Post : Using arcade monitors with the Raspberry Pi
URL : http://hackaday.com/2012/12/17/using-arcade-monitors-with-the-raspberry-pi/
Posted : December 17, 2012 at 6:00 am
Author : Brian Benchoff
Tags : arcade monitor, cga, mame, RGB monitor
Categories : Raspberry Pi

http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/mame.jpeg

Along with the growing popularity of the Raspberry Pi, we've also seen a related uptick in MAME arcade cabinet builds. Putting this $35 computer in an arcade cabinet makes a lot of sense, but connecting it to one of the monitors found in old arcade cabinets is a bit of a pain. Luckily, [Celso] figured out how to connect a Raspi to one of these 15kHz RGB monitors (http://arrifana.org/blog/2012/12/connection-a-raspberry-pi-to-an-old-15khz-arcade-monitor/) , making for a much more accurate emulation of old arcade classics.

The Raspi only has two video outputs - an HDMI port and an RCA composite jack. The old arcade CRTs have an RGB input, so directly connecting a Raspi to one of these CRTs is a no-go.

The solution comes from two converters: one to convert the HDMI output to VGA, and another video downscaler that takes the 31kHz VGA signal and translates it into a 15kHz RGB signal. [Celso] settled on the GBS-8100 video converter (http://www.digitalsystemsdesign.co.uk/product_uploads/13153855771.pdf) , a rather uncommon piece of kit that can fortunately be found on a few Chinese eBay auctions.

After connecting the old arcade cabinet power supply to the Pi, hooking up an audio amp, and converting the controls to USB, [Celso] has a very accurate MAME machine.

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