would I be able to just hack another scart switch box and keep using my scart console cables for RGB output? The pinout looks straight forward for the most part, but pin 10 has me scratching my head.

10 RGB/Normal mode select
high state (5v or open) - RGB inputs from a microcomputer
low state (ground) - Composite video inputs from the LINE A/LINE B/VIDEO IN or VTR connector

Does that just mean if I leave that pin unconnected, I get RGB by default?

[neorichieb1971]

PVM's are ideal in the ideal world. But be warned you might be getting yourself into iffy territory when it turns out the unit you buy isn't exactly working as you would have perceived. They are old and dusty a lot of the time and I have to say I was underwhelmed with my PVM experience. For all the money I spent on one I could of bought something nicer for $400 (unit plus shipping).

I threw mine out in the trash, since its highly unsort after in this day and age. You could get rid of a used condom easier.

The XRGB option is the safest.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Having played Ketsui on an Amiga 1080 monitor, it looked pretty good considering the age of the monitor & no screen burn-in issues whatsoever. Back in the ye olden days of Shmups.com, tech god Matt Ross used to preach the virtues of getting/using an Amiga 1080/1084 RGB monitor for their awesome display capabilities. Great little monitors despite their overall size.

Using an XRGB-2 setup with a proper CRT-based PC monitor is the best way to go if you go this particular route...looks awesome on an 19" and up PC CRT-based monitor setup.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Ed Oscuro]

I have described something a bit like "shimmering" (lines of pixels on the monitor switching between one line of pixels and the other when they are on the border) with two 17" 1280 x 1024 (5:4) VGA CRT monitors used with a XRGB2. I don't know if this is a problem with other models of CRT (i.e. 4:3 ones), or if the 2+ handles that very differently.

That being said the XRGB2 is pretty much the sole "weak point" in the chain. It's was expensive, has a finicky power connector, and would be hard to replace. On the other hand, it was the only expensive thing in my setup, and I hold out the possibility that it might be useful with tomorrow's sets if we move away from LCD technology back to something that accepts a wider range of input frequencies. If you know where to look there is a pretty steady supply of used VGA CRT monitors that have much better pictures than many other sets, can be used for other things, and are friendlier on your back as well. Going up just two inches to 19" models adds a significant amount of extra weight, I feel (though I'm not sure I'd rather lug around that odd Dell 17" monitor which is very front-heavy than my still unfixed 19" Dell P992 - Sony Trinitron tube).

The monitors were $2.99 each.

@ EOJ: Did you degauss the PVMs after moving it into the new orientation?

[EOJ]

@ EOJ: Did you degauss the PVMs after moving it into the new orientation?

Before and after.

[Ed Oscuro]

Degaussing before moving wouldn't do anything. Degaussing after was after you moved it into the tate position, correct? (That could mean two different things so I thought I'd ask.)

Just to illuminate why I'm asking, degaussing creates a magnetic "bias" field to counter the effects of the Earth's and any localized magnetic fields, so it's always a good idea to do it whenever you've moved it relative to the Earth's magnetic field (i.e. anytime it gets moved, including simply rotating a VGA monitor on its stand). I don't know if putting the set on its side would create a situation the set's degaussing method isn't able to counteract. Something interesting to look out for, I guess. I may get a PVM someday so it's something I'm watching out for.

[EOJ]

I degaussed it every way possible (even bought a professional degauss wand). It's a known issue with the 2530, lots of other people have posted here and elsewhere bitching about how hard it is to get a non-discolored picture in TATE on it.

[Ed Oscuro]

I see. It's probably that the internal coils aren't effective when it's rotated. I read recently that some military CRTs in aircraft used six different degaussing coils to keep up with the constantly changing field. Too bad nothing like that is available for us...

[msm]

I degaussed it every way possible (even bought a professional degauss wand). It's a known issue with the 2530, lots of other people have posted here and elsewhere bitching about how hard it is to get a non-discolored picture in TATE on it.

yeah i've had exactly the same problem with the european version of that monitor, i had 2 that both did the same thing. it's good to know the 20" version doesn't have the same problem, i might try and get hold of one, might even be able to move it on my own too!