MS8/9 (Astro) and Toshiba (New Net) Q&A

[Niraflen]

Hey folks,

I'm curious about how the 15kHz (and 24kHz) image quality compares between the Nanao MS8 and 9s and the tri-sync flastscreen Toshiba in the New Net City. I haven't been able to find any good answers to this except on some French language forums, and what I could find was completely opposite opinions with little background to them.

So, to the owners of these kinds of monitors, how do they compare (scanlines, masks, clarity, etc etc.)? Have any pictures to show off the difference? Thanks!

[Frenetic]

Good news! I own two New Net Cities with the pure flat Toshiba monitors. Bad news: I'm sorry, I don't have such a good camera, just the camera on my iPhone. But what I can do is offer advice on 15kHz, 24kHz, and 31kHz.
I talked with my buddy Akraten about 24khz--it doesn't really come to play all that much (modelboards vf3, swta, pilotkids, gradius 4).

Now to answer your questions on 15khz. I'm aware of some complaints about the sharpness on 15khz games both PCBs and MAME on the Toshiba pure flat monitors, but I can't really tell the difference myself. I've played on Akraten's Egret 2 and Atomiswave with Wei-Yas, I've also played on Dave_K's Windys--they are all great to play on. If the image is sharper than other 15khz games on other monitors, I'm not complaining. 31khz gaming is amazing, too! I love the Xbox 360 Cave ports--I have most of them and it is so awesome to play them in HD. If you have a chance to buy some New Net Cities, do it! Or, if you have another chance to buy an other cab, just do it (I'd recommend against Blast Citys, they have the goop of death unless if you know how to fix monitors/don't think it's a big problem)--you won't regret it! I went from consoles to candy cabs and am so happy I did.

Ask Ken at the Gameroom what kind of cabs he has, that's where I purchased my New Net Cities from:
http://www.thegameroom.com/thegameroom/index.htm.html. It's better to call him than e-mail him, he responds better that way.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
F

[Niraflen]

Thanks for the reply Frenetic. The comments about the Toshiba monitor are encouraging.

You mentioned you have two New Net Cities, so maybe you won't have an answer for this next question: I'd like to know how difficult you've found it is it to rotate the monitors in the New Net City. I've asked one person so far and been told it can be done by one person in about 15 minutes, which seems very reasonable. I've tried to make room for two cabs, but it's looking like a tight fit so I'm going to start with one. If I have to stick to one cab for a while, I want to make sure that it's not too difficult to rotate.

Does the Toshiba automatically sync to the input video signal's 15/24/31 rate, or do you need to change the sync rate on the monitor via DIP switches or an onscreen display like with some older monitors? Are all the connections through the same 15 pin connector, or does it have different connectors for 15/24 signals and 31 signals?

And a question more about the New Net City than the monitor - does it have a manual audio control/knob for the speaker output? I've read some newer cabinets have these, seems like this one is a good candidate. Thanks!

[SuperPang]

The Toshiba found in most NNC is a great monitor. Note I said most. Be aware some are Wei-ya!
It has a superb 31KHz picture. How good low res on a tri-sync looks is quite subjective but 15KHz is better than most, only really beaten by the Blast City and Net City monitors, especially the MS2931. The pure flat is likely to have better convergence and geometry though.

It auto syncs and yes the NNC has a stereo amp with volume adjust in the control panel.

[Niraflen]

Thanks Pang! Between what both you and Frenetic said so far, the NNC with a Toshiba looks like a nice all-around option. Getting JAMMA connectivity seems to be the only hitch. Did Sega offer any kind of loom for connecting JAMMA items to this cabinet for low-res gaming, or are Namco, River Service, and Konami the only games in town?

[SuperPang]

Go for Konami, it's up to 5 button ready.

[Niraflen]

Well, it's on my list of things to track down now. Keeping options open though in case I can't find a Konami one, at least there's no rush. Still need to get the cabinet.

A bit curious about the voltage issue though. Are there a lot of PCBs that'll suffer from the lack of -5V on the Konami card? All I could find was a relatively short list, and a comment somewhere that Capcom games with Qsound need it for Stereo instead of Mono.

[Frenetic]

Thanks for the reply Frenetic. The comments about the Toshiba monitor are encouraging.

You mentioned you have two New Net Cities, so maybe you won't have an answer for this next question: I'd like to know how difficult you've found it is it to rotate the monitors in the New Net City.

Yep sorry I don't know. I kind of got two because I wanted a cab for STGs and one for fighters. Give Ken at the Gameroom a call, he rotated it for me. Or you can ask other people who own a Net City or Naomi Universal since they are similar cabs.

Does the Toshiba automatically sync to the input video signal's 15/24/31 rate, or do you need to change the sync rate on the monitor via DIP switches or an onscreen display like with some older monitors?

It auto syncs, both through my Namco JAMMA->JVS converter and VGA connector (default) when I use MAME/Xbox 360/Dreamcast. Don't run MAME unless you run soft15khz & quickres or ArcadeVGA PCI card, etc. That will kill your monitor.

Are all the connections through the same 15 pin connector, or does it have different connectors for 15/24 signals and 31 signals?

Same connector, but you need using your JAMMA->JVS converter for JAMMA boards. Naomi takes the regular VGA connector.

And a question more about the New Net City than the monitor - does it have a manual audio control/knob for the speaker output? I've read some newer cabinets have these, seems like this one is a good candidate. Thanks!

There is a speaker volume knob right in the control panel, you use a key to unlock it, it opens up and you can adjust the volume on the right.

All I could find was a relatively short list, and a comment somewhere that Capcom games with Qsound need it for Stereo instead of Mono.

I have CPS2 boards, and you can wire the sound directly from the board to the cabinet with a regular red/white composite audio cable.

I bought my JAMMA->JVS converter from Yahoo Japan auctions through Celga. They're pretty rare on the english forums, but if you get one you're set for JAMMA. http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w63743772 this is the PCBs link, you can browse the boards or (type JVS). This is what a Konama JAMMA->JVS adapter looks like: http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w63743772
This is what a Namco JAMMA->JVS converter looks like: http://ikotsu.blogspot.com/2010/06/namc ... apter.html

Lemme know if you have any more questions!
-F

[Niraflen]

I'll be keeping an eye out, and thanks for the warning about the resolutions you feed to the monitor. Nice tip about CPS2 for the future too.

On that note, does the monitor accept 848x480 (which should still be a 31kHz scan rate). Asking this because that's the only I could see getting fullscreen DeathSmiles IIX arcade mode off the 360, provided you also expand the image horizontally (assuming the monitor controls would allow you to do this). Happen to know the answer to that one?

[dieKatze88]

I'll say this, I have a New Astro and Gradius IV, and when combined at 25khz, those two things work very well together.

[antron]

just thought I would throw this in here.

I've seen a few posts about using the UVC to convert VGA to 25kHz to more accuratly display high res games (on a non high res monitor). IIRC folks were happy with the results.

[LARGE KRO]

Picture is sharp as hell with those New Net City Toshiba/ Nanao monitors but for 15Khz boards
it all depends of what game you are playing.
For some games scanlines appear just a little more than more usual 15Khz curved monitors
and still look good but for some others they tent to be way more apperent and it does not
deserve the game.
I remember playing Hyper Duel on a friend's New Net City, it displayed really heavy scanilnes
and the game just lost its finesse. Two weeks later playing it on an Egret 2 it was pure heaven.

When it come to 31Khz I never saw a monitor that can beat this one.