MAME Cabinet display

[tbrucker]

What would someone recommend for the Display for a MAME cabinet build - I purchased the cabinet from recroom masters - looking at a 27 inch display. I am assuming resolution doesnt matter that much when it comes to MAME. Just curious what brands other people used and where they usually find the best deals on displays - Thanks Trevor

[Lordmonkus]

Oh geez this is not a simple answer at all. Are you looking at using a CRT or a modern display ? What kind of budget are you thinking of ? If you are thinking about a CRT then you are correct resolution does not matter. If you are on a tight lower end budget (a couple hundred bucks at most) then you are basically going to be getting 1080 at 27". Now comes the more complicated part of what I will tell you. Every thing I say after this pertains to buying a modern LCD type display. I will say first, I highly recommend doing some research and at least get a monitor with the lowest input lag as possible. It will make a difference in reactionary games such as Street Fighter. High input lag will make pulling off combos difficult. If you are going to 27" look for something that will do at least 1440 (4K is better) resolution. It will make the GLSL shaders look way better than 1080. If you can afford it and you are willing to drop the cash on it I would recommend going with a G-Sync or Freesync monitor (determined by your graphics card and support). This makes a huge difference in the quality of emulation and I will explain why. ***WARNING: TECH CRAP INCOMING*** Many older arcade games do not run at the same speeds. When you load a game and you see that first screen with the game info about resolution and HZ that tells you how fast the game actually runs at. Many games do not run at 60 HZ, they usually run slower. Now you could tell the emulator to sync the game to the display but you will end up making the game run too fast. The side effects of this range from so minor they don't matter to making certain games acting funky. The other side effect of this is input lag and in fast action arcade games it sucks. You can turn off the sync and let the game run at its natural speed which is preferred but you now end up with screen tearing. So the trade off of tearing vs input lag is going to be a personal choice matter. I would take the tearing over input lag myself but that's me. The beauty of a *Sync tech monitor is that you sync the monitor to the game which in turn removes the tearing and input lag and runs the game at the proper speed. I recently purchased an Asus ROG 27" G-Sync @ 1440 resolution monitor and while it was not a cheap purchase it makes emulation amazing. Mame runs incredible, the high resolution makes Lottes CRT shader look great. The low input lag makes fighting games feel like playing on a CRT. The scrolling of faster paced shooters is just buttery smooth. It really is a true joy after playing on a a generic 1080 @ 60 HZ monitor. It's one of those things that you don't think would matter but it really makes a huge difference once you experience. For me it was a thousand bucks after taxes worth the price of admission. OR You can just buy a video card that outputs to VGA and get a CRT TV with VGA input and not worry about all of that. But now you have a monstrosity of a CRT. Damnit, this got long winded. Sorry I guess it all boils down to what your budget and requirements are. Tight budget / just want it to run = get what's in your price range. Mid budget but want something without breaking the bank = get something that does 1440 and low input lag. High budget and you want the best experience = 1440 or 4K resolution with G-Sync or Freesync based your video card.

[deanord]

Check the dimensions--so long at it's 25.5 inches (or a shade under) you'll be happy with how well it fits.

I installed this one:  http://www.microcenter.com/product/456364/E2770SHE_27_LED_Monitor over the weekend and it was perfect.