What’s the best middle ground between PC monitor and CRT for a MAME cabinet?

[AvaT]

I’ve finally finished my custom arcade cabinet build, but I’m really second-guessing my choice to use a standard PC monitor instead of a proper CRT. The pixel-perfect look of the games just feels a bit too clean and loses that scanline texture I was hoping for. Has anyone else faced this with their MAME cabinet and found a good middle ground?

[AbigailLR]

I did the same. I kept an actual CRT out of reach and tried a mid ground. I run MAME on a 1080p LCD, turned on integer scaling, and used a scanline shader at a moderate strength. It’s not perfect, but it’s closer than a totally clean LCD. I also used an OSSC as a scaler to inject gentle scanlines and a bit of phosphor glow, which helped without going full retro monitor.

[James79]

I leaned into the shader route and still hated the edges sometimes. When the scanlines are too strong the pixels look muddy, when they’re weak it just looks like a regular LCD with a filter. I found myself toggling it on and off during a session and never settled on a sweet spot.

[Evelyn.L]

I went the other direction and just kept the PC monitor but treated it like an arcade piece. Used a 4:3 mode, cranked up the bezel, and kept the sharpness down with a soft filter. It’s fine for some titles, annoying for others, and I still get that tug toward authenticity now and then.

[LoganR]

Do you have a particular list of games you’re chasing the look for, or are you chasing a general vibe? It might help to test a few titles and see if the effect actually improves the experience before you swap gear or options.