History of Arcade Cabinet Monitors for beatmania IIDX

Table of contents

1. Japanese cabinets
   1. Lightning Model display
      1. Main screen
      2. Sub screen (touch screen)
2. Korean cabinets
3. References

Japanese cabinets

These are official monitors that Konami distributed in Japan.

• 40 inch 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 model, EMP model, and RA model.
• 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

References

• Japanese monitor history
• Korean monitor history
• Lightning Model hardware

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