Rotating TVs

[Stormdemon]

I'd like to play horizontal and vertical games on my TV. What precautions do I have to take? I'd like to rotate it usually, maybe one or two times a week. Since tvs don't have degaussing utilities, I don't know what's the correct way I have to follow to prevent breakdowns, heating, image and color distortion... Anyone has experiences with this? Do you recommend me removing the case of the tv? Is it better to wait for some time before switching it on after you've rotated it? If it's not save, I think I'll use two tvs, but it would be better for me to have only one and rotate it manually when I feel like playing vertical or horizontal games.

[REBIRTH]

I can't speak for a TV, but I rotate my PC Monitor.  Just for space considferation, I took the outer casing off of my monitor (there is an inner metal casing on mine).  If I could have I would have removed that too just to make it easier to mount, but after trying to do that a few times I gave up because there was almost no way of doing it without damaging the guts of the monitor.  As for spinning it without a degauss...  Similar to taking the case off, I tried getting to the degauss buttin to hack into it so I could attach a button to the top of the cab to press when turning it.  It was so impacted into the guts of the monitor, I would have had to remove that metal case to get to it.  So what I do will probably work for you... what I do is I have the montior hooked up to it's own power supply (which is then plugged into the main power strip for everything else - so when everything else turns on, the monitor does too).  When it is time to spin it I press the power button just for the monitor to turn it off and then spin it with the power to the monitor off (I have a button on the top of the cab just for this monitor).  Then when it is in place I power it back up.  At least on a monitor, it goes through a degauss on power up so all is well.  Again, I'm not a TV expert, maybe this isn't even necessary.  As for hurting the TV/monitor - I am sure it can't be the best thing for it, and the longer you leave it off after spinning it the better I assume.  Normally I try to only spin it once during a playing session to cut my damage chances down.

[AlanS17]

The whole idea sounds risky, but what do I know? I imagine you probably find it a bit risky too, or else you wouldn't have asked anything... (But then again... what do I know?)

[REBIRTH]

The whole idea sounds risky, but what do I know? I imagine you probably find it a bit risky too, or else you wouldn't have asked anything... (But then again... what do I know?)

There are plenty of people rotating their TV's/monitors without a problem.  If no one was doing it, I would be wary of doing it myself, but since I spoke to a number of people doing it - I did it myself.  I love having the extra screen space for vertical games by rotating the monitor (instead of the graphices being squished down to fit in an horizontal screen - or vice versa).  Then again, I really don't know anything either and my monitor could explode on me in the middle of a cranking Defender game....

[meta87]

I remember this guy doing a rotating monitor;

http://www.russprince.com/cabinet/

[Generic Eric]

How big of a TV is too big to rotate?

[SirPoonga]

when the diagonals can't fit in the cabinet

[REBIRTH]

I remember this guy doing a rotating monitor;

http://www.russprince.com/cabinet/

Yes, Russ is the person I modeled my spinning monitor after.  You can see how I did it as well if you go to my website on the left (well, I actually have't written that part up to well yet, but you can get the idea from the pictures and some of the dopey comments I have so far...).  Russ is also very helpful if you email him questions (as I am   too).  One thing, when you look at my page (or Russ') it doesn't seem like the monitor is in there too sturdy.   Let me tell you, my 21" monitor is 95 pounds and it couldn't be in there any better.  You'll see I have brackets connecting it to a wood circle, as Russ has, but it isn't necessary at all.  If you cut it right, the monitor fits perfectly snug.  I rolled mine around my basement, at all different angles, trying to get it to come loose (before attaching it with brackets) and the thing didn't budge at all.  I didn't beleive Russ when he told me this, but after building it I am a beleiver!

Rotate or die.

[1UP]

When are you guys gonna realize that the WIDTH of a 21" TV is almost the same as the HEIGHT of a 25" TV?!?    I see 25" TVs everywhere for $150-$200 now (even at the grocery store), save yourself the extra design complexity and worry, just go with a bigger horizontal monitor that can still display your vertical games just as large as your rotated 21"...

BTW, most vertical games are pretty old, and originally used monitors of about 19" or so, so the picture was actually smaller than what you would get on a 25" horizontal screen.

[REBIRTH]

When are you guys gonna realize that the WIDTH of a 21" TV is almost the same as the HEIGHT of a 25" TV?!?    I see 25" TVs everywhere for $150-$200 now (even at the grocery store), save yourself the extra design complexity and worry, just go with a bigger horizontal monitor that can still display your vertical games just as large as your rotated 21"...

BTW, most vertical games are pretty old, and originally used monitors of about 19" or so, so the picture was actually smaller than what you would get on a 25" horizontal screen.

Decent point - but the width of a 21" TV is equal to the height of a 28" TV (if they made one that size), not a 25".  Here are the height x width of the following TV sizes:

21" TV = 12.6H x 16.8W
25" TV = 15H x 20W
27" TV = 16.2H x 21.6W
28" TV =  16.8H x 22.4W

With a 25" TV you would lose almost 2" off the height of a rotated 21" TV!   As my wife keeps telling me, every inch counts!    So to me, rotating is the way to go unless you go and buy a 27"/30" TV.

Anyway, in my case I wanted to use a good computer monitor for the best resolution, and the difference between a 21inch and 27 inch was enough to make me spin my monitor.  It really wasn't that hard to do.  

Rotate or Die!

[1UP]

Decent point - but the width of a 21" TV is equal to the height of a 28" TV (if they made one that size), not a 25".  Here are the height x width of the following TV sizes:

21" TV = 12.6H x 16.8W
25" TV = 15H x 20W
27" TV = 16.2H x 21.6W
28" TV =  16.8H x 22.4W

With a 25" TV you would lose almost 2" off the height of a rotated 21" TV!   As my wife keeps telling me, every inch counts!    So to me, rotating is the way to go unless you go and buy a 27"/30" TV.

Anyway, in my case I wanted to use a good computer monitor for the best resolution, and the difference between a 21inch and 27 inch was enough to make me spin my monitor.  It really wasn't that hard to do.  

Rotate or Die!

I didn't realize you were talking PC monitors here, I thought it was rotating TVs we were discussing.  Anyway, guess it depends on what you're playing.  Most arcade games don't need more than 800x600, and many people prefer the slightly soft look of an arcade monitor or a good TV to the absolute razor sharpness of a PC monitor.  If you're playing modern FPS, you might be better off with a PC monitor for the extra res, but some would argue that those games don't belong on a cab in the first place...  Anyway, I'd rather sacrifice a little extra size in vertical games for a greater overall picture size, since you can fit a much bigger tube in your cab if it doesn't have to rotate, and considering most games are horizontal...  

Anyway, I've just never bought into any of the reasons for having a rotating monitor, given the extra work needed to implement it, and that most rotating monitor setups are not very pretty...  But that's just me.

[Lilwolf]

Just wait until you see my rotating monitor setup 1up...

It will be so pretty it will make you blush...

That is... If I ever get time to finish it...

But not your normal rotating monitor...

As for this post.  People say it takes 10X longer to make a rotating monitor then the rest of a cab.  And it's MUCH more expensive... Bigger cab... good chance to blow up the monitor.  list goes on and on.

Consider going with a 27" TV or something....  The vertical games will look great without rotating...

I don't think a rotating monitor should be a first cab myself.  Unless you have some extra time on your hand.

[AlanS17]

Oh I'm familiar with people rotating their front-mount (arcade style) monitors, but those things are mounted by sturdy bolts and have something to grab onto and few other parts to get in the way. How do you rotate a TV without taking it out of its casing? And if you leave it in the case, how do you rotate it when most people use a shelf and just rest the TV on top. That's why it sounds risky to me...