4:3 Games on Widescreen arcade monitor...

[nam9]

Noob question here...

There is a 4-player cab for sale near me with a widescreen arcade monitor installed.
If I pick up any 4:3 jamma boards, what happens in a widescreen cab?
I assume the picture is stretched across the entire display - but could you adjust geometries back to the correct aspect ratio?
Are geometries correctable to that extent? Would this in any way be detrimental to the cab to run in this fashion?

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Neil

 

[defor]

most widescreen monitors/TV's have a mode to keep the input aspect ratio and not stretch it- you could ask the seller what model the monitor/tv is as look up the manual online to see what settings it can do.

I presume this is some kind of horrible X-Men lcd conversion-- you mention it being a 4 player cab?

 

[nam9]

Nope - this is a widescreen CRT arcade monitor as far as I am aware... Captain Commando.

Colour scheme may not be to everyones tastes:

But in pretty good condition.. Plus I'm in Scandinavia... Take what you can get.

 

[twistedsymphony]

I think that picture answered your question... looks stretched to me.

whether or not you can adjust it down or if the display has a native 4:3 mode depends entirely on the monitor model. it's impossible to say without knowing the model and seeing how it's setup/what adjustments are available.

personally though, i wouldn't even bother with that cab, it looks like a heap.

 

[defor]

I'm with twisted on this-that looks like a complete mess, and something someone cobbled together on their own- big, bulky, and you're likely to want to reconfigure it at some point down the road...
Were I in your shoes - if I were really wanting something to play arcade games- I'd grab a supergun and use any controllers or display of your choosing... then down the road, if you get a reasonable cab, the supergun will still be a very useful tool for bench testing or just casual play.

If you're hellbent on a cab right now.. I'd still avoid it and instead look at viewlix DIY clones or similar that would be buildable locally or at least flat-pack shipped to you..

This is Arcade-PROJECTS.com after all, right?

 

[kuze]

what is up with that cp layout?

I'd pass as others have advised.

 

[defor]

looks like that's its a loose interpretation of the DX official dedicated cabinet

 

[nam9]

Fair points made. Don't worry, I'm not going to lose my mind over this cab.

I will say this in its defence though - Cabs like this are usually what happens when you franchise out in non core areas (Norway).
They can be very well made, but clearly there are some odd design choices here. Monitor #1.
The cp would be the easiest part to rebuild, hence my focus on the monitor spec.

I guess widescreen makes sense for 4P games, but I'm not sure that Captain commando is even designed for that aspect ratio.. The US cabs look 4:3.

For the right price (cheap) this could be an interesting project - but I don't think the monitor will suit my needs.

On the supergun note... I'm in danger of working the other way.
I have a CMVS and currently a Naomi consolization project in the works, but a new house with a large garage is calling out for something a little less practical

Here's a shot of the internals if anyone else is interested:

 

[Malenko]

Some paint, artwork, and elbow grease and that cab could suck a lot less.

Lose that topper, get a marquee sticker printed to go between the speakers, put grills over the speakers, adjust the horizontal width to get it as close to 4:3 as possible and make a bezel to hide the unused parts of the screen.

I'd just cut a new CP and get better sticks/buttons. Not the best cab, but far from the worst.

 

[zero238]

You

Some paint, artwork, and elbow grease and that cab could suck a lot less.

Lose that topper, get a marquee sticker printed to go between the speakers, put grills over the speakers, adjust the horizontal width to get it as close to 4:3 as possible and make a bezel to hide the unused parts of the screen.

I'd just cut a new CP and get better sticks/buttons. Not the best cab, but far from the worst.

remeber to put some chrome rims and some hydraulics to pimp it out.

 

[twistedsymphony]

Some paint, artwork, and elbow grease and that cab could suck a lot less.

Lose that topper, get a marquee sticker printed to go between the speakers, put grills over the speakers, adjust the horizontal width to get it as close to 4:3 as possible and make a bezel to hide the unused parts of the screen.

I'd just cut a new CP and get better sticks/buttons. Not the best cab, but far from the worst.

that topper is the best part of the whole cab... simply because you could swap out the art and have it look like a ghetto candy.

the worst part are those speakers though, tiny, cheap paper cone and sticking out from the machine like that. it looks like they have grills on them already, it's just that the camera flash shined right through them.

If I were to salvage this thing I'd...
-flat black all the wood bits and the control panel graphics
-remove the buttons on the sides of the control panel and re-drill the panel as normal 2L12B with good quality sticks and buttons. (that panel is way too small for 4 players)
-gloss black all the metal bits
-swap out the topper panel for a more squared candy cab style one (just couple sheets of plexi should do it.
-adjust down the width of the image as much as possible

then call it a day...

minimize the crappiness, minimize the cost and effort to make it less ugly. I mean if you're going to buy something like this it's because it's cheap. it not worth the effort to tear the whole thing apart IMO.

 

[jassin000]

I game on a wide screen LCD only because I can't get a large 4:3 ratio LCD.
When I do, I never stretch out the image to full width (like above).

I would recommend (like pretty much everyone else) that you pass this one by.
A wide screen CRT for arcade games just isn't ideal, and honestly its sorta puzzling why such a cab even exists at all.

 

[Malenko]

remeber to put some chrome rims and some hydraulics to pimp it out.

You've obviously never seen any of my restore work.


@Twisted: Im just not a fan of toppers but I could see that being a nice ghetto candy marquee. I'd do the metal in a flat black, everything else I agree with. Maybe a nice stylized CPO.

 

[Hackcell]

Hi,

Has anyone connected a sega naomi to a widescreen TV (hopefully a Bravia)?
I wonder if the image stretches.

Thanks.

 

[twistedsymphony]

Hi,

Has anyone connected a sega naomi to a widescreen TV (hopefully a Bravia)?
I wonder if the image stretches.

Thanks.

Whether or not it stretches has nothing to do with the source device and everything to do with the display.

The console doesn't give a shit what it's attached to, it sends out the same exact signal whether you hook it up to a Bravia or a Banana.

 

[kuze]

Hi,

Has anyone connected a sega naomi to a widescreen TV (hopefully a Bravia)?
I wonder if the image stretches.

Thanks.

Whether or not it stretches has nothing to do with the source device and everything to do with the display.
The console doesn't give a shit what it's attached to, it sends out the same exact signal whether you hook it up to a Bravia or a Banana.

Or a potato

 

[rewrite]

Hi,

Has anyone connected a sega naomi to a widescreen TV (hopefully a Bravia)?
I wonder if the image stretches.

Thanks.

Whether or not it stretches has nothing to do with the source device and everything to do with the display.The console doesn't give a shit what it's attached to, it sends out the same exact signal whether you hook it up to a Bravia or a Banana.

Or a potato

Can confirm, does not care about potatoes. Tested tonight just to make sure.

 

[nam9]

Since you enjoyed the last one so much: