Dark Lord Galen, I've long envied your set up. Currently, however, my "game room" is multi use. It is also the craft room, homework room, etc. I have a number of folding tables in different lengths so I can set up different configurations. But a dedicated game table would be an inconvenience for now.
Oh I can totally understand where you're coming from... As we are "mostly" empty nesters, we have a five bedroom house with just the wife and I and the cat that is on borrowed time at moments hehe... My Office got sacrificed to the sewing gods by royal decree ( insert wife here) and the smallest guest room (once the kids play room) became the "art room" aka crafts, painting, etc... We considered downsizing but the new house was going to cost more than what we have left on the old one and frankly you cant by your neighbors, I wouldn't trade mine for any.
That's why I'm going with a custom built case that will allow me to easily store the display when not in use and also conveniently grab-and-go, taking it to a friend's home, a FLGS, or a convention. Vents and fans will be built into the case.
And the points you make here certainly have there merit. I am certainly not going to pack mine up and carry to another house
It does mean that the display will be higher than the table. But, unless the table it tall, it shouldn't matter and having it elevated a bit will keep dice, snakes, and books from spreading onto it and also give more protection against spills.
A couple things you might consider are :
when you say it will add height to your table surface, be sure to look at it from a seated position. The viewing angle can vary and for your "height challenged" players that could be an issue.
Also in the good ole days when the majority of furniture we owned as young people was, shall we say disposable, a character sheet was not a veteran hero until baptised in whatever prefered soda was at the table.. haha
I too had the spill concern, so we implemented mugs with tops like this>
https://www.walmart.com/ip/IGNITE-USA-1953408-20OZ-Bubba-Travel-Mug-Color-May-Vary/51636951
and for $6 its cheap insurance to protect your investment. I bought a dozen and they have lasted about 7 years now.
My main concern is that the bezel and the case's glass will create too much space between the minis and the battlemap image.
on the bezel thickness it really doesn't come into play for view angle (at least on mine) if u go with near bezel-less. the slight height differential is actually good for keeping the weight of the glass and / or any "leaners" on the table from compressing the glass straight against the screen.
For the refraction from base to grid, I run my maps at about 101% making them just slightly bigger than the mini base. I think I'm the only one at the table that notices the offset but I'm a left brained engineer that tends to be a bit anal on the details and my configuration puts me at the far end of the screen as well. I'll try to take a few photos to give you a visual tomorrow and post them.
My other concern is whether I'm just throwing away money by buying a 1080p display. But if I buy a 720p, I worry it is not future proof. I mean the case is built to fit the TV. If it turns out that I don't like the TV, then I've wasted money on the display.
Well for maps especially VTT ones most are seldom above 720p it simple becomes a memory hog especially if playing online. Now personally I like hi rez everything so I push it (hence my complaints about the whole 64 bit issue with RW). As to obsolete, well with the arrival of 4k TVs you might not see a big difference in cost between the 1080i, 1080p or 720 anyway. I'd look more at a higher refresh rate for clarity on your lines for grid etc.. Because depending on brand there is a viewable difference between 60mhz and 120mhz refresh, just like back in the old monitor days. I'd also focus on what ports I'd be using to connect to the display, Computer(lowest) Composite, HDMI, or if u can find and your computer handles it, Display port. By looking at the connections from pc to display should help "future proof" it more than the number of pixels... remember viewing at the size screen your considering the number of pixels vs the distance being viewed varies across the room versus 2 feet away. So from 10 feet a 32" TV displaying at 720 and another at 1080 might look almost identical (depending on lighting and refresh) where as at 2 feet your eye can begin to make out the individual pixels of the 720 TV more easily since there are only half as many and further apart. The ole warning mom used to give you about sitting to close to the TV and you could see the dots...
DLG
