SmartDmd is a software that runs on a Rapsberry Pi. It displays DMD images on a screen. But it also does much more
Pinball Browser can be used to colorize images, receive and display DMD images througth the network, configure the system, and more...

Installation
- You can download a ready-to-use SmartDmd image here (v2015-06-28) and flash a 4Gb SD card with DiskImager. You can update this image with the latest SmartDmd executable : v2015-11-04 (beta version) (just replace the executable on your SD card).

The previous version (without the "side-channel" feature, for Raspberries that don't support the turbo overclocking) is here : v2014-10-06.

Display features :
- Display DMD images on any screen (HDMI or video composite)
- Several display modes are available (Raw, Upscaling 2x, Upscaling 16x, Anti-aliasing) ! See examples here
- Display colorized images (16 colors per image, and a different palette can be specified for each image).
- Pinball Browser now has an embedded editor to colorize images. When you select a SmartDmd palette for a specific image, it will also generate a macro so that your can share your mods
- Define as many color palettes as you want with Pinball Browser (15 for side-channel mode); choose the default one for images that are not colorized with Pinball Browser
- In-Frame and Side-Channel color modes (see here)
- Display background bitmaps
- Adjust the DMD dot and shape with Pinball Browser (many models provided or design your own with the integrated editor)
- Choose your screen resolution, orientation, borders, ...

Network features : (wired network or wifi)
- Broadcast your pinball Dmd over your network : any computer running Pinball Browser can display it
- Post DMD snapshots on your Facebook wall
- Change the SmartDmd configuration througth the network with Pinball Browser (and a samba share on the Rapsberry) while SmartDmd is running. The following video show this feature :

Pinball compatibility
- 'SAM' Stern
- Data East (thanks to pinsider Winteriscoming)
- Williams/Bally (thanks to Tatanka1961)
SmartDmd should be compatible with other pinballs in the future

What you need :
- The last version of Pinball Browser and the SmartDmd executable (see above)
- a compatible pinball (see above)
- a Raspberry Pi (model A, B, or B+; not v2 !) with a SD card
- a SmartDmd adaptor or a "DMD Extender" board or a custom cable (described below)
- a SmartDmd license (actually not needed for tests)
and optionaly :
- a screen :-;
- a "side-channel" cable
- a network cable if you want to broadcast your DMD over your network to see it remotely with Pinball Browser, and configure SmartDmd without having to remove the Raspberry SD card.

Ready-to-use kits
PinballMikeD provides a nice kit : See here
This kit includes everything (LCD panel, Raspberry, SmartDmd adaptor, Software, ...).

SmartDmd adaptor
The SmartDmd adaptor is a small PCB that can be plugged on the Raspberry.
It has 2 connectors : 1 for the pinball and 1 for the DMD.
If you want to order one, see here

SmartDmdAdaptor-579.jpg
















The adaptor also works with the Raspberry B+ :
Raspberry B+.png

Custom cable
If you don't use a pre-build adaptor (SmartDmd adaptor or DMD Extender), you can build your own cable. You will need the following components :
- a 14-pin HE10 connector that will be crimped on the SAM-DMD cable (example). For those who don't want to crimp anything on the orginal ribbon, there is a solution with male connectors (but hard to find)
- some resistors and 2 HE10 headers (examples : Resistors and Header)
- a ribbon cable (like the one you have in old PC to connect a floppy : example here)
- No PCB or breadboard, just some welding skills...
- The pinout can be seen on the photos below. The connections are as follow (some of them are optional but might be used in future versions of SmartDmd) :

<br />
Pinball Header => RPI Pin / Through resistor<br />
1 => Not connected<br />
3 => 23<br />
5 => 21 (optional)<br />
7 => 19 (optional)<br />
9 => 15<br />
11 => 13<br />
13 => 11 (optional)</p>
<p>For the ground, it is pin 14 and 20 on the Rpi, and all even pins (2,4,...14) on the pinball<br />
I have used the following ones to keep the connector simple :<br />
8 => 20<br />
14 => 14</p>
<p>

How it works :
The DMD signals are taken from the SAM board.
Resistors (along with Raspberry embedded clamping diodes) are used to adjust the SAM signal level (5v) for the Raspberry (3v). Purist won't like it, but many commercial products are doing the same :-; Also note that it will work without these resistors (Raspberry also have them) but it's safer to have them :-;
SmartDmd app is running on linux in real time mode to sample and decode the DMD signals; this app is fully written in C.
It displays the DMD on the screen and deals with network operations.
It works on a linux Raspbian distro, so you also have all the convenient tools that go with it (ssh, samba, ...)
You can stop the app with Ctrl-C, change the config througth network and restart the app (no need to remove your backglass to change the config)

Miscellaneous :
- Only "rom" images can be colorized; images that are dynamically build by the firmware will use the default palette
- I'm currently merging this with another project : Scores on PC
It will be possible to display the current player score above the emulated DMD (in fact, anywhere on the screen as an overlay); usefull for an apron isn't it ?
- When you use both the pinball DMD and a screen, images with specific color palettes might show some corrupted pixels (on the original DMD only); I'm trying to make a firmware patch to hide this
- The upscaling alogorithm I use is not the best one : it's a tradeoff between quality and available cpu time; it will be improved in the future

What do you think about it ?

Without Upscaling :
NoUpscaling.jpg
With Upscaling :
WithUpscaling.jpg

Installation :
Install1.jpg
Install2.jpg
Install3.jpg
Connectors.png

Configuration :
Config.png
with a custom dot :
ConfigCustomDot.png

Image edition in Pinball Browser :
EditImage.png

Network display :
NetworkDisplay.png

Facebook post :
facebook.png

Yes, in place or in parallel, as long as it has a HDMI or Composite input

Very easy :
- Config file : share the file "smartdmd.txt"
- Color infos : share the Pinball Browser macro file that is generated when you select a palette for a frame; run the macro to apply all the changes on a stock firmware. See the "Macro" section here

I'm not sure it's better : ColorDmd can colorize all frames
SmartDmd cannot do this for computed frames (full-screen scores for example) where the default color palette (that you can choose) will be used instead.

Already the case for Pinball Browser with all the SmardDmd stuff (here, v3.00 is online)
SmartDmd app for Raspberry Pi should be online soon (for free).

I saw DMD Extender a few weeks ago (but it was not working for SAM boards).

I first started with this
My goal was to interface a screen with the most reduced hardware to get a very low cost.
I also wanted to integrate it with Pinball Browser (colorization, score display, broadcasting, ...)

The total cost for this project is less than 50$ (40$ for Raspberry and SD card; less than 10$ for connectors).
I could design a PCB (I did a lot of them) but that would cost more money and I don't think it's worth it as the cable is easy to build (correct me if I'm wrong).

The SmartDmd software could easily be adjusted to use the same board (to use the same IO), but I don't have it yet; [EDIT] It is now compatible

Pinball Browser always uses grayscale images (so that they can be used by the internal DMD); it only stores additional palette information so that SmartDmd knows how to display it.
I could add a color export, but, imo, it would be useless (re-importing it would change the colors).
Alternatively, you can do a 'PrintScreen' followed by a 'Paste' in your prefered image editor software.

Unfortunately, No (at least with the current version)

IMO, you can use a flat lcd monitor that you slip behind the backglass so that its lower part is aligned with the dmd hole (the upper part would stand between the electronic boards and the backglass).
Then you can adjust the position of the emulated dmd on the screen so that it correctly fits.

The first pixels (top left) of a colorized image will contain the palette info.
As long as these pixels are not hidden by something else, it will work.
If they are hidden (full-screen score for example), the default palette will be used.

SmartDmd is now compatible with the DMD Extender board
Many thanks to David from Dr Pinball who allowed this possibility.

Also, many thanks to Winteriscoming who helped a lot in getting SmartDmd to work on Data East