Tateable TVs?

[MOTHERfan42]

Although I don't have much experience with console shmupping (I currently only own a handful of them, the vast majority being downloads) I really like tating the TV to get that arcade cabinet experience minus the joystick and losing thousands of dollars buying a cabinet. The last time I rotated my TV to play a shmup, the colors became all distorted and returned back to normal only after turning the TV back to its proper position. I'm a bit scared of having my TV catch fire or some other horrible TV malfunction just because I like playing Raiden Fighters Aces, so are there any TVs built for tating?

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm sure there are some televisions meant for professional applications where a portrait mode is needed (airports maybe), but generally I'd guess your only real concerns are:
- Are the cabinet / other internals strong enough to hold the weight?
- Is there any degaussing facility in the set (that's what gave you the distorted visuals)? Hit that after moving the set.
- Can you keep the vents clear? If so there shouldn't be a problem with heat (let alone fire which would be pretty epic).

[DC906270]

general rules : dont tate your tv while its switched on. leave off a few minutes both before and after you tate. thiswill help in your colours not becoming distorted.

[austere]

The strange colours are due to the magnetic field biased across the CRT which it initially compensates for by "degaussing" (you'll hear a ping as it starts). Like DC906270 said, you should turn your TV on only after you've tilted it as most TVs lack the ability to degauss on demand. If yours has this feature, though I've yet to find a TV that does, then use it.

Edit: This is of course assuming you're dealing with a CRT. If you're not, get one soon -- they're going extinct.

[gray117]

I'm a bit scared of having my TV catch fire or some other horrible TV malfunction just because I like playing Raiden Fighters Aces, so are there any TVs built for tating?

There are a few professional tv monitors and displays built that were purposefully designed to be tate-able; and their general build quality was also better for the most part. However, the cost/difficulty of acquiring such sets can often outweigh the advantages unless you find on round the corner going cheap... And unless its studio equipment you always run the risk that it has actually seen more wear n' tear than you'd want...

Consumer grade televisions [and service codes] are perfectly fine for the most part. They were designed to be on for hours and hours and still be 'home-safe'. Turning them on their side can be a tricky business, but imho as long as the screen is smaller than 29" (after which the weight of the tv can become an issue] you probably find the case holds up totally fine, and as long as you don't cover it in a blanket or something and run it overnight you won't be setting fire to anything... try and make sure there's a bit of room for the tv to ventilate to the rear and sides and you should easily offset any cooling disadvantages that you may have by having the tv on its side.

Also normal tvs generally come in more sizes that the pro equipment [usually massive or tiny] so gives you a bit more flexibility [I'm a fan of the 26" size myself ].

[astro city ninja]

this may be a dumb question but is there any issue if its an lcd tv? I was thinking about buying a 26" toshiba for a custom arcade/console cabinet build and putting it on a rotating mount so I can switch back and forth between tate with ease.

[gray117]

this may be a dumb question but is there any issue if its an lcd tv? I was thinking about buying a 26" toshiba for a custom arcade/console cabinet build and putting it on a rotating mount so I can switch back and forth between tate with ease.

Only with TN panels [most often will result in irregular color saturation/contrast] - unfortunately these are often also the panels with the least input lag [separate from pixel response time]. Check out your various options with IPS/TN panels and perhaps ones that have gamer modes [generally reducing post processing to improve input lag - generally, but not necessarily, better than panels without the option].

So, basically you're probably looking at an IPS panel spec for best tate results and get anal in checking for information on input lag - note this may vary depending on whether you are feeding it native res or not... In such cases you may be best off going to the retailer for the price, and the manufacturer for detailed information [input lag is rarely quoted at retailers since it could make the product look bad ].

[astro city ninja]

thanks for the info, I know it does have a game mode. its also a 720p not a 1080p if that makes a difference. I do have a vga cable but was planning on using hdmi since I don't like the colors very much on vga.

[gray117]

Cool - yeah check the panel type to make sure its not TN [or at least see how well/badly it tates] ... try and double check the input lag for gaming mode - its probably fine though unless you're really used to playing particular games.

I'm not sure about the difference between hdmi vs vga. Typically vga should give you a very good - 'true' rgb signal. Reasons for differences may include processing overheads: as a result you might find vga gives better performance [usually less processing occurs on an lcd via vga than component/hdmi] then again it might all be more or less the same - especially given game mode settings...

If you've ever had a bad result with vga always try another cable - some of the cables that ship with dells (for example) are not properly shielded and give poor [often flickering] results on many lcds - better quality cables give a fine picture.

So maybe experiment with connection type?

Personally I my preference for play is 720p simply for performance reasons: most games will render at 720p or lower and are then upscaled. In most configurations the 360 even basically lacks the bandwidth [mostly due to memory] to even provide efficient and reliable throughput for [upscaled or non-upscaled] 1080p without some slowdown.

[khorven]

This TV is on craigslist; it's a Sony Trinitron WEGA, not sure what model:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/837/imageuiy.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/217/image1ll.jpg/

Does it look tateable? If it's not is there something I can put under one of the sides or would that cause heat problems?

EDIT: Oh, and the TV is 32" which, according to gray117 would be a problem:

Turning them on their side can be a tricky business, but imho as long as the screen is smaller than 29" (after which the weight of the tv can become an issue] you probably find the case holds up totally fine[...]

How exactly would it be a problem though?

[matrigs]

This TV is on craigslist; it's a Sony Trinitron WEGA, not sure what model:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/837/imageuiy.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/217/image1ll.jpg/

Does it look tateable? If it's not is there something I can put under one of the sides or would that cause heat problems?

EDIT: Oh, and the TV is 32" which, according to gray117 would be a problem:

Turning them on their side can be a tricky business, but imho as long as the screen is smaller than 29" (after which the weight of the tv can become an issue] you probably find the case holds up totally fine[...]

How exactly would it be a problem though?

the sidewalls may be not reinforced enough and crack if you put too much weight on them. o guess this tv goes into the 30kg+ range.

shouldn't really be a problem though if you ask some person to help you and be careful not to put it down on an edge.

[khorven]

I see, thanks.

[taylornmsis1985]

This TV is on craigslist; it's a Sony Trinitron WEGA, not sure what model:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/837/imageuiy.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/217/image1ll.jpg/

Does it look tateable? If it's not is there something I can put under one of the sides or would that cause heat problems?

EDIT: Oh, and the TV is 32" which, according to gray117 would be a problem:

Turning them on their side can be a tricky business, but imho as long as the screen is smaller than 29" (after which the weight of the tv can become an issue] you probably find the case holds up totally fine[...]

How exactly would it be a problem though?

I have experience of tating the WEGA models and can honestly say that whilst it's possible to rotate them, the colours will be off. I think the Wega models had some form of wire near the mask and even after degaussing I've still had no joy with it. Currently using a phillips cm8833 it's only 13inch viewable screen area but it looks the biz.

As far as LCD screens go, I've managed to run a couple of 32 inch Samsungs in Tate. Look pretty good.