Which size monitor for my bartop?

[Hogie1418]

Hey guys, I have a 20", and  a  17" monitor I could use for my build. both are 4:3 Was hoping to get some opinions on which size tends to work best. I am worried the 20" might be too large but at the same time I do not want to feel like my screen is not large enough. Thanks

[Unstupid]

Are you going horizontal or vertical orientation?
Is this a single player or 2 player bartop?
How big is your bar's top?

[leapinlew]

17" or smaller.

[Hogie1418]

Are you going horizontal or vertical orientation?
Is this a single player or 2 player bartop?
How big is your bar's top?

I would like to do a 2 player bartop, which is why I thought the 20" mounted horrizontally would  be better. But after playing a few games on my computer I am beginning to wonder if I will be too close to the monitor for a 20".

Most of my favorite games are the classics:Donkey Kong, Galaxian, Phoenix, but I do like to mix in some NBA Jam or TMNT also.  So I have considered going with a vertical orientation but I worry about having enough room for player 2 when my build changes and my horizontal games looking crappy :-(.

As far as how much room I have. I would prefer something smaller but part of me is saying "The bigger the better!" lol.

I honestly am so torn. :-( Anyone else have experience with 20" or 17".

[PL1]

Most of my favorite games are the classics:Donkey Kong, Galaxian, Phoenix, but I do like to mix in some NBA Jam or TMNT also.  So I have considered going with a vertical orientation but I worry about having enough room for player 2 when my build changes and my horizontal games looking crappy :-(.

You could mount the screen for manual rotation like Le Chuck did on his Darkade build.

The manual rotation happens at 1:20 in this video.




Scott

[leapinlew]

My suggestion is to build a full size machine if you are going with 2 players. I built my brother a bartop with a 24" deck so he could play fighter games. I used a 17" monitor. It looks like this:



When it was all said and done, I bet he wishes he just built a full size. You don't really save any space, once you put it on a table that can hold it. Either way, the machine I built had a 17" monitor in it and thats what it looked like. The bartop I'm building right now plays defender and it's a 19". I haven't ever built a bartop with a 19", so we'll see how it goes.