Episode 122: MAME Cabinets

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Flack
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Episode 122: MAME Cabinets

Post by Flack »

At long last, I tackled this subject.

Episode 122 is Online.

Episode 122 of You Don’t Know Flack covers the often requested topic of MAME Cabinets. In this episode I talk a little bit about what MAME is and a lot about the parts of a MAME cabinet and how to build your own.

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Episode 122: http://podcast.robohara.com/?p=199
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obliterator918
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Re: Episode 122: MAME Cabinets

Post by obliterator918 »

Listened to it this morning.

One video option you didn't mention is using an LCD with a scan line effect in MAME.

I have seen some great looking jamma multi-game tables for sale that were perfect except for the fact that they used an LCD screen instead of an arcade monitor, which would be a total deal-breaker for me.

When my wife and I decided to build a MAME cabinet as a mutual Valentine's gift (yuep, I know that is awesome) we went with a Tankstick+Trackball and a pre-fab cabinet designed to drop the Tankstick right in. The drawback with this particular cabinet is no room for a video monitor, so, I put the biggest 16x10 (not 16x9) LCD in there and use a scanline effect to simulate the video monitor look. The awesome thing about this setup is that it doesn't take up much space, and, with the 16x10 aspect ratio, I have games like Pac Man/etc having room for a good chunk of bezel artwork in crystal clear resolution, and the game itself with simulated scan lines. It looks a lot better than you might imagine, and for me, is the best of both worlds. I have the effect switched off automatically for vector games. I found the scanrez2_althor effect to be best for my setup.

(You are welcome to read from this in your podcast as if it were an email if you like.)
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Flack
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Re: Episode 122: MAME Cabinets

Post by Flack »

Gah you're right, I forgot all about the scanline effects! I will definitely mention those next week and will also mention the digital bezels.

I'll be honest with you -- I don't mind the LCD monitors all that much. From a building perspective they are so much lighter and don't run nearly as hot as CRTs. It looks jarring when compared to an original monitor, but I think the longer we use LCD monitors on a day-to-day basis, the more I'm getting used to it. :)
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obliterator918
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Re: Episode 122: MAME Cabinets

Post by obliterator918 »

Flack wrote:Gah you're right, I forgot all about the scanline effects! I will definitely mention those next week and will also mention the digital bezels.

I'll be honest with you -- I don't mind the LCD monitors all that much. From a building perspective they are so much lighter and don't run nearly as hot as CRTs. It looks jarring when compared to an original monitor, but I think the longer we use LCD monitors on a day-to-day basis, the more I'm getting used to it. :)


For me, the issue is that the separation of the phosphor dots and the high dot pitch on the old video monitors combine to give an illusion of more color and "less blockyness" that LCDs eliminate completely. The enemies in Galaga seem to rotate much more smoothly with scan lines than on a pure LCD that shows the sprits in their exact detail. It's entirely perception, as you indicate.
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Flack
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Re: Episode 122: MAME Cabinets

Post by Flack »

I had a technical volume-related glitch with this episode so I re-uploaded it with the same name, which apparently confused iTunes to the point where it just ignored the entire episode. I ended up deleting and reposting the episode, which appears to have fixed the issue.
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