America's Most Haunted
Spooky Pinball, 2014Got it installed. Directions were great! Is there a way to adjust the brightness and contrast? If you look at it from the side, the black background and graphics look great. If you look from the players aspect it looks a little washed out.
Thanks!
Brian
Quoted from pinghetto:Got it installed. Directions were great! Is there a way to adjust the brightness and contrast? If you look at it from the side, the black background and graphics look great. If you look from the players aspect it looks a little washed out.
Thanks!
Brian
There is not, sorry. What you're seeing is the deficiencies of the LCD panel itself. That is the reason I went to such efforts to get the higher performance displays.
Quoted from pinghetto:Wondering if the jumper needs to be moved??
The jumper sets the I/O voltage. The only way it could possibly help would be if setting it to 5V incorrectly burned out your display and you bought a higher performance replacement. 
Coincidentally, I received an auction notification for a good deal on one of the better displays while I was reading your message. Note that the firmware on your board would need updated in order to use it.
ebay.com link: itm
Quoted from CraigC:I have a smoke plexiglass piece in my game. Is it worth pulling it out for the clear?
I would. Otherwise, it will affect the display colors. You could always try running the display without screwing it in place and view it both with and without the tinted plastic. I did that and decided I had to replace it, which is why I included the clear in all the kits.
I got my color display installed today and it looks great! One thing I am wondering about is the top half of the display. On the colorDMDs I have installed, the top half of the display is black so it's not visible behind the translite. The top half of my AMH display is lighting up white, so it's clearly visible behind the tombstone on the backglass. I installed a couple of spacers to tilt the display backwards slightly, which diffused the light and also improved the viewing angle, but is this supposed to light up this way?
Yeah, I started using a stock RZ display which also displays white. When I wrote custom firmware, I kept the white. If it continues to bug you, let me know, and I can work with you to change it.
Quoted from herg:Yeah, I started using a stock RZ display which also displays white. When I wrote custom firmware, I kept the white. If it continues to bug you, let me know, and I can work with you to change it.
No worries. I could easily cover that part of the display, but I wanted to make sure it was supposed to be working that way first. This display really helps make AMH look like a more modern machine!
Quoted from benheck:Be careful when using RZ screens, they switched models halfway through production.
Is there potential damage that could happen from using a particular display?
Quoted from Betelgeuse:Is there potential damage that could happen from using a particular display?
If Ben has something in mind, he can chime in, but a panel mismatch would not cause damage. The worst case would be that you either wouldn't get an image on the display or it would be aligned strangely due to the different resolution and/or control signal timing.
I used a dual channel LVDS cable on all of the displays, though the 768p panels only need a single channel. In that case, the extra channel does not get used. If you update the panel to a 1080p and update the firmware, the cable will support that configuration. That's probably more information than you asked for.
No problems here. The image looks great on mine. It looks at least as good as the two colorDMD games I have next to it and the colorization is really good too. The color choices pop and it really ties all of the artwork on the game together. Very nice work, herg!
Of note, I have a very early AMH (#11) and my speaker panel was a little different than in the instructions. It was not routed out at the bottom, so I had to go by the positioning of the top holes only to get it lined up. It still worked out perfectly. Also, the installation seemed to wipe out my coil settings, so make note of the settings beforehand.
I also ended up blocking out the top portion of the display so the light wouldn't bleed through the backglass. I used spacers at the top of the display to get it to tilt back slightly for a better viewing angle, which also added the benefit of letting the light from the backbox still light up that part of the backglass. Without the spacers the shadow of the display was clearly visible. I took some before and after shots...
amhcolor (resized).jpgQuoted from Betelgeuse:I have a very early AMH (#11) and my speaker panel was a little different than in the instructions.
Interesting. Mine is #1, and lots of stuff was different on it, but the speaker panel seemed to be unchanged.
Quoted from Betelgeuse:the installation seemed to wipe out my coil settings, so make note of the settings beforehand.
Yeah, that's normal for a AV firmware update.
Now that most of the displays have been shipped, and only a few invoices remain to be paid, I want to introduce the alternative that I had promised.
After thinking about the LED panel approach, the obvious solution finally hit me. I didn't need to redesign the Chroma Color board to drive LED panels. A suitable hardware platform already existed.
PIN2DMD hardware along with some new firmware gets the job done. lucky1 was really easy to work with and added support for my modified DMD interface. I had to make a few changes on the AV firmware side, so it does result in another different AV firmware version.
Before anyone asks, I do NOT plan to sell kits. This would be much more of a DIY solution. PIN2DMD is open source, and you can build your own. Please check into the PIN2DMD threads or website for details. lucky1 has not released the firmware with this new support, but from what I understand, he will soon.
My involvement in this is only to provide the AV firmware that is compatible. All of the color files are the same as my LCD kit. You would only need to replace the PROP_0##.BIN file prior to loading the files onto the SD card.
More details should be coming soon, but for now, here's another one of my crappy videos.
Quoted from billsfanmd:Def want this or a color dmd someone bought but did not install
There are still about 5 LCD kits that have not been paid for yet. Customers did pay deposits on them, so I want to try to make sure they're out before I move to the waiting list. Still, if you're not on the waiting list, you may want to.
Quoted from herg:Now that most of the displays have been shipped, and only a few invoices remain to be paid, I want to introduce the alternative that I had promised.
After thinking about the LED panel approach, the obvious solution finally hit me. I didn't need to redesign the Chroma Color board to drive LED panels. A suitable hardware platform already existed.
PIN2DMD hardware along with some new firmware gets the job done. lucky1 was really easy to work with and added support for my modified DMD interface. I had to make a few changes on the AV firmware side, so it does result in another different AV firmware version.
Before anyone asks, I do NOT plan to sell kits. This would be much more of a DIY solution. PIN2DMD is open source, and you can build your own. Please check into the PIN2DMD threads or website for details. lucky1 has not released the firmware with this new support, but from what I understand, he will soon.
My involvement in this is only to provide the AV firmware that is compatible. All of the color files are the same as my LCD kit. You would only need to replace the PROP_0##.BIN file prior to loading the files onto the SD card.
More details should be coming soon, but for now, here's another one of my crappy videos.
Thanks for the video @herg. After all the research and work he had done it was easy to implement it into the pin2dmd firmware in a couple of hours.
dpannell can provide you the latest hardware needed for this. Replacing the XPIN display with the pin2dmd EVO128x32 should be plug and play.
Quoted from lucky1:Replacing the XPIN display with the pin2dmd EVO128x32 should be plug and play.
Good ol' AMH #1 strikes again. My game used the WPC power input with 8 pins (only 2 wires populated). I notice that in the Pinball Mayhem video, his stock XPin display has an additional 4 pin vertical connector. Mine does not have that. It would still be an easy cable to make, but it would not be plug and play in my case.
BTW, I'm down to only 2 invoices for the LCD kits that I'm waiting on, and they both say they want the display, they just need a bit of time for funds to be available. It's looking somewhat unlikely that I'll have any left for the waiting list people. I'm not really sure how long to wait on these guys, though. 
Quoted from herg:It's looking somewhat unlikely that I'll have any left for the waiting list people. I'm not really sure how long to wait on these guys, though.
"Two weeks!" 
How many LCD displays did you end up assembling?
Quoted from pipes:Does that foam gasket go back on between the speaker panel and the display or is that not needed anymore?
I removed it.
Quoted from Kkuoppamaki:Do you need hot glue to attach the new plexiglass, any other options/suggestions?
That's how the original one is secured to the speaker panel. As long as it doesn't interfere with the install of the LCD you can secure the plexi however you like really. I used hot glue. Holds really well and it's easy.
There is not really a writeup. I have posted the files that I feed into my scripts to generate files for the SD card.
http://ledocd.com/amh_color/
benheck has also offered to share the original graphics assets if someone is able to work with the files (Abobe Premiere and After Effects, if I remember correctly).
For now, I think the best way to get them converted for the SD card would be to send me colored TIF files, like those in the archive I have posted on my website. I'll run them through my scripts and generate new SD updates as appropriate. I would be willing to share my scripts and conversion tools, but they run on Linux, and they're not really made to be user friendly.
Pin2DMD display installed!
Big thanks to Mike(ptolemy) for the display! I had a little issue with updating the A/V files and he was fantastic with helping out. Thanks Mike(and herg)!
There are more pictures here...
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PTgRhBCzo18pzVZy9
0609191859c (resized).jpg0609191900a (resized).jpgQuoted from JeffF:Pin2DMD display installed!
Was there anything special you had to do to mount it on the speaker panel? I'm keeping an LCD in mine, so I plan to sell the Pin2DMD that I used to develop the firmware. When I do, I'd like to be able to suggest how to install it.
Quoted from herg:Was there anything special you had to do to mount it on the speaker panel? I'm keeping an LCD in mine, so I plan to sell the Pin2DMD that I used to develop the firmware. When I do, I'd like to be able to suggest how to install it.
I decided to just mount the Pin2DMD right to the speaker panel(after removing the green Plexi) and it looks great. This was out of laziness because the clear Plexi I bought was too big and needs to be trimmed down. At first this was only a temporary arrangement but after the wife and kids saw it I think I may keep it this way. The panel fits the opening perfectly. You can't see anything around it where you'd think it wasn't supposed to look this way.
My biggest concern is damaging the LED pixels if something were to hit into them... then I got thinking that I've never had something hit into that area with any of our other games so I may just chance it. 
If I were to install it with Plexi, I'd have to buy some spacers and longer screws since the Pin2DMD panel sticks out forward more than an LCD screen.
Quoted from billsfanmd:Can’t wait to install mine. Jeff where did you get the 3 bank decals?
Bought them off eBay...
https://ebay.us/6iij6r
They are expensive and shipping is ridiculous... but I like the way they look.
Quoted from JeffF:I decided to just mount the Pin2DMD right to the speaker panel(after removing the green Plexi) and it looks great. This was out of laziness because the clear Plexi I bought was too big and needs to be trimmed down. At first this was only a temporary arrangement but after the wife and kids saw it I think I may keep it this way. The panel fits the opening perfectly. You can't see anything around it where you'd think it wasn't supposed to look this way.
My biggest concern is damaging the LED pixels if something were to hit into them... then I got thinking that I've never had something hit into that area with any of our other games so I may just chance it.
If I were to install it with Plexi, I'd have to buy some spacers and longer screws since the Pin2DMD panel sticks out forward more than an LCD screen.Bought them off eBay...
https://ebay.us/6iij6r
They are expensive and shipping is ridiculous... but I like the way they look.
Thx!
Ill be putting mine in next week...Ill be sourcing the plexiglass and longer screws. thx for update
Quoted from billsfanmd:Thx!
Ill be putting mine in next week...Ill be sourcing the plexiglass and longer screws. thx for update
I have a few left over plexiglass covers. I could ship you one, probably cheaper than you could get elsewhere, unless you're cutting it yourself. PM if interested.
A special package was waiting for me when I got home from work today! I have just installed it (great installation instructions, thank you it went without a hitch and didn't take long at all).
It's really breathed new life into the game for me, the colour makes such a huge difference. I'm very happy, thank so much to herg for making this happen.
Cheers
Daniel
The last LCD kit has been paid for and will be shipping tomorrow. I do have a Pin2DMD that I plan to list soon, but other than that, I'm done. I really hope we can get the rest of the scenes colored, but it's going to take a while before I can get any more motivation.
Quoted from herg:The last LCD kit has been paid for and will be shipping tomorrow. I do have a Pin2DMD that I plan to list soon, but other than that, I'm done. I really hope we can get the rest of the scenes colored, but it's going to take a while before I can get any more motivation.
Got mine yesterday. I’ll be installing at the end of this month and posting pics. Super Stoked to have gotten on the wait list and then the notification email for an open slot. AMH is a favorite/grail of mine.
AWESOME JOB.
Color dmd now in my AMH. I got the color pin2dmd from Ptolemy and it is awesome. Thx to herg for answering all my pms and Ptolemy (mike) for getting me set up and driving to my house when I screwed up the SD card. 
Thx again everyone who made this happen
I'm more than willing to look at the colorization files. I've colored a pretty good number of games and I like to think I know what I'm doing.
I have them downloaded (the TIFs) are there any limits I should know about, like number of colors or anything like that?
Quoted from Malenko:I'm more than willing to look at the colorization files. I've colored a pretty good number of games and I like to think I know what I'm doing.
I have them downloaded (the TIFs) are there any limits I should know about, like number of colors or anything like that?
Each file is limited to 224 unique colors. If you use more, the scripts I use will reduce the colors and dither.
I agree it would be awesome if you are willing to continue the coloring.
I'm accustomed to using 16 colors so 224 is a god send. I will pick a few TIFs out, make some changes and then PM you a gdrive link. I have no means of testing the colorization but if the ones I alter meet your standards I'll plow through the rest as time allows. Is there any particular ones you'd like done first?
Sounds good to me. The Pxx and Wxx sections are the ones that are shown often and need the most work. Pxx is probably less challenging to start with.
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