Decassing an LCD tv?

[RandomCitizenX]

I am working on getting a few kinks ironed out of my slim pulp inspired arcade, and on thhink that has been bugging me is if I should stip the case off of the TV I am using or just mount it as it is.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Viore-26-LCD-TV/11019322

This is the tv I am planning on using. I have not been able to find any information about getting it to auto turn on and what not, so an advice would be greatly appreciated.

[northerngames]

looks to be a decent display I would not take the case off though and not sure if it is possible without the screen wanting to come out with it plus your not going to get it much thinner then it already is even if you decase it.

if you want true native 1080P though make sure the monitor can actually do 1920X1080 instead of just 1920X1200 they may consider that 1080P still but it is not native and why there usually cheaper then a 1920X1080 monitor becuase there is that extra 120 lines that are not native..

[Turnarcades]

I would argue there is little need to strip flat-panel monitors or TV's as they mostly come with a black surrounding bezel anyway and invariably you will be fitting a proper bezel that hides the sides when installing in a cabinet anyway. There is always the larger heat concerns with TV's but as long as as your cabinet is planned properly with vents and cooling you should be OK. At most just remove the back if you are really concerned - completely de-casing (depending on the monitor or TV) could be risky with an LCD screen depending on how the light sources and screen itself are mounted and you could damage the flimsy connectors or loom going to the image processing board/boards.

If you want a de-cased LCD, you would be better looking at something with an open frame mount. Do a search on ebay for 'open frame mount' and you should turn some up.

[mwong168]

I just de-cased my Vizio 37" 1080p LCD a few weeks ago for my pinball cabinet project in < 10 minutes without voiding my warranty either because there were no seals or anything broken.  As long as I remember how to put everything back they wouldn't even know I did it 




Now unless you have tight space and require symmetry due to the bezel being thicker on the bottom then the top like I do, I wouldn't suggest you do this.

[RandomCitizenX]

You guys have managed to convince me not to decase, but I still have no idea on how to make the thing power on. I looked around for some sort of way online. SO far, it is a bust.

[bkenobi]

Although it's not ideal, if you can't find anything else you can certainly use the old Lirc/WinLirc method.  That's what I did with my JVC CRT TV.  The main reason it's not ideal is that it sometimes doesn't send the signal correctly (1/20 times or so).  I just keep the remote under the CP so if it fails I can just hit power and move on.

[Blanka]

I opened a few, and I have to say that with most screens, the plastic case is nothing more then decoration. AC inlet, video inputs, even VESA holes are all in one closed metal box, that in some cases actually looks pretty cool without plastic already. 2 things hang loose most of the time: pcb's behind the control buttons, and speakers. The first is very handy, since it allows you to tweak a behind glass mounted lcd, the second is easy to disconnect as you don't need the speakers most of the time.
The example above looks worse than what I experienced. Open AC inverter and open image circuitery is not what I have seen.

[shateredsoul]

I was wondering the same thing.. glad you asked this question, but I still can't help but wonder if it makes sense to de-case my Monitor Sync Master t240hd.  I feel it would look cleaner and it would be easier to hide the fact that it's a tv.

[Turnarcades]

Bottom line = not essential, so it's just up to you if it's worth taking apart.

[shateredsoul]

Bottom line = not essential, so it's just up to you if it's worth taking apart.

How you would you recommend hiding the fact that it's a monitor? A wooden Bezel? I imagine the size of my monitor would make it hard to fit a normal bezel (the kind used in arcades) over it.

[Franco B]

Mount it behing glass with acrylic/black cardboard/paint masking the bezel.

[mwong168]

Well you can see for my purpose I had no choice for my visual pinball cabinet.  Here is what my 37" LCD looks like with the case on



First off it wouldn't fit in my Bally cabinet and second of all it wouldn't be centered.  Now if I was building the cab around my LCD that would be a different story and perhaps I would have built my cabinet a bit wider so I can mount the LCD centered with a bit of a border on the sides.  Lots of people have de-case LCDs for their VP projects and I had to decase my HP 15" LCD for my backbox too, nice and easy 5 minute job.



Hopefully I won't have to de-case my Samsung 24" to make it all fit but there are some 1/4" tabs on the HP monitor which I will grind off so it can sit more flush or closer to the Samsung.

[northerngames]

You guys have managed to convince me not to decase, but I still have no idea on how to make the thing power on. I looked around for some sort of way online. SO far, it is a bust.

the remote it comes with?

[shateredsoul]

I think he meats for it to power on automatically.. he mentions it in his first post 

[Blanka]

If it is a monitor it powers on automatically, with a TV it mostly won't. But, <30 inch TV's are mostly pimped monitors (with their crappy TN screens) with some tuner attachment, and from a complete different production line as real TV's (>30 inch with IPS/PVA panels). Maybe it powers on when reconnecting like monitors do.