We have received approval to reproduce a run of Chroma-Color boards. Thanks, Charlie at Spooky Pinball. This approval is the ONLY tie that Spooky Pinball has to this display. Do not contact them with questions, other than if you NEED to verify the approval. You will NOT be contacting them with support questions, either.

Per the agreement with Spooky Pinball, this will be a one-time run. I need an accurate count of boards to produce, so contrary to my normal practice, I'm requiring a pre-order on this. This deposit is non-refundable and will be applied to the full purchase price of the display.

All parts have been ordered, so the quantity listed on the website is all that will be available. I am looking into other solutions, but for now, this is it.

The build and test is expected to require about 2 months. The estimated first ship date would be approximately 6/1/2019 - 7/1/2019.

I'm setting the price at $329 plus shipping. The remaining balance, minus the deposit, will be required prior to an order shipping.

This kit will include:
Chroma-Color Controller PCB
LCD Display Panel
Display Mounting Bracket
Custom Power Cable
Replacement Clear Plexiglass DMD Cover
SD Card with Updated AV Firmware and Color Videos

More information is available at my website:
http://ledocd.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=38

Ugh! Tedious coloring.

Most of them, I've converted the VID files from the original SD to grayscale, used GIMP to color through various methods, then converted back into an indexed color format.

There are a few that had color in the original assests, Ben gave to a virtual pin guy, and were converted to animated GIFs which I then reused.

I do not have the original assets, but Ben has mentioned me sending him a drive to dump all of them onto. This has been a recent development since I caught his eye with some of the examples I posted.

If anyone is willing to help with the coloring, I'm happy to convert the files and include them. I am also willing to post my conversion tools, though they're written for Linux. Send me PM if you want to go down that rabbit hole.

BTW, with the amount of pre-orders so far, I know the price will be dropping. I won't know by how much until I can run the numbers, hopefully tonight.
Thanks for making this a success.

True, I won't make much profit. Given the time I've put into it just getting it working, the people assembling it will probably have a higher rate of pay.

That said, I didn't get into it to make money. I have a day job for that. This, I did so that I could have a color display in one of my favorite games that otherwise would have probably remained single color. I had a lot of fun doing it, and I'm glad that I can share it with you guys.

So, with no further ado, I'm going to set the final price at $329. I'll be ordering enough that the PCBs will be a good bit cheaper than they would have been if I was only building 10. I'll still be making what I consider to be fair.

Also, here's an updated video. It still isn't a very good video, but at least you can see the current state of the coloring.

Now, now, not everyone all at once! Seriously, though. Ben has offered to share some of the original assets to help with the remaining coloring. I don't own After Effects and Premiere, nor do I know how to use them. If anyone is willing to help by adding color to those assets, then exporting to bitmap sequence so my tools can convert them, it would be a huge help. Send me or Ben a PM if you would like to talk about it.

I wrote installation instructions this morning. If someone is willing to review them, I'd greatly appreciate it. My game is AMH #1, and I know some things changed during the run of games. The thing I question most is the alignment of the new DMD. If someone could compare my pictures to their game, that would be great. A picture of the back of the speaker panel on a high numbered AMH would also help. Here's the link:
http://ledocd.com/install_chroma.html

A bit of a head's up...

I had hoped that I could source the same display panels that are used in ColorDMD. These have been discontinued for a few years now, and supplies have dried up. At this point, I do not think this is a workable option.

Instead, I am planning to use the same display panel that is used in Total Nuclear Annihilation. The drawback to this display is that the viewing angle is not as good. When you are standing at the machine, the colors are a bit washed out. Colors are vibrant when standing further away or from a lower viewing angle.

For those who have already pre-ordered, I understand this is a bit of a disappointment. I wanted to get the information out before displays were shipped. If you are not satisfied with this option, I have no problem canceling and refunding your pre-order.

If you want to source one of the ColorDMD type display panels from EBay or elsewhere, I do have FPGA firmware that will work with it. I could program the FPGA with this firmware before shipping, and you would only need to screw the panel in place and attach the flex cable. Send me email or PM if you want to go this route.

Edit:

What's the EBay option?

Since the better panels are discontinued, EBay is nearly the only place they can be obtained. You have to be careful, though. Often, they will mention a particular part number, then ship a compatible display that will not be of the same quality as the mentioned part number. There are used ones as well. You really want to see a picture of the part number on the actual display being sold, if possible. The good part numbers that I know of are LP156WF1-TLF3 or B156HW02 v1.

It's not all that bad. I just didn't want anyone to be expecting ColorDMD and end up disappointed after installing it. Bad news does not improve with age.

I am still working on getting the better displays, but it just seems like a stretch to be able to get them in quantity now. Even the lesser displays are a huge improvement over single color.

I have also had a few questions about an LED screen option. I do not have the time or motivation to get that done. Sorry.

I have mounted the TNA screen (it did actually come out of my TNA) in AMH, so my observations are based on actually seeing it in my AMH. I'm probably making it sound worse than it really is, but I'm an Engineer, not a salesman. My wife and son love it, even with the TNA display panel. My wife says it's fine, even while playing, and my son is only four foot tall, so his viewing angle is perfect.

It's funny you mention Stern. The display in my Iron Maiden is great, even if you're not angling it. I wonder how many different ones they've used. I looked up the panel my IMDN has in it, and it would be a lot of work to inferface with it, so it's really not an option.

I've also had more questions:
1. No, you can't use a real ColorDMD in AMH. If you could, I would not have spent the hundreds of hours designing this.
2. You *could* steal the display panel from a ColorDMD, but you would still need the rest of the parts from this kit.

Here are the options as I see them now:
1. Full Chroma-Color kit with NT156WHM-N50 (TNA type) display panel - $329
2. DIY-ish Chroma-Color kit not including, but programmed for a LP156WF1-TLF3 or B156HW02 v1 (ColorDMD type) display panel - $279
3. Cancellation and refund of your pre-order

Also, a long shot would be that I could still find a source for LP156WF1-TLF3 or B156HW02 v1 display panels. I don't need any firm decisions until mid-April when I start ordering parts.

The RZ display is what I have in my game. I bought one from Charlie when I started developing this. From what I understand, Spooky switched from the ColorDMD type displays to the TNA one somewhere during the RZ build. Mine, #69, had a ColorDMD type in it. If you had a spare RZ display, yes, you could use it simply by reprogramming it.

You do have to read the fine print very closely. The majority of these are selling "compatible" displays. They'll most likely ship you a N156HGE-L11 which does have the same electrical interface, but is not the same quality.