Smoked or Clear?

[shmokes]

I'm kinda sorry to belabor the point, cos it really isn't important . . . but that strikes me as a little strange.  I mean, is your little girl going to be able to ride a bike?  Do you drive her places in the car?  Will she be allowed to eat solid foods?

I know that this is something of a false choice, since the fact that you deliberately expose her to other far greater dangers doesn't mean that you must or should add one more to the list.  But it just seems so slight a risk.  For example, not only could you replace the glass in your windows with Lexan, but the glass in your windows isn't even tempered.  And your windows are FAR more likely to be broken, both because of their location, and because many of them are meant to be opened and closed.  How many times in your life have you walked up to a windows and leaned on it with your forehead?  Not likely to be a common occurrence on your arcade cabinet glass.

BTW, while I agree with you in principle that good peanut butter is a necessity, it of course isn't.  You should be buying Jif or Skippy for the same reason you cover your monitor with Lexan.  All are basically the same -- inferior products that come without the risk of glass injuries.   

[Blanka]

@mrja
You're a bad cleaner then! Easy thing about the tempered is the size of particles is never too small. With regular glass you can have those nasty sharp bits, but with tempered they are all clearly visible on the floor.
And I would even dare too eat one, and I bet a baby does not get a single scratch from eating one too. But hey, I ate a safety pin as a baby too

[thatitalian]

I stuck a pin up my nose as a kid! It got so deep that I had to go to the hospital to get it removed  Obviously my parents were not laughing at the time!

But seriously, I fell through a pane of glass as a kid (the normal glass) and that got replaced for tempered, which I actually bounced of later on as an adult! The tempered one is still there and is far stronger! In reality, they are more likely to hit their heads of the corners or something else. But I can understand your point completely though, if you are making it, why not make it a bit more child friendly!!!

[SNAAKE]

can someone confirm about the lightgun issue?? all I care about is ps2 and dreamcast gun games. I dont even have a computer in my cabinet anymore(using a modded xbox instead)


PS: I havent checked the main forum in like a year lol..I used be here all day before..

[SNAAKE]

ANYONE??

[Visitor Q]

ANYONE??

I wish I could answer this for you but as you can I see, I never did get an answer either. From what I have gathered I think it depends on the gun and the tint of the glass as to whether it works on not. Hit and miss I would say but no one has really came forward and said, I have tinted glass, this light gun and it works.

[doctorhifi]

I was using 1/4" smoked plexiglass.  Can't find my receipt to tell you exactly how dark it was, but it was dark enough so you couldn't see the Sony 27" TV behind it. 

I also have two Act Labs lightguns, so I can tell you first hand that the smoked plexi made the guns work poorly.  So poorly, in fact, that I replaced the plexi with clear glass and made a bezel instead.

The light guns work great now.  I don't know if thinner or less dark plexi would make a difference or not.

[mrjah]

Haven't been back to this thread in ages.  I appreciate the food advice, suggestions that maybe it's not so bad for my kid to eat glass, etc.  I'll still be opting for the responsible-parent path, though.  Clearly you guys haven't experienced the same glass disasters I have.  Maybe I'll go for glass once the kids are older -- 7-8 years or so should do it given that more little ones hopefully will be arriving in the future.   

Still no answer to my question though: Has anyone messed around with tint film -- and if so, how did it turn out?

[isucamper]

I was using 1/4" smoked plexiglass.  Can't find my receipt to tell you exactly how dark it was, but it was dark enough so you couldn't see the Sony 27" TV behind it. 

I also have two Act Labs lightguns, so I can tell you first hand that the smoked plexi made the guns work poorly.  So poorly, in fact, that I replaced the plexi with clear glass and made a bezel instead.

The light guns work great now.  I don't know if thinner or less dark plexi would make a difference or not.

Thanks for this accout.  This pretty much seals the deal for me.  Gotta have me some Leathal Enforcers.

[mvolke1]

I used clear glass on my cocktail. I've never had a problem with glare. I brought the top of the machine into the glass shop and they cut it to fit.

[Visitor Q]

Any final thoughts on this one? Going to order my glass today... After reading over this, it seems to me that smoke is the clear (hahahaha) winner. 

[shardian]

On 2 cabs, I have clear tempered glass up front, and then a piece of tinted plexi behind the bezel art. There were more than a few arcade games that did it this way.

My Xevious had it done in the factory - the plexi is actually part of the bezel. For my jungle king I took advantage of the extra slot in the J-Channel to mount a piece of tinted plexi. It looks very sharp if you use bezel art.

Just thought I would throw that out there for consideration.

[Visitor Q]

I don't think I am going to do bezel art, maybe at some point and time. My plans are to paint the glass around the inside when I get it, pitch black to incase the monitor so if anything I would sticker the glass at a later date.

Ordering smoked or clear glass is not the end of the world as I can always swap it out. Personally I think the monitor looks great without any sorta glass which is making me think I should get clear but it seems that a lot of people on here really prefer the smoked look. Maybe I will too once I see it.

[shardian]

Post a pic of your cab here. If you have a Midway style that has a black bezel that fill the entire area, then there is no reason to go tinted I think. Another reason for tinted back in the day was that 19" monitor games had a bezel, but it almost never fill up the whole monitor panel. The wood was painted black, and tinted plexi covered the transition from the monitor bezel to the monitor mounting panel.

I had a dynamo cab that had tinted plexi for this very reason.

[Bender]

smoked all the way even if it's just a subtle tint, looks better and warms up the colors too!

just wanted to add I think there is a little confusion between plexi and lexan. Plexi does scratch easier than glass but it's still pretty durable where as lexan will scratch if you look at it wrong but is easier to work with so better for cutting holes and shaping

Plexi in front of monitor
Lexan for CP overlay

[thatitalian]

Plexi in front of monitor
Lexan for CP overlay

I always wondered, why plexi over the monitor? Your more likely to scratch the CP because of touching it all the time. But how often do you touch the monitor? Could you not just use lexan as well over the monitor?

[Visitor Q]

Plexi in front of monitor
Lexan for CP overlay

I always wondered, why plexi over the monitor? Your more likely to scratch the CP because of touching it all the time. But how often do you touch the monitor? Could you not just use lexan as well over the monitor?

I think glass over the monitor has to be the best bet! I'm sure it offers the cleanest look and is less likely to scratch.

[nailsn]

I use tinted glass in my cabinet and my lightguns DO work! Thats because I don't use the actlabs guns, instead i'm using the EMS Topgun II. My Sensor bars are mounted behind the glass, just on the bezel.

The Topgun works like a charm as long as it can see where the LEDs on the sensor bars are. And they do work behind my tinted glass.

[Visitor Q]

Good to know.

[Bender]

Plexi in front of monitor
Lexan for CP overlay

I always wondered, why plexi over the monitor? Your more likely to scratch the CP because of touching it all the time. But how often do you touch the monitor? Could you not just use lexan as well over the monitor?

Sure, but the Plexi has a little added protection from scratches, and Plexi is also stiffer so it naturally lays more flat

[thatitalian]

Sure, but the Plexi has a little added protection from scratches, and Plexi is also stiffer so it naturally lays more flat

Ahhh, now the flatness does make a difference!

I might be tempted to go for glass if the sensor bar for the topgun works behind it!

[Visitor Q]

My only real thoughts on this at this point is my monitor looks so good without any glass in front of it that I am hoping the smoked makes it look that much better.

[nailsn]

If money isn't the matter, then I would order the sheet, put it in and out and compare the images with your own eyes. You can always decide later on, that you won't need the glass.

[Visitor Q]

Well from what I can tell everyone on here seems to thing that the smoked glass enhances the image and colors.

[Flake]

Well from what I can tell everyone on here seems to thing that the smoked glass enhances the image and colors.

I bought some of that Greylite 14 from a local glass shop because A) I had heard it makes everyting look so great and B) to hide the crappy home-made bezel I put together with foam board and C) the glass I was using was from my original cabinet I mamed and was all scratched to hell.

Cost me like $35 for the sheet.  My opinion?  It doesnt really make the colors "pop out" at you like many here have suggested and if anything dulls everything out.  Another issue I have with it is I heard that for vertical games it hides the unused screen portion so that it really makes the vertical games look like there are just hovering there behind the glass - again not true you can still see the screen edges.

It does hide the crappy bezel for the most part but you can still see some of it.  It looks better than it did anyway.

My opinion?  If you have a professional looking bezel, like say the happ bezels, and your current glass does not need replaced I would stick with clear glass.  And this way you dont have to worry about light gun issues - just in case.

[Visitor Q]

Well I can say this about the Makvision monitor, the blacks are AMAZING! I'll say it 1000 times, I have never seen anything that does blacks like this monitor.

With my setup, I just plan on painting the inside lip of the glass to cover up unwanted veiws.

[Visitor Q]

Well I ordered from One a Day Glass, I went with the smoked.

It was $80.21 with the shipping from WA to PA, long trip for glass. 

Damn shipping was as much as the glass and I saved 4 bucks having it shipped to my work!

[paulscade]

Yea... I paid $40 for the glass... and another $31 for shipping from OneDayGlass.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=82241.msg865815#msg865815

What specs did you end up with (tempered, thickness, etc.)?

Wait till you get the glass... it's really wrapped up nicely... with multiple layers of foam padding.  I suppose that they don't want you to end up with a box of glass chips.   

As a side benefit.... I cut up the packing foam and used it to line the bottom of my toolbox drawers.... hey... I had to get something for my $31.

[Visitor Q]

Yea... I paid $40 for the glass... and another $31 for shipping from OneDayGlass.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=82241.msg865815#msg865815

What specs did you end up with (tempered, thickness, etc.)?

Wait till you get the glass... it's really wrapped up nicely... with multiple layers of foam padding.  I suppose that they don't want you to end up with a box of glass chips.   

As a side benefit.... I cut up the packing foam and used it to line the bottom of my toolbox drawers.... hey... I had to get something for my $31.

I got exactly what you got just a different size, 27" W by 25" H. Me and a friend measured a couple of times, I hope it is right!