Monitor Glass/Bezel consensus

[dema]

After reading up extensively for the past several hours I have learned a lot about what apparrently is the best route for the monitor glass. I bought a Happs bezel, which doesn't fit the width of my cabinet by an inch or two, but I intend to mount wood supports to hold it in place, and I'll use smoked plexiglass to conceal everything. I decided to go with the plexiglass to start and see how well that holds up over time. If that doesn't work to my liking I'll eventually move over to smoked tempered glass.

My question is what is the consensus on how to display bezel art when using smoked glass/plexi? I need to have some art/instructions in the bezel area because I intentionally widened the width of the cabinet to give more room, and it looks naked without anything on the sides. I thought of attaching the bezel art to the smoked plexi and then covering that with a thin layer of clear plexi, but I don't know if that will make the picture look like crap. I'd rather not leave the bezel art exposed because it leaves itself open to being weathered through use or wandering fingers.

I was thinking if the image doesn't suffer through two layers of plexi I'd use 1/4" smoked and 1/8" clear.

How does everyone else here with smoked plexiglass display bezel art?

[Stingray]

I thought of attaching the bezel art to the smoked plexi and then covering that with a thin layer of clear plexi, but I don't know if that will make the picture look like crap.

That's what I do. No picture distortion at all.

-S

[itguy]

You might want to try 1/8 inch plexi for both layers.  1/8 inch gray plexi was plenty stiff to cover my 27" monitor.  If you're going with two layers, then IMO you might not need the 1/4 plexi.

[dema]

If there isn't any visual distortion then that is the route I might go.

[paigeoliver]

If that Happ bezel is too small for your cabinet then you are running a cabinet too big for the monitor that is in it. I have installed new bezels on multiple occassions, they always need to be cut down quite a bit.

[dema]

If that Happ bezel is too small for your cabinet then you are running a cabinet too big for the monitor that is in it. I have installed new bezels on multiple occassions, they always need to be cut down quite a bit.

The bezel is just a tad too small on the width, like an inch or two, total. I wanted my cabinet to be wide enough so that I can avoid rubbing shoulders with the second player, because I'm a tall guy and my friends are tall and big. The cabinet is only 30 inches wide, so it's not massive, and I was thinking of a bigger tv, but I was worried that a bigger tv would make it difficult to absorb all the action from such a short distance.

[paigeoliver]

Ok, what size TV is it? (Oh and PLEASE say you took the TV out of the case, the bezel doesn't match up if you don't and you might as well have not bought one).

[dema]

Ok, what size TV is it? (Oh and PLEASE say you took the TV out of the case, the bezel doesn't match up if you don't and you might as well have not bought one).

It's a 27 inch tv, still in the case, and the bezel does not match up. However, I'm building a cabinet for my brother as well and I'll just give it to him, or I'll sell it. It was only $12 so it's not an expensive mistake. I plan on using smoked plexiglass so it should be able to hide the fact that the bezel doesn't look right, or I'll just abandon the bezel altogether.