Been working away on this project for the past few weeks.

I had a silly idea a while back about bringing full colour score displays to Bally (and Stern) Classic Solid State Games.

I wanted them to be plug and play - i.e. Simply remove your old score displays and slot in these new ones.

A nice range of font and colour options.

Ability to add your own "fonts".

Splash screen - again user selectable / can create your own.

Here is a Fathom Splash screen - very raw example, just from a photo off the cab side art:
IMG_2392 (resized).JPEG

Here are some examples of score display styles:
IMG_2393 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2394 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2395 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2396 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2397 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2398 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2399 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2400 (resized).JPEG

Here is a youtube video of the display in demo mode:

Very much a work in progress.

Prototype boards:
IMG_2561 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2562 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2563 (resized).JPEG

Any some pics in a game:
IMG_2565 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2566 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2569 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2570 (resized).JPEG
IMG_2571 (resized).JPEG

Uses off the shelf components - ESP32s development board, SD card reader board and 3 IC's. Plus the 6 or 7 Colour screen score display units. The production board will end up with more components on it - caps and resistors.

Been busy with game refurbs all summer, so not looked at this until a few days ago. now i’ve nearly got everything working!

Quick videos. i’ve set the display to change “font” every 20 seconds. you can decide if you want a fixed font or cycle through all fonts, or pick one at random. 21 jpeg fonts and then 4 different 7 segment fonts with a choice of 10 colours on each . so 61 different possibilities!!! more to come in future too:

Next video, how to setup and configure:

yes i’ve done 6 and 7 digit versions.

The development is over and we have a fully working system:

and

There is wifi communication between the 5 separate score displays, so that one of the units decides what “font” to display and sends the new font to the other 4 displays.

I’ve also added the ability for a unit to run without an sd card installed. (in this case it can display 40 different “rendered” 7-segment style fonts, but cannot display the jpeg files (which are on the sd card). This makes it a cheaper option for anyone not interested in jpeg images, but wants the colour choice flexibility. (The sd card reader is cheap, so i’d always recommend installing this on all boards). why? Because:

I’ve also added a software firmware update option. This auto upgrades the software if a new version is saved onto the sd card.

I’ve done a lot of testing on these, but still more tests to do.

Almost ready to offer these out as a “community” project for anyone who wants to build their own set.

I’ll publish a BOM - Bill of materials and typical costs. All the components are readily available, off the shelf, the only thing that isn’t are the two pcbs - the 6 or 7 digit display board pcb and the base controller board. I’ll get a batch of these produced once i’ve got an idea of demand.

I may also be able to source all the hardware parts into a kit if there is demand for that too?

The software will be made available to upload to your own board. Again I could possibly pre-load this onto the esp32s if I’m supplying these.

BOM:

6 Digit Display Board:
6 Digit Display PCB with SMD Sockets pre-soldered 1
IPS 1.14" 8 pin SPI TFT Display 135X240 Pixels 6
2X16p Right angled Male Header 1

7 Digit Display Board:
7 Digit Display PCB with SMD Sockets pre-soldered 1
IPS 1.14" 8 pin SPI TFT Display 135X240 Pixels 7
2X16p Right angled Male Header 1

4 Digit Display Board (Credit/Match/Ball in Play):
6 Digit Display PCB with SMD Sockets pre-soldered 1
IPS 1.14" 8 pin SPI TFT Display 135X240 Pixels 4
2X16p Right angled Male Header 1

Base Controller Board:
Base Controller Board bare PCB 1
2X16p Female Header Socket 1
10p 3.96mm / 0.156" male header 2
15p Female Header Socket 2
Dil 16p IC socket 3
SN74HC165N Shift Register IC 2
SN74HC595N Shift Register IC 1
2N4403 / 2N3906 Transistor 1
10k Resistor 1
ESP32s Devkit Doit V1.0 Processor module 30 pin 1
Micro SD card reader board 1
Micro SD Card 128Mb 1
15cm double Sided foam tape 1

Hi, apprecaite your comment.

It only uses it if it needs to, & can be switched off. it's very very low level comms between the units, not a full blown wifi connection that needs them all configuring & connecting to a wifi network. They don't even create a real wi-fi network. 4 of the units just listen for messages, the "Sender" unit will only broadcast a message if the font changes, which is probably not something that is going to happen that often outside of demo modes. There is no need to define a "Sender", & in that case nothing is ever broadcast.

I didn't want to introduce any additional hard wiring requirement in the game itself - these are 100% plug and play compatible with the original bally (or stern) displays, so no mods required to the game itself. I also didn't want to have to string additional wires between the units, as that makes installation just that little bit harder.

What’s involved in building the devices:

First the base board:
060CA9B4-56FC-4349-931C-936A8963549C (resized).jpeg
Not a lot to solder

34A4A9E8-C76C-4DA5-A92B-C191892C7E84 (resized).jpeg
Some headers and sockets, sd card reader module and 3 ic sockets

F94A0B78-F997-4CCB-BC33-E9FFAB573598 (resized).jpeg
Complete with the esp32s processor board plugged in.

All components are std off the shelf components, so all readily available and easy to repair in future.

Secondly the vertical display board:

C1600882-099F-42B3-B8CB-BC7ED23EA6DE (resized).jpeg

79BDC121-57B1-4E16-B09A-83452BC6F7A7 (resized).jpeg
First add the header pins to the display side of the board.
506531DA-0815-40EC-BE3A-D629F1AF6D1E (resized).jpeg72B7A651-A19F-4259-AA25-1A2076285977 (resized).jpeg
Plug in each of the screen connectors, there is a black retaining clip that holds each firmly in place. 591D1660-8D31-48D6-B3CF-2D654BC12704 (resized).jpeg
Use double sided tape to secure each display unit to the board.
A3E61E31-5C43-4509-910B-936CFD2F7699 (resized).jpeg
All done, remember to remove the plastic screen protector film!!!

I am pricing up kits, should have this in a day or three. Trying to keep costs very much to the component and board cost plus a small allowance for me to cover some spare parts and also economies of scale, which never work out at an exact number of units.

The software I have written will be provided FREE OF CHARGE. As will be forum/email support from myself.

I have all sorts of ideas to improve the product (more fonts etc) and will happily take enhancement requests, with new versions of the software again provided FOC.

Someone has asked me why I didn’t use a single large screen, instead of individual screens?

I would love to use a single large screen, but there isn’t a suitable screen on the market that has the correct dimensions and the right resolution. the 7 displays are 135x240 pixels. which gives 945 x 240 in total.
I have found screens that appear to suit but they use an interface that is complex and difficult (impossible) to integrate with an esp32 processor. I could get them going via a raspberry pi- but that just makes the price uneconomical. I have spent a lot of time trying all sorts of different screens and interfaces. these 1.14” ips screens are the best at the moment. In future, if a decent large screen becomes available, I will of course use it. A close second are the smaller 0.96” ips screens, but they just don’t look right, even though they are cheaper than the 1.14”.

Hi, I have tested for months in my own games and they are taking power from the existing 5v. As yet I haven’t had any issues.

As you correctly point out, the extra power draw from replacement led score displays can strain the old 5v supply. These ones take a similar amount of power.

Even though I haven’t had to use it, I have trialled using an off the shelf 5a voltage regulator board - like this:
E9D62FEE-8F01-4D34-B942-0485973700F1 (resized).jpeg
it takes 6-30v dc input, so i hook it into the 12v off the sdb (big cap is a good hookup point) and then this can be used to power the displays (or other 5v mods).

I’m sure we can offer some fully built sets. watch this space.

Update: Still working on BOM pricing.

Software wise, all working apart from on some of the later Bally Games, e.g. Medusa - the interval time between the display of HSTD and Last Game Scores, is very fast and doesn't give enough time to display both scores especially when they are big scores and when each digit is different - e.g. HSTD = 1234500 and last game score = 5432100 - this is worst case scenario where 5 digits have to be re-drawn to the screens.

The rendered 7-segment fonts are fast enough, but the jpeg images from the SD card are too slow to be displayed. I've changed the code to use the most optimised jpeg decoder library, and it still isn't fast enough.

So, next best thing is to switch to rendered 7-segment images when in attract/game over mode. That then presents a whol new challenge - how to tell if a game is in game over mode, or actually in a game?

Any suggestions?

Ideas so far:
1. Look at the credit match display - if the right hand side digit is non blank or non-zero - then we are in a game. Otherwise we are in attract mode. (Ignoring self test mode - for time being).
2. On startup, wait for the first non blank, non-zero score to be displayed - that is the HSTD - remember it, and it it starts being displayed on P1-P4 score displays, then we are in attract mode. Need to keep track of any game score that exceeds to HSTD and then use that in future.

thanks i’ll check that.

Games i can test in are:
lost world
paragon
fireball ii
fathom
centaur
medusa
elektra
8 ball deluxe le - but little point as scores behind a red screen!!
i’ve no classic stern games anymore so can’t test in those easily

i’ve also got to test different mpu boards and different settings, eg free play, match feature on or off, etc. etc.

I’ve got the code now picking up attract mode in medusa and lost world. need to build some more units so i can have a few games on test at the same time. …….

I’m happy to have a look at these, I need to grab some arduino/esp32s code that displays those file formats to a tft display.

I've checked all my bally games and nothing seems to use the ball counter digit when a game is in progress, i.e. they all show 1,2,3,4,5 etc for the ball in play. Some games do write to it at the end of the game when it shows the random sequence of match numbers - centaur, fathom, fireball II. but that isn't an issue for me, as it only occurs for a second or two before ending then game and then dripping into "game over" mode, at which time the match number selected always ends in a zero on the ball in play digit (far rightmost digit on the display).

On the bally games I have, nothing seems to use the display for any other purpose? I wonder if it is on stern games? Regretting that I sold my stern games.......

My Medusa has an alltek board, I wonder if this is why it's switching very quickly. Checked the jumpers on the alltek - set to bally/stern mpu100 not to stern mpu200

I've also checked out centaur, fathom and fireball II and they have a much slow cycle between HSTD and last game scores, - all using original bally mpu boards.

I tried PNG files - they are less compressed than the jpegs, but still need decoding. The total time to read from sd card, decode and then display to the screen is more or less the same as the jpeg files.

"There are some rom mods that use it both original board and Arduino add ins.">

Aha - I see......that's a nuisance (to me!)

So, I have got this far:
There is now a new parameter that you can set, which is called "Attract Mode Font" - this can either be 0 (zero) which means "Do not use the attract mode font feature", or it can be any of the fonts numbered 21-60 (these are the fast 'rendered' 7-segment fonts.

Currently, to detect if a game is in attract mode, the CMB display (Credit/Match/Ball-in-play), looks at the far right digit - if this is 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, then it assumes a game is in play (that is the current ball in play number), otherwise it assumes we are in game over/attract mode. I will happily look at other ways to do this, in the near future, but it must be derived from the score display data present at the score display - I don't want to have to string wires around the back box, trying to pick up lamp data signals, etc. That defeats my "Prime Directive" of "Simple Plug in Replacement" !!!

The CMB display keeps a track of the current mode, and if it changes, it sends a message to the 4 player displays to tell them the new game mode. The CMB display will switch it's own display to the "Attract Mode Font" if it is non-zero.

Each of the Player Displays P1-P4 will pick up the message, and act on it. i.e. if the game has gone into Attract Mode, and the "Attract Mode Font" (for that display) is non-zero, it will switch to using the Attract Mode Font. And if the game then comes out of attract mode, it will re-instate the last font used.

The reason I have left each P1-P4 display to decide whether to use an attract mode font at all, and if so, which one, is for total flexibility. e.g. you may want different coloured fonts on different players, when in attract mode - e.g. P1, P3 White, P2, P4 Red, CMB - Green.

Thank you for this - yes confirmed in my lost world - so that method wont work. I'm going to go back to looking for the HSTD itself, seems a better solution anyway

Spent most of the day working on the HSTD method, and it seems to be working pretty well.

The new code does this:
1. Get a score, if its the highest score, then its the HSTD.
2. If HSTD is being displayed then switch into a faster font (optional).
3. If the HSTD stops being displayed (after a few seconds), then we have dropped into a game, switch back to the prev font.

The testing overhead for me is getting ridiculous, there are so many permutations now:
a - different games
b - different game settings on the dip switches
c - different MPU's
d - 6 or 7 digit displays, or CMBIP display
e - whether SD card present or not
f - 61 different font settings (but really only 2 types - jpeg and rendered)
g - 4 different font movement settings
h - send and receiver modes to synchronise changes of font across all games in a display.

So, rest of today - testing.............

bingo!!! a really long day but i think i’ve cracked it all. tested in various games with various settings and swapped mpus between games as well.

I’ve also worked on a principle of “minor gains” and replaced the jpeg decoder for an ever so slightly faster one; found a new way to talk to the sd card, and speeded up the data transfer rate; pushed the tft displays up to a faster data transfer rate whilst still performing reliably. need some sleep now zzz

Tomorrow i’ll sort out the parts pricing as promised a few days ago.

Kit Prices:
======

Hey folks, I've got the parts all priced up. Works out around £32.80 - £34.80 per display kit.
So for a complete set of 5 displays = £164 for 6 digits and £174 for 7 digit.
I've included everything in the pricing EXCEPT for the Micro SD HC card. (I'm sure you can source these yourselves, if you don't have any lying around already).

Shipping from UK to USA - International Tracked & Signed for £23 (up to 750g weight), which is enough for 1 set. +£6 a set for each additional set, up to a max of 3 sets in one package.

PLEASE NOTE PRICING IS IN £ GBP, not US$ as I am in UK.

Kit comprises, for each display:
For the Display PCB:
1 X 6 or 7 way Display PCB with SMD FPC Sockets pre-soldered on
6,7 or 4 (for CMBIP) X IPS 1.14" 8 pin SPI TFT Display 135X240 Pixels ST7789
1 X Double 16p Right Angled Male Header pins
For the Controller PCB:
1 X Base Controller Board bare PCB
1 X Double 16p Female Header Socket
2 X 10p 3.96mm / 0.156" male header
2 X 15p Female Header Socket
3 X Dil 16p IC socket
2 X SN74HC165N Shift Register IC
1 X SN74HC595N Shift Register IC
1 X 2N4403 Transistor
1 X 10k Resistor
1 X 2.2k Resistor
1 X ESP32s Devkit Doit V1.0 Processor module 30 pin, with the ColourClassics Displays firmware pre-loaded
1 X Micro SD card reader board
1 X 15cm double Sided foam tape
Note: Micro SD HC Memory Card NOT INCLUDED

A Set of 5 will include for the Credit/Match/Ball-in-Play: A 6 way display board with just 4 IPS Screens (This is to keep costs down).

Spare IPS screens £2.50 each.

Anyone wishing to source components, screens themselves, I can provide the 2 PCBs for £6 a pair. The Base controller PCB is totally unpopulated, but the 6 or 7 digit display PCB will have the SMD, FPC connector sockets already pre-soldered to the board. Unfortunately again shipping from UK to USA is not cheap £8 economy (not tracked, so at your risk) or £20 fully tracked and signed. I can ship up to 5 pairs of boards for those prices. if you just wanted a single board pair to try out, the postage will be cheaper - £5.50 is lowest untracked.

Not taking money just yet, however I'd like an idea of interest, so I can go order the parts in bulk.

OK - I've ordered boards and parts to make up a few kit sets. Will be a few weeks before these arrive. Whilst I'm waiting I will continue to test, document and also start working on other software features for a future release.

Today plenty of game to game testing. For safety I tried full on max current draw using a test program to switch on all displays full white (max current draw) - on some games F3 4A blows.

On quite a few if my games i have 5A fuse in F3 as using the 5v line for other add on mods.

Lm323k 5v reg on SDB rated 3A, but with current limiting built in. so far none blown. ran my fathom (with 5A fuse) overnight and no fail, no overheat even with the additional display current draw. I’ll measure actual current draw next (need to hack a display to put ammeter in the circuit).

some games have a 5A regulator instead on the SDB (not 323k) so i’ll check if any of my games have that. fathom deffo 323k

My gut feel is to add in an additional 5v from the 11.9v, which necessitates changing F3 from 4A to 5A anyway (bridge rectifier can easily handle the extra current), but now wondering if it’s just ok to update F3 ? I think the answer lies in what max current draw these displays demand.

Each display unit is drawing a max current of 460mA. 5 Units in a std game = 2.3A.

Yes, medusa playfield display is a std 6 digit score display.

You can add your own jpeg fonts, but if you can find some images i’ll happily include them and resize them to fit the displays. pixel size is 135 wide x 240 high btw.

attract mode - the game flicks between hstd and last game scores. So you’d have to lose those being displayed in order to show something else. maybe i could make it so it switches between all of them???

Hi, quick answer. No. Sorry. i wish it could

why not: it takes longer to render an image on a tft screen. even if i render a number directly i’m still switching on 100’s of transistors individually in the tft display. compared to say just one cycle in a traditional display or led 7 seg display. each screen is 135 x 240 pixels. to render a full jpeg image is a lot of data to shift. then that X 6 or 7 digits!

yes it depends on image size, but the faster method is where we draw lines to the display to create the numbers - two formats currently, 7 segment style and also "dots". - I could maybe create another option which overlays one number onto another without clearing the previous - this would blur quickly......

The bally game code on many games seems to do weird stuff when it is outputing score data.

E.g. when a players score is flashing (on some games) to indicate it is that player turn and no score yet this ball, the bally mpu puts out the digit value, latches it into the display, but then a few cycles later it overwrites with a blank, and latches that in, before dropping the blanking line to actually display.

Then, even weirder one. I have noticed on fathom that if the player 1 score is blinking, and I have P2 game up, the P2 score data gets some incorrect data being latched into its display (again blanking is high so it's never displayed), then a few cycles later the correct value is latched in. As I say this only happens with P1 score is flashing. No idea why the game code would do something like this.

The data is displayed in descending order - digits 7 down to 1. Digit 7 being left most on the display.
Another really annoying thing I have noticed is that when it does flash a players score, I would have hoped that it starts blanking on digit 7, but it appears it can start the blanking on any digit at random. This makes it tricky to get a score - e.g. score might be 7,654,320 - but sometimes it will have blanked the 7 or 7 & 6 or the 3,2,0 etc. Makes my ability to pick up the current score a bit more difficult! It also makes it tricky to get a really nice solid blinking effect.

Aha. that explains it. I’ve just had to suck it up and deal with it.

It’s fascinating to grab a bunch of display output data and see what the game pumps out!!!

Current version of the firmware handles all these issues across a variety of games and mpus.

I’ve tested in Fathom, Medusa, Lost World, Fireball II, 8 ball deluxe, elektra, paragon and centaur.

New Pcbs have arrived. and so have 100’s of Ips colour screens
0DD2E0BB-4BFD-4554-A448-36D005798B43 (resized).jpeg
DD9A6E9C-0951-40B4-B7BD-43155F54DB5E (resized).jpeg
9B61C3CB-F8B8-4686-9351-561BE7C774B3 (resized).jpeg
5D88DAC5-BAA0-4129-A6E3-0DF6FD9F5742 (resized).jpeg

Still waiting for other components…….

Software still in testing and making minor improvements……..

will update once i’ve got all the parts ready to ship

a quick demo of render speed - each number displayed is being read as a jpeg file from the sd card, decoded and then sent to the display screen.

Parts have eventually all arrived. Almost ready to start shipping kits.

Via messaging on here, paypal for payment.

Hey folks – I am ready to ship initial sets of these as kits, and I really want to spread these out far and wide, and get as many people testing in as many different games as possible, so am offering to ship a full set of 5 display kits for £150 to include USA shipping. (Usual Price will be £187-£197). Limited to one set per person initially. You can have either a 6 digit or a 7 Digit set. I have 12 sets available initially.

Kit comprises, for each display:
-----------------------------------------
For the Display PCB: 1 X 6 or 7 way Display PCB with SMD FPC Sockets pre-soldered on
6,7 or 4 (for Credit/Match/BIP) X IPS 1.14" 8 pin SPI TFT Display 135X240 Pixels ST7789 driver
1 X Double 16p Right Angled Male Header pins
For the Controller PCB:
1 X Base Controller Board bare PCB
1 X Double 16p Female Header Socket
2 X 10p 3.96mm / 0.156" male header
2 X 15p Female Header Socket
3 X Dil 16p IC socket
2 X SN74HC165N Shift Register IC
1 X SN74HC595N Shift Register IC
1 X 2N4403 Transistor
1 X 10k Resistor
1 X 2.2k Resistor
1 X ESP32s Devkit Doit V1.0 Processor module 30 pin, ColourClassics Displays firmware pre-loaded
1 X Micro SD card reader board

Note: Micro SD HC Memory Card, and double sided tape, NOT INCLUDED

A Set of 5 will include for the Credit/Match/Ball-in-Play: A 6 way display board with just 4 IPS Screens (This is to keep costs down).

Optional Extras:
---------------------
Spare IPS screens £2.50 each.
Micro SD cards £2.50 each. (I will pre-load these with the jpeg Image files).

Jpeg images
----------------
I will make available a link to download the jpeg image files, to all customers, so you can populate your own Micro SD cards.

Self-assembly
-------------------
To assemble the kit, you will need to solder on the components, headers and sockets. The IPS Screens simply plug into the pre-soldered connectors, these are small and require delicate handling, I use plastic tweezers to insert the connector into the FPC socket.

Compatibility
========
Tested on my own games: Bally: Paragon, Lost World, Elektra, 8 Ball Deluxe, Medusa, Fathom, Centaur.

Other Bally games not tested.

Stern games not tested . Note: On 7 digit Stern games, you will need to bridge pin 11 to pin 12 on the large header on the base board (The one that connects to the game).

Any issues on other games, I will do my best to provide software updates to support more games, this is on a best endeavours basis and is not guaranteed.

5v Power Supply
==========
These displays make use of the 5v power supply in the game. They draw additional current, and you may need to upgrade the fuse and/or power supply in your game.

For safety I tried full on max current draw using a test program to switch on all displays full white (max current draw) - on some games F3 4A blows.

Each display has a max current draw of 460mA. So a set of 5 requires 2.3A.

On quite a few of my games I have 5A fuse in F3 as using the 5v line for other add on mods.

I have run my Fathom and Medusa or several weeks now, including overnight power on tests, with an uprated F3, 5A fuse and have experienced no issues. My SDB boards have the 3A rated LM323K Voltage regulator.

Another option is to provide an additional 5v power supply for the new displays. I can provide details on the easiest way to do this, if you require.

Ordering
========
Please PM me with your order:
1. Your Name
2. Your email address
3. Your phone number
4. Your Shipping Address
5. Which set you require: 6 Digit set or 7 Digit Set (4 X 7 digit + 1 X 6 digit)
6. How many spare IPS Screens (optional) £2.50
7. How many SD Cards (optional) £2.50

If I have enough stock, I will acknowledge order and will provide a paypal payment request.
if I'm out of stock, then I will add you to the waiting list.
Please pay friends/family to avoid paypal fees (much appreciated).
On receipt of funds, I will ship the kits and provide tracking info. Next post is Dec 29th due to Postal Strikes and the Holiday.

Build instructions are in this thread, Post #29 (although there are some additional components now, 2 resistors and a transistor).

User guide will be published soon, and it will be emailed to all customers anyway.

Many thanks,

Alan

Thanks everyone, all PM's responded to.

User Guide and Build Instructions Pdf's:
ColourClassic Score Display User Guide V1.0.pdfColourClassic Score Display Build Instructions V1.0.pdf

Yes, but I need to just test one in the medusa playfield. I’ll aim to do that in the next few days.

you can put different images as splash screen images on each display - so yes you could create that. However, Splash is only once on startup. There is not really enough time to display hstd, last game scores and the splash screens when in attract mode.

I’ll add it to the future enhancements list though - there may be a way……

All the initial ones at the discounted price have been sold.

I’m packing all orders and shipping tomorrow.

I’ll be taking further orders in the New Year.

Alan.

Couple of little construction tips:

Use two pairs of Pliers to pull out the Keying pin on the 0.156" headers. Use one to hold the plastic and the other to pull on the pin:
IMG_4058 (resized).jpeg

I've found electricians insulation tape the best to use as a temporary holder for the displays. (I don't like to stick them down permanently until I have tested).
It's enough just to tape the top of the display, so I can see most of the screen for testing.
IMG_4060 (resized).jpeg
IMG_4061 (resized).jpeg

I've created splash screens for all the games I have, Plus a Generic Bally One.

pasted_image (resized).png

For each Game I have created a matching Set of 6 or 7 Images for the four player Score displays.
For the Credit / Match / BIP Display, because only 4 Digits are visible, I have created a "Single" Image.

E.g. - Lost World:
pasted_image (resized).png

Then a Single Image for the CMBIP:
splash1 (resized).jpg

EDIT:
Now Added Star Trek and Flash Gordon.

Now added splash screen images for these games:

8 Ball Deluxe
8 Ball Deluxe LE
Centaur
Dolly Parton
Elektra
Fathom
Fireball II
Flash Gordon
Future Spa
Harlem Globetrotters
Kiss
Lost World
Medusa
Paragon
Skateball
Space Invaders
Spectrum
Star Trek
Xenon

I will create more in future. We need good images of either backglass, cabinet art or flyer to create these.

That sounds good. I’ve no stern games anymore so have not tried in any stern games yet.

Note: Pins 11 & 12 will need bridging on the 0.156” header in order for the 7th digit to work on Stern 7 digit games. (I’ll add a jumper to a future board revision).

Finally found a day to get a set of Colour Classics permanently into Fireball II - complete with nice splash screens.

Bobby Orr Power Play Splash screens added.

I had a query from a couple of UK people who have received their kits and have built them.

They were concerned that the right hand display flickers when in setup mode. This is normal. (the display is blanked and refreshed too often - i’ll stop it happening in a later release).

Added more splash screens:

8 Ball
Evel Kneivel
Mata Hari
Night Rider
Strikes n Spares
Playboy

I emailed you a link a few days ago - they are in the "SD Card Images/splash screens" folder from that link.

its done

I use a fine tip for most of the soldering. the transistor has the 3 closest legs. best to solder the middle leg first.

for the 0.156” header, a larger tip is better

Good luck with all the builds everyone who has received theirs. Just a quick note:

One person built theirs earlier this week and tried a single unit in several of his games, it didn't work when installed alongside the 4 original displays. But removing them, made it work. I've not experienced this on any of my games, although I have to admit that all mine had LED score displays in them, and the new displays happily work alongside those. I checked with one of the UK guys, who built and installed his in Flash Gordon with original displays, he didn't have the issue.

Just something to watch out for.

I'll test one of my games over the weekend if I can find some original displays........(Ive got a box of them stashed somewhere......)

I do most of my soldering at 400 Centigrade = 750F - not yet destroyed anything, sometime drop to 300 for delicate stuff. I've built 30 of these displays all on the higher setting. No issues.

Just found a couple of 7 digit orange HV displays - put them in fathom and all worked ok with the new displays.

IMG_4617 (resized).jpeg
IMG_4618 (resized).jpeg

Can you photo the damaged package with the label showing? if you still have it? if anything IS damaged I can then put in a claim

Did a bit more testing, it seems the C/M/BIP original 6 digit display causes some issues? Not sure why. I know these displays have pins 10,11,12 all joined together - pin 10 the blanking line and pin 12 the 7 digit line on a 7 digit display, but pretty sure the backbox wiring deals with this and sticks the 7th digit line wire into the spare "KEY" pin at 14, so it doesn't get dragged down by the 6 digit display. (This is why if you ever have put a 6 digit display in a 7 digit game in P1,2,3,4 slots you will notice it messes up the first digit on any other 7 digit displays in the game - it lights up with zero all the time).

I cant see anything else in the 6 digit schematic or on the board that would interfere with anything? Bit stumped.

I'll do some testing tomorrow and look at the data lines with and without an original 6 digit display in the CMBIP space.

This is probably a moot point because generally you're all going to be installing a full set of 5 new displays, so it's a non issue really. Although one person was talking about just putting the colourclassic display in the playfield in medusa......Hmmm......

That's really cool John, now we need someone to do a 7 digit version too.

Another quick tip for builders:

You can test and setup your new display simply by powering it from a 5v supply. e.g. usb to micro usb cable from your laptop. It's a lot easier than plugging it into your game.

Note: The display will stay on the splash screen as it waits to get some score data before removing the splash screen, but you should be able to enter the setup menu by pressing (for about 1/3 sec or more) and then releasing the "boot" button on the esp32s board. You can then go though the setup menus and configure the display. You should also see digits displayed whilst you do this.

Note button presses:
a short press < 300ms will change the setting value
long press > 300ms < 3 secs, moves to next menu
really long press > 3 secs is useful on some settings - e.g. setting the font - the really long press will reset the value to 0 (so it saves you having to press all the way through all the 61 fonts to get back to zero! It also works on the GameID setting.

Hope this helps.

Alan

Did a lot more testing on this. In my fathom, with any 2 old HV score displays in, the CCSDisplays work fine. As soon as I add a 3rd original display, they stop working. it's nothing to do with the 6 digit CMBIP display. I had that in along with a 7 digit display - worked fine, as soon as I added another 7 digit display - stopped working - removing any one of the 3 and it works again.

If anyone wants to 3-d print a guide - here are board layouts in mm:

144 total board length (mm)
63 total board height (mm)
display rectangle is 29mm X 17.8 wide.
display rectangle start 10mm down from the top edge

6 digit display:
6 left margin
17.8 display width
5.2 gap
17.8 display width
5.2 gap
17.8 display width
5.2 gap
17.8 display width
5.2 gap
17.8 display width
5.2 gap
17.8 display width
5.2 right margin
144 TOTAL

7 digit display:
3 left margin
17.8 display width
2.2 gap
17.8 display width
2.2 gap
17.8 display width
2.2 gap
17.8 display width
2.2 gap
17.8 display width
2.2 gap
17.8 display width
2.2 gap
17.8 display width
3.2 right margin
144 TOTAL

I asked a mate on uk forum pinballinfo.com. he’s designing the 7 digit one and printing a test for me.

The base board (ie the base controller board) is exactly the same for 6 or 7 digit. Obviously the display board is different as one has 6 positions for displays and the other has 7 (which are closed together)

I am no graphic artist, but had a go at creating some centaur number images:

I'm hoping the more artsy folk can help create even better image sets

0 (resized).jpg

1 (resized).jpg

2 (resized).jpg

3 (resized).jpg

I've not been able to find the non-locking headers in UK (or china) for a reasonable price, hence the locking ones. Most games have non locking connectors on from factory, so it's usually not an issue, and it makes a nice tight fit. If it's too tight, you can bend back the locking plastic arm a bit.

Good work - I will add your creation to font library - as long as you are ok with that?

The blinking actually switches off all the displays - so there is no colour.

Please can you post a pic of the type of gorilla glue you used as there are a few different gorilla glues.

Yes - each display can have its own set of splash images.

A new release of software will be released soon (next day or 2):

1. Remove the flashing of the splash screen - it seems to annoy folk more than it's useful, especially because each display boots at a different speed, and so they flash out of synch. (This flashing was really only there as a test to be honest whilst I was testing the on/off display code).

2. The setup screen doesn't refresh and flash repeatedly.

3. BSOS support (still undergoing testing, but we now have it displaying scores - it wasn't displaying anything in V4.12)

4. On startup a "Sender" should send it's starting font to the receivers, but this was happening too quickly, and some receivers hadn't yet booted - it now happens at the right time. i.e. after the Sender has booted, displayed its splash screen, and has started to receive some display data from the game. All the other displays should have booted by this time.

I'm testing this as we speak.

The rendered fonts (the non jpeg fonts) numbered 21-60 do display commas.

I did think about having comma versions of the jpeg images, BUT - that would mean creating 20 jpeg files for each font set, rather than 10 (i.e. a version with an without a comma for each number 0-9). I felt it was too much work to do, especially given quite a lot of the existing jpegs don't lend themselves to having a comma in them anyway.

However, if people want it, lets agree the best way we could implement it. I'll add it to the enhancement list. Thank you for the suggestion.

EDIT: there is another way - I could more easily render a comma on top of the jpeg images, but I guess you'd need to choose the colour, x, y co-ordinates, maybe size, style etc.

Fantastic work - I will happily add to the growing font library if you are happy to share them please?

This bring me onto another enhancement idea:
We currently have the ability to change fonts,(either random or cycle through all the fonts) but I guess because you have there 3 Kiss fonts, it would perhaps be useful to just change fonts between those 3? I'm part way through adding a "List Cycle" feature - where you could say, for example. Only cycle through fonts,1,3,10,12 etc.

Having thought about this for a few more hours, this is perhaps the best thing we can do:
As you know an image font set is a set of 10 jpeg files named: n0.jpg to n9.jpg, where n is the font number 0-20.
I propose that to support commas, a font set optionally has an additional set of 10 jpeg files n0c.jpg to n9c.jpg holding the comma versions of each digit.
At boot time, the CCSD will scan the SD card and make a note of which font sets have comma files, and which don't. it will then use the comma version if it exists, when displaying a value in Digit 1 or Digit 4 positions (only for score displays, not for CMBIP display).

Anyone fancy creating a font set with and without commas please?

Ok the new software is available. It's in the shared folder that I emailed to all customers.

Copy the "firmware.bin" file to your SD card. Remove any old "firmware.bak" file from the SD card. Your display will update the firmware next time it boots.

if you want to test out the new "comma" feature using font 0 - please copy the "0c.jpg" to "09c.jpg" files from the shared folder containing the SD card images to your SD card.

Release notes:

Release V4.15 19/1/2023
-----------------------------
A number of changes in this release, it incorporates the changes in the V4.14C test release earlier this week.

1. BSOS compatibility. Now works with BSOS operating system - however the scrolling feature whereby BSOS scrolls a 7 digit
score across a 6 digit screen may not work fully, there may be a glitch or two.
2. Remove the splash screen flash on start up - this doesn't look good especially when each display boots at a different rate,
so the flashes were not synchronised anyway. It looks better that the splash screen stays on until the display starts to get
data from the game itself.
3. The Setup screen no longer flickers (The right most display was flickering as it was constantly being cleared and redrawn).
Now it only redraws if it needs to.
4. The config json file stored on the SD card is now stored in a format that is easier to read. The File now holds some additional info that will be used in a future release.
5. Fixed an issue where the "Sender" display was sending it's initial font out too early, and receivers didn't have time to boot
and receive the message. The send now happens after the "sender" starts to receive data from the game. this is after the
splash screen has been displayed.
6. Added support for image font files that contain a comma. At startup the system looks on the SD card and if it finds comma
version of the image files, it will use these. Normal font files are 0.jpg, 1.jpeg ...9.jpg etc. the comma files are named
with a "c" appending the number - e.g. 0c.jpg -> 9c.jpg. I have made a rather crude set of comma files for the first font,
font 0. These files are available to download from the SD card images folder. (Edit: Fonts 0,1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10, 17,18,19 & 20 all now have comma versions)

LMK if any questions, feedback, issues.
0c (resized).jpg1c (resized).jpg2c (resized).jpg3c (resized).jpg4c (resized).jpg

I've got it in the new release of the software, so feel free to create comma versions of your splash screens and try it out!

Quick pic of the commas i added very quickly.
C518C0A4-0ADE-44C4-AFA2-E1803551752B (resized).jpeg

Another idea i had was to keep the displays powered in a game, even when it’s turned off and then use them as a clock, weather forecaster, news ticker etc.

I'm retired, so got 18 hours a day to fill ! Plus I've got so much great feedback on these that's I just can't stop working on them.

The only frustration at the moment is waiting for more part and new boards to arrive.

Oops, V4.15 has a bit of a bug with the commas, "V4.15a" fixes it.

Here are samples of fonts and splash screens we currently have:

demo set 1 (resized).jpg

demo set 2 (resized).jpg

demo set 3 (resized).jpg

demo set 4 (resized).jpg

demo set 5 (resized).jpg

I can do that - BUT: We've not tested in any stern games yet (I don't have any anymore)- should work, but until someone tries.........

I may need to change the firmware to handle stern games, I'm committed to do it, but will need someone with a stern game to test for me please.

Yes, picking up the BCD data when the latch triggers then the Digit when the Blanking drops. Std stuff, should be fine. I'm just being totally cautious.

Thanks, pretty sure they will work, but as I haven't been able to test in a stern game, I'm being cautious.

Let us know how it goes. message me if you have any issues.

Hey i’m here for the long run.

Started work on the next new feature:
“List cycle” mode

This allows you to create a list of the fonts you want the display to cycle around at a given time interval.

For example you could list fonts 12,5,23,60,19,18,0 and a 30 second interval. the display will switch through each font every 30s, starting at 12, then 5 then 23 and so on. once it reaches font 0 it will then go back to font 12 and repeat the list.

This feature will allow you choose only those fonts that you feel are the best for the game. eg fireball II you’d probably choose a list of red coloured fonts. Whereas on Elektra maybe chose white and blue coloured fonts.

I’m hoping this feature will be more useful than the current cycle options. (these will remain btw)

I could maybe also do a “Random List” too, which (no surprise) would choose one of the list fonts at random each time interval.

Good news. thank you.

Hang on for the new List feature. (i’m doing the “list random” too)

Also. don’t remove fonts off the SD if you’re using the cycle all or random options. If fonts are missing and the system switches to a missing font the screens won’t show anything. Until the new feature is released, a better method is to overwrite any font files you dont like and dont want to use with a font you do want to use.

If the sd card is present the system expects there to be 21 sets of 10 font files ie 210 files numbered 0-209. So if you want to add a custom set, choose a set you don’t want to use. eg if you don’t like font 13. and want to replace it with a different font, the files are 130 to 139.jpg

The system will work without an sd card. but then only the rendered fonts 21-60 are available. these are the 7-segment and “dot” styles.

You can create a simple .bat file to help rename font sets:

@echo off
echo Batch Script to copy font files
echo For font set "0" leave blank DO NOT enter 0 - it wont work.
echo
set /p input= Copy From Font no.
echo Input is: %input%
set /p output= Copy To Font no.
echo output is: %output%
pause
copy %input%0.jpg %output%0.jpg
copy %input%1.jpg %output%1.jpg
copy %input%2.jpg %output%2.jpg
copy %input%3.jpg %output%3.jpg
copy %input%4.jpg %output%4.jpg
copy %input%5.jpg %output%5.jpg
copy %input%6.jpg %output%6.jpg
copy %input%7.jpg %output%7.jpg
copy %input%8.jpg %output%8.jpg
copy %input%9.jpg %output%9.jpg

put the .bat file in the same folder as your image files and double click it - a window should open and prompt you to enter the from and to.

A copy of this batch file is called renamer.bat and is on the shared folder under software/utilities/copy image font sets/

Create your own splash screens:
For 6 Digit Display games: You need 6 jpegs. splash1.jpg to splash6.jpg
For 7 Digit Display games: You need 7 jpegs. splash0.jpg to splash6.jpg

The best way to cut up an image into 6 or 7 parts:
For 6 digit displays, resize your image to 810 pixels wide X 240 pixels high
For 7 digit displays, resize your image to 945 pixels wide X 240 pixels high

Cut into 6 or 7 parts using this very handy tool:
https://www.imgonline.com.ua/eng/cut-photo-into-pieces.php

download the zip file, unzip and rename the 6 or 7 images to splash1.jpg, splash2.jpg, etc.

For the Credit/Match/Ball-in-play display, it's best to create a single image of size 135 X 240 pixels. Make copies of it as splash1.jpg to splash6.jpg.