History of Arcade Cabinet Monitors for beatmania IIDX
Table of contents
Japanese cabinets
These are official monitors that Konami distributed in Japan.
- 40 inch rear-projection TV (1st style - 9th style)
- 36 inch CRT (10th style - 14 GOLD)
- 37 inch LCD (TROOPERS - Lincle)
- Three models with very slight timing differences: DJT, EMP, and RA.
- 37 inch LCD (tricoro) - aka “tricoro monitor”
- 37 inch LCD (SPADA) - aka “SPADA monitor”
- 42 inch LCD (Pendual - Sinobuz) - aka “PENDUAL monitor”
- Actual viewable area is about 37”, covered by metal panels
- 42 inch LCD (Cannon Ballers) - aka “Cannon Ballers monitor”
- 43 inch Lightning model monitor
- TLK-4300 manufactured by GTT
- See below for details.
Lightning Model display
For reference, according to this page:
Main screen
- Manufacturer: GTT
- Model: TLK-4300
- 43” VA panel at native 1080p 120Hz.
- DisplayPort cable is used.
- Cab boots into Windows at 1080p@120Hz. For CastHour and below, when the game boots, it switches to 1600x900@120Hz. For RESIDENT and above, it stays at 1080p@120Hz.
- For RESIDENT and above - the game is native 1080p. For CastHour and below - the game renders at 720p; it just gets upscaled – presumably, the GPU scales the game from 720p to 900p full screen, and then the monitor upscales 900p to fit 1080p panel.
Sub screen (touch screen)
- 23” class monitor, around 21” visible area
- 10 point capacitive touch
- Panel manufacturer: most likely GTT
- Touch controller manufacturer: TES Touch Embedded Solutions
- Connected to HDMI port on the PC, converted to DVI port on the monitor, most likely outputs at 1920x1080@60Hz (but the game outputs the sub screen natively at 720p so it’s upscaled).
Korean cabinets
These are monitors commonly used in Korean arcades, a mix of official (UNIANA) and unofficial models.
- Official 1st generation monitor (tricoro era)
- LG M4214CCBA 42 inch IPS monitor meant for public signage, with a whopping 10ms input lag and severe ghosting issues
- Official 2nd generation monitor (SPADA era)
- Speed Technology (“TIVA”) MG4200 panel, aka UX4200; both were TVs and had glare and input lag issues
- Official 3rd generation monitor (SPADA era)
- Speed Technology SG4200, another “TIVA” brand TV
- DDR monitor
- Manufactured by BESTECH, originally meant for UNIANA DDR cabs, but now also commonly used for IIDX cabs due to its low input lag and minimal ghosting
- 43 inch Lightning model monitor
- Same as Japanese model