Burnsville, MN
Wow, looks sweet in that PM. Now I need to find one. Nice work Herg!
(Topic ID: 142013)
Linked Games
Airborne
Capcom, 1996-
Big Bang Bar
Capcom, 1996
-
Pinball Magic
Capcom, 1995
Topic Gallery
Quoted from Jgaltr56:Finally finished the install in Pinball Magic. Here's a link to an attract mode video I made. I haven't changed the default settings yet, but I think it looks great. I noticed a little ghosting during gameplay from the Comet 1 LED retros I used for trunk escape, lock 1, lock 2 above the left ramp and the box office values above the stage. Maybe some non-ghosting LEDs will help ? I chose those bulbs because they look nice and they are exposed.
» YouTube video
Anyone have a better/different OCD config they want to share?
Thanks for posting feedback.
So the good news is that it apparently installed OK, the board fit, the cables reached, etc.
The "ghosting" lamps are bothersome, and not knowing whether that might happen is part of the reason I've held the other boards and not sold them yet. I would not recommend installing non-ghosting bulbs. They will not help. Once you get to the point that you can change settings, send me a PM, and I'll recommend some things to try that will help me narrow down what is causing it.
Quoted from herg:Thanks for posting feedback.
So the good news is that it apparently installed OK, the board fit, the cables reached, etc.
The "ghosting" lamps are bothersome, and not knowing whether that might happen is part of the reason I've held the other boards and not sold them yet. I would not recommend installing non-ghosting bulbs. They will not help. Once you get to the point that you can change settings, send me a PM, and I'll recommend some things to try that will help me narrow down what is causing it.
Yes, everything went together perfectly, no issues there. Instructions were very clear and easy to follow. You know, I seem to recall the incandescent lamps would "ghost" in those areas before the OCD install too. Obviously not noticeable because all you would see is a slight glow from the filament if you looked closely. Another reason why the 1 LED retros for those areas are good because the flicker is very slight and there's no confusion between those and what the fully lit lamps are indicating.
1 week later
Ok so here is a short video of the LED OCD board installed in my Airborne. Herg and I have been emailing back and forth trouble shooting any installation issues I had and I was able to get it up and running rather quickly after I switched over to LEDS....please let me know if you guys see anything funky going on.....I'm happy with the results. I used COMET 2smd faceted bulbs in most of the areas as I like there look, brightness, and color dispersion.
Quoted from Pinballerchef:Ok so here is a short video of the LED OCD board installed in my Airborne.
Wow, that is one WILD attract mode. It's hard to pick up on anything in that, but it seems like there's a few things in there that don't look right to me. The 'O' in SHOW, in particular, blinks out of sequence with others a few times. What does it look like in game?
Quoted from herg:Wow, that is one WILD attract mode. It's hard to pick up on anything in that, but it seems like there's a few things in there that don't look right to me. The 'O' in SHOW, in particular, blinks out of sequence with others a few times. What does it look like in game?
Herg...the "O" in show has always done that in attract mode..and I don't know why. It always made me think the bulb needed replacing bc of it being out but it lighted up everytime...just out of sequence. During game play...it's fine. One thing I did notice that wasn't originally there is the sling lights...check out early on in the video as they light up separately. It never did that with incadescents....I certainly don't remember it so it stands out to me.
Yeah the attract mode is wicked fast...can I slow that down a bit or is that just controlled by code??
It really is quite hard to tell what it's supposed to be doing. The two slings, don't look like the kind of thing the OCD would cause. It has very limited ability to delay things that long. I might be wrong, though. I'll look up where each of those are on the matrices. If they're on different ones, it would be a little more likely.
That leads into your question. It can slow how fast the bulbs turn on and off, but the overall pattern it's a slave to the game.
I'm going to have a tough time believing that 'O' insert is working as expected, though. Maybe there's a lamp matrix issue causing it.
Maybe it IS worth a trip up there sometime if you're OK with it.
1 month later
I posted this in the original thread but wanted to give my 2 cents here also.
Installed the LED OCD for BBB tonight and all I can say is WOW! The LED flicker is completely gone and now and the brightness is perfect with default settings. The software allows you to easily pull up your game settings for LEDs in the switch matrix individually. It perfect for people experimenting and tinkering with the software on their favorite game. The board is a must have for anyone annoying LED flicker especially in their Capcom games. Honestly, I was so bummed when I LED'd the BBB. The effort and money doing it was a waste without the board.
Thank you Herg aka Harold and the others that helped!
I have both my BBB and PM done and full Leds. I want to thanks herg again for the opportunity to help with this project. My capcom games finally are not the dark pins in the room. If you have these games. Do not hesitate to purchase these boards while he makes them available.
Magicchiz
Quoted from hAbO:Installed the LED OCD for BBB tonight
Quoted from Magicchiz:I have both my BBB and PM done
Quoted from ulmpharmd:I purchased two
Thanks for the comments, guys. I think these are finally finished, and I do have some remaining on the website now. I'm still working on an issue with one game, trying to figure out whether the LED OCD is at fault, or if the game has an underlying issue, but other than that, all of them seem to be working well at this point.
This first batch of boards does have the indicator LEDs (the ones on the board itself) installed backward as mentioned earlier in the thread. The only drawback is that they don't light to show the board status. All other operation of the board is unaffected. Rather than spending a bunch of time flipping all of these by hand, I've decided to offer a $20 discount on them. Later batches of boards will not have this issue or discount. In order to receive this discount, use the coupon code CAPCOMNOLEDS when ordering.
Quoted from sudsy7:herg - any plans for a breakshot board?
Not at the moment. I've looked into it a bit, but it's not high priority.
Herg, everything fit. Although I did have to modify my light bar bracket holes to allow the light bar and it's transformer to fit correctly.
I thought I had put the photos in the dropbox. but I don't think it got doen. I will hunt the pictures down this weekend and get them in there.
Thanks
Magicchiz
Thanks. Pictures would be great. If any additional parts would be helpful, like some male-female standoffs or something, I'd like to add them to the kits.
1 week later
3 weeks later
3 weeks later
Does anyone know when the Pinball Magic LED OCD board will be available again?
I added my name to the waiting list on the website.
I just sold out yesterday, and I'm in no hurry to make more. They're not in high demand, and they're too expensive to have them sitting on shelves at my house. Maybe around October once I sell some of the stuff I just bought.
1 week later
Capcoms are going to be hard to match that nice in and out fading with an LED. Since LED is either on or off. Seems like a good alternative if you absolutely feel the need to have LED's in your game. For me, I really like that in and out fading it does, and uses it during gameplay. It's a nice change a pace from other games.
Quoted from rubberducks:I'd be in for a Breakshot board, if and when it gets done.
me too!
Neo
You really would not believe how good my PM looks with standard LEDs and this OCD board. You get the fade and pulsing of the lights. I believe I was the first beta tester and Herg and I went back and forth forever getting it right. It really needs to be seen in person. Video does it NO Justice.
Magicchiz
Quoted from Magicchiz:I believe I was the first beta tester and Herg and I went back and forth forever getting it right.
Actually, you were the second, and I spent even more time with him than with you. It was unbelievable how much more difficult this was than the Williams and Stern kits.
Quoted from Magicchiz:Neo
You really would not believe how good my PM looks with standard LEDs and this OCD board. You get the fade and pulsing of the lights. I believe I was the first beta tester and Herg and I went back and forth forever getting it right. It really needs to be seen in person. Video does it NO Justice.
Magicchiz
to me it looks like they only have like 4 degrees of fade, opposed to like 16 different levels with standard. Might be the way the video shows it tho.
How would that even be possible. Since bulbs are basically analogue and LEDs are digital.
Quoted from CaptainNeo:Since bulbs are basically analogue and LEDs are digital.
That's a pretty funny quote. Bulbs are digital too, on or off... they just have longer ramp up and fade out times than LEDs, and pinball manufacturers took advantage of this. You can make an LED dim smoothly simply by increasing the pulse frequency, and decreasing the pulse length. You just need very high frequencies so the human eye cannot detect the pulsing, especially at low levels.
An LED has a ramp up and down period, you just need a superfast camera and then slo-mo the output to see it.
that's true, I was just using it as a comparison feature.
kind of like the way LED DMD's display compared to gas DMD's. LED's have less shade variations than gas does by design.
Quoted from CaptainNeo:to me it looks like they only have like 4 degrees of fade
Actually, 8, and it's pretty obvious if you've ever looked at the software.
Quoted from CaptainNeo:opposed to like 16 different levels with standard
That, I honestly can't say for sure, but I do know that they refresh the lamps at 250 Hz. They are being controlled digitally since they have no voltage control on them, just the ability to pulse them. To get 16 levels, they would have to chop the 250 Hz to about 15 Hz for the low brightness levels. At that rate, you would see even incandescent bulbs strobe. That said, I would bet that they do not have 16 different levels, though if someone can prove it, I'll eat crow.
LED OCD is not perfect, but until you see it in person, don't knock it. I'll refrain from commenting on playfield restoration since you're the expert on that.
Neo did a knock out job on my Phantom of the opera. So really if it wasn't for guys like both of you. we would not have the nice pinballs that we do! Here's a tip of the hat to both of you for what you guy do!
Magicchiz
Quoted from Magicchiz:Neo did a knock out job on my Phantom of the opera.
He also did a great job on my TZ back when there was no repro playfield.
Quoted from herg:Actually, 8, and it's pretty obvious if you've ever looked at the software.
That, I honestly can't say for sure, but I do know that they refresh the lamps at 250 Hz. They are being controlled digitally since they have no voltage control on them, just the ability to pulse them. To get 16 levels, they would have to chop the 250 Hz to about 15 Hz for the low brightness levels. At that rate, you would see even incandescent bulbs strobe. That said, I would bet that they do not have 16 different levels, though if someone can prove it, I'll eat crow.
LED OCD is not perfect, but until you see it in person, don't knock it. I'll refrain from commenting on playfield restoration since you're the expert on that.
I didn't mean, capcom, I was just using the 4 and 16 numbers, from the DMD comparisons. I have no idea, what LED's from this board can and can't do, compared to the programing of the software for bulbs. 
Would one of the guys who owns a Capcom LED OCD be interested in testing a new build of code? I have tested the same changes on my WPC and Stern games, and it is a very slight improvement, but I don't have a Capcom game (or even a Capcom LED OCD) to test.
The changes are minor enough that I don't think it's even worth pushing the update to all current owners (unless they specifically ask for it), but I would like to use it next time I build boards. It needs to go through a test cycle first, though.
Quoted from herg:Would one of the guys who owns a Capcom LED OCD be interested in testing a new build of code? I have tested the same changes on my WPC and Stern games, and it is a very slight improvement, but I don't have a Capcom game (or even a Capcom LED OCD) to test.
The changes are minor enough that I don't think it's even worth pushing the update to all current owners (unless they specifically ask for it), but I would like to use it next time I build boards. It needs to go through a test cycle first, though.
I'd be happy to test
Quoted from ulmpharmd:As a BBB owner this board made my game look like it should look and without this board it is not possible or playable because of the strobing. Thanks Herg!
Totally! My BBB looks awesome with LEDs thanks to this board. Looking at LEDs in BBB is unbearable without it.
And Herg please keep me in mind to get the new Capcom OCD code if the testing goes okay.
I snoozed on this, and it sounds like I missed out. Will keep an out out for a rerun, but please let me know if you stumble across one in the meantime.
Quoted from littlecammi:And Herg please keep me in mind to get the new Capcom OCD code if the testing goes okay.
Sure, but you don't even know what the update is.
Quoted from fuko:I snoozed on this, and it sounds like I missed out.
October isn't THAT far away. I just need a bit of break from building them, and I'd like to get some testing hours on the Capcom ones before I make more.
Thanks, guys. I only have enough programming tools to send to one person at a time, but I'll make sure they make the rounds.
I doubt that most people would be able to see the difference, but it's technically better, and my wife was able to pick out the new code in a blind test. She's really picky, though.
2 months later
Orange
Here's a still image of my recently shopped Airborne. It's mostly Comet LEDs and I added four spotlights as well to light things up a bit. With the OCD board it looks magnificent. You can compare the brightness to the the incandescent coloured bulbs in Pinball Magic, and the new Sterns.
DMC,
The game looks great, and I'd love to see it in person. Thanks for the videos. I'll look at them as soon as I can.
Coincidentally, I'm working on another build of these, and I have a question.
I had a couple reports of not having enough space between the OCD board and the back of the fluorescent lamp bracket. I believe that this was only in BBB. I haven't been able to get a good answer to how much additional space is needed, though.
Anyone who had issues with clearance, please let me know.
Does either Airborne or PM have a fluorescent lamp, or is it only BBB? DMC says he sent me pictures of Airborne (which has a lamp board), but I will have to wait until later to look at them since I don't have Dropbox access at the moment.
Could someone take a measurement of the minimum clearance between the back of the fluorescent lamp bracket and the metal back of the backbox? Maybe a picture that shows it?
Thanks
Quoted from herg:DMC,
The game looks great, and I'd love to see it in person. Thanks for the videos. I'll look at them as soon as I can.
Coincidentally, I'm working on another build of these, and I have a question.
I had a couple reports of not having enough space between the OCD board and the back of the fluorescent lamp bracket. I believe that this was only in BBB. I haven't been able to get a good answer to how much additional space is needed, though.
Anyone who had issues with clearance, please let me know.
Does either Airborne or PM have a fluorescent lamp, or is it only BBB? DMC says he sent me pictures of Airborne (which has a lamp board), but I will have to wait until later to look at them since I don't have Dropbox access at the moment.
Could someone take a measurement of the minimum clearance between the back of the fluorescent lamp bracket and the metal back of the backbox? Maybe a picture that shows it?
Thanks
I can tell you that PM does not have a fluorescent lamp, its regular ol bulbs
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