Mounting AimTrak LED behind a bezel

[jlfreund]

Hi,

I have a Makvision 29" Tri-Sync monitor in a UA2 cabinet and bezel from X-Arcade, and I'm trying to mount the LED sensor from the AimTrak kit.

The inside hole of the bezel sits on the glass of the monitor face, then there is a diagonal trough that slants outward from the monitor to a flat bezel face.  The main question I have is whether to mount the LED's on the slanted or flat part of the bezel?

I guess the advantage of the slanted part of the bezel would be that the LED's would be an inch closer to the viewable portion of the monitor and the messy hole in the bezel would be less noticeable.  The disadvantage may be that I would have to bend the LED's towards the viewer and maybe they will be less effective facing down at an angle?

I think the flat portion of the bezel would be a full 2 inches away from the viewable portion of the monitor, and I don't know if that's okay.  Does anyone have any experience with some similar configuration?

[05SRT4]

When i first got my sensor hooked up i tried it slanted down and it effected the performance on my machine. right now there just hanging out really ugly until i figure out what I'm going to do bezel wise.

[southpaw13]

Can anyone post a good pic or drawing of something that actually works behind a bezel?  I cannot get mine to work at all!  I wonder if you have the sensor to close to the screen it doesn't register right.

[johnk]

I just mounted mine yesterday.  It's at about 45 degrees, aligned with the angled part of the bezel right above the screen.  You can see my jury-rigged installation below.

It's too bad the LED board can't be mounted in either direction (right side on left), since that would make it easier to mount by sticking the back onto the vertical top part of the bezel.  Fortunately I tested that out before drilling the holes in the bezel (it makes the cursor go the opposite way).

I currently have a slightly-darkened piece of plexiglass over it, and it seems to work fine.  Though I am about to order a darker sheet ("transparent solar grey" at http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=519) since I have some blemishes on my original glass, so I guess I'll find out if it still works in a week or so.

I do have to stand back 4-5' of course, even with the LEDs just in their original mounting case.

[05SRT4]

Wow that looks way clean.

[southpaw13]

So how does it work?  do you think it would work through the bezel without drilling a hole?  The guns filter is black and so is the case for the light bar.

Great job!!!

[johnk]

My bezel (the black plastic piece it's connected to) is solid black, not translucent, so I don't think there's any chance it would work without drilling holes.  The plexiglass that goes over the bezel doesn't need to be drilled though.

I don't think the drilled holes are really a big deal; you have to really look to notice them, and it doesn't look too bad IMO.  Also when I get my new darker plexiglass cover the LEDs probably will be hardly visible.

I only did a quick test after installing it (haven't had time), and the gun moved the cursor around the screen just as well as before.  So functionality seems fine.

[Dawgz Rule]

Looks awesome. I have been trying to figure out how to mount my module and this looks like the way to go.  Thank you.

[johnk]

I just replaced my plexiglass monitor cover with a darker one as I mentioned earlier (3/16" Transparent Solar Grey at http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=519), and I decided to also replace my bezel since I had some screwups on the original.

So I had to do another LED installation, and the photos are below.  This time I did it a bit cleaner by using an extra piece of a marquee bracket.  The holes cut for the LEDs are intentionally not cut in a straight line, since that's how the LED bulbs are and I didn't want to force them too much.

With the new darker plexiglass, you really have to look to notice the LEDs.  And while the monitor is now a bit dimmer than before (even after turning up the brightness), I think it looks a lot better and I'm glad I made the change.  It really draws the focus to the screen rather than the area around the screen.  And it does not seem  to negatively affect the lightgun performance.