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Thread: End of the arcade CRT monitor

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) RCM's Avatar
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    Default End of the arcade CRT monitor

    I got the following release the other day and thought you arcade guys would be interested.

    "It's the last call for a piece of history at Dream Arcades: The oldest arcade technology, the CRT monitor, is almost out of stock -- and gone forever!

    "We have only about thirty Vision 29 arcades, which come with the CRT monitor, in stock. After that, there will be no more big-screen CRT
    arcades," says, Michael Ware, Founder & "Head Geek" of Dream Arcades. "By the end of the year, we'll be forced to discontinue using CRT
    monitors all together, even in our smaller cocktail systems."

    This is due to the fact that in recent years nearly every major CRT manufacturer has gone out of business or moved to newer technologies,
    meaning the days of CRT monitor are numbered.

    Besides the old-school feel, there are other benefits of CRT technology over the newer monitors. "For retro gaming the advantages
    of CRT over LCD are numerous," Ware says. "Refresh rate, supported resolutions, and pixel blur are just the big ones. LCD monitors just
    weren't made for retro gaming."

    To own a piece of history, get your Dream Arcade Vision 29 before they're sold out -- forever."
    I don't want you to hate me, I want you to want to hate me - GamersUniteMagazine.com

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    Great Puma (Level 12) jb143's Avatar
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    The thing is though, people that aren't already used to the games on a CRT probably won't even know what they're missing. I mentioned to someone once that I was putting a CRT in a MAME cabinet and they acted like I was crazy for not using LCD. But if I wanted to stare at little square pixels I'd just play on my PC.
    "Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...

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    Insert Coin (Level 0) Esquire Fox's Avatar
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    Luckily, arcade chassis are still plentiful and certain CRT television tubes can be used in arcade cabinets if you know what you are doing.
    Inevitably, the remaining CRT televisions will start to die out though as the tubes develop problems such as burn in, cathode poisoning, and weak color guns.
    The best we can do is to take care of our old displays so that we can extend their life as much as possible.

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    ServBot (Level 11) kedawa's Avatar
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    It's just a shame that large CRT computer monitors are so scarce these days.
    They make great screens for any arcade game that supports VGA,

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    It is sad indeed, CRT is the cherry of an experience kids today will simply not know. Once I get a job I may try and find a decent sized CRT Computer Monitor for my fix.

    Edit: Wanted to add that it could be possible a Manufacturer may come along to support the niche market.
    Last edited by ACiD; 07-07-2012 at 11:21 AM.

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    ServBot (Level 11) kedawa's Avatar
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    Sadder still is that most gamers have never even seen a vector monitor.

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    Kirby (Level 13) Leo_A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ACiD View Post
    Wanted to add that it could be possible a Manufacturer may come along to support the niche market.
    If there was money to be made, companies that were supporting the already "niche" arcade marketplace wouldn't of shut down their existing production lines to start with

    Arcade CRT monitors once the last one leaves the manufacturing floor (if it hasn't already) aren't ever going to come back. Manufacturing them is far out of reach for hobbyiest, designing and arranging the manufacturing of them is expensive, etc.

    What we have is all we'll have.
    Last edited by Leo_A; 07-23-2012 at 06:01 PM.

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    I'll be honest, I prefer most 90s titles (all non-Virtua-series 3D games and shmups at least) on an LCD as it gives a clearer, more "high tech" picture. But yeah, for classics CRT is a must-have. They specifically designed most of the sprites to look good on a CRT monitor (so the jaggedies appear like curves and whatnot) so it seems weird playing them on LCDs. It's a shame CRTs are getting harder to find though, I don't know what I'll do if one of my classics' monitors dies in a few years

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    Cherry (Level 1) jammajup's Avatar
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    On a similar note the demise of the crt will effect arcade game collectors and enthusiasts of the light gun games as the older classic titles do not work with lcd monitors,this will effect only a small amount of people but is something to bear in mind.

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    Yep, when I was putting together a MAME cabinet a few years back, I managed to snag one of the last 19" CRT monitors that Wells-Gardner had in stock. Only a few months later, they had switched entirely to LCD.

    Sad days indeed. Perhaps I should just stock up on spare CRTs to store and drag them out over the years as they die lol.

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    That sucks. The only problem with CRTs is size and weight. In every other way they're better than an LCD of similar specs. Another loss of quality to convenience.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BlastProcessing402 View Post
    The only problem with CRTs is size and weight. In every other way they're better than an LCD of similar specs. Another loss of quality to convenience.
    Really now, there's a multitude of arcade CRTs out there with severe, irredeemable burn-in. This is fundamentally flawed technology.
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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    ServeBot (Lɘvel 11) RP2A03's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jorpho View Post
    Really now, there's a multitude of arcade CRTs out there with severe, irredeemable burn-in. This is fundamentally flawed technology.
    Except that burn-in is avoidable whereas blur on a sample-and-hold display is not.
    Mario says "... if you do drugs, you go to hell before you die."

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    Red (Level 21) Jorpho's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RP2A03 View Post
    Except that burn-in is avoidable
    Is it? I don't really see how, unless you run some kind of custom software or if you're willing to constantly turn the machine off (and lose your high scores) when it is not in use.
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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    Strawberry (Level 2) sheath's Avatar
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    This makes me want to try to fix my generic Shinobi monitor while I can still find new monitors. I still don't have the time or money to dump into a real Arcade monitor right now though.

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    ServBot (Level 11) kedawa's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jorpho View Post
    Is it? I don't really see how, unless you run some kind of custom software or if you're willing to constantly turn the machine off (and lose your high scores) when it is not in use.
    Burn-in isn't a problem for CRTs made in the last twenty years or so.

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    Some of the worst burn-in I've seen lately was a House of the Dead III machine.
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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    Great Puma (Level 12) jb143's Avatar
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    Yeah, modern CRT's have burn in protection but they're not completely insusceptible...just much less likely than older ones.
    "Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...

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    ServBot (Level 11) kedawa's Avatar
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    I've had PC monitors that were used to display the same inventory screen for over a decade. No burn-in.
    Same for the RGB monitors from the airport that showed arrival/departure info 24/7 for several years.
    Maybe refresh rate has something to do with it?

    At any rate, there are still plenty of 19-22" computer CRTs kicking around for MAME cabs, at least.

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    Red (Level 21) Jorpho's Avatar
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    Well, you really wouldn't notice the burn-in until you tried to use it for something different.
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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