List of 25-29" 31Khz monitors.

[andykara2003]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me? I'm trying to compile a list of quality CRT monitors between 25 and 29 inches in size that do 31Khz/480p and that were made more recently (i.e. mid 90's onwards). They don't necessarily need to do any other resolutions.

These type of monitors are really hard to find (in Europe) so I'm trying to widen my search by finding out new models. So far all I have is the Sony PGM 29" monitor (PGM2950), the Sony PGM-200r2u and the NEC 29" (NEC XM29/29 plus/extra etc). Cheers :)

[Fudoh]

There's a cheap (chinese?) model by CMC. Was quite easily available 10 years ago and actually my first 31khz video monitor ever (had it running with a XRGB-2 a few years before I got my first LCD TV). I've seen it for sale in the 100-150 EUR range numerous times over the past years (at least here in Germany).

For it's price definitely a solid monitor.

[andykara2003]

Thanks v. much Fudoh, I'll look into those now...

[niall]

Loewe Q2300 and Q2400 chassis can be upgraded to take 31kHz VGA 640x480 - the 2300 also does 576p@50hz and 720x480@60Hz

[andykara2003]

That's really interesting, I hadn't thought of that. I've done a bit of research & it turns out that the later Loewe Acondas (Media+ Q2500 chasis etc.) have component as well. I'll be using this for gamecube era stuff so this might work. Acondas pretty much the only Loewes that are easily available here and are supposed to be very good. I was hoping to get a high end monitor & have been avoiding TVs but the quality of the Loewes makes them an attractive proposition, potentially. The only flip side is that even though I'd sidestep the 100Hz issue by using component, these TVs might use other processing that interferes with the picture & produces lag. I wonder if anyone here uses Acondas for gaming?

[RGB0b]

Do the old Mitsubishi Megaview (or 'Diamondscan') CRT's (up to 42") support 31Khz? I've never seen one in person, but people I've spoken to that own them seem to like them.

[andykara2003]

I was thinking of the Mitsubishi Megaviews - these are really hard to find as well but a lot of people like them here. The only thing that makes me think twice about these (and the Loewes) is that I'm really looking for a razor-sharp, top quality screen & people say that they are very good but have a more 'old-school' image. Not sure about the Diamondscans though.

Someone on the Neo-Geo forum said this:

The PVM has better control over beam focus than the Mitsubishi Megaview Pro. The pro grade NEC Multisync slap them both down with ease, and will retain its razor sharp focus til the death, due to being electro-magnetic focus instead of electro-static.

If that's true, the fact that a monitor like the NECs could retain it's sharpness after a lot of use makes them a really attactive proposition to me.

[zanardi]

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthrea ... nitor-List

[cools]

There's a pro grade NEC Multisync 29" on eBay at the moment.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEC-MultiSync ... 1c45bbd5f0

I've not seen another show up in ~2 years of saved searches.

[andykara2003]

Bought it! You're a superstar Cools, thank you so much

Just got to hope it's OK - I'm picking it up tomorrow. It doesn't come with a remote & I remember seeing somewhere that the remote has a lot of the functions on it so I'll have to pick one up from somewhere else....

[cools]

No worries. I'd have nabbed it myself if I could've collected it. I don't think you need the remote, it just makes some functions more immediately accessible.

Killer monitor by all accounts.

[andykara2003]

Ahh great cheers, that's good to know. It'll be a 4 hour or more round trip tomorrow but worth it if the monitor still works OK...

[Xan]

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthrea ... nitor-List

Why does it say 640x200 for PVMs?

[cools]

Ahh great cheers, that's good to know. It'll be a 4 hour or more round trip tomorrow but worth it if the monitor still works OK...

You're a bit more southern? If it turns out to not be what you're after I'd be interested in taking it off you/trading for a PVM or two if it comes to it.

[andykara2003]

No probs Cools - I'll let you know how it's turning out...

[cools]

Fingers crossed it does the job for you

[andykara2003]

Cheers

[andykara2003]

Picked up the monitor today. The geometry and colours are very good but the focus was a bit off. I adjusted it on the flyback (carefully!) and it improved it quite a bit, but it's still not pin sharp - it's pretty good though. I'm using VGA from my laptop. Am I expecting a bit much to get a perfectly sharp image using 640x480 on a 29" CRT? Or should I expect to see each pixel very clearly defined?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Do the old Mitsubishi Megaview (or 'Diamondscan') CRT's (up to 42") support 31Khz? I've never seen one in person, but people I've spoken to that own them seem to like them.

I saw a 32" Mitsubishi Diamondscan CRT-based monitor running the Sega Naomi version of Super Monkey Ball at a past California Extreme show (either the 2003 or 2004 one). It was running in 31kHz mode and the colors were out-of-this-world gorgeous & with a 60fps framerate, it was super silky-smooth. Talk about vivid eye candy with it's overall visual presentation. The only thing was it took up some serious real estate space but the portable folding table that it was sitting on didn't buckle (not even once) with all that extra weight during both days of the show.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[cools]

Pics?

[andykara2003]

Here's some pics - They're bad iPhone photos but I've tried to get the shadow mask in focus so you can see the image focus in comparison. I haven't managed to hook any consoles to it via VGA yet as I need a transcoder so these are from my laptop hooked up via VGA in 640x480. I realise the convergence is out - but I have to admit that I was expecting the monitor to look sharper than this in 480p resolution. The pics are slightly larger than I'd usually post to give more detail...






High res screenshot of a game on my laptop:



Same screen on the NEC:



Closeup un NEC:

[cools]

Thanks.

You're expecting too much That's as good as the Toshiba in my Egret 3.

Windows Aero is designed to look nice on LCDs, so everything is softened already. Try turning off Cleartype and Aero and seeing the result then. Notice that icons and lines appear to be sharper than the text? The default mouse pointer is also smoothed slightly, so switch to a non Aero cursor.

I'm wondering why you need a transcodor for the consoles? That monitor should natively accept practically anything RGB you can throw at it provided you've got the cable for it.

[cfx]

.

[andykara2003]

Thanks for that guys - that comes as quite a relief!

Cools - thanks very much for that, I'll try the windows adjustments & get back here in a bit..

If I wanted to connect to the monitor with my official scart & component cables but didn't want to hack up my cables, can I ask what cables you'd suggest to convert/patch these to the VGA input? (The monitor only accepts VGA, composite and s-video so I only have the VGA port to work with).

[cools]

You're confusing the typical usage of an D-Sub Mini 15pin connector with it's purpose on this monitor. It's an RGBHV / RGBS input.

http://office.manualsonline.com/manuals ... s.html?p=1

I'd probably try one of these or similar as a starting point: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-5m-scart-to ... 1e88cb69c5

[andykara2003]

That clears things up a lot, cheers Cools! But would that mean I can feed component into this connector without transcoding to RGB? i.e. could I just use one of these?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1FT-Component ... 484611ac3b

[cools]

No. You need to convert to RGB.

[andykara2003]

Cool cheers - I guess I'll need a transcoder just for component in that case? Out of interest what would you recommend for doing that conversion?

[cools]

Beyond me I'm afraid, I've only ever used systems that connect directly.

[andykara2003]

No worries, you've been an enormous help

I think I'm right in saying these monitors don't like composite video sync. I happen to have a sync strike hanging around so I'm thinking for 15Khz I can use that with a standard VGA cable. Off to try it now...