Shmup newbie Tate advice!

[GRUSS]

Evening

I currently own and use 2 B&O mx4000 and mx7000 for use with my collection of retro games consoles all running RGB scart.

I've recently moved into shmups on the Jpn Saturn and I've only just discovered how well they look in Tate mode after tipping the MX4000 on its side..

I'm now thinking of getting a more permanent option. Maybe a LCD screen with rotating stand.

My games room is in the loft, I will probably get rid of the bigger mx7000 as it's a little tired now and put the new screen in its place.

I have my own youtube channel with a games room tour video which will explain things a lot better.

If your interested I can show you these?

Appreciate any advice on a newbie going into this side of gaming.

Thanks

Russ

[Xyga]

Failed to notice this thread, so quoting myself from pm;

No LCD will match the beauty and performance of your MX7000 but if you really want to give it a try I would suggest getting a 32" with a VA panel.

- 32" because the pillarboxed 4:3 image will be the same size as the MX7000's (26").
- Any flat panel bigger than that is a real challenge to rotate (without a dedicated wall mount).
- VA because it's the panel type that offers the highest contrast ratio and deepest blacks (when coming from a CRT an IPS can be depressing because of the very poor blacks).

I have two displays in mind;

Sony KDL-32W705B
Review: http://www.avforums.com/review/sony-w70 ... view.10458
Most certainly the best 32" TV, with exceptionally low input lag and all the excellent retrogaming-friendly features of the W series (check Fudoh's review of the 2013's W6, it's the same quality; http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=48662)
The issue is it lacks proper VESA mounting and will therefore require an adapter, which I believe is the following but please double-check; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sparepart-Sony- ... =448584401
Then a wall arm/mount, or one of the few universal rotating stands that can handle 32" sets, like the US import Crimson DS134 or this Ergotron (note the part number); http://www.ergotron.com/ProductsDetails ... fault.aspx

Please note the scart input of that TV sucks, the only inputs offering great quality are the single component input, and the four HDMI.
So depending on what consoles you plan to play on the TV you will need a proper scart-to-component converter/transcoder like this one; http://www.cypeurope.com/store/store/ap ... onverter-- (I read there are cheap clones that work just as well but I couldn't safely link to one in particular, you might want to ask on the forums).
This converter shall sit after a proper scart switch.

Also there is no VGA input, if you want to 'add' one you will need a VGA-to-component converter/transcoder like the Audio Authority 9A60A, or Crescendo Systems TC1600 (both US imports).

BenQ BL3200PT
Review 1; http://pcmonitors.info/benq-bl3200pt/
Review 2: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/benq_bl3200pt.htm
That one's got more input lag, about 24ms (1,5 frames) VS. 14ms (a bit below 1 frame) for the Sony.
It's not a big difference honestly so unless you really loathe lag you shouldn't worry too much.
On the plus side its panel is more responsive (less trailing) thanks to a configurable 'overdrive' feature.

It comes with a rotating stand, which saves you a lot of trouble for tate-ing.

But it's a monitor so it lacks both scart and component, which means you will need what's called a external linedoubler or scaler.
I bet you've heard about Fudoh's website http://retrogaming.hazard-city.de/ if not I suggest reading the parts about the various Micomsoft XRGB devices.
This monitor features a VGA input, which allows you to connect even the older models;
XRGB-1 can be found for cheap but will require patience (eBay worldwide search, or trading station here).
XRGB-2 is quite good too but also rare and more expensive.
XRGB-2 Plus should be avoided.
XRGB-3 is the most common and maybe your best bet if you can find one for cheaper than what it currently goes for (check forums first).
Frame Meister / Mini looks the best but adds more lag. And it's damn expensive.
Of course there are other options to consider, like the little chinese scart-to-hdmi converter recently reviewed by Fudoh. It adds lag too, but it works and is cheap.

Last point; note this is a high-res monitor with a 2560x1440 resolution, which means all your content will get stretched/upscaled even more so than on a 'traditional' 1920x1080 (Full-HD) display.
This shouldn't be much of a problem though, since according to the reviews it seems to handle this pretty well.
If that counts such a resolution is a great advantage for high-end emulation with fancy scanlines shaders.

------------------

That's it for what I believe are the 'best' options (as of Oct 2014).
Yes, it's nothing simple and definitely not budget.

If you're not bothered by the idea of a smaller display, there are several good 27" monitors, much more affordable and overall even better in terms of pure performance IMHO.
The Iiyama XB2783HSU-B1 is simply the best Full-HD VA monitor http://www.amazon.co.uk/Iiyama-ProLite- ... 2783hsu-b1
Of course it will also require a linedoubler/scaler.
Visit this page to see some pics of a recent happy new owner (rikimaru); http://forum.shmup.com/viewtopic.php?p= ... 1f0ff57d0f

I have other options in mind but since I don't know how much you're ready to spend I think I will wait and see what you have to say first.

[Fudoh]

Do we have any information on how the BenQ 3200 handles a 720p signal ? Is the result interpolated ? Or does it straight doubling (720p to 1440p) ?

[Xyga]

Do we have any information on how the BenQ 3200 handles a 720p signal ? Is the result interpolated ? Or does it straight doubling (720p to 1440p) ?

Oh that would be too good, no unfortunately it doesn't seem to do straight doubling, check the snapshots;
http://www.prad.de/new/monitore/test/20 ... erpolation
It's okay as far as 1440 monitors go today, you can't hope to have them do anything like scaling good anyway.
I think the AOC q2770pqu is the only 1440 to do a better-than-average job.
When scaling/interpolation look nice on a monitor I consider it an engineering accident.

[Fudoh]

Sometimes I really got a problem with PRAD's scaling snapshots. Look at the one below. The top right pattern (2:1) represents the Mini's scanlines on a 720p output. I've seen the same result on other PRAD tests, but in real life the Mini looked great. But going by the snapshot alone, it wouldn't be any good for use with a Mini.

[Xyga]

Yes it's puzzling, but those prad tests are the only ones we have.
Their lag figures also sometimes seem to be completely off...
To their credit they try external sources (mostly a BR player), which is commendable to at least learn about how the display handles those (ratio, judder, etc).
We should ask them to send you all the monitors they receive for further testing.

[GRUSS]

Thanks for the detailed reply. I've done quite a bit if reading and I've been up in the games room trying to visualise how I can do it. I'm pretty limited with space up in the loft.

I've decided to keep the MX7000 as I've built must of the games room around it...

Size wise.. I'm going to be struggling due to space

I've done done measuring and with the monitor/LCD/led in vertical TATE mode I've got approx 16 inches width... Not a great deal.

Thanks for the kind comments about my games room.

Today's plan is to mount a hinged bracket on the arcade machine on the side so it sits between the cab and the MX4000 (you would need to watch the video again)

http://youtu.be/HLORhIIJcIk

LCD or monitor?

Ideally I could do with a RGB scart but I could use a convertor?