MAME on a TV

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:49 pm

I'm going to buy a TV to play games on, because a 17" monitor is right at the threshold of 'annoyingly small'...

I plan to use an S-video to composite cable (I have an NVIDIA 8800) and configure the TV as a second "monitor". Is this going to work?

Sandlegs · Post by **Sandlegs** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:16 pm

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 10:38 pm

Sandlegs wrote:yes.

Alright then, thanks.

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:47 pm

TV is here... 27", tated... this is really quite spectacular.

emphatic · Post by **emphatic** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 9:26 pm

Please post picture!

Emph

elvis · Post by **elvis** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:28 pm

Interlaced picture = yuck.

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 1:05 am

elvis wrote:Interlaced picture = yuck.

There is a little weirdness, I'm noticing. I'm not sure if the effect is interlacing, because I don't know the difference, honestly.

Still, I don't give two shits about the snobbery

It's quite a step up.

joeboto · Post by **joeboto** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:28 am

im using the same setup, a lappy svideo out into yellow tv jack. well, the picture quality is a bit weird. if i go to screen test in mame games, during the white grid, theres like some ripple effect through the grids.

and, is there any way to test whether my tv support 15khz or not?

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:41 am

joeboto wrote:im using the same setup, a lappy svideo out into yellow tv jack. well, the picture quality is a bit weird. if i go to screen test in mame games, during the white grid, theres like some ripple effect through the grids.

and, is there any way to test whether my tv support 15khz or not?

Hmm, I can detect a bit of warping mine also, not that severe, but it's there.

What game is that? Or is that part of a specific game, or just a MAME feature?

joeboto · Post by **joeboto** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:16 am

dragon blaze test screen. have you tried using soft 15khz software? i didnt see any improvement by using it. probably because of s-video to rca cable.

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:41 am

joeboto wrote:dragon blaze test screen. have you tried using soft 15khz software? i didnt see any improvement by using it. probably because of s-video to rca cable.

I'm using just an s-video at this point (found out the TV has an s-video jack) and it isn't that distorted. I don't understand the configuration procedures, though, and I don't even know if soft 15khz would work with my setup...?

elvis · Post by **elvis** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 6:17 am

captpain wrote:Still, I don't give two shits about the snobbery
It's quite a step up.

No snobbery intended. I'm not rich enough to own a house full of Japanese cabs (I have one chinese knockoff cab, which took me ages to save for) and original PCBs, and I too play a lot of games on TV via consoles with interlaced pictures.

I still think interlaced pictures suck. There are no consumer video cards with TV-out chips that support progressive scan pictures at 15KHz, and it stinks.

If someone could write a driver or other bit of software that gave you total control over your TV-out signal generating chip, they'd be my personal hero. Alternatively, if someone could make a RGB->S-Video converter that was reasonably priced, they'd also be my hero.

joeboto wrote:im using the same setup, a lappy svideo out into yellow tv jack. well, the picture quality is a bit weird. if i go to screen test in mame games, during the white grid, theres like some ripple effect through the grids.

and, is there any way to test whether my tv support 15khz or not?

Yes, your TV supports 15KHz. If it didn't you wouldn't be seeing a picture.

The interference you see is just that - interference. You can try better cables (thicker shielding, better quality connectors) and moving to S-Video instead. Both will give you a better picture.

Also as a general bit of advice, try to make sure your TV and your computer are using the same power point / power board. Slight ground differences can cause some ripple effects too.

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:25 pm

elvis wrote:
captpain wrote:Still, I don't give two shits about the snobbery
It's quite a step up.
No snobbery intended. I'm not rich enough to own a house full of Japanese cabs (I have one chinese knockoff cab, which took me ages to save for) and original PCBs, and I too play a lot of games on TV via consoles with interlaced pictures.

I still think interlaced pictures suck. There are no consumer video cards with TV-out chips that support progressive scan pictures at 15KHz, and it stinks.

If someone could write a driver or other bit of software that gave you total control over your TV-out signal generating chip, they'd be my personal hero. Alternatively, if someone could make a RGB->S-Video converter that was reasonably priced, they'd also be my hero.

joeboto wrote:im using the same setup, a lappy svideo out into yellow tv jack. well, the picture quality is a bit weird. if i go to screen test in mame games, during the white grid, theres like some ripple effect through the grids.

and, is there any way to test whether my tv support 15khz or not?
Yes, your TV supports 15KHz. If it didn't you wouldn't be seeing a picture.

The interference you see is just that - interference. You can try better cables (thicker shielding, better quality connectors) and moving to S-Video instead. Both will give you a better picture.

Also as a general bit of advice, try to make sure your TV and your computer are using the same power point / power board. Slight ground differences can cause some ripple effects too.

Ah, OK, sorry about that

So my best picture is going to come from
a) Nice cables (I am using a kind of flimsy s-video cable that came with my video card, so maybe I should try a new one?)
b) Same power source (already done)

Is there anything else I can do?
I assume my 2004-ish CRT TV is only capable of 1 resolution...? Right? So I must be using it right now. Soft 15KHz won't do anything, I guess.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:56 pm

Look in your area for a Sony PVM. It's not perfect, but it's the easiest way to get a nice sized RGB CRT in the states. You will have to make some type of converter since the RGB input is DSUB25, but it's not that hard.