Main > Main Forum
is it ok to use a plasma on a virtual pinball table?
Malenko:
Well its not much of a test but I left the plasma flat on its back for about an hour or so running various MAME games (vertical orientation rotated to fill the whole screen) the sides and back remained cool to the touch, but the glass itself was warm (as in slightly warm but FAR from hot) so this changed my ventilation plan a little.
here is my idea:
pinkish things are the 120mm fan openings, figured it sucks cool air in and half is funneled above the TV and half below. Then another set of fans in the back to push the warmed air out. This should keep the glass cool(er) This of course is just theoretical, I've gotta build a box and test air flow but before all that Ive gotta figure out how to get some pinball on the PC,heh
DashRendar:
That moving air will do a GREAT job of fanning the flames when it catches on fire! :angel:
J/K
mytymaus007:
WOW I had one of those Gateway Plasma's I bought it in 2003 one of the first on the block to have one. I love it, but sold it to get some money back to buy an new one
RandyT:
I wouldn't sweat the "not supposed to use it on it's back" crowd too much. I have never seen any piece of documentation stating this to be a problem. If anyone has, and can prove it (link to a PDF from a manufacturer, etc), then I would love to see it. So far, such requests by me have yielded no results.
As an FYI, I worked in the precision glass manufacturing business for about 12 years. All sheet glass is shipped vertically. This is because the nature of glass is to sag under it's own weight. It's amazing what very little pressure, on even a small piece of glass, will do to the shape. Well, at least under an interferometer. But as the ratio of thickness to surface area decreases, the glass gets weaker and weaker, and it will eventually break under it's own weight. Much sooner, if given any type of shock (even thermal). Obviously, one can't support the middle of a plasma screen window, so shipping and storage needs to be vertical to place gravity over the much smaller area. When the sheet is vertical, it becomes very thick, and has a very small (top) surface area.
De-casing shouldn't be a problem for the screen. LCD's, and likely plasmas as well, are self contained, self-supported modules. The plastic casings do very little for strength and are primarily cosmetic. A rather obvious indicator for this is the fact that a mounting plate doesn't secure to the case, rather the frame of the internal structure the plastic cases are screwed to.
If you are paranoid about shock to the screen, there are a number of options for "floating" the screen inside the cabinet. Some thick, semi-rigid foam rubber with holes for your mounting bolts will absorb any shock you are likely to give the machine. With the weight of the plasma and the cab totaled, it's very unlikely that it's going to get banged, or lifted and dropped. The cushioning will readily take care of pretty much anything else.
And don't even consider not using a cover glass of some nature. Put some vents in the front with a filter and a good size fan in the back. You'll probably need to make sure the screen is accessible for dusting and such, as this will probably increase what would normally collect on the face.
I have a 42" that is waiting for me to do the same thing to. If LCD's were as good as plasmas for this application, then I would have bought one. But for now, you can't beat the price / performance ratio of large plasmas for virtual pins, IMHO.
RandyT
Charlie97L:
i'm glad it worked out for you!
i guess they resolved the screen going wonky with blob stuff i saw on some plasmas back in the day. i think that was a gen 2 one, though so i'm not surprised!
yay!
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version