My Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (CE) is working great. But that LCD is weakAF. Washed out colors and 1080p. Cool if it's like 2004. But I want to put a 4K in there. Yes, I know the output might still be 1080p but it'd work if the 4K has upscaling...and either way, I'll have a better contrast ratio and refresh rate that whatever cutrate job is in there.

Has anyone found an aftermarket or OEM replacement? These things are coming off a line somewhere in China.

I may just find a 4K and jam it in there with a custom bracket then use the firmware to zero in the alignment.

Any thoughts out there? Can't imagine I'm first but couldn't find any good threads other than people talking replacements for defects/damage.

Thanks as always you motley bunch!

Setting do nothing. The contrast range is puuuthetic.

okay, so snapped a pic of my WW back panel. There's a driver in the black box (the one with the controls up/down). It's connected to the panel which is part number M270HVN02.0 I *think* this is the spec sheet https://datasheetspdf.com/pdf-file/861780/AUO/M270HVN02.0/1

Now, it's time to fish in aliexpress for a part with spec dims that isn't compete garbage.

EDIT: Update. I have a bunch of queries for samples out to various OEMs in China mainland. In short, we've been getting screwed. There are a ****ton of panels in this form factor and this AUO one is one of the garbage-tier consumer grade panels. The ones I'm seeking are digital signage with outdoor display capability.

Well, you're on the higher version of this panel.

My WW: M270HVN02.0
Your POTC: M270HVN02.1

Brightness and contrast all aside, I can't get over that the displays are 1080p.

Maybe I took this sideways with 4K. I want extremely high DPI. An iPad 3 has retina display and never approached 4K rendering but looked nice. Even the CGC LCD is muuuuch higher DPI and has a black that is well...like the name implies...black. It's sad my retro remake's display is kicking the Wonka in his gobstoppers.

I'm looking at the mounting hardware. I need to pull out my LCD and look to see whether I can attached a rear mount display instead of the 4 screw side mount. I might have to drill into the rear of the metal chassis holding the LCD panel but small price if I can a better brand in there (like LG).

Totally agree!! Viewing angle is another consideration. The ones in there today are around 89 degrees. So basically a battleship periscope.

I'm loving the JJP playfield and "feel" but the sounds, art, and display are not my bag.

It's VA, but I would rather have a good TN than what we got. :S

Just an update, I'm still working on this. The depth dims are what give me some problems. The cheap panel is skinny ~10mm. I see why JJP went to the cheap one. First, it's cheap. But second, the "better" POTC and WOZ panels are discontinued, so they kind of had to make the shift if they wanted to stick to the same design for the brackets, etc.

We could go with a newer IPS, but that will require moving that entire bracket assembly around because it's too close to the glass. The IPS panels run about 15mm to close to 20mm. That would be touching the backglass, if the thing even fit. That bracket moves, but I'm not ready to get the Makita out on the backbox of a new CE.

I'll be back in a couple weeks when I know more.

Then it's on to the Wonkvision 800x600 pathetic garbage panel in the playfield.

Well don't get too excited about the 800x600 resolution. I remember when that was awesome. It was 1994 and I was playing Doom.

Rad. I got a panel sample coming. It’s a discontinued one but I might know a model of pc display that we could tear down for the panel. Good times.

Thanks for all the support.

Wow I didn't think I'd start a wave. I have a panel coming Mar. 1st, so I'll check it out within a few days.

Just so everyone knows, i'm not doing a bulk order on panels for the gang. I'm going to post as much working info as I can and what i did to make it all happen (or totally burn up).

My hunch is this thread stays alive for a while until this is sorted out. We have some tough tolerances in the backglass. The panel sits nice at ~10mm in its harness. And I could probably squeeze another 2mm easily without touching the glass (and still having the padding foam). The problem is the better panels run in the 13mm-15mm+ range.

Oh and you better believe that piece of trash 7" display is next.

RobbyIRL5 hey, still waiting for my OEM panel in the mail. it's coming straight out of china but was supposed to be here on the 1st....

M270HVN02.1 is reported to be better than the one ending in 2.0. But 2.1 is discontinued so you'll be digging on ebay & aliexpress or a dumpster for it. But if you can wait, let's see what other panels we can hack into the head.

Feel free to PM.

Panel is here. I need a cable because I don't want to destroy the JJP OEM panel. I thought I'd posted some info about the LCD controller.

It's basic RTD2483 based board. Basically a $30 part online. I can't find this exact board online but it's really a universal part.

I had a fun time taking it out because the screws shattered with my screwdriver so I had to drill one screw out. Super annoying. Here's a shot of the driver board if anyone cares. Note how the VGA pin out were just soldered out to fit the chassis (which doesn't have a VGA out opening--nor should it in 2021). Lots of room in the chassis for a new controller or your ex-wife's body for that matter. I wonder whether they were considering putting a power supply back there and decided against it.

Standoffs on the board are 135mm x 55mm on center. Can't find a spec sheet online...

The takeaway is no secret sauce in this thing. It's a nice chassis though I have to admit. JJP did a good job there. It's more or less universal with the exception that the panels need to be mounted from the sides and not the rear (which forecloses a lot of panel options).

Stay tuned.

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Also waiting on parts from mainland China. Expecting delays with Covid (although is that an excuse anymore???).

I've got my panel and lcd driver board. I need a different inverter board for my panel's LCD. more accurately I need a cable for the inverter but bought a whole new one...a cool $9. Probably going to add another 2 weeks as it slowboats from China.

Once I get this whole thing strung together with vinyl tape, the sucky part will be figuring out how to mount the boards inside the JJP chassis. I'll try to get as much grounded but will probably have to go to vinyl adhesive standoffs.

Alrighty gentlemen. The parts have all arrived and I got to testing. Here's the setup:

LCD driver - T.M3663.81 (find on AliExpress)
Panel - AU Optronics M270HW02 (find on Aliexpress OR rip one from an IdeaCentre A270)
DC Adapter - 12V 5A

Panel looks boss. Pictures don't really do it justice and the lighting is different. But the replacement panel has real black. It's awesome. I need to figure out a way to mount the new LCD driver and supply power. I'm not sure what the DC power supply in the machine is rated. I want to say it says 10V on the custom chassis.

Note: I haven't tested whether the JJP controller can drive this thing. If so, then this project just got really easy.

I'll keep you posted. For me, my mind is made up seeing them in person and the replacement wins.

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Awesome! Makes total sense.

What is your panel model number? I haven't tried going into the JJP bracket yet.

Sooooo. I popped in the new panel. It's daytime, so I figure I'll wait for the sun to go down. I used my NEW panel and the OLD board.

In the meantime, I take JJP panel and pop it into an old office machine that I'm going to resurrect as a headless server (now with head maybe). Anyway, I notice the JJP panel looks pretty damn sweet. Hmmmm.

Sun goes down. Guess what? Display looks as bad as it did before! Turns out it's looking like the driver.

I pop new driver (one I said above) in. Looks great. Great I say. One problem. Display doesn't power on when the machine powers on. I have to hit the "on" button on the board. Good gravy.

Now I'm back to either (1) finding a new driver board or (2) finding a hack to turn it on when the CPU power rail fires up. The takeaway is JJP probably shipped an okay panel with a sucky board. I'm off to aliexpress. At least I fixed my office machine.

RobbyIRL5 what's going on with your world? Did you get that bezel sorted?

Good idea but no setting.

here you go @pinmonk. anything we can do on the control buttons?

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PinMonk do you have a link to that board? I'm worried that Always On just means no standby...because that's most of what i've found but honestly haven't been working on this too much.

Update. I don't care anymore about this work. I'm going to play my WW for a year and dump it on the market. It's a fun pin. It just doesn't connect with my soul.

Here's a "get started quick" kit if you want it:
https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/117525