Curing Arcade Envy: 9” CRT PVM iCade, iPad 3/4 LCD with Mister FPGA
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 มิ.ย. 2024
- I had a nasty case of Arcade Envy, and a modified iCade made by Ion was the cure. Originally designed to house an early generation iPad, they make for a fun DIY mini arcade cabinet. You can spruce them up as much as you like with a marquee, speakers, new buttons and joystick, and cram in a MisterFPGA or Raspberry Pi. If using the iPad 3/4 LCD, ensure to buy a known low-lag driver board (typically WITHOUT a VGA input). The RetroTink 5x can output the iPad 3/4 1536p native resolution to upscale any 240p retro game console or arcade board if you choose to go down this route. The Mister FPGA can also output this resolution via HDMI, otherwise any 1080p input will work well as the input lag is less than 2msec as demoed by RetroRGB (link below). The CRT used in the second iCade build is a Sony PVM 9L3. The footprint of all 9” Sony PVM and BVM’s are essentially the same so they will all fit into an iCade. I haven’t tested other brands of pro CRT/CCTV monitors like JVC, Panasonic, Ikegami and Pelco, but I would assume they are a similar fit. Let’s turn this Junk into Jank!
A BIG thank you to Martin Hejnfelt AKA Skumlos/Immerhax for sending me a prototype BKM 129x RGB/yPbPr input card for the PVM 9L3 for absolutely free! Checkout his blog with plenty of intuitive mods: immerhax.com
Links to the parts used in both the iPad LCD and Sony PVM CRT projects:
Ozstick (Australian retailer)
28mm GoldLeaf switch buttons
www.ozstick.com.au/product/go...
Sanwa JLF Joystick replica
www.ozstick.com.au/product/sa...
Octagonal restricter plate
www.ozstick.com.au/product/sa...
Daemonbite arcade encoder by MickGyver
github.com/MickGyver/DaemonBi...
tty2tft by RealLarry/ojaksch and Ahmadexp
misterfpga.org/viewtopic.php?...
github.com/ojaksch/MiSTer_tty...
Touch sensor
www.ebay.com.au/itm/285151310...
iPad 3/4 9.7” LCD and driver board
a.aliexpress.com/_mNNE7VS
*note on the screen: powering with 12v gives full brightness, but the screen gets REALLY hot. Powering by 5v keeps it cooler but is only 50% brightness, and CRT scanline effects further darken the picture. I placed a 5v exhaust fan behind the screen which pushes air past the back and through the driver board to keep it a few degrees cooler.
iPad 3/4 LCD screen and driver case 3D print by Sigismond0
www.thingiverse.com/thing:472...
iPad 3/4 screen with 1080p input lag test by RetroRGB (use time stamps)
• LaserBear's "LCD CRT" Kit
12V/5V UPS battery
www.ebay.com.au/itm/384705257...
*note that the 5v output barely powers the Mister and gamepad. As I also have the tty2tft screen, I use the batteries 12v output to power a 12v to 5v regulator to deliver steady power to the mister.
Collapsible and Adjustable 9” CRT stand
amzn.asia/d/2uWIriq
#crt #arcade #retrogaming
00:00 Intro
01:01 LCD iCade
03:19 PVM iCade
09:59 Final Thoughts - เกม
Is that whiskey in the that glass? What do you like? Love the Zuntata background music, I love that track, bought the vinyl and all. Anyway, all over the place here, but yeah, I like the project, lots of effort put into it and it turned out great. I like how you insert credits, very cool. I also love that cabinet you build with your dad, especially the DK shelves, what a great idea.
As for suggestions, I would suggest two pieces of cut to size acrylic to hide the PVM (one for normal, one for tate, swappable) for the aesthetics, but I already read in the comments that you prefer to have the PVM controls accessible, which is of course, very convenient indeed. But yeah, awesome project, well done.
Trust you with those keen eyes and ears! I don’t mind a nice scotch either neat or on rocks but never with cola. Monkey Shoulder is my go to ‘affordable’ spirit, otherwise I’m well into XPA/IPA/summer ales.
I miss that massive arcade cab I built with dad but I have an album full of photos of the build as memories. The Donkey Kong shelves were really cool and I’d regularly change up the games on display, but it got me buying too many games for their box art. Thanks also for the suggestion, I do like the raw PVM look for now. If the screen was 13” or larger then I’d definitely create a bezel to neaten it up. It’s rough around the edges but hope it got the word out about these awesome icades. I’m definitely not the first to mod one for an LCD and I’ve seen some really nice projects with 3D printed parts for a more well rounded finish. Thanks for stopping by, always a pleasure reading your comments
Sweet little build man. The CRT is the cherry on top, with already the best arcade emulation available being the MISTER. You have a compact and authentic arcade experience right there. This would blown my mind playing something like this as a child. I am sure those kids appreciated the effort you went through to make that.
Thanks man! All of the high quality accessibility to retro gaming we have still blows my mind. The kids had to learn the way of the arcade as it’s a detraction from what they’re used to with Mario Kart 8’s auto steer lol, but they sure love puzzle bobble
Puzzle Bobble is a hit with the kids. My nieces favourite game to play when she is over. She can use an arcade stick better than my brother in law. 😆
Absolutely love this! Thanks for taking us through your arcade journey in such a well put together video
Thanks, much appreciate your kind comments as always!
Awesome content as always
Thanks!!
This is amazing! Glad this was in my feed. You sir, have earned a sub 😎
The algorithm Gods are hard at work, thanks for checking out the video!
Ingenious idea, that's the way to go! Even mediocre emulation I find more bearable when played on a CRT, but in this configuration, you get the best of both worlds: MISTER excellence and CRT bliss. Love it!
Thanks! I’m not the first to modify an iCade with an LCD but might be the first with a CRT. Hopefully it sparks more interest for those wanting a similar tiny arcade cab, iCades are pretty nifty!
I was about to do something similar but from scratch with a poker machine CRT... But I just realized I have everything in hand unless the icade to build one. I just found one on marketplace for cheap. I'm going to copy you case I think! Thanks for great video!
A poker machine sounds cool. Lucky Icades are still fairly cheap and available on marketplace. Good luck with the project!
Phenomenal work. I love it. Maybe you can make a plastic cover/bezel for the front that'll protect the screen and hide the Controls and bezel of the crt.
Thanks! Tbh I like having the PVM controls accessible but a removable or hinged face plate is a great idea
Awesome work!
I’ve got an iCade and similar PVM. I’ve modded the iCade for a Sanwa JLF and 30mm Sanwa buttons (you’d need to dremmel the holes a little). Happy with how both them feel.
Haven’t done any control PCB mods yet, so your tips are really helpful, thank you.
The PVM at that size doesn’t really display scanlines, so the main reason for using one here is black levels and latency.
The dream is for someone to design similar to the iCade with the control panel closer to the ground, a little wider (to allow for central alignment of PVM in tate mode), front bezel and perhaps a single power cord coming out the back.
I completely agree if someone could 3D print-design with all of those fixes for QOL improvements. I’m glad I found 28mm buttons otherwise I would’ve used a dremmel like yourself to widen the holes for standard 30mm buttons. I was contemplating using a cheap usb gamepad PCB to solder the buttons to, but I’ve been happy with the daemonbite for the LCD iCade so I went with what I knew. Thanks for the comment and feedback!
I dig it. We bought an iCade when it was new and used it twice; I find it in the basement from time to time and wonder if there's anything useful we could do with it.
Good thing you kept it. They’re pretty neat and tidy with an LCD
Is the screen cover for the iPad LCD the Vesa one from LazerBear?
Great build!
Thanks! It’s not the same but similar. The link is in the description. I’m not sure if either one took inspiration from the other or if they’re both completely separate designs. The print I used didn’t have provisions for speakers unfortunately. I initially mounted speakers on the back inside the LCD driver board but sounded weak seeing they were facing away from the listener. I left them in there and connected the amplifier to those speakers in the marquee
Yup bought a bunch of these cases to make custom rigs, built a faux coin slot. A slot with an actual old skool token sticking that is mounted on a mx cherry switch.
That’s very intuitive! A friend of mine did a similar mod same out a physical button into the dummy coin slot. They’re a great blueprint
Good job! I did something similar with a 13 inch monitor. I ended up using a Pi with an RGB Pi build and one of those cheap USB encoders for the controls. I also made a stand for the monitor but I need to find something sturdier. The monitor is pretty heavy and doesn't move during gameplay but I need to make sure it is secure.
Thanks! Did you use an iCade with the 13” monitor or a fresh build?
@@MarcoRetro316 I used a bartop kit from Haruman Customs that was just big enough to fit the entire 13" crt and chassis.
I just looked them up, they’re super cool!
I love how you move the H center and the OSD disappears. Do you know of a fix for this on the 9L3?
You’ve got amazing attention to detail! I haven’t messed with H BLK or equivalent H blanking setting but I’m guessing it could *maybe* fix it. I’m too scared to shift the H centre to where the OSD is completely gone otherwise I’d have to navigate blind just to get it back