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The Question
How important is it to keep an LCD computer monitor well-ventilated?
Backstory
I built a DIY arcade cabinet for a video game that I programmed, and this cabinet will house an 18" LCD computer monitor inside of it. It's a tabletop cabinet made of birch plywood, about 2' by 3', and about 1.5' tall. The whole thing is covered by an acrylic sheet (Plexiglass). You can see a picture of the cabinet here (Plexiglass not pictured):
There's a small notch in the back wall for monitor cables (pictured), but other than that, there are no holes in the cabinet. It's a fully enclosed unit.
My concerns
Should I be worried about keeping an LCD monitor enclosed inside of this cabinet? The monitor has vents on the top and sides, so clearly ventilation is important to some degree. There's a fair amount of empty space in the cabinet (and the aforementioned notch in the back wall for minimal heat exhaust), but should I still worry about the monitor overheating? How much heat does a typical LCD monitor generate, and, in an enclosed space, is there a risk of damaging the monitor if it overheats? What other symptoms might an overheated monitor produce?
Notes:
- The monitor would not be "turned on" on a permanent basis. The game would be shown at a few separate events, for a maximum of 8 hours at a time.
- There is no other computer hardware in the cabinet. The actual computer tower is completely outside of the arcade cabinet enclosure.
Edit:
The monitor is an older Dell 1800FP:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/monitors/1800FP/English/specs.htm
2What is the exact model of the LCD in question? As pukipuki mentions, the amount of power it consumes is probably the main concern. – Shinrai – 2012-02-16T23:55:05.363
2Get a display with an LED backlight, instead of a cheaper CFL option. – Zoredache – 2012-02-17T00:28:04.770
I would drill a couple holes in the back, just to let out some of the heat. – Brad – 2012-02-17T03:54:13.883
1Edited my question to add the monitor model (Dell 1800FP). Looks like it uses 50-55 watts. – Michael – 2012-02-17T18:29:41.067
Finally La specs, not a cool monitor, at least vent it like chris said, or put a 120mm mid rpm fan in and run it off a 10v small wallwart power supply, and put holes at the other end to get cross flow. – Psycogeek – 2012-02-17T22:33:00.290