Minimalist arcade cabinet concept (New design pics - June 26th)

[shponglefan]

Another new pic.  Re-proportioned the monitor to ~32 inch size, to see what it would look like.  Also added control mock-up.

I'm a little concerned that this is probably too close for a 32 inch screen, though.  If the CP is assumed to be 16-18" deep, it would probably need to come forward yet another 6-10 inches or so.

[shponglefan]

One more revision, tried moving out the panel to see how that would look.  In theory this is closer to 32 inches or so of viewing distance.  But it looks a little ridiculous with that much real estate between the screen and controls.  I also was looking at Vewlix style cabs w/ 32 inch screens.  I realized a big part of what makes them work is being able to sit down.  Sitting down, you can lean back which in conjunction with the angled screen, increases the viewing distance.

Maybe 27 inches is the way to go for a stand-up unit...

[emphatic]

LCD screens lag less if you use the VGA port btw.

[apfelanni]

i measure around 90 cm distance from eye to screen on my 32 inch cab . with a 2x installed u may be good with 70-80 cm .

[shponglefan]

Did some measuring tonight to figure out view distances and monitor distance.  Using my own LCD TV, I figured that a 1.2x diagonal multiplier is a minimum comfortable distance for gaming on an LCD.  So for a 27 inch monitor that's 32 inches.  And a 32 inch monitor, that's 38 1/2 inches.  That's pretty close to the 90 cm distance you mention apfelanni (90cm = 35 1/2 inches).

Using an old 2P CP I had lying around, I set up a mockup to determine actual view distances.   Without going into all the details, I found that for a 32 inch viewing distance (for 1P or 2P position), I need about 10 inches of space between the base of the monitor stand and the back of the CP.  For 38 inches, I need about 16 inches of gap.  Which is an equivilant gap to the depth of the CP to begin with.

Bottom line is I think a 32 inch TV is going to be unfeasible for what I want: something that doesn't take up too much room.  In contrast, a 27 inch screen is probably going to be ideal.  So I'm going to keep designing with that in mind.

As an aside, I tested the same configuration seated.  Sitting down in a slightly leaned back position almost instantly adds an extra 6 inches or so of viewing distance.  Which again confirms why Vewlix cabs are for sitting.