BattleZone and other monitor film

demogo

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Is there a good strategy for getting the tinted monitor film to lay nice and flat on a BattleZone (or other) game monitor?

I never thought it would be so irritating trying to get a flat piece of tinted plastic to lay flat on a curved monitor.

If you don't get it right you get distortions in the reflection of the picture.

It actually doesn't look too bad not taped down on the bottom of the monitor but when you set the cardboard bezel over it it pulls on the surface and again, you can see the reflections where the material is not flat.

Anyone have any thoughts?
 
Tape the tinted plexi on TOP of the cardboard bezel instead of under?
 
Bezel is uneven too.

This replacement film is much thinner than the one that you had on the game when I received it -- much easier for it to be distorted by pressure.

Maybe I need to cut it to size on the tube top so nothing is hanging over?

This is very annoying.
 
Try putting some small slits in the center of each side so that it can overlap in the hangover and hopefully not bunch up on the screen...
 
That's where I got it from, CadillacMan but it's about half the thickness of what was on there. This stuff deforms very easily from pressure.

If I could, I'd cut the green down the middle and just have it pressed right up against the other green strip because it would conform to the curve of the tube better that way but I strongly suspect that I'd never get a good enough seam between the two pieces to make it work.

I think I'll email Wizz's workshop and see if he has any pointers.

This stuff is thin enough that I'm betting I'll have to cut it to size but even then there's a problem getting something obviously flat to fit perfectly to something that is curved like a CRT face.

Wish someone here had experience with his replacement films. :)
 
I used his overlay for my Asteroids Deluxe and taped it to the bezel. Maybe you can find a way to make your BZ bezel rigid and then tape it to the back side instead of to the monitor.
 
Hmmm.

Bezel is beat to hell and all curvy (thin cardboard).

I might be able to trim it, tape it to the back and if necessary shore up the cardboard. At least that way the curvature of the screen would no longer be an issue.

You're satisfied with how your film came out, Arc? Is it a one color or two color film like BZ?
 
On AD is only one color so its a little different but if you can reinforce that bezel and get it squared up and straight and tape the overlay to the back side of it you might be better off.
 
I had the same problem. What I did was, turn on the game without the front scope on, while watching the reflection on the mirror, I slide the red onto the monitor until it covered the necessary area(score, and radar). The meeting spot for the red and green should be the line that divides the score and radar from the main view, in the reflection on the mirror, looking at the cardboard backdrop. The factory taped the two films to the monitor not the cardboard. And no I couldn't get them to be flat either, but when the game is back together and you adjust the contrast and brightness, you won't see the split. I still have the original films, and they hang over the sides of the monitor.
 
Ah, cool!

My problem though isn't the intersection of the red and green, it's the 'waves' in the green film from trying to fit a flat film on a rounded tube.

The 'waves' distort the light passing through enough to be visible. It's not HORRIBLE but it doesn't have the smooth background that it seemed to with the original (much thicker) original film.
 
My green is wavy, but what I did was overlap by 1mm, just enough no to let the white light through. Look at the cardboard background, and look at the line that divides the main view from the score and radar and you will see what you have to work with. I didn't get the green flat at all, but when the game running all assembled its hard to see the films.
 
It can be difficult. but I use padded stickums that raise it up a bit. you can get a better angle to keep it flat and straight that way.
 
It can be difficult. but I use padded stickums that raise it up a bit. you can get a better angle to keep it flat and straight that way.

Wow, that's a great idea!

Did you cut the tint to the size of the tube face?
 
Interesting.

Tom (from Wizzes Workshop) said that he believes if the monitor is mounted correctly it will be barely higher than the wood frame that it's mounted to.

I think his point is that there shouldn't be a whole heck of a lot of distortion in the film because there shouldn't be that much of a 'falloff' from the tube face -- maybe 1/4" in his estimation.

Definitely not the case here -- tube face is maybe 2" taller than the wood frame.

Can anyone else confirm his recollection? If his theory is correct I'll either try cutting the film to match or just return to the original one as I'm not going to screw with the mounting of the monitor.

BTW, I removed the periscope shroud from the get-go -- I had to access the marquee starter anyway.
 
BINGO!

It seems that Tom's memory is correct and the pictures in the attached link show the BZ tube as being a couple of inches lower relative to the wood.

Notice the warning about how improperly mounted monitors will cause havoc with the tint?
 
OK, I've officially walked away from this project.

It's not worth it. Too much hassle for too little of a return.

The monitor is clearly mounted wrong. The film I have is never going to fit correctly on the monitor face.

It comes down to me making a new cardboard bezel, taping the film to it, then cutting and screwing some wooden supports onto the sides to support the new bezel.

And in my hours of screwing around with the new film it's now creased in a spot and has picked up adhesive marks on it that aren't gonna come off.

So I can do the above plus spend $20-$25 to buy new film (again) or live with it as it is -- a small tear in the red film in the word 'score'.

I vote for dealing with the small tear and moving on with life. :)

Thanks everyone for the help and a special thanks to Johnvv for his BZ detective work!
 
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