Darius Burst Mirrored screen... how?

[Felsir]

I've played the 4 player Darius Burst EX and I was wondering about the display. First it's a dual-widescreen game. I assumed they used a mirror setup to hide the monitorbezel and create a seamless experience.
See this video for the gameplay with the mirrorred monitor visible (the right hand display)


But now I kept wondering how this actually works. As far as I remember from optics, the light travels to the mirror and leaves the mirror at the same angle. So why is it that sitting in the player 1 position I still see the entire screen and not a reflection of the side of the cabinet? Now I assume there is a optical trick going on? (much like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper's_ghost )

So how do they set this up so every player will see the seamless screen and not the reflections of the cabinet's sides?

[edekoning]

When I played on that cab, I was sitting at the player 3 spot. If I remember correctly the right screen was lying down horizontally (as I could see part of it). Maybe you could search for how the 6p x-men works. It two had two screens. Left one facing toward the player, right one 'hidden' below reflecting the image via a mirror.

[edekoning]

from wikipedia about Darius (1986 version) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_(video_game)):

"In order to seamlessly connect the three screens together, two of the monitors, which display the first and last thirds of the game's screen, respectively, are placed in the bottom of the cabinet facing upwards, with their visuals reflected into view via a one-way mirror. The third monitor, which displays the middle portion of the game's screen, is placed behind the mirror and is the only one actually facing the player. The reflection of the two bottom monitors partially overlaps the third monitor, giving the illusion of a seamless wide screen"

[edekoning]

Man you sure got me curious, can't stop searching for answers

Anyway here is how you build a seamless multiple monitor setup for yourself: http://www.wsgf.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=25230

He also links to a youtube video of the dariusburst ex arcade cabinet. In the video you can also clearly see that the right screen is horizontal.