MiSTerCade W/ UNICO 26" Phoenix LCD Monitor! How BAD IS IT?

Let's take a look at the Phoenix Unico monitor alongside the MisterCade and a real PCB of Class of 81. How does this LCD Replacment monitor compare to others.
You can find me (and many other retro gamers) on "Rockin the Classics" Discord, and come say hello in "therexershow-arcade corner" room in this discord. Thanks again.
/ discord

[@jaymason9888]

We are fixing the issues with the monitor now with any brand-new product there are issues we are working hard to fix. No LCD monitor is compatible with all arcade pcb most monitors list what games they are compatible with we are working to make it as compatible as possible we are working on the converter board and will provide a new converter board soon to customers who have bought the monitor with the old converter board the ETA is July 2024 it will be announced on social media and emailed to customers who have purchased the ULM26. Nintendo requires an adapter as it is an inverse signal it could be something we will make an adapter for in the future or it can be bought from Mikes Arcade. currently, once again no LCD monitor is perfect but we are trying as hard as possible to make the best 25" 4:3 LCD monitor. Mistakes were made on the resolution and we corrected that and explained and apologized on social media the resolution is 1024x768 and this was explained a year ago weeks after the monitor was released we have apologized to make it right and have been swift to give temporary options with very little to no expense to fix the contrast/color issues with 330Ohm Half Watt resistors. Most companies don't care and aren't as responsive to issues we have responded to and continue to provide the best support we can at the end of the day everyone is a gamer at Unico whether that be console or arcade our company is dedicated to our customers and community. Rexxer has e-mailed me personally several times for support and I have replied the same day to your issues and listened to your input to make our product better. Our support also replies to issues and is very responsive to our customer's needs. Lastly, no KZbin or any other social media reviewer has been given free items other than the Neo Geo MVS Mini when it was on pre-order, and 19K Fox has not been sent any gifts or paid for what he did when he came out to see the Nova Blast to review it nor were any others. 19K Fox paid for his flight and hotel the only thing we provided was food and drinks I repeat he is not paid by us please refrain from saying things you have no evidence of or proof. We want unbiased reviews period, Even when the MVSX was reviewed the only thing we covered was shipping and two units moved around the USA from reviewer to reviewer and then back home to Unico USA HQ. We are sorry you feel this way about our monitor fixes are coming fantastic fixes and like I said before those who have the old converter will be emailed on how to get one and it will be posted on all social media. No product like this works 100% out of the box it's the company's responsibility to be responsive and listen to its customers to fix the issues as soon as possible and provide easy temporary ways to fix issues till they can update or replace the issue with the product. Please feel free to visit our facebook to get all the information like us listening to customers and working on fixes for this monitor facebook.com/unicousa/

[@therexershow]

Jay, you regularly provide 19k with proprietary information and he has said ON HIS Videos, "Unico is sending me the new monitor once it comes available". Also, I said he gets "free Stuff" , even if food and drinks is the only thing he received, it is still considered "free stuff". I can only go off of what he says and his posts , and his relationship with you as a company. He clearly has a relationship with you and is not disclosing properly on ANY OF HIS videos, which is against the law. ANY Perks he gets, means he is an influencer, including early looks and information at product. He needs to disclose his relationship with you and the company as directed by law. As for the Nintendo inverter board, someone should test it with the Unico monitor, it probably works. I think Unico should offer this as an add-on. You do answer quickly all the questions which is great. I'm hoping every user has the customer service email and gets a quick response. I still feel the resistor fix is not acceptable as an viable option, but as long as this new converter board fixes the issue, it will at least make people satisfied. There is no way this should have made it to market like this, and whoever is doing QC on this product, messed up royally. I let pass the bent pin and the dead pixel I had on my monitor because nobody has that issue and i don't blame Unico for one-offs. I do think my opinions are fair and reasonable though, as well as others in the comments corroborating the issues.

[@jaymason9888]

@@therexershow @therexershow sending new monitor does not mean gift it will be for review should he want one he can buy one when available. I have a list of 8 to 10 influencers I send leaks to I send out a group email to them the first one to email back gets the release. Pdubs has gotten one or two and 19K Fox I believe two or three. I'm sorry I disagree on drinks and food as free stuff or compensation several people were invited out to view the Nova Blast I would provide food and drink to anyone who would come out it's just common courtesy not free stuff or a ploy to get good reviews. As for bent pin you have to understand the units are shipped into our warehouse then Amazon warehouse. Yours was first one we have ever received complaint of bent pin so I don't know if it happened during shipping or handling or was missed in QC. It's impossible to know but the issue would be addressed the same as Amazon did a replacement would be arranged. As I've stated we tested about 30 boards with no issues before release and have been diligently working on temporary fixes and a new converter board to fix all issues we have received.

[@jaymason9888]

@@therexershow the adapter for inverse Nintendo arcade PCB is something we will look into after all the current fixes to converter board are done.

[@Arcadehollywood]

@jaymason9888 Hey I bought this 26" Unico last year from Todd Tuckey at TNT. When is this upgrade going to be available? I had some good luck with Pandora's Box and using VGA, but my next project was to upgrade my Ms Pac Galaga Reunion like The Rexer. @therexershow, this is the only option out there so I hope Jay can fix it. Unsub from channels that show this monitor? Really??

[@Secondrunnerup613]

I don't have facebook. how do I get an update when you are replacing the driver board?

[@WagnersTechTalk]

Great video Rexer, appreciate your efforts and insight! Upped ya to 100.

[@therexershow]

Nice. I’ll take the likes. I’m sure there are a lot of dislikes on this one to offset. Good luck with the Atgames gig. Seems like a fun job. Better than the 9 to 5 grind.

[@show-me-retro]

Very informative, way above my pay grade though when it comes to the technical side. I def know who to call if I ever have questions when attempting a build like this 👍 BTW, love the "real review" comment 😅

[@therexershow]

Probably my last build. I’m old and tired.

[@RetroRockGamer]

Thank you for your honesty. Subscribed.

[@GlensRetroShow]

Good review 🎉

[@hellokittybot7032]

The biggest pain in the ass is custom mounting this thing. Thanks, Unico, for not including a universal mount...

[@therexershow]

I made a custom mount which i will show in my video on the build. Sucks though. Other companies have metal brackets that bold on to the frame and then into brackets.

[@Gamerprice40]

Great review as always Rexer. Pretty disappointing to see how this Unico product turned out however, it just doesn’t seem worth the time and work to go through all the tinkering and modding to get these kind of results. Hopefully Unico can address the bigger issues on this though, always appreciate the honesty! 👍

[@therexershow]

Very disappointing. And don’t forget these need to be fixed for nova. Thanks Gamerprice

[@jaymason9888]

All the issues have temporary fixes and have been addressed hence the reason we are making a new converter board to address these issues in as timely as we can we update all the time on our social media.

[@Secondrunnerup613]

It depends on usage. I have 1 in my mame machine and it works just fine. No issues. Set it and forget it.

[@therexershow]

If you’re running hdmi and mame, it’s should be fine. But technically it’s not made for that application. But it’s great because of the aspect ration. It’s hard to find 4:3 lcd monitors , especially in that size.

[@vader86davedestephanis]

Great review video, question I have been building a championship sprint cab and not to good with the computer side of things and video but learning, what is the benefit of me buying this product or another for a monitor vs just a 27" tv, is it just the aspect ratio is correct and the refresh rate, I am only going to play sprint, off road on this cab, unfortunately BS also had same Idea thanks man have a good day!

[@therexershow]

This monitor has almost no benefit vs a low latency monitor or tv. Yes the aspect , but if you want to add modern racing games on the pc then the 4:3 is no good. These monitors are really just for running arcade PCBs to them.

[@vader86davedestephanis]

@@therexershow awesome thank you so much I appreciate!

[@WawrzyniecTheIII]

Unico has acknowledged some of these issues, and they are replacing the boards on some of these. I do not think the replacement board has been shipped to those requesting it, or that they started shipping the new monitors with the new board on it. I've been paying attention to this issue, since the Unico announced they were looking into the Candy Cabinet. You may want to reach out to them and request a new board for the monitor they are going to replace with these. (I believe if you have the older model they said they will replace the board if you request it.)

[@therexershow]

I asked Jay at Unico months ago when they were getting the new boards and monitors , and he said April. I just bought this a couple weeks ago because I didn’t want to wait any longer and he said there would be a firmware update to fix them. Well it’s June snd nothing yet.

[@jaymason9888]

The new converter board is almost done current ETA is July 2024 we have testers testing the board such as operators and fun centers to make it as compatible as can be.

[@jaymason9888]

@@therexershow Apologies for the delay but we don't want to send it out till it is perfect we just chatted via email a day ago if it was an issue please tell me so I can give you relevant information like the current ETA. I have no issue keeping you or anyone in the dark most information is in comments or direct posts on our social media,.

[@jaymason9888]

We have been working in tandem for Phoenix Monitor series 17" to 26" original monitor and the new ULM26 Pro for Nova Blast ETA is 2024 and any customer who wants one it will be posted on social media and an email to them.

[@VegasArcadeFan]

Thanks Rexer! I know this is a hobby, but for $300 there is a lot of work to do with this. I would expect an easy drop-in replacement scenario. The mods necessary require a level of skill that a lot of people just don’t have.

[@therexershow]

EXACTLY. how many people are going to be like “oh solder resistors in the middle of these wires. No problem. “.

[@jaymason9888]

The new convertor addresses this and all the issues as for mounting it has mounting brackets on each side I can mount it in pretty much any cab with minimal issue in 10 to 15 minutes. If we made the complete mounting kit to mount is directly just drop in it would be accessory and even then we can't make one for every cab on the market.

[@snkfightfan0187]

Hey Rexxer. I also own this monitor, and the struggles you mention here are real. There is no way that Único can update these via firmware. I believe they will be offering a new monitor control board once they take care of this Único Blast release. Have you tried VGA from the anniversary board?

[@therexershow]

I asked Jay from Unico a couple months ago when they would be fixing the firmware and getting new controller boards and he said April. Lol. So I waited and waited and waited. Retro Ralph is sending me a mikes arcade video controller board that has vga out. But now I have to splice my cga connector and put the normal kind on there for video in , then vga out.

[@jaymason9888]

Both are being done via two teams one Nova Blast and one ULM26 converter board and we have been working on a new converter board and have tested about 150 different arcade pcb to fix all the issues those people have had. No LCD Monitor on the market is perfect as of yet but we stand firm on making it across the Phoenix monitor series. It's been a big expense but we are dedicated to the community as we are part of it when not on the clock.

[@cpace123]

I do a lot of 3d printer, and I can't think of 1 printer that does not come with issues. I can only imagine your rants on 3d printer companies!!! Everyone one I have owned has been a fixer / mod to add improvements. And I have purchased around 15 over the years.

[@therexershow]

A couple things here. 3D printers may get a pass if EVERY ONE has similar issues. But these LCD monitors for arcades have been Out forever and work just fine. Plus , could you imagine buying a $300 tv and you can’t even adjust the colors on the picture and it’s so bad you can’t watch it? And they tell you , “cut into the wires and add resistors”? And yes Unico wrote me that and gave that as a solution.

[@JeffYPbPr]

I restored a X-men Konami cab. I put a 26 unico in it. It’s running a pc ATM bc an x-men pcb is 700 plus. HDMI to the pc is fine. Colors are fine but required a little adjustment. I had to make a custom wood bezel for it to fit and it fits fine. The adjustment cable is woefully short. Woefully. I am happy with it in its current solution. But. But. It’s trash with actual pcb boards. You need a separate control board to do actual color and picture sizing adjustments It’s a 1024 x 768 monitor. They finally are advertising it as such. If you set your INI to that res you should t have issues filling the screen with mister. The actual 81 pcb will be all fucked up w this monitor w out the adjustment board Edit haha whoops. You go over all that later in the video lol

[@therexershow]

Well you were spot on with everything you were saying !!!😂😂. But yes , the hdmi 768 resolution is fine. Looks really good when running that.

[@jaymason9888]

This was our first entry into the market and boards we tested did not present the issues. Once issues arose we immediately gave temporary fixes and have been working on fixes and invested heavily to make the most compatible 4:3 26" and will provide fixes for previous customers and new customers.

[@therexershow]

I was fine with the small issues , and surprisingly I didn’t need to worry about horizontal or vertical size for the most part. But the color issues really need to be fixed without the need for the video board. Either way I will make it work , but look forward to a better controller board with correct adjustments.

[@jaymason9888]

It will be fixed we add pots on board to adjust color, contrast, and saturation.

[@Secondrunnerup613]

How do i get an update? I don't use or have facebook.

[@therexershow]

@@Secondrunnerup613 I don’t have Facebook either. I’m just waiting for someone to say the new controller boards are ready then I will reach out to them.

[@jaymason9888]

@@Secondrunnerup613 We will email everyone as well who bought one when ready.

[@Bo_Knows_Tecmo]

So this is marketed as an arcade replacement monitor but it only works out of the box with HDMI????

[@therexershow]

BINGO!! can you believe it is useless with a cga Jamma edge connector. HOW DOES IT EVEN GET to market knowingly not working !!!

[@neocvera]

I agree with this 100%

[@princevinny0073]

😊😊☝☝ this screen looks amazing with the MISTER :D so pretty deep blacks and lovely colors 4:3 asepct i feel as if this company is all we got for moden display for arcade boards to live on CRT will all die some day as its no longer being made so we need Alterataves :-) i feel this is one step in the right direction

[@therexershow]

Mister via hdmi does look good. Even at 768p. I was happy with it. Problem is i don’t want planning on using hdmi, but I actually can use hdmi I think in conjunction with cga on another board. I think the monitor will auto set to whatever is powered on. There are still other brands for 19inch lcd that are much better.

[@jtbrunick]

I have the same 26” Unico monitor in my Golden Tee 2004. It has cut off on the top and bottom of the image. Unico didn’t on their Facebook they have a solution for the color (I don’t have this problem) and cut-off issues and will be contacting everyone who previously purchased a monitor. I’m glad they are taking steps to correct the issues people are having. That being said, this release was botched at every turn and transparency was very lacking.

[@therexershow]

I’m still waiting , they told me April the would have the new boards and monitor. It’s June. I waited to buy mine until a couple weeks ago and still nothing. Finally caved .

[@jtbrunick]

@@therexershowUnico’s post announcing the fix was on May 14. Hopefully, soon. I have an install video I’m working on. Should be up this weekend.

[@therexershow]

@@jtbrunick sounds good. I wrote Jay back in March and I don’t think he gave a specific date but I was hoping April it would be handled , before I I decided to purchase.

[@jaymason9888]

The new convertor board I discussed in new post will fix resize issues, contrast and color with pots and so much more.

[@jaymason9888]

@@jtbrunick ETA July 2024

[@neocvera]

So to be clear - CGA is the issue but VGA and HDMI seem to be ok? I agree, shouldn’t NEED to add resistors to the product and they should make it right for those utilizing CGA input.

[@therexershow]

HDMI is very good even at only 768p. 1080 would be nice , but not a biggie. vGa only works well with a video control board , which I’m going to test with mikes arcade simple vga out board with pots for color. Let’s see how it works. Either way , none of this should be required .

[@jaymason9888]

@@therexershow New board will have pots and so much more

[@jaymason9888]

Not all arcade pcb have issues and we are working to fix all issues and will provide fixes via a new converter board ETA July 2024

[@astrogumbie2399]

I get wanting to have something that looks like the original but people seem to forget that you can buy used 19inch monitors for less than $50 so ya replacement screens anyone

[@therexershow]

I have 3 lcd arcade now. 2 of them are for my Nintendo cabs because Sanyo Ez20 aren’t as easy to find. But yes , no need for other 19 inch.

[@videogamevegas]

Rexer, What's the deal with monitor's lately? This was the catalyst of why I stopped relying solely on video reviews anymore. And funny thing, I actually did un-sub to someone because of the monitor situation on the Namco Arcade1Up Pac-Man variety Deluxes and XL. It irked me to no end when this individual straight up tried to dupe me, trying to convince me during a conversation that room lighting was causing the issue, when other videos of his with different room lighting conditions showed the same cabinet acting in the same horrible way. Unico monitors seemed kind of sketchy to me. They had to delay them so many times, and then talks of many firmware updates? And having to purchase extra equipment now to get color accuracy? This tells me Unico released these before they were ready. I'm kind of worried for people who pre-ordered the Nova Blast, which I believe uses the same monitor. I remember when you could just buy a monitor and it worked. It would be cool if there was an OLED solution, either in monitor or TV variety. I would love to see these games run at perfect black levels. I'm rooting for you Rex, and btw, I did watch the whole video :) vgv

[@therexershow]

Remember the GT monitor 1up cover up “it’s no so bad …”. Right after controls and gameplay , the next most important thing is VIDEO QUALITY. these lcd monitors have been done already correctly , as I have two other ones in my Nintendos and I’m happy with them. But this is insane it gets to market and doesn’t work.

[@shaun88R]

I bought one of these a few weeks ago and sent it back. The colors and resolution are pretty bad. Looks like an LCD from 15-20 years ago. I ended up getting a INNOCN 28" 16 :18 2560 X 2880p for my original MK2 cabinet. Turned it 90 degrees and it gives a 25" equivalent 4:3 image. It has an awesome Nano IPS panel straight from the LG DualUp and looks amazing! Waaay better than the Unico and they were the same price on Amazon at around $350 shipped.

[@therexershow]

Wow. Great idea. And you’re right. It’s terrible.

[@Shreddy_E]

Cool to know this monitor exists. I have a dualup i use for emulation, but for real hardware are you using a converter board to also rotate the image? On the dual up the displayed screen orientation has to be set by the device, so haven’t really used it with real hardware or mister yet.

[@therexershow]

@@Shreddy_E good question. I’m not sure how he does it.

[@shaun88R]

@@Shreddy_E I'm using it for emulation currently. To play on fightcade (MK1/MK2/UMK3), but from the cabinet. I also use EmulationStation/Retroarch/MAME with advanced CRT shaders where the higher resolution makes a huge difference. I really wanted to like the Unico because of its 4:3 ratio and the fact it had the CGA input. It would have been great for one day when I could finally grab a UMK3+ PCB board. But side by side it wasn't even a contest. If I want to run the PCB, I'll probably have to grab a converter board and figure it all out. But with the advanced shaders in Retroarch and ability to play my friends online, I'm already pretty happy. If they come out with a MARS FPGA or something that runs UMK3, I'd be all over that.

[@Shreddy_E]

@@shaun88R ahh that makes sense. For emulation I have no issues with the dual up. I just don’t know if there’s a way for it to work with real hardware, but it’s also not a gaming monitor or crt replacement so I can’t complain too much. The unico isn’t too bad when using shaders and effects, but I found the raw settings lacking.

[@PapaBradsGaming]

It should not be that hard. Great informative video showing real world problems with the product. Show not tell - the best kinds of videos.

[@therexershow]

It should just work out the box. I can stomach a couple issues like no brackets for mounting or short controller board , but a picture that is so bad you can’t even use it out the box. Not acceptable.

[@NIVO1972]

thats disappointing. should be alarm bells for the sit down cab they are sellin now too. is it gonna have same crap quality in the monitor?

[@therexershow]

They supposedly have a “version 2 “ that corrects all these issues. But nobody has seen it. And they said this months ago.

[@jaymason9888]

@@therexershow Several trusted arcade operators and fun center owners have the new converter so we can dial in all games for compatibility. No reviewers will be given the converter till it is a final product and we did not announce who has one to keep them from being bugged.

[@MichaelSmith-fd9ec]

This is why @therexershow is must see podcasting. How long ago was the episode you guys did about the responsibility of disclosure? Years, I think? I’m not in your pay grade to do technical modifications you (and Ralph) are my go to fixers.

[@therexershow]

It’s sad 19k didn’t disclose his relationship with Jay at Unico in any of his videos on this crap. Terrible. Look at all the comments on this thing of people who bought them . You would never get this feeling from 19k.

[@jaymason9888]

@@therexershow He is not paid or an employee of Unico and has not been gifted anything please refrain from making unfounded allegations.

[@Lonchanney1]

Listen anyone who watches any of those blokes videos still. Don't want the truth and are happy being lied to. Hopeless just bloody hopeless.

[@therexershow]

Once I heard 19k started working with Unico , I had to see how his most recent review was. lol. And I also saw he’s been creaming his pants over the Unico blast and hyping that. Yet they don’t even have a fkg monitor that works right and people are hyping it.

[@jaymason9888]

@@therexershow he is not working for us not paid and no gifts. If needed or wanted confirmation you could have just asked I have six reviewers I email for sneak peeks who ever responds first gets the leak. Just like Pdubs just got one a few days ago.

[@TwistedGamingTV]

Wells Gardner all the way. Anyways in real arcade machines you never put LCD in there. Always CRT’s. Guess people don’t have connections like me though 🤣🤷🏼‍♂️

[@therexershow]

I agree. Technically this class of 81 I’m building isn’t real so I can get away with it. But Wells Gardner makes a great lcd replacement monitor , much better than this garbage.

[@NCC7060]

This monitor is trash. I purchased one and sent it back. Hopefully the new Pro version gets things corrected. I’ll buy that when they start selling them, but the current 26” monitor is garbage

[@therexershow]

You’re correct. The question now is , why is the new version taking so long ?

[@NCC7060]

@@therexershow Unico said they won't offer the Pro version until they sell out of current inventory. Could be a long wait.

[@jaymason9888]

@@therexershow It takes time this is not something you slap together each arcade pcb has it own resolution and Khz etc to be dialed in and not every signal is the same across Midway, Konami, and Namco. If you want a semi-compatible fix we could have done that and if an issue arises currently we have given non-costly temporary solutions when asked in social media or e-mail to support and post the fixed there.

[@jaymason9888]

@@NCC7060 ETA Mid 2025 to late 2025.

[@khamla616]

Unico hasn’t come out with a good product yet in my opinion. All their neo geo products were horrible with the wrong button layouts and bad quality sticks, buttons and screen output. Their upcoming candy cab looks promising though but it’s not for the masses since it’s not plug and play.

[@therexershow]

Cmon Khamla , you’re just too picky , all those KZbinrs loved those tiny neogeo products that were basically unplayable. Nova blast comes with the same monitor , so they better fix it.

[@jaymason9888]

Not plug-in-play it's a bring your own device and for most part couple minutes you can play console etc on it but we understand not for everyone ;)

[@jaymason9888]

@@therexershow You are incorrect the resolution etc is different on ULM26 Pro in the Nova Blast

[@therexershow]

@@jaymason9888 ok. version 2 of the same monitor the pro should be what we have in the first place.

[@molarmedic]

there is a blue pixel lit the whole time. Dead pixel.. bad unit

[@therexershow]

I have to check that again. I saw that in the video and didn’t know if that was a light from my camera or what.

[@therexershow]

I bought it from Amazon so I just returned for a new one just now. That’s why I bought from Amazon. Knew something like this would happen. lol.

[@jaymason9888]

@@therexershow Many people buy from our store if there is an issue we promptly refund or replace the monitor as it has a year warranty.