mounting a rotating TV ?

[bujarek]

I plan to use a TV in my cabinet and wonder how to mount it to make the 90 degree rotation as easy as possible. (I plan to rotate it one time a day max, so not often.)

Any ideas?


Thanks.


PS.
Yes, I'd love to have two separate cabinets: one for the vertical games and another one for horizontal ones, unfortunately for space reasons it's not an option.

[GGKoul]

How big is your TV going to be?  If its big enough, over 24" you wont need to worry about rotating it.

[bujarek]

How big is your TV going to be?  If its big enough, over 24" you wont need to worry about rotating it.

It's going to be 21''.

[hyiu]

I'm using a 21" computer monitor and I found that vertical games are acceptable....

beware that even if you're able to mount it correctly so that you can rotate it easily...

there are still some things to look out for...

- try put your tv on your side and turn it on and play / use it for like 15min - half hr... you might start seeing discoloring... (or whatever you call it...)
you'll need to degauss it....

- also... the tube is kinda heavy for the monitor and I believe that normal tv and monitors are design on sit upright.... you put it on the side.... it might be easier to overheat or it might put too much stress on 1 side of the mount...

on the other hand... arcade monitor is designed with a frame so that it can be mounted either way...

so... I would suggest you at least test it out by flipping your tv on the side and try it first....

it'll be a waste of time / effort if you get it all designed up and found out your tv doesn't work well when leaning on the side...

[Lilwolf]

look at the examples and you will see some great examples.

my personal favorite way is to cut a circle out of plywood and mount the monitor in it.

Then add an area that the board will lean against.  So it will be at a slight angle (weight going mainly down, but some back.

On the back board (that your circle is sitting on) will have wheels around the edges holding it forward.

Then on the bottom and a few on the sides will hold it up and in place.

As for rotation itself.  Have a cord wrapped around the center (add some nails or screws in a circular pattern around the monitor)... And have one side at the top left of your cabinet, wrap around the monitor / wheel, and out the other side of the cabinet.

btw, I've heard from many that adding rotating monitor support will take longer then the rest of the cabinet...  

good luck

[slicer_d]

From what I have heard and know rotating a tv isn't the greatest plan ever.  For one they dont really have a degauss feature like most pc monitors.  So when you rotate them you cant degauss them to adjust to the earths magnetic field.  Also tvs aren't made to go on their sides so they might end up going dead on you.  

If I was you I would hook up your tv to your pc and try just rotating it by yourself on a desk or something just to make sure it doesnt screw up the colors a picture.  Also mounting a tv to rotate will not be fun you will most likely have to decase it and that really opens up a new can of worms because then you have to worry about shocking yourself.  From what I understand tvs are different from arcade a pc monitors and you need to handle them more carefully.

I personally have a pc monitor going into a cocktail cab and whenever I turn it I have to deguass it and it was also a pain to figure out a plan to install the monitor in the case without decasing it.

Personally if I really wanted to rotate something it would be a pc or arcade monitor I realize they arent cheap but I think it would end up working much better.  Or just save your self the head ache and build a vertical or cocktail cab to play pacman and such on.

[bujarek]

look at the examples and you will see some great examples.

DOH!
I went thru nearly 50% of it when I found there's a "Search project examples" link at the top (http://www.arcadecontrols.com/projectsearch.php)
which allows searching for the ones that feature the Rotating Monitor. I feel dumb now.

Hopefully this thread will help somebody in the future.

Thanks.


BTW. I've found ~17 dead links on the examples page - who do I report them to?

[Lilwolf]

that sucks... hopefully you find some good ones... there where some GREAT links... Don't remeber which.

There is a thread in the Board Discussion that might be appropriate.

[unclet]

You can always find a cheap 27" with S-Video in your classfied ads.  I got two 27" JVC TVs (with color picture-in-picture and S-Video out) for $120 each.    

One TV I got for free, but spent $120 to get it fixed.  The other one I got but it did not come with a remote control and the buttons on the front of the TV were pressed in and could only be activated by sticking a long pointed object in the hole to push the channel buttons.   This was perfect for a Mame cab since the channel never changes.  

Anyway, you should be able to find a cheap TV if you dont need color picture-in-picture.