Arcade Cabinet Glass - Tint or No Tint?

[ElKootcho]

I'm at the point of adding glass to my scratch built machine. Should I tint or not?

[deadkenndys1105]

I would tint personally.

[somunny]

I have one of each and I would say I definitely prefer tinted.

[DaOld Man]

How does one tint clear plexi?

[spacies]

How does one tint clear plexi?

Apply a car tint film to the back.

I prefer tinted by far.

[ElKootcho]

Apply a car tint film to the back.

[/quote]
I assume pep boys or similar is the place to get a cheap car tint kit?

[spacies]

Apply a car tint film to the back.

I assume pep boys or similar is the place to get a cheap car tint kit?
[/quote]

Not sure mate. I'm on the other side of the world so I have no idea who Pep Boys are.
You should be able to buy it from a glass shop, car parts retailer or a specialist car tinting company.

[FrizzleFried]

...buy tinted plexi.  Glass shops stock it. 

[Level42]

Apply a car tint film to the back.

That would be the worst option to choose.

You can get tinted glass in bronze and grey. If you want to go darker, plexi is your best bet. I just bought two pieces of Lucite Perspex, one for my Galaxian, on for my Star Wars.

Check it out here:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=62784.msg740986#msg740986

Color number is 923, but a good dealer should have a sample chain.

[spacies]

It probably is the worst option but I was just answering his question on how to tint plexi glass.

Glass is the best option but in some instances its not practical.

[javeryh]

Use tinted glass, not plexi.  I would definitely tint though - it looks WAY better, IMO.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I'm partial to either tinted with art applied to the top, or a sandwich of clear/art/tint from the top down.
That protects the art better, but still gives you the tint on the screen area without darkening the art.

[Knievel]

Arcade Monitor - Tint
PC Monitor - No Tint

In either case go for real glass.

[tommy]

How does one tint clear plexi?

You don't tint it yourself, you buy it tinted, it's made in the glass, it's not something that was put on.

If you go pick it up yourself you should definitely get real Glass, if it's being shipped get it in plexi or lexan.

Real glass is going to break if you get it shipped, believe me, i know.

[somunny]

Arcade Monitor - Tint
PC Monitor - No Tint

In either case go for real glass.

Any particular reason why?  I have tinted glass over a crt pc monitor and it looks great, IMO.

[Knievel]

This has been my experience..

I had tinted glass over the PC monitor on my Neon machine initially but I ended up changing it. I found it took away too much color/vibrancy. With all the picture controls on a PC monitor the tint isn't really required. You can get the same effect by fine tuning the monitor.

On a real arcade monitor the controls for the picture are usually quite limited. To get the nice bright colors you want you need to start cranking the contrast/brightness, then everything starts getting fuzzy and harsh. That's where the tinted glass really shines, gets rid of all that.

[BORIStheBLADE]

so do you guys turn up the brightness on the monitors alot or does it not take much to make bright enough with tinted glass?

[rockin_rick]

Another benefit of tint, IMO is that it hides the non-image stuff behind the glass, like the bezel of the monitor.  Makes it seem as if the image is the only thing under there.

Rick

[superbigjay]

real tinted glass too!

Also, like rockin_rick said, it will hide minor imperfections behind the glass.
Jay

[TOK]

Tinted, regardless of monitor type.

I also used the auto tint trick on an original non-tinted glass bezel that I wanted to save (due to the screened-on art). It's tricky to apply, but it has looked great for 2+ years.

[Jimbo]

S'cuse my ignorance, but can you get different grades of tint?  If so, what's the recommendation for an arcade monitor? I'd kick myself if I went too dark...

Cheers

[Wienerdog]

How does tinted glass look on an LCD?  I can understand turning the brightness up on a CRT, but that's proably not good for and LCD.  I've always liked the idea of tinted glass because then you can't see the side bars when you run a vertical game on a horizontal screen.  However, now that I'm using an LCD, I'm thinking it would be crazy to use tinted glass.

[javeryh]

How does tinted glass look on an LCD?  I can understand turning the brightness up on a CRT, but that's proably not good for and LCD.  I've always liked the idea of tinted glass because then you can't see the side bars when you run a vertical game on a horizontal screen.  However, now that I'm using an LCD, I'm thinking it would be crazy to use tinted glass.

I'm using tinted glass with a 19" Dell LCD on my current project and it looks amazing.

[fixedpigs]

Arcade Monitor - Tint
PC Monitor - No Tint

what about a television for a monitor...?

[Level42]

It probably is the worst option but I was just answering his question on how to tint plexi glass.

Glass is the best option but in some instances its not practical.

Indeed, and plexi comes in more colors, and even more important more grades of tint. So there's no real need to do tinting yourself, I guess the results will always be less quality then pre-tinted.

I would have chosen glass to replace my bezel on my Star Wars, but when I went to the glass dealer they told me that it would be impossible to get glass that is that darkly tinted. And I wanted it to stay as original as possible.

I guess it's also what your local supplier is carrying of course....

[superart]

edit

[More Cowbell]

I've used the plexi with after market tinting and it does the job but it doesn't look very good. Tinted glass has been the hardest thing for me to come by in this hobby. I did some calling around to glass shops in my area (Chicago suburbs) and found that a roughly 2'x2' piece of tinted glass runs about $40. I got lucky recently at the Milwaukee auction and won a huge pile (something like 60 pieces) of tinted glass and plexi for $15. Some of it was usable and some of it wasn't. I've been able to use 4 pieces so far in projects which would have been $160 had I bought through the glass place. I expect I'll be able to use another 7-8 pieces. You never know where that next deal will be.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I'd kick myself if I went too dark...

I've never seen tinted glass/plexi that was too dark for use on an arcade cabinet.
Ask for the darkest stuff they have, and you should be fine.
That is assuming that their darkest is dark enough.
I've been to some places that didn't carry the dark tint, just medium and light.

Anybody else seen any glass that was too dark?

[TOK]

How does tinted glass look on an LCD?  I can understand turning the brightness up on a CRT, but that's proably not good for and LCD.  I've always liked the idea of tinted glass because then you can't see the side bars when you run a vertical game on a horizontal screen.  However, now that I'm using an LCD, I'm thinking it would be crazy to use tinted glass.

Tinted plexi w/19" LCD.

[knave]

If glass is hard to find in the correct tint would it be worth it to use clear glass with Tinted Plexi under it?  I'm just thinking this would keep your plexi from getting all scratched over time.

[TOK]

I don't think scratching plexi is a huge issue for home use. I have tinted plexi over my vert cabinet and I'm just very careful about cleaning it with a damp rag to avoid swirls, etc. Not sure if all tinted plastic is the same, but I was surprised how dark the stuff I got actually is. Had to turn the brightness up on the monitor a bit to get it looking good.

[ElKootcho]

I'll be tinting over a TV monitor. So is darker tint better?

[Wade]

It is definitely possible to have too much tint, especially when using a newer monitors because they almost always have a dark colored tube to begin with (versus the old tubes found in classic games, which were much lighter colored).

I have some plexi that is too far on the dark side.  I used it on a Simpsons mini cabinet and I had to REALLY crank up the screen control to get the monitor bright enough to look decent through the tint.  It is darker than all the tinted tempered glass that came original on some of my arcade games.

I have a pretty good sized stack of used tinted plexi, probably 8-10 sheets large enough for most arcade games, someone make me an offer (it will be fairly heavy/expensive to ship though).

Personally, I think tinted monitor glass/plexi is generally cheap and cheesey looking.  Tint was mostly used on classics back when the tubes were not tinted.  Modern games have tinted tubes and RARELY have tinted glass.

Wade

[Level42]

I'd kick myself if I went too dark...

I've never seen tinted glass/plexi that was too dark for use on an arcade cabinet.
Ask for the darkest stuff they have, and you should be fine.
That is assuming that their darkest is dark enough.
I've been to some places that didn't carry the dark tint, just medium and light.

Anybody else seen any glass that was too dark?

The darkest stuff would be completely black, guess you don't want to put that in front of your monitor 

There are HEAPS of colors available. Most are NOT transparant. But for those that are, there are some color options and at least various shades. Check this out (and this is just one manufacturer:

http://www.lucitesolutions.com/remote/viewdocument.cfm?documentFile=000%5F%2D%5FColour%5FSelector%5Fcopy1%2Epdf

I used color 923 (page 4 has the transparent colors on the left) which seems the darkest available there. It looks very good on my Galaxian. The original even was a little bit darker, but this can also be because of aging of course).

Also, there are various thicknesses available: 3mm, 5mm and I thin 8 mm. I guess the thicker the darker.
I got 3mm for both my Galaxian and my Star Wars. The thinner the cheaper of course, but less sturdy. However, you're not going to bang the plexi on your precious cab are you ? Also, the plexi on the SW is almost vertical positioned so it won't bend or anything....

[btp2k2]

I went with clear on my cabinet, and I am wishing I went smoked.....having seen the differences....next one will be smoked for sure.

[metahacker]

definitely tint.




i tend to think my picture actually looks better with it but i think its just my imagination since the cab is so much cooler tinted

it at least conceals the un-authenticly flat crt that's in there now.  the bezel is now optional which is nice since it no longer fits without trimming

[Wienerdog]

I've used the plexi with after market tinting and it does the job but it doesn't look very good. Tinted glass has been the hardest thing for me to come by in this hobby. I did some calling around to glass shops in my area (Chicago suburbs) and found that a roughly 2'x2' piece of tinted glass runs about $40. I got lucky recently at the Milwaukee auction and won a huge pile (something like 60 pieces) of tinted glass and plexi for $15. Some of it was usable and some of it wasn't. I've been able to use 4 pieces so far in projects which would have been $160 had I bought through the glass place. I expect I'll be able to use another 7-8 pieces. You never know where that next deal will be.

I heard that Bolingbrook Glass was a good source, but I haven't called them yet.

[SlammedNiss]

How does one tint clear plexi?

Apply a car tint film to the back.

I prefer tinted by far.

Window films will not stick to plastic. The plastic out-gases, and the tint will end up bubbling. If you go with plexi, just get it smoked to begin with.

If you have clear glass, and decide to get it tinted, you'll have to use a 35%-20% smoked film. Make sure it is non-metallized, or it will have a semi-refective appearance.

[Spyridon]

I'll be tinting over a TV monitor. So is darker tint better?

Didn't see a response to this question.  I'm putting mine over a TV as well.  How dark can you go with a TV?

[tophatne1]

I'll be tinting over a TV monitor. So is darker tint better?

Didn't see a response to this question.  I'm putting mine over a TV as well.  How dark can you go with a TV?