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| MAIN | Monitor
We decided to go with a TV instead of an arcade monitor mainly because of price and partly because of usage options. A computer monitor was out of the question due to the almost non-authentic look of most games and poor picture. We got a Sharp 27" TV from Sam's for around $250. The main feature we looked for was S-video, and this was the cheapest 27" TVwe could find that had it. The TV was immediately removed from its case and discharged. If the discharging thing has you scared, don't be. It isn't that big of a deal. It's not hard to do, and the pop you hear is nothing extraordinary. We were expecting a huge explosion the first time we tried it and were quite disappointed when all we heard was a small crackle. The next step was to build a wooden frame around the picture tube that the four bolts in the corners could be could be connected to. This was harder than we thought. We probably went through 8 pieces of wood trying to get this thing right. We eventually settled on using 3/4" plywood for added strength (some pieces of particle board broke on us). The frame was 26" wide on the outside and about 22" wide on the inside, so it left only about 2 inches between the tube and the sides of the cabinet . We tried measuring the tube multiple times, but our pieces kept coming out too big. The frame needed to fit around the tube fairly snugly since there was only about 1/4" of leeway. We eventually decided to cut the piece smaller than the tube, try it out, cut out some, try it again, and repeat until it fit. Eventually we got it. We attached a wood base to the bottom that would support the circuit board from the TV. The TV was then mounted in the frame and the circuit board was attached to the base. The whole apparatus was then placed into the cabinet and screwed into the 2x2's that were already mounted. Over all, it turned out to be very solid. The computer was plugged into the S-video input (audio from the soundcard went into the inputs on the rear of the TV) and the Dreamcast was plugged into the front A/V inputs. We eventually hooked up cable TV through the coax connector after our living room TV died shortly after we finished the machine. I took the wires coming out of the TV for the left and right speakers, put 2 RCA connectors on them and then plugged them into our amplified computer speakers. This provided a way for all 3 devices in the cabinet to have access to the front speakers without purchasing a separate audio splitter. Some people will probably tell you that because you're sending an already amplified signal (from the TV) in to another amplifier, you'll notice distorted sound quality. I personally had no problems. If you keep the TV volume relatively low (use the volume control on the computer speakers to control volume levels), it can substitute for a low-voltage line input, and for all intents and purposes, everything sounds great. | |
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Unfortunately, I don't have any more pictures of this, you may be able to pick up some more information from looking at other parts of the machine, though. | ||
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BUY A MONITOR BEZEL FROM HAPP. That's all I have to say about that. It makes a world of difference. Don't try making your own, spend the $12 or whatever it is. Your machine will look 300% more professional and definitely be more pleasing on the eye. | ||
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I marked where the 2x2 braces that supported the frame from the bottom
were placed (the other 2x2's ran vertically on either side of the
screen). I also marked where the 4 bolts went in the corners. As you
can see, they are very close to the edge, so the wood piece needed to fit
almost perfectly. 
We used 1x3 pieces of wood and made a frame around the TV that we
would eventually mount the plexi-glass and bezel to. This can kind
of be seen here, although its a bit
blurry.