Ghost Squad - What size LCD screen to replace projection with? 40"?

[DevoDave]

Before anyone flames me, I know that this is considered as butchery by some, but the projector is so bad that the game is unplayable. 16:9 is not the best when the game is supposed to be 4:3, but better than nothing.

What size TV is best to install in the cabinet? Ideally I will place it inside the bezel, and black-out the gaps with painted MDF.

Is VGA the input required?

 

[rewrite]

It was most likely 40" 4:3 originally, so you're going to need to look at something like a 32 to fit in there.

The game's only going to output 31k max, but most TV's will handle that alright. You may be able to get away with a VGA -> HDMI cable, but YMMV.

 

[nem]

I put a widescreen LCD in my Maze of the Kings deluxe cab, the one that looks like this:

The LCD is 46", however, it's an older model (like 2010?), so the bezel on it is huge. I bet you could fit a modern 47" screen in there.

For 4:3 content the screen size is around 37", so perfectly playable.

Anyway, I suggest you measure the space inside. You could be surprised.

 

[twistedsymphony]

Sega Projection displays are all 50in standard.

you can do the math to determine what will fit but I use this online calculator all the time:
https://www.draperinc.com/projectionscreens/customsizecalculator.aspx

using that a 50in 4:3 display will be 40in wide
a 40in wide 16:9 display will measure 45.8in diagonal (so about a 46in display)

granted this is based on VISIBLE area, the size of the frame/housing will change from display to display but you should measure how much space you're actually working with and then buy a display based on it's overall dimensions.

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FWIW if you wanted to display a 4:3 image on a 16:9 display and have it be the same size as the original 50 in...
a 50in 4:3 display will be 30in tall
a 30in tall 16:9 display will measure 61.25in diagonal...

so yeah... a 61in monitor will give you the same experience as the original projector, anything else will be dowsizing.

going from the original 50in 4:3 to a 46in 16:9 is a 33% reduction in visible screen area if you're stretching the image it's a 42% reduction if you're displaying the image at 4:3 on the new display.

as much as people talk about LCDs replacing CRT displays, I think aspect ratio options kill it more than anything else.

 

[DevoDave]

A thought just struck me.... the original Xbox could be configured as 4:3 or Widescreen in the setup dashboard.

I know the BIOS in the Chihiro is probably different to the Xbox retail BIOS... so presumably the xbe's are signed with a different key, but has there been any research into toggling the setting on the Chihiro??

 

[twistedsymphony]

usually that is handled by dip switches since they control the resolution on the Chihiro... (it's done like this on Lindbergh as well).

Chihiro dip switches aren't documented very well at all. I'd been meaning to play around with them to see if I can figure out some of their uses but I never got around to it.

There are some games on Lindbergh that weren't designed for 16:9 but can be forced into that mode, in doing so the 3D graphics tend to render properly but the Sprites/HUD often has issues, usually sitting to one side (since presumably they're positioned based on the top left corner and aren't programmed to change position with a wider screen.

Similarly sometimes the 3D graphics are missing on the edges of the screen, where the game thinks an asset is no longer in view so it removes it.

So really even if you can force the Chihiro to 16:9 mode it might not work if the games don't support it as well.