Author Topic: Using smoked plexiglas - Hey RandyT! (Read 27478 times)

OSCAR · « **on:** February 04, 2003, 07:59:42 pm »

I knew you would reply anyway, so I figured I'd just get your attention first.

I was getting ready to buy something to go over the monitor on the cabinet I'm working on when I read a post you wrote about using a dark smoked plexi. I figured I'd give it a shot since you were pretty happy with the results.

I had no idea how good it would look! I'm pretty happy I decided to go with a smoked plexi instead of just standard glass. The games & colors looks so much better. The funny thing is that I thought they looked great before, I didn't know what I was missing, but that tends to be the case unless you actually do a A-B type test.... Check out this link to see what I did, along with a couple more pics. For reference, the monitor shown here is a W-G 9100 powered by an Asus GeForce 2. The same exact camera settings were used in the comparison shots.

Macros · « **Reply #1 on:** February 04, 2003, 08:48:45 pm »

Hmm, wouldn't turning down the screen or brightness pot have a similar affect? The picture without the smoked plexi looks a little bit too bright for my taste, which is washing out the colours. The whites are blooming as well which means the contrast is probably set too high. If that control is available I would turn that down. Or maybe I've spent too much time calibrating my projector with Avia.

OSCAR · « **Reply #2 on:** February 04, 2003, 08:57:15 pm »

Quote from: Macros on February 04, 2003, 08:48:45 pm

Hmm, wouldn't turning down the screen or brightness pot have a similar affect? The picture without the smoked plexi looks a little bit too bright for my taste, which is washing out the colours. The whites are blooming as well which means the contrast is probably set too high. If that control is available I would turn that down. Or maybe I've spent too much time calibrating my projector with Avia.

Well, that was kinda my point. It *didn't* look too bright or washed out before I made comparison photos. Before I took any pictures, the monitor without the smoked plexi looked fine. I also took the photos in a completely dark room with the monitor producing the only light, and that likely makes it look like the monitor is too bright, but it doesn't seem that way when there is ambient light in the room. Could you get the same effect by playing with the monitor controls? Most likely, but then Windows and other apps look funny when I did so.

I should probably add that a photo comparison probably isn't the best way to show the difference between these. Rather than a difference in brightness/color/contrast, it seems more like a filter effect has been applied that cleans up the image. Actually, it's exactly like that, since that is essentially what it does. Many arcade games used a smoked glass for this same reason. If the same effect could be gained from adjusting the monitor, I'm sure they would have done that, but that's just my opinion.

eightbit · « **Reply #3 on:** February 04, 2003, 09:26:42 pm »

Oscar it looks good.

The other advantage to using plexi is that it hides your monitor bezel and when you play vertical games you can't tell your not using the whole screen.

ashardin · « **Reply #4 on:** February 04, 2003, 10:04:45 pm »

This looks like a good solution to me. I've been wrestling with making my custom bezel look right, and it never has. Where can you get the smoked plexi???

OSCAR · « **Reply #5 on:** February 04, 2003, 10:44:57 pm »

Eightbit, yes I agree, it makes vertical games on a horizontal monitor not look quite so bad. It would look even better if I had a larger monitor in the cab, though.

Ashardin, I got mine at a lumberyard. They had a decent selection of plexiglas there, better than the Home Depot here in town.

BTW, I've uploaded a few more comparison pics. After playing a few different games now, I see that the Galaga pic isn't the best representation.

www.oscarcontrols.com/smoked

Sasquatch! · « **Reply #6 on:** February 04, 2003, 10:47:17 pm »

Well, I know what I'm going to use for MY next bezel!

Thanks for the write-up and comparison pics, OSCAR.

CthulhuLuke · « **Reply #7 on:** February 05, 2003, 02:25:33 am »

Wow, that's kind of a bizarre thing to have such a vast improvement on the picture, but it truly does look better, like the colors and such. I wonder if it would do the same with a computer monitor and an s-video inputed television? *Hint hint*
-Cool discovery
-Chu Chu

The Man · « **Reply #8 on:** February 05, 2003, 09:49:45 am »

Quote from: OSCAR on February 04, 2003, 07:59:42 pm

I knew you would reply anyway, so I figured I'd just get your attention first.

I was getting ready to buy something to go over the monitor on the cabinet I'm working on when I read a post you wrote about using a dark smoked plexi. I figured I'd give it a shot since you were pretty happy with the results.

I had no idea how good it would look! I'm pretty happy I decided to go with a smoked plexi instead of just standard glass. The games & colors looks so much better. The funny thing is that I thought they looked great before, I didn't know what I was missing, but that tends to be the case unless you actually do a A-B type test.... Check out this link to see what I did, along with a couple more pics. For reference, the monitor shown here is a W-G 9100 powered by an Asus GeForce 2. The same exact camera settings were used in the comparison shots.

Sorry I didn't see the descustion about this before.

My DigDug cocktail machine has tinted plexi on it. I'm not sure what the original was made out of, but it started to bubble and looked like crap. I went to a plastic fabricator and had them make me a replica of the original using smoked plexi.

Your pictures are very accurate to the results I got when I removed the original plexi that was in the machine. That's what prompted me to get something to replace it.

Sorry I didn't see the post before or I would had said something.

TM

Rocky · « **Reply #9 on:** February 05, 2003, 11:49:13 am »

I'll add my agreement that tinting really makes it look better. My cabinet came with a piece of smoked glass, so I decided to incorportate it in my plans. It is hard to describe the difference between just turning down the brightness on the monitor. It cuts the glare. It hides the outline of the monitor case.

Now I just have to seal it a little better so I don't have to keep taking it off to clean the dust off of it

Rocky

Smack · « **Reply #10 on:** February 05, 2003, 04:33:48 pm »

I've got tinted glass on my cocktail cab too.

It really does make things look minter. (how's that, I made up a word.)

Makes my beater EYGO look great.

But let me tell you, 2 Oscar spinners really dress up the cab... (free shameless Oscar plug.)

word.
Smack

Warborg · « **Reply #11 on:** February 05, 2003, 04:56:27 pm »

Hmm, I might have to give this a shot myself... Replace the glass in my Showcase with some smoked plexi, see how it works for an S-Video TV instead of an arcade monitor...

One question is will it interfere with the IR signal of the remote? Only time will tell...

RandyT · « **Reply #12 on:** February 05, 2003, 04:57:30 pm »

Quote from: OSCAR on February 04, 2003, 07:59:42 pm

I knew you would reply anyway, so I figured I'd just get your attention first.

I was getting ready to buy something to go over the monitor on the cabinet I'm working on when I read a post you wrote about using a dark smoked plexi. I figured I'd give it a shot since you were pretty happy with the results.

I had no idea how good it would look! I'm pretty happy I decided to go with a smoked plexi instead of just standard glass. The games & colors looks so much better. The funny thing is that I thought they looked great before, I didn't know what I was missing, but that tends to be the case unless you actually do a A-B type test.... Check out this link to see what I did, along with a couple more pics. For reference, the monitor shown here is a W-G 9100 powered by an Asus GeForce 2. The same exact camera settings were used in the comparison shots.

See? I can't be wrong ALL the time

Nice job on the pics! You show the effect very well. You could stand in front of that all day long and not have to rub your eyes once.

The reason you don't get the same effect by turning your monitor down is that the black levels of the CRT really don't change much when you do that unless you turn the brightness down REALLY low. And then your foreground images get dull and ugly.

The same concept is applied in the LCD world. Except they use a thin film and call it "contrast enhancement". Most high-brightness LCDs have poor black levels, so this kind of thing is required for a lot of applications.

The only thing you have to watch out for is a slight color shift, depending on the acrylic used. This can usually be brought back to perfect using the video card's color tweakers in the advanced screen properties section.

Warborg: It has the same effect regardless of monitor type, and the darke plexi only cuts visible light. IR goes right through it for a remote.

I think we're about to see some converts......

RandyT

dhansen · « **Reply #13 on:** February 05, 2003, 06:11:46 pm »

Hey Oscar,

Are you using that brownish colored plexi? I have smoked glass on my cocktail and horizontal upright but I haven't been able to find plexi with the same tint. I can post some pics of my glass against a white background if you could post a pic of the smoked plexi by itself.

Doug

Lilwolf · « **Reply #14 on:** February 05, 2003, 07:19:56 pm »

Funny... I was going to post a question about this.

I have a funky piece of glass I want to use for my hope to start soon cocktail table.

I was considering buying the stick on tint for car glass for it. Would this work? Think it would be as good?

Is there any cheaper ways to get the tint?

thanks

Generic Eric · « **Reply #15 on:** February 05, 2003, 08:55:04 pm »

I just realized thats what we use at work. I work in a Network operations center, and we have this ungodly large 4 person console. The damn thing is huge, but only two people have enough elbow room. Anywho, we use it at work. Its helpful, I will use it when I build an arcade cabinet.

By the way, how much does smoked plexi cost?

OSCAR · « **Reply #16 on:** February 05, 2003, 08:58:42 pm »

Doug, If I had to try to put a color on it, I would almost say a shade of green. I've seen the brownish colored stuff you mentioned, but this isn't it. The tint on mine was actually called Transparent Gray. I'm not sure what the brownish stuff is called.

I've updated www.oscarcontrols.com/smoked with a couple of new pics to show the tint better. Just let me know if there are any other pics you'd like to see.

CthulhuLuke, the monitor I'm using this with (W-G D9100) really is more of a computer monitor than anything else. I'd say that you should get very similar results to what I've shown with a PC monitor, too.

Yeah, Randy, I'd say I'm a convert now, too! I don't see why I would use anything different after trying this. So far I can't find any disadvantage to using it, and the advantages are shown in the pics.

OSCAR · « **Reply #17 on:** February 05, 2003, 09:08:08 pm »

Quote from: Lilwolf on February 05, 2003, 07:19:56 pm

Funny... I was going to post a question about this.

I have a funky piece of glass I want to use for my hope to start soon cocktail table.

I was considering buying the stick on tint for car glass for it. Would this work? Think it would be as good?

Is there any cheaper ways to get the tint?

thanks

Lilwolf, I'm not sure how the automotive stick on stuff would work. I've never used it before, but it normally doesn't look too good on cars I've seen it on. But that could all be due to the application of it, too. I only needed a 24" x 24" piece for my monitor opening, and I could only use 1/8" thick because of the distance between the monitor bezel and the glass retainer. I would have really liked to go a bit thicker, but I got lazy and didn't want to remount my glass retainers to pick up another 1/8". I'm sure that the thicker you go with this stuff, the darker it gets. My glass retainers hold this sheet tightly in place against the Happ bezel, so I'm not worried about it rattling around or flexing. BTW, this sheet cost me about $17. I actually bought it a while ago, I just didn't get a chance to install it until yesterday!

Ted_Striker · « **Reply #18 on:** February 06, 2003, 08:44:11 am »

The cabinet I used for my machine had both glass and smoked plexi. each layer 1/8 in. Glass first then plexi. I use a pc monitor (21" and it was free....) as my display and the results are the same as Oscar's pictures. It is the only way to go. On mine it basically hides everything. The game looks like it is "hovering" in the middle of the cabinet. You can't see the monitor or bezel (happs bezel in my cabinet). Games with black backgrounds (DK, Galaga, and Robotron my fav's.) look excellent. The plexi blocks "the edges" of picture you see on a monitor. The image is just "there". I can't see how people who use bright display sources (tv/arcade monitor) can tolerate looking at their screens for long times without the smoked plexi. Very easy on the eyes.
Actually I didn't realize that most people weren't using it.

Ok I ramble. Smoke plexi looks great on PC monitor just like it does on Oscar's pics...

Brax · « **Reply #19 on:** February 06, 2003, 10:06:12 am »

The only problem I have with my smoked glass is that in some games it is more difficult to see the outgoing and incoming "fire".

Asteroids and Galaga in particular are more difficult. Maybe I need to increase my brightness but i did notice a big difference.

RandyT · « **Reply #20 on:** February 06, 2003, 10:37:02 am »

Quote from: Brax on February 06, 2003, 10:06:12 am

The only problem I have with my smoked glass is that in some games it is more difficult to see the outgoing and incoming "fire".

Asteroids and Galaga in particular are more difficult. Maybe I need to increase my brightness but i did notice a big difference.

I don't see the effect you mentioned on mine.

You probably do need to adjust the brightness. Every monitor is going to be a little different in this regard. The key is to set the controls of your CRT so that a black background remains invisible, while getting the foreground as bright as possible without washing the colors out.

RandyT

x-wing · « **Reply #21 on:** February 06, 2003, 07:29:12 pm »

Quote from: Lilwolf on February 05, 2003, 07:19:56 pm

Is there any cheaper ways to get the tint?

Sunglasses. Gas station, $2.99.

Animeka · « **Reply #22 on:** February 07, 2003, 06:34:47 pm »

Quote from: Warborg on February 05, 2003, 04:56:27 pm

Hmm, I might have to give this a shot myself... Replace the glass in my Showcase with some smoked plexi, see how it works for an S-Video TV instead of an arcade monitor...

One question is will it interfere with the IR signal of the remote? Only time will tell...

That's what I did on my cab, smoked gray (there's also a brown tint available, that's what was on cabinet originaly) and with a 21" JVC tv on it, works A1. remote and all

ITrek · « **Reply #23 on:** February 07, 2003, 06:59:29 pm »

So where the heck can you buy smoked plexi? Can't find it anywhere.

eightbit · « **Reply #24 on:** February 09, 2003, 08:05:05 pm »

Most home depots should carry it.

romid · « **Reply #25 on:** February 09, 2003, 09:01:07 pm »

Both the home depots near me said they are getting rid of their smoked plexi glass. All they have left is 1/8" thick...

This isnt nearly thick enough, am I right? I feel like I need 1/2 inch or something-- but that would be too expensive.

What size are you all using and how well is it working? Is the plexiglass just for show? and if someone pushed on it it would just bend and fall into the cabinet?

thanks!

mattudland · « **Reply #26 on:** February 09, 2003, 09:19:47 pm »

Well, I bought smoked plexi today at home depot and had them cut it for me, it was going out and was on sale for 8 bucks a sheet. My cuts were pretty large for a 25 inch monitor, but the trick is to have a frame painted black as the bezel around the monitor, that way the plexi (which is plenty strong) has support... I can take a picture of what I mean with my cab if you want it. Just post and let me know.

- Matt

romid · « **Reply #27 on:** February 10, 2003, 01:23:42 am »

How thick was the plexiglass you bought?

mattudland · « **Reply #28 on:** February 10, 2003, 02:10:06 am »

The stuff I picked up was really quite thin, maybe 1/4 or even 1/8 inch. I didn't want it so thick it got hard to see through, and with my system of resting it against a black bezel base there is no worry if it breaking.... it's durable and man oh man does it help the screen color, I really had to see it to believe it.

romid · « **Reply #29 on:** February 10, 2003, 02:24:07 pm »

How about everyone else? What thickness plexiglass did you all use?

RandyT · « **Reply #30 on:** February 10, 2003, 02:32:19 pm »

Quote from: romid on February 10, 2003, 02:24:07 pm

How about everyone else? What thickness plexiglass did you all use?

1/4"

The stuff is priced by volume, so 1/4" is going to cost more. I paid $24 cut right to size for me (lazy

) Just look in the phone book under "plastics".

RandyT

romid · « **Reply #31 on:** February 10, 2003, 02:57:43 pm »

the area that my plexiglass will need to cover is about 2.5 feet by 2 feet-- it seems to me that if i put in 1/4 inch thick plexiglass, someone can just push the middle of it and it will fall through...How are you guys dealing with making sure it stays in place?

RandyT · « **Reply #32 on:** February 10, 2003, 05:11:06 pm »

Quote from: romid on February 10, 2003, 02:57:43 pm

the area that my plexiglass will need to cover is about 2.5 feet by 2 feet-- it seems to me that if i put in 1/4 inch thick plexiglass, someone can just push the middle of it and it will fall through...How are you guys dealing with making sure it stays in place?

I'm guessing you don't have much experience with plexi

1/4" doesn't flex much at all. It's a pretty hard material, which means it can shatter, but it also means it's rigid. The piece I used was 2x2, and hardly moves when pushed on. If you had a 1/4" deep slot on both sides of the material, you have to bend it so far to pop it out that it would probably break first. But to be safe, hold it by 3/8" on a side, given the extra width.

Now, 1/8" is a different story. A backer of some sort is probably in order for this thickness.

RandyT

DJ Gary-N · « **Reply #33 on:** February 10, 2003, 09:42:49 pm »

I'm Using a 1/4" thick 24" x 24" piece of smoked lexan instead of plexiglass for my MP3 jukebox (Virtual Jukebox)(Another Plug) in front of a LCD flat screen monitor. and it makes a big difference. Cuts glare down damaticly. However lexan does cost more. about $40.00 for the sheet I bought (That's including cutting it to size)

Lexan is tougher and more resistant to cracking. You can make 90 degree bends in it with a sheetmetal brake without it breaking.

If you heat up Lexan, you can even bent it entirely in half without it breaking.

bionicbadger · « **Reply #34 on:** February 10, 2003, 10:13:52 pm »

How does the smoked plexi/lexan look with vector games? Is it too dark? Usually the vector games are pretty dim for me, and I'm worried if I go with something like this it will be even worse...

OSCAR · « **Reply #35 on:** February 10, 2003, 10:18:50 pm »

Quote from: romid on February 09, 2003, 09:01:07 pm

What size are you all using and how well is it working? Is the plexiglass just for show? and if someone pushed on it it would just bend and fall into the cabinet?

Mine is 1/8" thick, but is very well supported. I have it sitting on a shelf, runners going full length both sides, and it is kept from moving because it is trapped behind the marquee speaker board and the rear of the control panel. I have a Happ bezel behind it, so that also adds extra support.

This method of installing the front glass seems to be common on arcade machines, and the best part is that you don't need to mess with any tools or hardware to remove it. Flip up the control panel and you can have the plexi and bezel off in seconds. Here are a couple of screen grabs from my cad file to show what I'm talking about (the pink in the first shot is the plexi).

You can see the plexi supports in some of the photos here: http://www.oscarcontrols.com/unnamed/.

canardo · « **Reply #36 on:** February 11, 2003, 08:01:31 am »

wow that really is a marked improvement I know what sort of plexi I am going to be getting for the cab I currently constructing

Hopefully will be able to pick up a piece in the UK

Bursk · « **Reply #37 on:** February 11, 2003, 12:30:45 pm »

Quote from: mattudland on February 09, 2003, 09:19:47 pm

Well, I bought smoked plexi today at home depot and had them cut it for me, it was going out and was on sale for 8 bucks a sheet. My cuts were pretty large for a 25 inch monitor, but the trick is to have a frame painted black as the bezel around the monitor, that way the plexi (which is plenty strong) has support... I can take a picture of what I mean with my cab if you want it. Just post and let me know.

- Matt

Hey mattudland, I'd be grateful if you could post a picture. I'm curious as to how much of the case on your monitor i.e. the white part, is covered by the black bezel, and how much is actually covered by the plexiglas.

If you put smoked plexiglas over the white of the monitor case, does it really hide all the white? I was picturing myself having to build a black bezel that covered the entire white area of my monitor, leaving only the glass showing, but maybe I won't need to do that though (although I'll still need a bezel to support the plexi, right?)

Thanks a lot

SNAAAKE · « **Reply #38 on:** February 11, 2003, 12:51:07 pm »

i have a question for everyone who knows about this..

FIRST,how much do these smoked plexi cost..?
is it a lot?

WHERE can i get..anyone from NYC(Randy T maybe?)?

Can you really not see anything inside the cabinet?
anyone got any pictures that shows installed smoked plexi that shows that you REALLY cant see anything inside cabinet?

thanks in advance for any answers/reply.

mattudland · « **Reply #39 on:** February 11, 2003, 01:40:10 pm »

Sure when I get home tonight I'll take pictures. My setup is similar to the one shown above. I have both a cardboard-like bezel for the inside that is sprayed black, then a wooden bezel to frame the plexi so it won't get pushed onto my 25 inch monitor.

The plexi realliy does help a lot, not just because it helps mask the edges of a monitor, but also because the picture really REALLY looks a ton better.

As for cost, like i said mine was on clearance at Home Depot, so maybe go check it out there. They'll even cut it for you for free...

- Matt


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