Smoked or Clear?

[Visitor Q]

What does everyone recommend as far as monitor glass goes, smoked or clear? The only glare I can see having is from overhead lighting, no sun.

Thanks.

[mountain]

I use smoked Plexi myself.

[Jack Burton]

I like smoked.  It gives the image behind the glass the appearance of just hovering in space, as if their wasn't even a monitor back there. 

I'm crazy, I know.

[TAG]

After reviewing many other posts on the forums regarding this issue, I'll be using Greylite 14.  It apparently does a stellar job of hiding the monitor orientation, leaving the player with a screen that appears to be floating in the cab.  That's exactly what I'm shooting for!

[shardian]

Considering I am poor and tend to use pac burned monitors, I like a piece of tinted plexi in there somewhere. 

[Visitor Q]

Does the smoked dim the screen though, the brightness?

[shardian]

Smoked makes the colors pop real well. IMO, it enhances the contrast since the darkest dark is now darker.

[Visitor Q]

Hmmmm... I never thought of it that way.

[Shieldwolf]

smoked

[Visitor Q]

WOW! Not one vote for clear, I am suprised as that is what I was going to get. 

Glad I asked... 

[RayB]

Atari seemed to choose smoked VS plexi depending on whether or not the player needed to see where the "bounds" of the monitor are. Example, in Tempest or Crystal Castles it doesn't matter because the action on screen is restricted in a way that you don't need to see the monitor edge.

But in a game like Centipede , you need to know where the bottom and edges are when controlling the shooter, so they used clear glass. That's why in Millipede they colored the area that the player can move around in to compensate for the fact that you can't see the monitor edges otherwise (due to them using smoked glass on that one).

[cardinal23]

Can anyone link to a decent online source for smoked lexan?

[somunny]

I have one cabinet that has clear glass and one with tinted.  Tinted all the way.

[Turnarcades]

Many arcades were smoked, many were not. It's just a preference thing. I've been told smoked looks nicer with an arcade monitor as it takes the edge off the brightness a bit. APC monitor is easier to adjust to your liking without using smoked glass/plexi, but it depends how pants your bezel is if you want to hide it.

[web.geek]

To those that use tinted plexi/lexan, where did you get it?

[Loafmeister]

Smoked:  Gives Donkey Kong the right colors

[javeryh]

For those looking for smoked glass - try your local glass shop.  I spent about $20 on mine and they cut it exactly to size.

[dmworking247]

I'll put my vote in for smoked/tinted too.

But on a related subject, do you guys who use glass get it hardened, or just use regular plate glass? How thick?

I stay away from Plexi, it marks far too easily.

In the past I've used hardened 4mm smoked hardened glass, and on my bartops 6mm smoked regular plate glass... but haven't yet risked going for a big sheet of non-hardened glass on a full size cabinet?

[shmokes]

Is tempered and hardened the same thing?

[javeryh]

I'm pretty sure tempered and hardened are the same thing.  I only use tempered glass for my cocktail cabinet otherwise there isn't much point to it unless maybe you have a trackball and play a lot of bowling/golden tee.  I also stay away from plexi due to scratching easily.  Plus, nothing looks better than a nice clean piece of glass - I always bust out the foamy glass cleaner before company comes over...

[RayB]

tempered vs not:

If it shatters, do you prefer thousands of little cubes of glass in your machine, or do you prefer pointy shards?

[mrjah]

I'm staying away from glass of any kind due to the arrival of our little daughter.  I don't want to run the risk of shards of any kind, dull or otherwise, in the carpet.  Glass of any kind is bad for little tummies.

Right now I'm running with a clear piece of plexi over the monitor/bezel, but I'd like to go to tinted without wasting the clear plexi. Has anyone had any luck using aftermarket auto glass tint film on a clear piece of plexiglas or Lexan?  Does it even stick to those materials?  Is the result as clear as gray tinted/smoked plexi, or does it show speckling/distortion due to the film application?

Of course, I could just get gray tinted material by mail order and double it up with the clear as a protective layer on top.  But let's start with what I've got now...

[paulscade]

I went for Smoked (for the look), Tempered (for the safety) glass:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=82241.msg865815#msg865815

Here's what it looks like on the cabinet with the monitor on:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=82241.msg889715#msg889715

[thatitalian]

You know, 3 questions were asked on smoked lexan with 0 answers 

I wouldn't mind knowing as well!

[Visitor Q]

I went for Smoked (for the look), Tempered (for the safety) glass:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=82241.msg865815#msg865815

Here's what it looks like on the cabinet with the monitor on:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=82241.msg889715#msg889715

Cool.

That is even the same monitor I am getting.

[mountain]

Can anyone link to a decent online source for smoked lexan?

This is what I use

[cmoses]

When mounting under smoked glass, is there a optimal depth the monitor should be behind the glass?

[protokatie]

Here comes ProtoKatie (AKA the A-hole) to state one reason why not to use tinted glass (since noone else seemed up to it).

If you use tinted glass you DO get higher contrast, but at the sacrifice of tube life. IE to get the same brightness, you have to crank the bright on the CRT up.

Yes it looks better, but I figured I would point out the primary negative, since noone else did so.

[Visitor Q]

Here comes ProtoKatie (AKA the A-hole) to state one reason why not to use tinted glass (since noone else seemed up to it).

If you use tinted glass you DO get higher contrast, but at the sacrifice of tube life. IE to get the same brightness, you have to crank the bright on the CRT up.

Yes it looks better, but I figured I would point out the primary negative, since noone else did so.

It this the only negative then?

[mrjah]

Here comes ProtoKatie (AKA the A-hole) to state one reason why not to use tinted glass (since noone else seemed up to it).

If you use tinted glass you DO get higher contrast, but at the sacrifice of tube life. IE to get the same brightness, you have to crank the bright on the CRT up.

Yes it looks better, but I figured I would point out the primary negative, since noone else did so.

That's a good point.  And it makes me feel better about using a mediocre old CRT that I don't care about.   

[Flake]

Not sure this matters for many but if you are considering adding light guns to your cabinet I have read the smoked glass does not allow for them to interface with the monitor - I think I read this somewhere anyway.

The glass I am using now is clear - and scratched to hell (it was the old glass from the cabinet I converted).  I am considering switching to smoked glass myself but I do have a question.  The computer I use has one of those blue fan lights that is actually pretty bright.  If I remove the bezel and insert the smoked glass then I assume this blue light will ruin the effect and you will be able to see around the monitor through the glass?  Does anyone have a similar situation?  I could leave the bezel in (its a crappy homemade foamboard bezel) but I was never able to cut the bezel well enough so that there are small gaps between the outside edges of the bezel and inner cabinet wall.  So I'm thinking even if I leave it in there will be light showing through the glass on those sides.  Ehh..maybe its not even that big of deal.  Mainly I'm just curious is someone has one of those stupid blue fan lights and what effect it has around the monitor.

[Visitor Q]

Well I am 100% sure I want to play light gun games, will smoked glass effect this?

[Blanka]

@Flake,
Just remove the light or use a black marker on it to cover it in black 

[Visitor Q]

Can anyone verify the light gun issue please?

Thanks.

[shmokes]

I'm staying away from glass of any kind due to the arrival of our little daughter. 

What are your windows made of?  Wine bottles?  Glasses/goblets?  Beer bottles?  Protective front-layer in picture frames?  The front of any CRT televisions in the house?  Light bulbs?  And any number of baking dishes, measuring cups, salad bowls, mixing bowls, mason jars, etc.?  What about the jars your jam and mustard come in?  Maybe peanut butter too if you get the good stuff.

You can only be so careful.  Not putting glass on your cabinet is probably not making an appreciable difference in your little girl's exposure to glass.  Plus, what about plastic.  That stuff leaches harmful chemicals into her food.  My wife and I actually used glass baby bottles for just that reason.  We figured . . . it's over the top to worry about it, but glass bottles are super cool so lets go ahead and worry about it.

[ark_ader]

Clear.

1. Its Cheap.

2. Its Nasty.

3. Its Lazy.

4. You are going to replace it anyway.

5. You can be one of the cheap, lazy and nasty minorities who use it on a project.

6. You can amuse yourself by trying to remove all those finger smudges to no avail.

7. While you are at work, your missus can abuse it by cleaning it with Pledge.

8. < Insert another lame comment here>

9. <go to 1>

[Blanka]

I'm staying away from glass of any kind due to the arrival of our little daughter.

Thats why they make tempered.
Buy your dishes from this brand:
http://www.duralex.fr/v3/index.html

[protokatie]

Can anyone verify the light gun issue please?

Thanks.

No experience yet, but I have heard it is a chap-shoot with lightgun games. IE, It can either be of no importance or it can prevent the lighgun from "seeing".

[ark_ader]

Can anyone verify the light gun issue please?

Thanks.

No experience yet, but I have heard it is a chap-shoot with lightgun games. IE, It can either be of no importance or it can prevent the lighgun from "seeing".

I had no problems with my old cab and smoked glass, but it wasn't really dark glass like in anti glare screens, just a slight tint.  I think it is trial and error, but I will have more experience from it when I build the Arkader.  That sucker is going to have dark smoked glass. 

[mrjah]

I'm staying away from glass of any kind due to the arrival of our little daughter.

What are your windows made of?  Wine bottles?  Glasses/goblets?  Beer bottles?  Protective front-layer in picture frames?  The front of any CRT televisions in the house?  Light bulbs?  And any number of baking dishes, measuring cups, salad bowls, mixing bowls, mason jars, etc.?  What about the jars your jam and mustard come in?  Maybe peanut butter too if you get the good stuff.

You can only be so careful.  Not putting glass on your cabinet is probably not making an appreciable difference in your little girl's exposure to glass.  Plus, what about plastic.  That stuff leaches harmful chemicals into her food.  My wife and I actually used glass baby bottles for just that reason.  We figured . . . it's over the top to worry about it, but glass bottles are super cool so lets go ahead and worry about it.

Maybe our family leads a more exciting life than most, but I can tell you that exploding arcade glass would NOT be the first spontaneous tempered glass explosion in our house.

I've seen and experienced serious glass injuries due to regular glass and tempered glass -- in construction, lab, and home settings -- and half of the serious (emergency room) injuries I've seen or experienced were due to tempered.  That stuff is very impact resistant to a point, particularly if it's properly mounted.  But if it breaks in your home, you get a billion little pieces of glass that you will never fully eradicate.  Ever.  Little kids left unattended for 1/10 second will find those lone pieces of broken glass, and do what little kids do with neat new things: eat them.

And if you get a piece that suffers from substandard manufacturing or quality control, you don't even have to hit it that hard.  On occasion, supposedly high-quality, properly mounted tempered windows spontaneously explode during transportation and installation.  One such explosion sent a friend of mine to the hospital so they could sew his wrist back up.

These events are relatively rare, and a kid is probably more likely to get injured falling off a booster seat than eating a piece of arcade glass.  But I have never heard of a single childhood injury due to acrylic failure.  Given that an arcade machine is an optional part of our home -- unlike windows and good peanut butter -- there's no need to add six square feet of shards-in-waiting.