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Unico phoenix monitors - Opinions?

@mathewbeall the info re: Midway boards is what I was looking for, considering these are popular games on, let's call it "strange" hardware. At least not as typical for video output as many of the other popular game boards. Thanks for testing those out!

As a workaround, I expect the possibility of pairing the monitor with OSSC or something similar which can help bridge the gap and get the video stable, not cut off, etc for the funky boards. That was always a problem initially for the purpose of doing video capture but there are profiles and settings available to help dial it in properly.
 
Agreed - they seem to be the most difficult for sure... :) The geometry I was able to get MOSTLY there - certainly playable compared to the last driver board.

The last little issue is that it's just way too dark - I am hoping engineering can come back with some answers. I find it strange that the brightness doesn't work at all within the menu - I am thinking that is an error.

Has anyone else tried to adjust the brightness in the menu?

Matt
 
BroadwayJose said:
@mathewbeall the info re: Midway boards is what I was looking for, considering these are popular games on, let's call it "strange" hardware. At least not as typical for video output as many of the other popular game boards. Thanks for testing those out!

As a workaround, I expect the possibility of pairing the monitor with OSSC or something similar which can help bridge the gap and get the video stable, not cut off, etc for the funky boards. That was always a problem initially for the purpose of doing video capture but there are profiles and settings available to help dial it in properly.
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From what I recall, the regular ossc does not change the refresh rate. So you might still have issues.

A scaler like the ossc pro might be what you need
 
Has anyone else tried interlaced signals though the VGA/D-sub15 port of this monitor? It would be good to know if the new display board isn't able to do 480i on VGA, or if the problem is unique to my monitor, especially since it seems my installation wasn't plug and play like it was for others.

Edit: I also sent an email over to support to see if they know anything, but given past interactions I'm not holding my breath.
 
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mathewbeall said:
I can try my Namco 246 through VGA in a few hours running at 480i.

Matt
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I would appreciate that. You probably wouldn't need to wait for hours. The image becomes instantly garbled the moment I try an interlaced signal. It happened with 2 different sources, which was my MiSTer (PS1), and my Time Sleuth.
 
I mean I am not home right now :) I am not totally sure if the 246 will output 240p/480i out the vga connector - but we will see.
 
240p vs 480i - Namco 246, outputting RGBs over HD15.

480i does NOT appear to work.

Matt
 

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Good to know. Your board does the same thing as mine. Not the end of the world since most arcade hardware I can think of will output both 480i and 480p, but it will be annoying for consoles since there are plenty of 480i games, or games that switch inbetween interlace and progressive video.
 
mathewbeall said:
480i does NOT appear to work.
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That kills pretty much any PS1 based board set as a large portion of those games require 480i: a portion of Namco system 10, 11, and 12 games, some G-Net games, Konami system 573, Maybe Tecmo TPS. Thankfully I think Capcom ZN1 and ZN2 all have 240P optional.

Sega Aleck64 too, probably some others I'm not thinking of.
 
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At this point I'm mainly interested in knowing that this panel can do 480p and above well, in low latency, display accurate colors and with a stable refresh. I can bridge the gap for anything that doesn't line up exactly from the source.

Personally, I'm almost completely not interested in interlaced video, native to the source hardware or otherwise. We still have CRTs (for now) that are better equipped to handle this and as stated prior, we're not lacking for really high quality upscalers these days.

Can't speak for how an operator would feel but that's not me and I'm thankful I don't have to make these kinds of monetary maintenance decisions.
 
From that viewpoint unless you NEED the display to be physically large 4:3 aspect ratio, there's honestly not much reason to choose this display over something like a modern gaming monitor. When considering the aspect ratio and size, the ULM26 is in a class of it's own, and it even has pretty good display lag performance to boot. However, the resolution is low, the subpixel layout is strange (RGB stripe, but rotated 90 deg), and the image quality is mediocre for an IPS. Any decent modern gaming monitor at roughly the same price will have higher resolution, refresh rate, and would smoke the ULM26 in image quality. On top of that, you could use the gaming monitor for other stuff, while using the ULM26 with PC (at least with W11 under my limited testing) is still a nightmare.

I suppose the unusually good syncing performance is something to consider since it works with Taito F3 without the assistance of a scaler, however @mathewbeall tested some Midway stuff and had issues, so YMMV there.

For arcade operators, the ULM26 is much more attractive if they can stomach the price, mainly because it would be much easier to fit the ULM26 into Dynamo and even candy cabs when compared to using 16:9 monitors, and with the right hardware, they wouldn't need spend money/time on a scaler either.
 
Zepherino said:
From that viewpoint unless you NEED the display to be physically large 4:3 aspect ratio, there's honestly not much reason to choose this display over something like a modern gaming monitor. When considering the aspect ratio and size, the ULM26 is in a class of it's own, and it even has pretty good display lag performance to boot. However, the resolution is low, the subpixel layout is strange (RGB stripe, but rotated 90 deg), and the image quality is mediocre for an IPS. Any decent modern gaming monitor at roughly the same price will have higher resolution, refresh rate, and would smoke the ULM26 in image quality. On top of that, you could use the gaming monitor for other stuff, while using the ULM26 with PC (at least with W11 under my limited testing) is still a nightmare.

I suppose the unusually good syncing performance is something to consider since it works with Taito F3 without the assistance of a scaler, however @mathewbeall tested some Midway stuff and had issues, so YMMV there.

For arcade operators, the ULM26 is much more attractive if they can stomach the price, mainly because it would be much easier to fit the ULM26 into Dynamo and even candy cabs when compared to using 16:9 monitors, and with the right hardware, they wouldn't need spend money/time on a scaler either.
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This is believe is its primary use case (and is mine) - I have some cabinets at work that won't easily fit a 16:9 monitor, w/o really shrinking the viewable size, building a new bezel, etc. This is a perfect drop in after modifying the mount a bit.
 
Zepherino said:
From that viewpoint unless you NEED the display to be physically large 4:3 aspect ratio, there's honestly not much reason to choose this display over something like a modern gaming monitor. When considering the aspect ratio and size, the ULM26 is in a class of it's own, and it even has pretty good display lag performance to boot.
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That's exactly what I'm after as a potential replacement monitor and I'm guessing I'm not alone. This is a niche use case for a niche hobby. As long as we get some improvements and stability that I would consider on the reasonable end for use as an effective arcade monitor drop in replacement, then let's do this. So far a lot of what I've seen and read has been encouraging and we're pretty close to a usable end product.
 
I've been in communication with Unico's support through email, and they told me that my LVDS cable seemed to be a one off mistake. They also said that they were willing to replace the monitor if I was still under warranty, which technically I am not since the monitor was delivered to me on August of last year. Shame on me for not having the foresight to return the monitor for a refund when given the chance to do so I guess.

They haven't updated me on whether or not 480i is working correctly on other monitors besides mine. They told me in the beginning of the email chain that 480i should be functional, but haven't responded to the images and video that I sent to them after they requested it. I'll upload the pics I sent here too for reference.

If 480i does in fact work on other monitors, and mine is uniquely screwed, I'll be pretty upset if they don't allow me to exchange the monitor for a fully functional one. At minimum I'll raise a stink on social media, but given how crappy their reputation already is thanks to multiple communication and shipping woes, I doubt it would matter that much.

480i video.jpg
Old Pin 6 is cut.jpg
New Pin 6 not cut.jpg
Pin 6 is blocked.jpg
 
My LVDS connector did not have a missing pin - and I had the exact same results as you did, so I do not believe the monitor to be functioning in 480i mode.

Matt
 
Recently my 26 LCD stopped working. I tested the power supply they provided and measuring nothing. I got a replacement/comparable and the old board flashes green every 5 seconds, but nothing on the screen.

Can't get to menu, just done. I measure the 12v on the back of the board going to the TV and nothing. Do they sell replacement conversion boards for the back, power supplies, etc..?

I have had it hooked up to my Max Tune 3 for about 2 months and already problems. FML
 
Mackley87 said:
Recently my 26 LCD stopped working. I tested the power supply they provided and measuring nothing. I got a replacement/comparable and the old board flashes green every 5 seconds, but nothing on the screen.

Can't get to menu, just done. I measure the 12v on the back of the board going to the TV and nothing. Do they sell replacement conversion boards for the back, power supplies, etc..?

I have had it hooked up to my Max Tune 3 for about 2 months and already problems. FML
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Should that be covered under warranty?
 
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