Tinted lexan over monitor/cp?

[AdamLotz]

Guys,

One thing that I don't really like about a lot of the projects I see online is that many of them still leave the monitor exposed for viewing in one way or another.  I'd prefer the monitor casing and bezel to be as "invisible" as possible.  I'm not quite done with my cabinet, but I'm getting down to some of the detail work now, and I had an idea...

I picked up some sheets of tinted lexan at home depot, and this seems to have some potential.  Unfortunately, the only thing they had had sort of a bronzeish/brownish tint to it.  I MIGHT be able to compensate for this by turning the color temperature of my monitor to be very blue, not sure yet.  But overall it seems to be a good effect.  Ditto with using it for the marquee - it "blacks out" the surface a bit when not in use, but still looks good lit up.

My next attempt will be to use regular window tint on the lexan instead, so I can get a nice smoke grey color with less brown.   Seems like it should be a cool effect, but we'll see what happens...

Anyone else tried it?  Results?

[RandyT]

Guys,

One thing that I don't really like about a lot of the projects I see online is that many of them still leave the monitor exposed for viewing in one way or another.  I'd prefer the monitor casing and bezel to be as "invisible" as possible.  I'm not quite done with my cabinet, but I'm getting down to some of the detail work now, and I had an idea...

I picked up some sheets of tinted lexan at home depot, and this seems to have some potential.  Unfortunately, the only thing they had had sort of a bronzeish/brownish tint to it.  I MIGHT be able to compensate for this by turning the color temperature of my monitor to be very blue, not sure yet.  But overall it seems to be a good effect.  Ditto with using it for the marquee - it "blacks out" the surface a bit when not in use, but still looks good lit up.

My next attempt will be to use regular window tint on the lexan instead, so I can get a nice smoke grey color with less brown.   Seems like it should be a cool effect, but we'll see what happens...

Anyone else tried it?  Results?

I have been advocating this one whenever given the chance

I have a 27" Svid television in my Defender cab.  Anyone who has tried to convert one of these cabs can tell you that a 27" won't fit in there easily.  Even without the case, the tube *just* fits in there.  This of course means no bezel.

So I called up the local plastics place and asked for some ~50/50 GREY tinted plexi.  The guy said that he had some darker stuff there, so I told him I'd take it sight unseen on the chance that it would work.  It wasn't cheap (about $28 cut to size).  

When I went down to pick it up, I was worried.  It was a LOT darker than I thought it was going to be, but I ordered it and had to take it.  But here's the cool thing.....I got it home, slapped it in the cab and I couldn't see "jack" with the CRT off.  Solid black.  Turned on the CRT and WOW!  The only tweaking I had to do was turn up the brightness on the CRT and adjust the color through the video cards controls (not much, just a little more red and blue to compensate for slight greenish cast of the plastic.)

It looks great!  It doesn't have eye-searing brightness, but that can't be good for you anyway .  A very nice, comfortable brightness for extended play sessions.  The real kick is going from horizontal to vertical games and never knowing that the CRT is in the wrong orientation.   On a 27", the vertical games look like a standard 19" CRT.

I recommend this method to anyone.  It's not 100% authentic, but I like this much better.  I hate to tell you this though.........I don't think the bronze will work very well.  The color cast will probably be more than you can tweak out.  Find some grey and you won't have any problems.

RandyT

[JustMichael]

What about applying automotive tinting to the lexan yourself?  Has anybody done this?

[RandyT]

What about applying automotive tinting to the lexan yourself?  Has anybody done this?

I haven't tried it for an Arcade cabinet, but for a different kind of visual display.  

It'd probably work ok, it's just tough to put that stuff on without getting bubbles or scratching the material.  You also have to be careful about the type of material you get.  The dark limo tint I put on my 78 Lincoln Continental has a decidedly purple cast to it.  It also comes in varying degrees of light transmission, so some trial and error would probably be in order to find the right one.

RandyT

[eightbit]

What about applying automotive tinting to the lexan yourself?  Has anybody done this?

Automotive tint would be much easier to apply to glass than plexi.

[rampy]

i believe someone has tried the do-it-yourself tinting for a cocktail application and it ended up looking like a beaterz

but it could just because they were amateur/hack rushjob tint applicators... but i doubt I could improve on it (but am tempted to try as I have a glass bezel cover)

rampy

[eightbit]

but it could just because they were amateur/hack rushjob tint applicators... but i doubt I could improve on it (but am tempted to try as I have a glass bezel cover)

A big advantage to glass is that if it doesn't turn out you can relatively easily peel it off. I'm not sure what would happen if you tried to get it off plexi. You certainly wouldn't be able to scrape it with a razor blade.

For my 2 cabs I taped off the screen area and painted the rest of the glass black on the back side. This is easily reversible if you change monitors or decide you don't like it. It does not give you the advantage of hiding the black side borders part of the screen when player vertical games though. It is fast, cheap, and easy, which is how I like it....  

[Searcher7]

As for using Lexan for marquees. If you're getting one screen-printed, is it best to use whilte or clear Lexan?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Searcher7@mail.con2.com

[eightbit]

Depends on your light source and your image. Some people prefer the white plexi behind it to help diffuse the light other people prefer it to be as bright as possible. The flourscent lights that I've used already had a white plastic diffuser on them which does a decent job.