I'm pleased to announce that PMD and Oga83 have partnered on a new venture - "SmartDMD." This is a colorized LCD kit package that will replace traditional dot matrix displays in modern SAM Stern Pinball machines.

Please contact me directly for purchasing questions.

SmartDMD kits will retail for $199 + shipping and will include the following items:

(1) Raspberry Pi B+
(2) Preprogrammed 8GB micro SD card
(3) Custom SmartDMD Interface board
(4) Professional ¼” laser cut black acrylic mounting hardware
(5) Licensed copy of Pinball Browser software
(6) Professional quality power wiring harness
(7) Complete colorized ACDC code

You must purchase your own LCD and driver board:

(1) 15.6” Full HD LG/Philips compatable color LCD display

ebay.com link: itm

(2) LCD driver board with HDMI source input

ebay.com link: itm

Here's a look at what SmartDMD can do:

Questions/Answers:

(1) Do you have a manual for this product?

We are currently working on an installation manual for this MOD. It will contain detailed instructions and high resolution pictures illustrating every step of the installation process. An electronic copy of the manual will be included with the MOD. In addition, screen shots of the manual will be posted in this thread.

(2) Is the MOD reversible and can the hardware be moved from one game to another.

Yes, the MOD is 100% reversible, so it can be moved from game to game if desired.

(3) How do I know which kit to order?

When ordering a kit it is important to order the right one. PMD SDMD Kits will be offered in two styles: traditional speaker panel and angled speaker panel. Newer games like ST, Mustang, and TWD use the angled speaker panel. Older games like SM, Tron, and Avengers use the traditional speaker panel. Also, make sure you don’t order the Prem/LE kit if you own a pro or vice versa.

(4) What will happen when I install this MOD if I’ve already altered my game’s BIN file using Pinball Browser?

For a PMD “pre-colorized” SDMD kit to function correctly, you must patch a stock BIN file with our custom color file. After upgrading a BIN file, adding the SDMD colorization, Pinball Browser will no longer be able to access the frames via the Display tab. Don’t worry, you can still make audio adjustments and tweak song names. However, these changes must be made after the colorization patch is installed.

(5) Do I need Pinball Browser to install this MOD?

No… The MOD will be provided with a mico SD card containing a custom utility program (Patcher.exe) used to modify stock BIN files. The patching process is extremely simple and only takes a few seconds to execute. It will take you longer to download the BIN file from Stern’s website Don’t worry; this will be covered in detail in the installation manual. FYI – I’ve tested Patcher.exe on the following operating systems: Windows 7 and Windows 8.

What makes SDMD so powerful are all the features built into Pinball Browser. So, yes you can install this MOD without PB, but you won’t be able to customize your DMD: change the dot shape/size, adjust the color palettes settings, override the upscaling parameters, etc.

(6) Do I need a PC to install a PMD SDMD kit?

No… You can use a Mac running OS X with bspatch. More info here:

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man1/bspatch.1.html

(7) Will this MOD work with my ACDC Interactive LCD Concert MOD?

Yes, the serial communication patch is included in our color file. However, both MODs were designed to pull power from the same circuit in the pinball machine. To properly power both MODs simultaneously you’ll need our PS MOD. This insures we don’t tax the games 12 and 5 VDC circuits. I’ll post some pictures of this later this evening.

Here's a copy of the Installation Manual:

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Our release strategy is multi-staged.

For starters we will simply be providing a hardware package that will work in conjunction with Oga's SmartDMD software. This will included the following: LCD screen, driver board, RPi, game interface board, power cables, a licensed copy of PB software, and all the hardware/cabling needed to install the MOD. Everything in one clean package.

With that said, Barb (the artist responsible for most of the artwork featured on our CFTBL LCD MOD) is currently working on the colorization of several specific game titles.

SmartDMD provides color pallets with up to 16 different colors. Plus, you can create multiple pallets, so the possibles are endless.

We have a target price in mind. It will be more cost friendly compared to other alternative systems.

SM is in the works, but for a different MOD. Something more ambitious.

For more details on the SmartDMD software itself, checkout this thread:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/smartdmd-dmd-interface-with-colors-upscaling-network-and-more

There is a limit to the number of color pallets you can use, but I haven't reached it yet (I believe it is 32). Yes, you can define a separate pallet for each frame, so you aren't limited to just 16 colors for the whole game - just 16 colors per frame.

We have reached out to several individuals, so that's in the works.

Possibly, but this is an inherent issue with LCD technology in general.

It will use a 15" LCD monitor

Not sure, haven't tried that yet.

I'll have an answer to this question in a few more weeks. At this point all I can say is that it will be significantly less than $400 for the base system.

"SmartDMD" is a feature within Pinball Browser; it's a software package that allows pinheads to customize their DMD animations. It can be as simple as a single color display (like a Blue Tron DMD or Green Avengers DMD) or as elaborate as a completely custom colorized display (like the animations featured in the promo video). The "SmartDMD LCD Kit" is a hardware/software package that gives people a professional finished system to install in their Stern SAM games. Where you go from their is limited only by your own imagination.

With that said, we understand that many guys will just want to purchase a per-colorized kit out of the box. This will of course be an option as well, but it all depends on what games we (or others) want to colorize. Like the CFTBL and ACDC LCD MODs, we wanted to create a MOD that can be modded

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