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ROTAVATOR: manual rotating LCD
lettuce:
Whoo, thats friggin awesome! If i ever build another cab i think ill go down the LCD 4:3 route, but not sure what the max size is for a 4:3 LCD, i would really want anything smaller than a 24" really, and all this rotational screens has got me thinking :applaud:
Blanka:
@ Lettuce: 21.3 inch is max. Either the Samsung 214T, the Eizo S2100 or the Nec 2190 are your options.
Zobeid:
--- Quote from: Ummon on May 25, 2008, 03:18:29 am ---Hopefully the brightness being up won't overtax the display over time. Though you can see a little in the picture above, what's the deflection angle on this one you have here? And why did you get this vs a consumer LCD?
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Yes cranking up the backlight will reduce its life span somewhat. I figure I won't be running this all day long every day (like I so often do with my computer), so it should last a very long time. I've been running it a lot while configuring it and trying it out, of course, but I'm sure eventually the novelty will wear off.
Why this instead of a consumer LCD? If I bought a desktop LCD off someplace like Newegg, there were a lot of uncertainties. Would the VESA mount be centered? Would the adjustment controls be positioned where I could access them after the cabinet was put together? Would it come on automatically when power is applied? With the arcade monitor there was a lot less uncertainty. It's designed for use in a cabinet.
It might be different if I lived some place with a computer store where I could examine the monitors hands-on and pick one. But I live way out in the middle of nowhere, it wasn't practical to do that.
I have to mention something here that I forgot when I started this thread. . .
The Happ LCD has great viewing angles from the top and sides. The view from below is not so great. When it's in horizontal mode there's no problem. When it's in the vertical mode and you are standing directly in front of it, then it's okay. When it's vertical and you are standing a bit to the right, in the player two position, then it's okay. When you are standing a bit to the left -- in the player one position -- then it's marginal. It's just starting to go dark at the edge, when you look at it from that angle.
For most one-player games I tend to configure it to use the joystick on the left and the buttons on the right. That puts me centered in front of the control panel. It's only the two-simultaneous-player vertical games that can be a little awkward. So. . . If you are playing Raiden, Truxton, or any of the many many other games in that genre, and you're player one, then it's marginal. And most of the time, obviously, you will be player one.
In a perfect world it would be better if the monitor rotated counterclockwise, to the left instead of to the right. Then the viewing angle would be marginal for player two. But Mala and I think most other software assumes it rotates right. (And I'd already made my Rotavator to rotate to the right by the time I noticed this, anyhow.)
The other thing somebody could do is configure player one controls to be on the right and player two controls to be on the left. But. . . That would be weird too. It would confuse people. So, I shrugged and decided I can live with it the way it is.
boogieman:
Awesome! Great job! :cheers:
Zobeid:
--- Quote from: Blanka on May 25, 2008, 04:36:01 am ---Is the Happ 4:3? Never knew 19 inch was available in 4:3. I only know 4:5 1024x1280 displays at that size.
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Yeah, it's a regular 4:3 aspect ratio. Full specs here:
http://www.happcontrols.com/monitors/49260300.htm
--- Quote ---How do you handle the heat? Seems the monitor is pretty much enclosed completely. My LCD has to get rid off quite a bit of heat.
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It's not enclosed completely. There are spacers above and below, and either side, made from 1.5x1.5 wood, but the corners are wide open, the openings big enough to easily stick your hand through. The air can flow by convection in through the bottom corners and out the top.