SPIKE IS COMING

...You were expecting Winter?

SPIKE IS COMING

Video Preview Added Below!

INFORMATION ON USING A COLORDMD IN A SPIKE GAME

ColorDMD has added support for the SPIKE game platform to the SIGMA (single-color) ROM. The SIGMA ROM is the standard shipping ROM for the ColorDMD and allows custom selection of color and display effect. Multicolor for SPIKE is not supported by this update. The company has not yet determined if/how multicolor for SPIKE will be supported, or whether changes to our hardware platform will be required. Only consider the purchase of a ColorDMD if the currently supported features meet your requirements.

Installation of a ColorDMD in a SPIKE game requires:
(1) a SIGMA-SAM/WS display (or ColorDMD with SAM/WS installation cables)
(2) a clear display shield to replace the red one that ships with the game
(3) a set of hex standoffs to mount to metal Stern speaker panels
(4) a DC/DC converter or other power supply to provide 5V and 12V to the ColorDMD

Items (1)-(3) are available through our store site. The shield and standoffs for mounting are offered as a combined kit on the ACCESSORIES page of our store site.

DC/DC converters for SPIKE games are currently available from Mezel Mods and Pinball Life. Other external power supplies can also be used provided they can support a minimum of 1A on 12V, 250mA on 5V, and share a common ground with the game.

**WARNING**
The ColorDMD PWR and AUX connectors are configured as
1 5V (Gray wire)
2 GND (Black wire)
3 12V (Gray/Yellow wire)
4 KEY
Do not cross 5V and 12V or you will damage the 1.2V regulator on the ColorDMD controller and your board will need to be repaired!
**WARNING**

Except for the addition of a power converter, installation in a SPIKE game is the same as SAM games with metal speaker panels. Installation instructions for SAM games are available on the SUPPORT page of our website.

The SIGMA colordmd.rom update for SPIKE can be obtained from our firmware support page. This ROM is currently in beta testing. If we make changes to the ROM prior to release, we will post a notice here and on the support page.

After updating the display with the SIGMA colordmd.rom file, enter the display menus and change the MOUNTING setting to SPIKE. Then advance through the menus to SAVE AND EXIT and press one of the middle buttons to select.

If you install a ColorDMD in a SPIKE game, we'd love to see the results. Please post videos here!

VIDEO PREVIEW OF SIGMA SUPPORT FOR SPIKE!
The ROM update is currently in beta testing. If you have a ColorDMD in a SPIKE game, contact us if you'd like to participate. Installation of the ColorDMD in a SPIKE game requires a power converter to generate 12V and 5V. Both Mezel Mods and Pinball Life are selling converters.
Thanks very much to Dave Timmer for providing the video and support to help make this available.

Added over 8 years ago: Thanks also to Martin Reynolds of Pinbits for his help to get this running!

The current ColorDMD uses an LCD color screen. The SIGMA (single-color) ROM for the ColorDMD allows choice of color and display effect. This is the standard ROM for shipping, and allows the display to be used with games that have not yet been colorized.

Both videos have the HI-RES upscaling mode enabled which smooths the space between the dots. The picture at the top was using TILE which replaces the dots with large squares.

Original post updated with information on using the SIGMA display in a SPIKE game.

The SIGMA dynamic color-changing feature is supported for SPIKE. Multicolor in the announcement refers to full frame-by-frame colorization.

The purchase of a display only provides access to the library of supported titles and features up to that point. There should not be any expectation of further development.

Support for future titles or features may require changes to the hardware platform that prevent forward compatibility.

That said, we have not charged for firmware updates to existing platforms nor do we plan to begin doing so in the future.

The SIGMA 3.1 beta ROM has been posted to the SUPPORT page.

http://www.colordmd.com/support_firmware.html

The Chroma LED displays work in SPIKE games and the new Chroma controller board includes an onboard 5V regulator to simplify installation. Chroma displays only requires a 12V power source.

The Chroma board also includes a standard four-pin +GRB connector to allow an external RGB controller to control the color of the display.

Not really an issue with the ColorDMD and I don't have direct experience with the Pinball Life board but I'll try to help...

I couldn't find installation instructions for the board online, but it looks like when it was installed the 48V cable for the node boards was probably unplugged from the cpu board and reconnected to the pass-through on the pinball life board.

Check to make sure that when the board was removed, the 48V cable was correctly reconnected to the CPU board.

You should also be able to go directly to the node board reporting the error and check to make sure that it is receiving power (48V and/or 9V) and that the local fuses on the node board are not blown.

That board only splits out 12V. The previous board you had included regulators that took 48V down to 5V and 12V and output both voltages on a single connector.

The original ColorDMD controller requires both 5V and 12V. That splitter board won't work with older displays.

New displays are shipping now with the (just introduced) Chroma controller board. The Chroma board only requires 12V and would be compatible with the splitter.

Firmware support exists for both LED and LCD in single color mode. Not yet offering a power cable for SPIKE but a number of customers have made their own.