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just an idea... 2 LCD screen mirror cab with change-able backdrop????
Bender:
I just had an idea and wanted some feedback on it
as was brought up in some recent posts, some classics like Space Invaders used a 2way mirror to give the illusion that the image was floating in the cab, it also used a lit back-drop behind the mirror to create the background. With LCD's being so thin now, I though you could use one as the backdrop and be able to change the image, or even have a moving image for the backdrop
could even use a CRT for the main monitor(bottom) to get the game image to be more authentic
What do you think?
TopJimmyCooks:
Questions:
Would it be any good at all for non background/floater games?
Would you have to put the background lcd fairly far away from the user to keep things lined up, like against the back of a cab?
Do you have to be able to adjust "Keystone" to make the game look square to the viewer? Guess not since it's close together.
Solution: do it, but set up the bottom monitor to flip up and be the primary when non background games are selected. Heck, set it up to rotate while you're at it ;). It's a good idea.
What about instead of the rear LCD maybe use a gel scroller (i.e. theatrical lighting equipment) and use it to display paper backgrounds for 6-8 different background games, scroll up/down to the one for the game? Throwing out ideas here. The 2 monitors is probably cleaner and better.
VanillaGorilla:
Not to be a party pooper, but, would it work? The back LCD would be emitting light thru the back of the mirror, which would probably wash out the reflected image on the front. The old backdrops were usually just a UV-reactive black light poster, not a light emitting source...
--- Quote from: TopJimmyCooks on April 22, 2011, 01:23:52 pm ---
Solution: do it, but set up the bottom monitor to flip up and be the primary when non background games are selected.
--- End quote ---
IF it could actually work: Its a 2-way mirror, you could just disable the lower monitor when no backdrop is required, and just use the 'backdrop' monitor as primary.
I'd be intrigued if someone actually attempted any of this.
DataWest:
Im going to say it wont be clear because of the brightness of the back screen. VanillaGorilla is right.
Please let us know if you try it though! Interesting idea....
Spacejack:
I've tried this! It works fine. The trick is to use a brighter image for the game than for the backdrop (I was using a CRT for the game and an old-ish LCD for the backdrop.) No big deal there.
Mind you, I did not build a full cabinet, just a mockup. But it worked wonderfully, and that was without any kind of containment. The illusion is called "Pepper's Ghost."
I think you've got the glass angled the wrong way in the image though. Your Space Invaders would be getting bigger as they got further away.
I was considering trying to work out a way to run pinball tables like this with the DMD behind them, which would be a total inversion of the usual but still might allow for seeing them both easily at the same time.