A system for fittingly mounting a display panel onto a controller of an industrial control system is provided. The system includes a display panel adapter plate that attaches to a display panel, and a panel adapter plate that attaches to an industrial controller cabinet or door. The display panel adapter and the panel adapter plate includes complimentary tension connectors that mate to fixedly attach the display panel adapter to the panel adapter plate, thereby connecting the display panel to the controller cabinet. In at least one embodiment, the display panel adapter also includes a compute engine mount that attaches a compute engine to the display panel via the display panel adapter. In at least another embodiment, the display panel adapter also includes a tether mount that allows the display panel to interlace with a remote compute engine.