Tinted Glass to cover the monitor?

[Rhetro]

Hello everyone!

I refurbing my cabinet and was thinking about replacing the glass that I have covering the monitor.

I remember some games having a smoked, or tinted glass. I think one of them was Tempest? Maybe a few others.
I remember it having a great effect because the tint didn't seem to distort the colors (although this may have been limited to vector games).  It made the bezel vanish so the only thing you were looking at was the information be thrown at you on the screen.

Not sure if this is in my imagination or not. Does anyone know for sure?
If so, what type of glass, or kind etc.

Thanks in advance!

Take it easy!

[nipsmg]

I don't know about specific commercial arcade games, but I personally used smoked tempered glass in my cabinet, and it was the best move I made.  

The images are crystal clear and the bezel all but disappears.  I love it.

--NipsMG

[Witchboard]

Is your smoked glass gray or brown?

[nipsmg]

I believe gray.. -- but don't quote me on that..

[Rhetro]

Woah! Kick ass!

Where did you have it made!? I'll be doing the same thing.

What about the non vector graphic games? (filled in type...for lack of a better word, what is it anyway, Raster?)

As I was saying, I guess it has to be a certain type, huh?

And gray, brown, black?

Where do I start?

Thanks gentlemen!

[Witchboard]

I believe gray..

Sorry, just had to do it.  

[megashock5]

I'm getting ready to MAME on old Galaga3 cab, which is not a vector game, and it has grey smoked glass as part of the cabinet.

So it must be okay on games that aren't vector, at least it seems that way. I'm planning on using a tv for the display, not an old arcade monitor, would the grey glass still be a good idea to use?

[RayB]

The "effect" of using smoked glass over the monitor is best with games that have a black background. This way, everything disappears except the game objects.

Crystal Castles is a raster game and it had a dark smoked plexi. (And it too is a game with the main game elements floating on a black background).

I think it looks pretty classy to have it.

[fredster]

A lot of old games had that glass.  About every midway cocktail had it, lots of uprights including Pacman, qbert, etc.

It hides the monitor etc like you guys are talking about.  It also hides screen burn in.  

I don't know where you get it.  That piece of glass costs $15-25 on Ebay.

[FoX]

There were some good comparison pics and discussion on this in the FAQ.

Unfortunately I cant seem to access it right now

[rchadd]

About every midway cocktail had it

i am about to build a cocktail cab and currently thinking what glass to get. so would welcome some advice...

is there a difference between smoked and tinted glass?

did the midway cabs have tinted glass just covering the monitor, or was the whole table top glass tinted?

should i get tinted glass for the whole table top, or just enough to cover the monitor and then clear for the table top? Does the tinting affect the appearance of any underlay graphics?

what color is best? greyed or bronzed (assume this is same as brown)?

i don't really like the very dark tinted tops that many others have used. I hope that a lightly tinted glass will be ok to give good monitor display?

[RayB]

I'm not 100% sure what the Midway cocktails were like, but my GUESS based on memory and photos, is that they were clear glass, with a smoked plexi underneath. The reason I assume this is that these cabs usually have very clearly visible artwork either as an underlay or screened on the back of the glass.

Now Atari cocktail do exactly what I described above. It's clear glass with artwork screened on the back, but where the monitor is there's a small square sheet of dark plexi.

[MikeAlex]

Do not use brown. I used it and it distorts the colours . Switching to grey tinted plexiglass as fast as I can.