Pincab DMD Recommendations

[Draco1962]

I have a question but I want to make everyone aware before it is asked that I am aware that there has been some controversy regarding infringment, etc. Please do not bring that into this discussion.

Now my questions. I have a VirtuaPin Mini. It comes with a USB monitor for DMD between the speakers on the backglass grill. I would like very much to add a real DMD as a replacement. I am aware that this may require some rework of the grill area.

- What are the most reliable DMDs available?

- What are the dimensions?

- What is the cost in the U.S.?

- Is this even possible on Virtua Pin Mini?

[Pike13]

Not sure if you saw this post where someone switched out the USB display with a nicer, larger IPS display.  The part where he swapped out the original is in the comments at the end.  Not a true DMD I know but perhaps it shows what is possible.

https://blog.codinghorror.com/your-digital-pinball-machine/

 

[Draco1962]

Thanks for that... we need to get him to try PinballX now.  It seems to me that a DMD should fit in the space allowed. May have to add a fan to the backbox to help with cooling as I hear that they can get a little hot and flaky when overheating. 

[hlr53]

I have a DMD v3 from good old Holly, MI. LOVE IT. Very bright! USB plug and play. IIRC, cost was $299.00

Front LED Panel (the part that would show) is 12 5/8 x 3 1/4

The mounting flange is 14 13/16 x 5

[tthurman]

Full specs

<edit> considering I paid around a buck twenty five for a 20" IPS monitor for this purpose, I'd probably gone this route instead for ease of installation.  I think v2 was out then though.  Wasn't there a competing product developed about the same time that was somewhat "open source" for lack of a better description?  I recall some friction about this, and think there is a thread here about it that's probably long buried now.

[Draco1962]

48 minutes ago, tthurman said:

Full specs

<edit> considering I paid around a buck twenty five for a 20" IPS monitor for this purpose, I'd probably gone this route instead for ease of installation.  I think v2 was out then though.  Wasn't there a competing product developed about the same time that was somewhat "open source" for lack of a better description?  I recall some friction about this, and think there is a thread here about it that's probably long buried now.

I don't know if the open source solution is even still in production. Hard to say.

57 minutes ago, hlr53 said:

I have a DMD v3 from good old Holly, MI. LOVE IT. Very bright! USB plug and play. IIRC, cost was $299.00

Front LED Panel (the part that would show) is 12 5/8 x 3 1/4

The mounting flange is 14 13/16 x 5

Is this the same as the one linked by tthurman above?

[Carny_Priest]

http://pin2dmd.com/

In fact, it is the non-commercial  pin2dmd team that wound up coding in the full color support that the for-profit pindmd v3 was missing and never found the time or resources to construct. If you are playing full color Stern roms using a pindmd v3 kit it is the pin2dmd team you should be thanking for that. It is also the pin2dmd team that has the image editor and ongoing colorization projects. Not much support on the software or firmware side from VirtaPin is what I'm saying. And it is neither the cheapest or best in market solution.

That said, if you are using a mini-cab and simply can't make room for a full size DMD, you would have to resort to a small monitor. I'm not aware of LED panels that are supported and are smaller than what these products are currently supporting.. 

[Draco1962]

17 minutes ago, Carny_Priest said:

http://pin2dmd.com/

In fact, it is the non-commercial  pin2dmd team that wound up coding in the full color support that the for-profit pindmd v3 was missing and never found the time or resources to construct. If you are playing full color Stern roms using a pindmd v3 kit it is the pin2dmd team you should be thanking for that. It is also the pin2dmd team that has the image editor and ongoing colorization projects. Not much support on the software or firmware side from VirtaPin is what I'm saying. And it is neither the cheapest or best in market solution.

That said, if you are using a mini-cab and simply can't make room for a full size DMD, you would have to resort to a small monitor. I'm not aware of LED panels that are supported and are smaller than what these products are currently supporting.. 

Could always set the DMD framed to run on top of the backbox (if too large to incorporate in the dimensions of the backbox) and run the current faux DMD as a 4th monitor using the topper function.

Where do you purchase or is this just a software solution that requires purchasing the pindmd v3?

[Carny_Priest]

Read through the info at pin2dmd.com.

Follow the links.

It's DIY if you want it to be. Schematics are in the project github repository. There are a number of people who are building pin2dmd shields for a more plug-and-play solution. You generally speaking have to provide the LED panels yourself, alibaba.com. But you probably could get the panels at VirtuaPin if you wanted a US-based vendor.

 

[hlr53]

6 hours ago, Draco1962 said:

I don't know if the open source solution is even still in production. Hard to say.

Is this the same as the one linked by tthurman above?

Yes

[randr]

I prefer plasma dmd for my setup but I also have pin2dmd both are super for a cab

[Draco1962]

Tell me more about the plasma DMD... do you have a link for it online?

[randr]

It's just a real pinball dmd search vishay plasma dmd

[Draco1962]

How big and how difficult are the plasma DMDs to setup vs Pin2DMD? Will they display for all tables/sims that have a DMD option?

[randr]

Works great. Biggest hurdle is power as plasma takes a transformer but you can get the transformer from few places