Mirror Displays

[lloydcom]

Hi,

I last posted about losing the plot on an arcade cabinet I was constructing by breaking every rule in the book about building arcade cabinets.

I bought an X Arcade 2 player jobbie recently and modified the cabinet to house it.  I wanted it to retract the X arcade when not in use but it looks like it would interfere with the monitor housing. Thus my question.

I remember Space Invaders being mirrored displayed and Operation Wolf and Discs of Tron so I wondered if I could do the same with a VGA monitor. 

Since MAME allows reversing of the screen, and I don't feel happy about changing the wires inside the monitor, it looks like the perfect idea, as I don't really have the room for the monitor.

What types of mirrors are available and can I use magnified mirrors to boost the game field.  I'm not talking about those lenses that were on the Mach3 Cockpit (made you sick after a while), but the actual mirror.

What is the best way to tackle this.  I also looked at getting a cheap LCD but again I have a weight issue.

Thanks in advance.

[rackoon]

I'm building a cocktail table and have a 27" monitor. I wanted to use a mirror to make the screen upright when I'm playing driving games.

I made a few posts about this six months ago. Check it out it might help. I don't think there was a solution though. I think we are in open waters on this one.

I even played around with some mirrors on my TV to try and get the angle right. I gave up and decided to work on it later.

As for magnification, I see a guy on eBay that sells TV projector kits that turn you small TV into a big screen with stuff from your hardware store. AlthoughI never bought the plans so I don't know how its done.

Anyway Good luck, if you find a solution I bet I will to.

[RandyT]

When optics and electronics collide ....


Here's a few things to think about in no particular order;

The monitor must be close to face up.  In a cocktail game there's not much choice, but this isn't the most preferred way to mount a CRT.  The reason is that the phosphor on the inside of the CRT face will, over time, drop off and get clogged into the tube filaments and eventually cause them to short.  This usually takes a while to occur, but it definitely happens and causes the death (or at least service) of a monitor faster than other orientations.

The mirror will want to be a first surface mirror to avoid double images.  An uncoated surface of polished glass will kick back about 2% of the brightness of the image, so a rear surface mirror could give you a slightly offset ghost around the image.

The mirror would probably be at a 45 degree angle with the screen just below the bottom edge.  This will get the image as large and close to you as possible. but will have the disadvantage of being able to look down and see the monitor.  You could bury the monitor lower in the cabinet, but it will appear smaller and further away.  You can also experiment with the angles of both the monitor and the mirror, but think "periscope" and keep the mirror at 45 degrees to the monitor face and angle them as a pair.

And to make your Windows screen readable, you will probably want the screen to be mirrored at all times.  Usually a quick mod to the monitor (professionals only!) or the right video card / driver can make this happen.

Did I miss anything?

RandyT

[Chris]

I know at least one BYOAC'er has done it, because I put a "flipped" mode and skin in DOSCab/Wincab Jukebox to support it.  But I believe he was using a Space Invaders cabinet so the mirror was already present.  I'll see if I can find the project in my notes.

--Chris