Terminology / References This site will use words / terminology common in reference to Arcade machines but you might not be familar with,  below is a .. Glossary of Arcade Terminology AC: "Alternating Current" AQUADAG: A colloidal suspension of electrically conductive graphite that is applied to the inner and outer surfaces of a CRT. The inner coating has a HV charge applied when powered, which facilitates acceleration of the electron beam as well as a safeguard against "secondary emission" (keeps "used" electrons from ricocheting off the back of the tube). The inner and outer coatings also act as capacitor plates, using the glass as a dielectric. This capacitance is used as a HV filter, supplying smooth DC voltage to the tube.   BARTOP: Also sometimes called a "Table Top Arcade", typically is a small arcade shaped unit designed to sit on a table top or bar BEZEL: Glass, plexi or cardboard, usually printed with artwork and installed over or around the monitor. BIT ROT: Phenomenon that occurs within game ROMs where the software instructions stored in the  ROM lose their integrity over time. ie: Dementia for electronics - time to burn a new set of ROMS BURNER: Short for "ROM Burner"; See DEVICE PROGRAMMER. CABARET: Cabaret refers to a specific cabinet style, where the cabinet is a smaller, shorter version of the upright. Also refered to as a "mini." CAP KIT: Short for "Capacitor Kit." A cap kit is a set of capacitors matched to a specific monitor chassis type. When electrolytic capacitors get old, the electrolyte tends to dry up and render them incapacitated. Since the monitors in arcade games aren't getting any younger, installing a cap kit can cure a whole lot of ills, including but not limited to wavy monitors, "jail bars," dim output, no output, foldover or curl. CHASSIS: Even though this refers literally to the monitor boards and the metal frame they bolt to, the common usage of the term "chassis" usually refers to only the electronic components of the monitor. COCKPIT: Refers to the "sit-in" style cabinet; one that contains its own seat. COCKTAIL: Refers to the sit-down-at table-type machines - mostly due to their original use (market) in bars and clubs. Some incorrectly also call them "tabletops" which is actually more closer aligned to "BarTops". COIN DOOR: Metal door that contains the coin input mechanisms ("mechs") and sometimes counters. CONTROL PANEL: This is the panel that contains all of the player controls such as buttons, joysticks, trackballs, Spinners, yokes etc. On a lot of forums is often refered to as the "CP". CONTROL PANEL OVERLAY: This refers to the artwork that is applied to the control panel, labeling the controls. CONVERSION: Conversion is the act of installing game "X" into an older game cab, sometimes done at the detriment of the original game / cab (some arcade enthusiasts can get very upset over this - mostly related to "MAME"ing a cab). Conversion refers to either an occurance of conversion or to the actual thing that was converted. Conversion often includes painting over original sideart, hacking control panels and wiring harnesses. CPO: "Control Panel Overlay"; See CONTROL PANEL OVERLAY CRT: "Cathode Ray Tube"; Or more commonly fered to as the "Screen", "Monitor" or "Tube". DC: "Direct Current." DEVICE PROGRAMMER: Often referred to as "burners," device programmers are used by technicians and advanced hobbyists to perform ROM dumps and ROM "burns." A dump is taking an existing ROM image and using the programmer to transfer it to another media such as magnetic disk. This is also how ROMs have been created for MAME. A burn is the reverse: taking a stored ROM image and writing it to a blank chip. DIP: "Dual Inline Package"; This is an electronic component found on PCB's that contains tiny switches that are manipulable by the owner. Commonly used to set free/coin play, difficulty, cocktail mode, and other settings. EEPROM: See ROM EPROM: See ROM FLYBACK TRANSFORMER: Or simply called "the flyback," this monitor chassis part is responsible for clearing the tube of all the already emitted electrons by hoovering them up with a high voltage charge on the anode. HEATER: The heater is a CRT component (found in the neck) that is designed to maintain proper cathode temperature (1100-1200 deg. C). I won't go into the theory, but when someone tells you to check to see if you have "neck glow" you are actually checking to see if the heater in the CRT is activated. HIGH VOLTAGE (HV) TRANSFORMER: See FLYBACK TRANSFORMER HORIZONTAL OUTPUT TRANSISTOR: Electronic monitor chassis component. This is a huge transistor (T03 or similar) that drives the yoke. If it goes, your monitor will not operate very nicely, not even with a cap kit. HOT: See HORIZONTAL OUTPUT TRANSISTOR IC: Integrated Circuit. IC's are the "chips" on a PCB. These chips contain internal micro circuitry designed for a specific purpose such as data processing or data storage. Examples of IC's are RAM, ROM, microprocessors, and DIPs ISO(LATION) TRANSFORMER: The Iso Xformer isolates AC power going to the monitor from the AC feed, thus buffering the monitor from possible damage. JAMMA: Japanese Arcade Machine Manufactures Association - Originally a working group (like ISO,  IEEE or W3C etc) but now more commonly used as a standard reference for PCB pinouts that simplified game / cab conversions for Operators in the early '80s. JOYSTICK: Stick-type game control that controls movement. There are many types including 2-way, 4-way, 8-way, 16-way, 49-way, rotary, hall effect, optical and pistol-grip. Contacts may be leaf switches or microswitches (except on optical and hall-effect where movement is not translated mechanically). KIT: A game kit is the PCB with one or more items. A complete kit would contain everything but the game cabinet (PCB, CPO, Side Art, Marquee, Bezel, wiring harness and sometimes PSU). Partial kits are the norm, usually a PCB and a marquee - a game kit is PCB, Buttons, Joystick and Wire Harness. LOWBOY: OP slang used in NZ to describe the shape of cab that is basically same as a Cabaret LCD:  Liquid Crystal Display, becoming the default monitor (screen) replacement option for CRT's - custom options exist re sizing that has allowed some cabinets to use LCD panels as replacements for Marques so as to have dynamic artwork (changes based on game loaded) - this option only exists for MAME currently. MAME:  stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. When used in conjunction with images of the original arcade game's ROM and disk data, MAME attempts to reproduce that game as faithfully as possible on a more modern general-purpose computer. MAME can currently emulate several thousand different classic arcade video games from the late 1970s through the modern era. MAME is free, as are some (limited number) ROMS - most ROMS for MAME don't have the Game (Intellectual Property) Owners permission to use. MARQUEE: Sometimes referred to as a "header," the marquee is the signage that displays the name or the game at the top of the machine. It is usually mylar or plexi, rarely glass. Often backlit. MINI: See CABARET MINT: Item is in perfect original condition, exhibiting no signs of wear, use, damage or discoloration. MONITOR SURROUND: Plastic or cardboard piece mounted in-between the bezel and the monitor MULTIMETER: Instrument used to probe and measure electrical states in circuitry. Basic functionality includes measurement of potential in volts, resistance in ohms, and current in amps. NOS: "New Old Stock" Means item is old, but was never used. These items often are still in their original container or still have their protective covering. NOS items may exhibit defects due to age, or may be MINT. OPERATOR: Often shortened to "Op." (used to be) the owner of the Arcade palour (or sometimes the distributor/renter) - these guys can be a great source of old machines / parts / knowledge PCB: "Printed Circiut Board" Most often refers to the main logic board holding the game ROMs, but can refer to any printed circiut board including monitor chassis boards, sound boards, etc etc. POWER SUPPLY: The power supply provides all the necessary voltages to the arcade PCB, sound system and any other system that requires DC voltages. The usual voltages are +12V, +5V and -5V, although some supplies carry other voltages, such as the +30V feed found on a Q-Bert PS which powers the knocker. Older games were usually equipped with linear power supplies, whereas newer games usually come equipped with switching power supplies. PSU: "Power Supply Unit." See POWER SUPPLY RAM: "Random Access Memory"; IC's that hold data and software instructions only while they are powered. (ie: they lose all such data when they are powered down) - some PCB's had what arcade collectors call "suicide chips" which where RAM chips with the game programs that were maintained by battery when the cabs turned off - left too long and the battery would go flat and the PCB would become inoperable. RASTER: Monitor signal generation defined by scanning the whole screen in, line by line, from top to bottom. This is the most common method, as opposed to vector signal generation. REPRO: Reproduction. Many repro parts for classic games are still being made and may be purchased from vendors. This includes marquees, side art, CPO's, bezels and more. The thing to remember is that the quality and price may differ greatly between vendors. I can't mention names, but there are some trademe vendors out there printing out fuzzy non-color matched repro stuff using water soluable, Non-UV inks on raster inkjet printers. It is rubbish. Don't buy it. Conversely there are other vendors (unfortuantely mostly overseas) who make their product that is either indistiguishable from or better than the original OEM pieces using vector art files, UV resistant inks, quality substrate and color-matched to the original. Buy from them and you will probably be a lot happier - email us for a recomendation. RINGER: Monitor diagnostic tool. A flyback ringer checks for proper impedance by sending a pulse into the flyback coil. An oscilloscope can then be used to observe the "ringing"(oscillating) waveform caused by the self-resonance of the coil. (Thanks to Roy "Jeepfreak" for the explanation) RGB: "Red - Green - Blue" Additive color scheme used by virtually all color monitors. In the context of analog electronic display, refers specifically the individual cathode guns within a color CRT, one each for red, green, and blue wavelengths. ROM: "Read Only Memory" (also: EPROM, EEPROM) Chips that hold software instructions in a non-volatile state. SIDE ART: The graphics on the side of the cabinet. These can be stenciled on or vinyl stickers. SPINNER: Arcade control that spins 360 degrees, eg. Tempest, Tron et al. STANDOFF: A small hardware item used to mount a PCB such that it is raised off of the mounting surface by a small margin. T-MOLDING: Normally a PVC based material, supplied in many different width's, colours and textures designed to be applied to the edge of the Arcade cabinet to protect the case edges (typically MDF or Plywood) from being damaged during moviment and game play.The most common width for Arcade machines in NZ is 18mm or 3/4" (USA). T-SLOT:  Is a slot typically (cut with a router) cut down the edge of the cabinet sides so as to be able to apply the T-Molding. TOP GLASS: This term usually refers to the sometimes-printed glass top of a cocktail table game. TRACK BALL: Arcade control consisting of a ball that is manipulated by the players hand. This ball actuates 2 rollers corresponding to X and Y position. Optical sensors sense movement of the rollers and deliver the signals to the PCB controller inputs. Used on Centipede, Quantum, Missile Command, Golden Tee etc. UNDERLAY: An underlay is artwork printed on a clear material. You would position an underlay under glass. Most common underlay useage is for cocktail art and marquees. VECTOR: Vector (Arcade related) refers to a type of monitor signal generation. This special method distinguishes itself by drawing and refeshing the picture to the screen precisely rather than scanning in the whole screen from side to side (rastering). Vector monitors of note are the WG 19K6100 (Tempest), Electrohome's G08 (Star Trek) and G05 (Asteroids), and Amplifone monitors (Star Wars cockpit IIRC). These monitors are no longer manufactured, so maintaining the remaining ones is very important as they cannot be replaced. WIRING HARNESS: Wire bundle that connects all of the PSU, control i/o, coin door and RGB monitor inputs to the PCB interface edge connector(s). Also sometimes just refered to as "harness". XY: See VECTOR YOKE: Type of arcade control where the user can control the X axis by "steering" and the Y axis by pulling back or pitching forward. Used on Star Wars, Stun Runner, etc  or Monitor component; Yoke is integral to the magnetic deflection system on a monitor. It consists on 2 coils of wire wrapped around the neck of the CRT such that their windings are at a 90 degree angle to one another. Drive signals are applied to the yoke, they vary the field strength, thereby deflecting passing electrons and creating an image.