OP

Quoted from Aurich:

This is simple. The ColorDMD video was shown with just dots. So there's a lot of black space on the screen, and it looks dimmer. The SmartDMD video showed off all the different modes, and most of them fill in more, so there's less black. So it looks brighter.
That said, if you look at the SmartDMD dots, they're fatter than the ColorDMD dots. It's like the jump from plasma to LED DMDs, the dots got bigger. So I do think the SmartDMD dots feel a little brighter. IMHO now that ColorDMD is doing SAM games they should add a fatter dot mode, to match the feel of LED DMDs. That's easy, just like they did 8-bit and tile modes in the last update.
They both use LCD screens that are probably roughly the same, I don't think either one is actually brighter from a physical hardware standpoint.

OP

Quoted from Aurich:

I edited the thread title to say PMD SmartDMD, since I guess SmartDMD is already a totally different product idea. Too confusing. And I guess you can buy a SmartDMD from Mike, but then not use his color files. I dunno, this is supposed to be about off the shelf color for ACDC, and further games in the future that are SAM, and that's it, hopefully that's clear. Because now I have a headache.

OP

Quoted from Aurich:

???
They both have ACDC, it's the obvious (and only) way to directly compare them right now. This is about Mike's PMD SmartDMD and ColorDMD. Yes, SmartDMD is a different product also, but that's a different topic for more DIY people. Not my fault the branding is confusing.