Mounting an LCD sideways?

[MPTech]

I've been thinking about this for awhile, and just want to see if it's possible and if there would be any issues.

I built my cab almost 2 years ago and really like it, but in retrospect, I've regretted installing a 25" TV.  The size is fine ( I can't imagine installing a 17" or even a 19" monitor, it would seem too small) but when playing Pinball or PC games, the resolution is disappointing.  I'm running 800 x 600.  I've tried higher, but there is no improvement with the TV.

What I've considered is mounting a 27" - 30" LCD sideways.  This would give me the resolution I'm missing and would be better for the Pinball games with a portrait layout and some of the MAME games are vertically oriented too (PacMan, Donkey Kong, Galaga, 1942, and a few others). I know my current video card allows you to rotate the display but will I have a problem with the resolutions being out of synch? ie if it's 1280 x 768, can it support 768 x 1280??  Will it stretch games vertically or will it have black bars top & bottom?

Any downside to my imagination of a vertically mounted LCD?

[TOK]

I don't know about on a TV, but I just tried this on my 21" Samsung PC LCD with no issues. I took a horizontal game and played it horizontally, then rotated it vertically. There are black bars at the top and bottom in vert mode, but it doesn't corrupt the display of the game. A tinted bezel would hide the bars.

The other thing I would add is that for the price of the LCD you're considering, you could probably build a dedicated vert cab with a CRT.

[javeryh]

I mounted my LCD vertically and it works beautifully.  I still play horozontal games on it (with the black bars) but it was not my original intent.

Is there even such a thing as a 4:3 (or 5:4) LCD monitor in the 27-30" range?

[Santoro]

I mounted my LCD vertically and it works beautifully.  I still play horozontal games on it (with the black bars) but it was not my original intent.

Is there even such a thing as a 4:3 (or 5:4) LCD monitor in the 27-30" range?

Doubtful, I looked a lot.

[javeryh]

I mounted my LCD vertically and it works beautifully.  I still play horozontal games on it (with the black bars) but it was not my original intent.

Is there even such a thing as a 4:3 (or 5:4) LCD monitor in the 27-30" range?

Doubtful, I looked a lot.

That's what I thought... it would be pretty sweet though.

[csa3d]

I mounted my LCD vertically and it works beautifully.  I still play horozontal games on it (with the black bars) but it was not my original intent.

Is there even such a thing as a 4:3 (or 5:4) LCD monitor in the 27-30" range?

Doubtful, I looked a lot.

Agreed, I settled in a 20.3 4:3 Viewsonic.. and it was way more expensive then 16:9 which they are pushing.

[rdenis]

I just bought a 28" LCD monitor from Tigerdirect.  27.5" viewable and true 1920 x 1200 resolution, ie. 16 x 10.  No need to rotate this puppy as vertical games are full size as compared with a 25" 4 x 3 monitor.

[MPTech]

Ok, so it sounds like it would work, and it would display black bars at the top and bottom for some games (that's cool, I was hoping it wouldn't stretch or cut off the sides).

But you guys lost me a little bit.  What did you mean by "4:3 (or 5:4) LCD monitor in the 27-30" range"?
I've seen 28" LCD monitors, but haven't done any hard looking for anything larger.

Could I use one of the newer 32" LCD TV's? Or am I back to the problem I've got with the resoultion? (I was assuming the newer TV's had much better resolution than what I'm using)

[patrickl]

The bigger screens are always widescreen. A widescreen monitor is not a very practical option for an arcade cab. You'd normally want a 4:3 (ratio between width and height) screen for that.

[Agent Davis]

You know, most modern LCDs com with a stand that allows them to be rotated by turning the monitor.  Why not mount the LCD with parts of the stand still intact and devise a way to mask it so that you can have the best of both worlds?