Ideal RGB monitor for low res gaming

[panzeroceania]

there are plenty of choices out there, and it all depends on what is on the market at the time, and how much you can spend on them.

I know there is a list of RGB monitors in the wiki, but I was wondering as far as quality, which are the best.

I've heard before that Nanao arcade monitors used in Sega cabs are probably the best RGB monitors for gaming in the world, is this a fair statement? There are also Sanwa monitors.

Then there are ones not designed for gaming, but work well, like the Sony PVM series.

Do Sony BVM monitors perform well for gaming also? what is the difference between BVM and PVM?

if this is true, and BVM stands for broadcast video monitor, wouldn't the BVM be higher quality?

what about old zenith monitors used for game kiosks, or mas systems monitors?

I only have one PVM monitor right now and am looking to get others.

[skforty]

Hey, i will tell you my experience...

Size vs Quality....

The quality department can vary wildly on CRT's due to aging components and calibration.  Its important to remember this.  Doing a full cap replacement on monitors as well as replacing the flyback (easier done on arcade monitors due to open frame access and reduced components on chassis) will result in an immense improvement.  Then, properly calibrating the monitor is MASSIVELY important. 



That said, right out of the box in the quality department, i've never seen anything clearer, more perfect, than my 2 mitsubishi 20 Mitsubishi Diamond Scan 20M.    They are multisync as well, going up to 800x600, so great for 480p resolutions...and perfect for SUPERGUNS because of that.  Bo The commodore 1084-ds monitors come very close, but are only 13", but they do have built in stereo sound, which is a plus.


The PVM series vary greatly as well.

I have 3 "25 PVM's that all have very average quality.  Ive calibrated, replaced the caps, but i cant find a suitable flyback replacement.  Anyway, they just dont look that good.  But then i have the sony 20mdu or something like that, ill look up the model number tonight,  the M means medical, they have the same version without the M though, its just black in color.  I dont know if there are any other features that are different, but wow, this monitor is great.  It has mono audio, dual RGB inputs, svideo as well.  Great calibration options, super crisp display, i love it. 

The BVM series are broadcast and higher quality supposedly.  however i think its more about the features as well.  The 2 ive used werent any better than my 20" pvm.

The nanao monitors are the regarded as the best arcade monitors, especially the ms2931 (tri sync in blast city) and the ms9 (15khz only used in the astro/new astro city), and its hard to argue as far as arcade monitors go.  But in terms of ANY low-res game monitor, no they are not near the best in my opinion...

I also recommend against the huge NEC/mitsubishi 35"+ presentation CRTs.  I have had 2, and played with many more.  All of them are subpar imo.  I kept a mitsubishi 38" just for the sheer size, its also multisync, going up to 1280x1024 i think.  But yeah, with a huge crt like that, its hard to get the focus perfect, even with the tri focus flyback it has, it always results in some blurry spots.

Last good CRT option imo are projectors.  They are their own beast due to the size and space needed, dark environment, ridiculous calibration and setup, and good screen.  But wow.  I have a barco data 800 and once its dialed in on a good screen, its breathtaking and huge.  And the barco doesnt even compare to the nicer crt projectors like the sony G90.  These projectors have incredibly high resolutions too, going well above 1080p, so they are good for ps3/360 etc. 

Anyway, just thought id share some of my findings as i continue to search for the perfect monitors for all different types of gaming


Rushed typing, ignore rambling run on sentences...

[panzeroceania]

thanks so much for the feedback! It helps to hear firsthand what other people have experienced.

I also talked to an ebay seller from California the other day and he was trying to recommend a GVM monitor because of the calibration it offered.

Thanks again for the info, and nice to know that the best arcade monitors aren't necessarily the best RGB monitors. I suppose that makes sense as some of the high end commercial monitors are made to be able to calibrate to perfect color.

The guy on the phone also mentioned that the PVM series is split, some are plain monitors, while others are engineering monitors with the hardware to calibrate near perfect color so it's good to know.

[NamelessPlayer]

If for whatever reason you come across said NEC presentation monitors (XM29/XV29/XP29), you'd better make absolutely sure that there aren't any flaws with the geometry, convergence, or purity, because the OSD won't give you enough control to fix everything. I didn't think to check my XV29 Plus thoroughly enough before buying it, and now I have no idea how to fix the corner pincushion imbalance (either the top's flared out or the bottom's tucked in) or the upwards bowing of the whole display (think of the horizontal edges as curved up, with the top side convex and the bottom side concave; it's sort of like a really skewed pincushion balance, but on the other axis). Some models do have different corner pincushion adjustments for top and bottom, but the XV29 Plus certainly isn't one of them.

But to be fair, this applies to any CRT you get. It's just that some of them have more control to fix errors like that than others, and they may hold their calibration better.

This thread also makes me curious if there's still anyone out there who would effectively "rebuild" a CRT like that. New capacitors and everything, calibrated as close to perfect as possible...but CRTs obviously aren't favored these days. (Now that I've finally seen what the XV29 Plus can do in terms of 15 KHz RGB, I'd rather not give it up unless I find other similar CRTs with better geometry...there's something to be said for the size. Not pleasant to get into place, but when you do...)

[cgm]

I've got a Toshiba TIMM here. 20" display that is a TV and computer monitor in one. Its full multisync and can do 15.75khz with no problems along with up to 800x600 at 56hz (1024x768 interlaced), RGB input is a standard VGA plug. Video higher then 640x480 isn't recommended due to the .58mm dot pitch, but it works really well with 240p/480i consoles and computers. It also has built in stereo speakers which are pretty good for a TV. They are pretty difficult to find, but its well worth picking one up if you do find one.