NAC or Blast City? Please Help me

ali710

ali710

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I have two options, as this is my first time buying an arcade cabinet, which one looks better especially the monitor. No screen Burns? i want your expertise

NAC:

https://ibb.co/BBSb6pN

https://ibb.co/n1zXg7Q

https://ibb.co/jRVGM4b

https://ibb.co/WxwDfM1

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMSqCrT4FeSI5LOX87jM-MfZXEv31rQCuPihgWvPfpOks8bg315LSPcU67hSlzZUw?key=WjBQU2ZaWVltdUd3QUR5LVRkTElmSnByQU82WmxB

Blast City:

https://ibb.co/R6J90Y3

https://ibb.co/5YPtNjt

https://ibb.co/d5YNRWb

https://ibb.co/mBWNTmY

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipO619Aj_r1aXht_HPoTw1PS6WIu64YzmKK782gETbeqUENix7GWz74MvUBJfy3qKA?key=c2R1Z0VXVFdEVTZjeXlfWC12SWdKRFVoVGI5XzBn

Note: both before full maintenance

ali7102019-05-17 18:08:05
 
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ian_us

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NAC is maybe a better choice for your first arcade, it's reliable and easier to work with than a Blast City. Also that looks like a real nice condition NAC cabinet.

Screen burn is hard to tell - the picture he took of the Blast he has a flashlight next to the tube (how it should be) but on the NAC he is standing further away and no flashlight on. I would ask for another picture up-close of the NAC monitor with the flashlight on if you are concerned about screen burn.
 
penrhos

penrhos

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I prefer the NAC design and would get that if the screens were comparible - but looking at those vids the NAC has bad screen bounce and the picture shrinks/expands when going light/dark whereas the Blast picture is rock solid and the whole thing about a CRT cab is the screen the better screen must win.

Also the NAC will be a 15/24 and the Blast should be a 15/24/31 screen.

So I'd get the Blast as the screen looks better (unless there's burn-in or convergence issues that don't show in the vid).

Get some pictures with convergence grid, colour bars and a white background and look for burn-in, banding, geometry errors or colour bleed. Then make your decision.
 
penrhos

penrhos

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Convergence grid - its the squares you get in the screen test "Geometry" screen.

Colour bars - the lines that go from black to full colour R, G, B and White from the screen test menu.

White screen - any PCB that'll give you a white background (Naomi boot screen is good).
 
Nebula

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I would say NAC, for one main reason: Blast City tube is a pain in the ass to find a spare one to replace if you have a problem with.

However NAC has only bi-frecuency support (15/24Khz) and Blast is tri-frec (15/24/31KHz). If you don't plant to use systems like Naomi, Triforce... NAC would be enough for you
 
ali710

ali710

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penrhos said:
Convergence grid - its the squares you get in the screen test "Geometry" screen.

Colour bars - the lines that go from black to full colour R, G, B and White from the screen test menu.

White screen - any PCB that'll give you a white background (Naomi boot screen is good).
Click to expand...

could u explain more please? how i would know each test good or bad result?
 
I

ian_us

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ali710 said:
penrhos said:
Convergence grid - its the squares you get in the screen test "Geometry" screen.

Colour bars - the lines that go from black to full colour R, G, B and White from the screen test menu.

White screen - any PCB that'll give you a white background (Naomi boot screen is good).
Click to expand...

could u explain more please? how i would know each test good or bad result?
Click to expand...

If it's a white background on screen, you will be able to see screen burn more easily. If the convergence grid is "bent" then the monitor has geometry issues (which can be fixed, screen burn cannot)
 
ali710

ali710

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This Chinese guy want sell me Astro City

https://vimeo.com/user98553588/review/336900610/1b28dd9187

He is telling he have Toshiba CRT which better than nano for this astro.

should i trust him?
 
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ian_us

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The video isn't loading for me.

Nanao doesn't make the CRT, they make the monitor. To be specific, all of these cabinets by default are using Toshiba CRT's, usually with a Nanao monitor chassis attached to the Toshiba CRT (tube). However some of these cabinets will have another brand monitor (Sanwa, Toshiba, others...?) but that is pretty uncommon. The standard on a NAC is a Nanao MS9.

It's worth noting that the CRT is far more difficult to replace because it has a different curvature than standard, so a 27/29 in TV tube won't fit in an Astro City without harming the cabinet. A monitor chassis can be repaired or replace; a CRT cannot.
 
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phillv85

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Some NAC MS9 tubes will be Hitachi. There’s no screen quality difference, at least not now they’re 25 years old. People look for the Toshiba tubes because they fit with the Egret 2 rotate mechanism and bezel.
 
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ian_us

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ali710 said:
upladed video again

https://streamable.com/xx3gs
Click to expand...

From the five seconds of video, it certainly looks like a nice picture. Note that this is an Astro City (instead of NAC), which typically ships with a Nanao MS8 chassis (and the same Toshiba tube). From a picture quality standpoint I don't think there's much difference, but I've heard the MS9 is much easier to repair. My MS8 has never given me problems though, so I'm not speaking from experience.
 
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ian_us

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There are pros and cons to the Blast:

Pros: auto tri-sync monitor, VGA input (those are huge if you play more recent games)

Cons: awkward body shape makes it hard to rotate monitor, repairmen often don't work on the Blast monitor because it is hard to work with, fans on power supply are usually noisy, speakers tend to break and crackle, wiring is a bit more involved.

It depends on what you are looking for, how much you trust the seller, and potentially how much work you are willing to put into the cab. You can see the differences at this website, lots of documentation:

https://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/Sega_Blast_City

https://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/Sega_New_Astro_City
 
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