Seriously very cool.

I'm drooling with anticipation about this and Star Trek. All those colored uniforms, Khan and Spock fighting, lasers, Klingons, etc....

Glad to see that both modes will be available, as for me the upscaled stuff just does not work.

It will be.

Your perception does a 'nicer' job of smoothing the dots yourself (in your head) though, VS a hard math equation. Your perception makes nicer diagonals and smoother curves.

I can't remember, does ColorDMD have an option for squared dots with a fine black 1 pixel grid between them? Instead of the simulated rounds? That would be brighter. But still un-smoothed.

Show me those Metallica reference frames with smoothing on and I'll ponder it some more!

Really looking forward to this. Thanks Randy!

Not currently. If it's in dots mode, you cannot change the shape of those dots.

I think it's a cool option, but I think I'm partial to the standard color dots look. I might change it back and forth just for fun, though. To me - dots just say "pinball" and "retro" ...when smoothed out, it looks like mushy art.

I'd like to sees something like that...I'm not a fan of that rounded smoothing effect...but I wonder if they can do the "no dot" look but with more square/jaggy lines so it looks more like NES 8-Bit art.

That textured scan line effect in the stills makes the background look knitted or crocheted. And for some reason - it looks really cool. Assuming the knitted look isn't as obvious when animated, but thumbs up regardless.

I think I honestly prefer the old school dot effect, but having the option of switching between the three makes this go from a "Maybe if I feel like blowing money" purchase to "Yeah - this is inevitable."

Would love to see stills from other games when they're available.

Greatness, Lets get StarTrek going. Massive amounts of animations over 18 modes and the multi's. Please...

This is really cool and a huge improvement.

I still can't get over the fact that there are machines still being made with such crappy display resolution however.

Like to see how this works out. I only really saw the upscaling in person once and didn't really like the look. Maybe it's just something I need to get used to.

Video... please ? It look so good.

Thought the following link is very timely given comments above about square dots....

The Simpsons intro done in an 8 bit pixelated look....

Some nice 8 bit sounds as well.....

As has been mentioned it comes back to personal taste and in some cases - theme and the actual animations and/or dots style.

For me, TSPP really benefits from this. In it's animated look it just shines. Some people might prefer dots, that's cool too. First you get color and it brings out things you never noticed, then you get smoothing, another level of cool - again, to me. I can think of some titles, and even some particular animations where the dots will likely look better. Other titles I think will really benefit and animations look different than stills. I know my TSPP will be staying on upscaling with the texture. On the game, the texture isn't as obvious as in the still but it is a really nice effect for the midtones.

What a perfect title for this feature.

Bring on Family Guy - Hint Hint.

I'm all in on TSPP. When can we order?

You should be able to order now. Roms will be available soon - can't say exactly when, but soon.

That is freaking awesome.

Just as a means of a partial example, I made this mockup to show what I mean. I'm not sure what resolution ColorDMD uses per dot, so I used the 10 pixels per dot I use on CCC. This is 8 pixel color squares with a 1 pixel border (so 2 black pixels between squares)

simpstest.png

Cool....I'd like to see THAT but without the grids! I imagine ColorDMD could do it...it would basically be what they're doing now but without the smoothing effect.

This looks like HQ2X (or a bit better) implemented in the ColorDMD FPGA ... HQ2X can be done with a couple of blockRAMs and a couple hundred LUTs in the FPGA (assuming color depth or entry to color lookup table is ~ 8bpp) ... You might be able to save a few LUTs if you use the DSP slices for the multiplication.

This looks frigging outstanding ! I saw these filters applied to the raw output of a Nintendo Entertainment System on an FPGA ... the games look a LOT better on an HDTV though some of the "retro appeal" is lost ... I think people are going to LOVE this feature on their pinball machines though. Excellent work!

cant wait to see more pics of other titles. might be upgrading the ones i got. totan and other ones already look great with the original color dmd.

I'm still not a fan of smoothing. I agree with Aurich that using all the display makes it look brighter but i don't know if that is a selling point. I never thought the other system needed to be brighter. Sometimes it looks great but other times it looks bad. It isn't a uniform "looks good" all the time.

I wonder if it would be possible in the engine to allow the user to switch from displaying dots (circles) to squares. Then if you choose squares, you could specify the size of the square, from a minimum value to the maximum size where it would touch the squares next to it.

So for 1 comparison sake, here's what that would look like.

simpstest2.png

I actually think the grid helps with your brain interpolating it into 'better' art. Weird.

I feel like this whole thread is kind of starting to resemble this book....

if-you-give-a-mouse-a-cookie-300.jpg

Bam, thanks Ep! That's EXACTLY what I'd want to see as an option! To me that turns dots into legit pixel-art! Personally I love that look vs. the smoothed option. Randy - is this possible on ColorDMD? I imagine the software is technically doing this THEN adding the smoothing filter to it. I'd love this look as an option too.

Yeah. Sorry. I should also make sure it's clear that I'm not involved with ColorDMD. I have no idea if they'd even consider other rendering methods for the display (like squares).

The new color + scaling looks pretty cool, I just don't like how some of the edges and shapes turn out when pushed through math -- but when it's moving you probably don't even notice.

the trails man the trails. lets hope its not like that.

Personally I think it would be better if this new ColorDMD tech cleaned my house and bought groceries for me and cooked for me and went to work for me. Just throwing the ideas out there... maybe for the next update?

Rare, the dots can be any pattern really.

Here's a test I did with shaded dot selection - another great Aurich idea.

(This is for a future Pinheck System, not Game 2)

Just got a display for my lotr today. Any word on a date for the hd roms?

Looks like a JD CDMD has moved to number 1 on my things to purchase list... Awesome work guys!

I like to pop out a couple great ideas before lunch, then save the really great ones for the evening.

This is great news at the perfect time. I just ordered your AFM display can't wait for rom update. Thanks for continuing to enhance your displays!

"If you give a moose a muffin" is clearly superior.

If you give a cat a cupcake is the most popular in our household.

With the kit, would it be posible to get something like the lower display in this PINBALLBROWSER displays montage I´ve made? Or the results in HD could be better ?

(Thanks to user nerbflong for this spectacular MET frame)(and also to Olivier for its PinBrowser software)

Met-HD-COLORDMD.jpg

Randy, is it possible to have a "no dot" but "no smoothing" option, similar to what Epthegeek posted above? I'd much prefer this pixel-art style look to the smoothing...and while I know nothing about programming, it seems like it would be possible for the ColorDMD to do...seems like the same concept as Sigma, but without the smoothing filter.

356040.png

Just ordered my TSPP color dmd.

Can't wait!!!

when is this new upgrade supposed to be released?

The web site said the expected release is Feb. 13th

so Feb 13th is for all titles?

I don't really know, but I'd kinda doubt it. The Feb 13 is on the TSPP purchase page:
http://shop.colordmd.com/colordmd-replacement-display-for-the-simpsons-pinball-party-pinball-machine/

I would expect some time before the others are updated, but I hope I'm wrong.

My guess would be, since this is an operating system update and doesn't have to do with the colorization of the ROM, the updates might be pretty much instant for all previously completed games.

Yes, it should be relatively easy, but...

Key words: "beginning with"

Wow,

I ordered the color DMD for my TSPP a few hours ago...

I've already received an email that it has shipped.

Talk about FAST customer service.

Thanks Colordmd!!!

This is my 1st color DMD purchase.

From the looks of things, I have a hunch it won't be my last.