Unico phoenix monitors - Opinions?

[jimmyjames]

So, I emailed unico asking if these monitors will be available in Canada (importing 2 was going to cost over $1000 cad via a reseller on amazon). Unico said they are looking to sell internationally eventually.

I also reached out to Arcadoo asking if they were thinking of doing 29 inch, 4 x 3 for candy cabinets and I got a reply saying that prior to COVID they were in the planning stages. They might come back to it after the launch of their 20.1 and other screen.

Just a note - I would love to keep crts running but it is getting hard to find parts and people to fix them. I have nanao with vertical collapse and polo 25 with some power issues.

I agree that an alternative solution needs to be made. I would love to have CRTs in my cabs for as long as possible but the used market and sourcing parts and or TV tube replacements is easier said than done. Plus as a bonus while your working on a crt a lcd that replaces it easily would be nice considering replacing a tube or sending and or working on a chassis and getting parts takes time.

 

[Chelnov]

So, I emailed unico asking if these monitors will be available in Canada (importing 2 was going to cost over $1000 cad via a reseller on amazon). Unico said they are looking to sell internationally eventually.

I also reached out to Arcadoo asking if they were thinking of doing 29 inch, 4 x 3 for candy cabinets and I got a reply saying that prior to COVID they were in the planning stages. They might come back to it after the launch of their 20.1 and other screen.

Just a note - I would love to keep crts running but it is getting hard to find parts and people to fix them. I have nanao with vertical collapse and polo 25 with some power issues.

I sent the email to unico to return a few. If you want We can try to arrange something so I can send you one. Not trying to make money out of it. If you can pay what i paid plus shipping costs I don't mind sending it to you and writing something like "birthday gift" in the customs form.

 

[tiff_lee]

I don't know if this will amount to anything but i've been keeping an eye on this panel since it was listed on Panelook.com in may.

BrandSharpModel P/N LQ252B1LX01
Diagonal Size 25.2"Panel Type
Resolution 1440(RGB)×1920 95PPI
Pixel FormatRGB Vertical Stripe
Active Area 384.48(W)×512.64(H) mm
Outline Size 408(W)×536(H)(D) mm
Luminance 480 cd/m² (Typ.)
https://www.panelook.com/LQ252B1LX01_Sharp_25.2__overview_59885.html

it's listed as in production but no one has any units available for purchase yet.

 

[SEGASHIRO]

I sent the email to unico to return a few. If you want We can try to arrange something so I can send you one. Not trying to make money out of it. If you can pay what i paid plus shipping costs I don't mind sending it to you and writing something like "birthday gift" in the customs form.

Sent a PM.

 

[Francky]

panel

De

Hi guys!

I received one of the Unico ULM26 monitors on friday and like many of you I am pretty disappointed by how it performs compared to what Unico states.

However I went ahead and designed a full set of legs and even a controller board case in hopes they sort out it's color and weird resolution/scaling issues.



Features:

5 degree tilt for better viewing angle and stability.

Large, thick legs for strength and durability.

Symmetrical monitor placement. Place the display on any side - Horizontal and vertical!

Protective case for the control board. Easy snap lock design to protect it and has cutouts on the back for a pair of magnets. Can easily attach the case to anywhere on the metal chassis.

Captive nut cutouts on the back of the legs. No extra tools needed besides a screwdriver.


Give it a download and let me know what you think.

https://www.printables.com/model/559348-unico-ulm26-monitor-legs-and-control-board-case

Hello Todd

I instal this screen in a Blast city and i will need a black windows frame to make link with black guenine Bezel .
As i see you get a very good touch for 3D print .
What will be your Idea to get a complete size bezel with LCD screen please.

 

[SEGASHIRO]

Thanks for sharing your photos. How do the games look when running? Any chance if you tried a scanline generator on it.

 

[Chelnov]

De

Hello Todd

I instal this screen in a Blast city and i will need a black windows frame to make link with black guenine Bezel .
As i see you get a very good touch for 3D print .
What will be your Idea to get a complete size bezel with LCD screen please.

That's so close! have you thought about spray paint the bezel black? that's what I did with mine.

Maybe buy a 19in screen plastic bezel and cut the outside of the bezel to fit?

 

[Francky]

That's so close! have you thought about spray paint the bezel black? that's what I did with mine.

Maybe buy a 19in screen plastic bezel and cut the outside of the bezel to fit?

Why not adding an other bezel ,i was looking about foam 15 mm wide plate and cut inside a window ,
Any Idea where to found a bezel 19" please

 

[mathewbeall]

Hi Folks - there is a temporary fix that resolves some of the color/blow out issues - if you are using this in RGBs mode. I have been talking to Unico and they are close to releasing their firmware update, which should also include this fix in software - but who knows, that might still be a little bit.

If you solder a 330ohm 1/2 resistor to each of the R G and B wires it significantly helps.

Matt

 

[Chelnov]

Thank you @mathewbeall I saw that in the Unico's Facebook page recently. They also have another for jail bars in the screen to add a Ferrite Rings....I mean the nerve of these guys!! .... The least they can do at this point is to pay someone like Mike Chi to program a controller board to take as much juice as possible of the mediocre hardware and send replacement controller boards.


FOR THE JAILBAR ISSUE
This is from Unico's Facebook page.

"For those of you with a Jail Bar like multiple color lines or just colored lines on your Phoenix Monitor Series ULM17 thru ULM26 Arcade CRT Replacement LCD Monitors.
In some cases you may have to put more than one Ferrite Ring Core RFI EMI Noise Suppressor Cable Clips on your input line to our monitor as you have lots of Radio Frequency/Electro Magnetic Interference."

 

[mathewbeall]

I didn't have the jailbar issue - but - I already had the ferrite core on my cable for my CRT - it always picked up stray EMF, so that I figure is just best practice.

I know they are close to getting the new firmware complete as well - so we will see what their plan is!

For my use case, and with the resistor fix - I am quite happy with this as an arcade monitor replacement. The only thing I would like now (and hopefully it comes with the new firmware) is better control over the picture, and greater ability to move/resize the image.

 

[Hysteria357]

Does anyone know if the recent restock of monitors includes any of the color/firmware fixes? Would love to start testing it out on some of my games but I wanted to hold out till they could resolve some of the issues.

 

[mathewbeall]

Does anyone know if the recent restock of monitors includes any of the color/firmware fixes? Would love to start testing it out on some of my games but I wanted to hold out till they could resolve some of the issues.

I suspect it doesn't - as they are still working on the firmware.

 

[Zepherino]

Per their Facebook page, the updated display controllers will be available to all existing owners of the ULM26 for the cost of shipping. I'll dig my monitor out and do some testing whenever I get my hands on the updated PCB.

 

[mathewbeall]

Yep - waiting for this. I have (2) ULM26 that will need the new board - hopefully its soon!

Matt

 

[Chelnov]

Thank you for the Update @Zepherino I'll need 3 of those too

 

[Esom]

So, we're on board now? Price has dropped to $300, this new control board ships with new monitors, and we are no longer under the mistaken impression that the native resolution is higher than it actually is? It's a decent monitor for an almost decent price?

 

[Zepherino]

To quote a large head from Nickelodeon:

Some things to note

- I don't think the price has ever changed (I paid $300 before shipping and taxes in 8/2023)

- Per Unico's Facebook, the new control board has been promised, but it has not shipped, nor will it ship until they clear out existing stock. After existing stock is sold out, then they will ship the PCB to existing customers for no fee (besides shipping), if it is requested. No one in the public has one to test, so it's a guessing game until then. It could make the ULM26 much better, it could also make no difference or make it worse. We don't know.

- I don't think the native resolution was ever truly figured out, thanks to the incorrect image scaling of the current display controller. They now claim 768p. My own rudimentary research leads me to believe that the panel is 960p, with a very unusual subpixel layout (its RGB, but rotated 90 degrees). I made a post about this on Page 5 of this thread.

Again, refer to the giant head above after you review the discussion/information on this thread, and maybe some other places. It's not a perfect display by any means, but whether or not it's actually worth it is not for us to decide. It's for you, based on your specific needs and requirements. This thing is niche enough that there's no easy answer.

 

[tiff_lee]

I don't know if this will amount to anything but i've been keeping an eye on this panel since it was listed on Panelook.com in may.

BrandSharpModel P/N LQ252B1LX01
Diagonal Size 25.2"Panel Type
Resolution 1440(RGB)×1920 95PPI
Pixel FormatRGB Vertical Stripe
Active Area 384.48(W)×512.64(H) mm
Outline Size 408(W)×536(H)(D) mm
Luminance 480 cd/m² (Typ.)
https://www.panelook.com/LQ252B1LX01_Sharp_25.2__overview_59885.html

it's listed as in production but no one has any units available for purchase yet.

This panel is also out in the wild now

https://www.panelook.com/LQ252B1LX01_Sharp_25.2__overview_59885.html
https://prolcddisplay.com/product/o...arp-screen-25-2-14401920-lq252b1lx01-display/

Is a true 4:3 but perhaps an odd size at 25.2", I'll have to compare this (Active Area 384.48(W)×512.64(H) mm) against some actual tubes

 

[streetfighterken]

[Unico on left] After much fiddling with settings on the Unico, GBS 8200, and the Triforce CRT settings (did you know you could?), I got the image to look acceptable. I documented my settings soup for Triforce if you need it. Would I use it for raster-based 15k games? No. I fundamentally don't like the look of LCDs, especially budget TFT displays like this Unico. The pixel response also sucks (ghosting). But for a 29" 31k replacement on casual racing games like this, I'll allow it.