I've decided to create this thread for people that are interested in learning more about SmartDMD.

Here's what I'll cover in the upcoming weeks:

(1) What is SmartDMD?
(2) How does SmartDMD work?
(3) Where can I purchase a SmartDMD?
(4) How can I build my own SmartDMD?
(5) How do I colorize a game using SmartDMD?

In addition, I'll also provide numerous tutorials, discussing DMD Colorization Tip/Tricks (specifically for Stern SAM machines).

The intent of this thread is to simply provide people with an understanding of what SmartDMD really is and how it works, clearing up any "misinformation" that that has been posted elsewhere. I hope this thread stays positive and remains on track, figures crossed

What is SmartDMD?

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SmartDMD is a colorized dot matrix display system built using open source software (Pinball Browser) and non-proprietary electronics hardware. Anyone can build a SmartDMD and anyone can colorize a SmartDMD via Pinball Browser.

Here are some videos demonstrating SmartDMD's systems in action:

The hardware components consist of the following:

1) Raspberry Pi B+
2) 15.6" laptop LCD screen
3) LCD driver board
4) SmartDMD interface board
5) 8 GB micro SD card
6) Cabling

How do I get started?
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Before we get started it's important to note that I'm assuming you have some basic computer skills. You don't need to be a tech guru, but understanding basic computer terminology and how to move around on a Window PC is a prerequisite for SmartDMD.

With that said, lets get started.

(1) You'll need a windows 7 or 8 computer to run "Pinball Browser", the software used to colorize SmartDMDs. If you haven't read the Pinball Browser thread yet, please do so. Here's the link:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/acdc-display-and-modify-dot-matrix-images

I know, it' only 34 pages long.........

Hopefully you got through the first post at least, so now you know where to go in order to download a copy of Pinball Browser.

Currently the latest version of Pinball Browser is version 4.40, so this is the version I'll be using for all the tutorials in this thread. Moving forward I'll simply refer to Pinball Browser as "PB." Hey this is pinball and we love acronyms right

(2) Download the latest version of PB from the link posted above and unzip the folder. Here's what you'll find inside the version 4.40 folder:

Screenshot (728).png

(3) Now create a new folder on your desktop and name it something like "Pinball Browser." The name isn't really important, this is simply the location where we're going to store any PB related files.

Screenshot (729).png

(4) Now copy all the files inside the "PinballBrowser440" folder you unzipped in Step #2 and paste them into the new "Pinball Browser" folder you just created on your desktop in Step #3.

(5) Now launch the Pinball-Browser application. The first time you try to run PB you may get the following message:

Screenshot (731).png

This message is generated because Windows doesn't recognize the program. Click where it says "More info" and you'll get the following prompt:

Screenshot (732).png

Click on the "Run Anyway" button to launch Pinball Browser. Here's what you should see:

Screenshot (733).png

The "Make a Donation" Screen is launched the first time you open PB. You aren't obligated to donate any money. However, the SmartDMD features within PB are only accessible to individuals with a valid software license.

Close the "Make a Donation" screen and maximize the PB program, making it full screen. In the lower right hand corner of the screen you'll see a button labeled "Enter License." Oh, and if you want to change the language setting, now would be the time to do it (PB is setup for English by default).

(6) Press the "Enter License" button and you should get the following:

Screenshot (734).png

If you've purchased a PMD SmartDMD kit then you'll need to email me your "Token ID" (this ID is linked to your computer's MAC address). Then I'll email you a "License Key", which you'll cut and paste into the entry field on the "License" screen. Then press OK to activate your copy of Pinball Browser.

If you're building your own SmartDMD kit then PM Oga83 for instructions on how to activate your software.

Ok, so at this point you should now have PB installed and licensed on your computer.

More later, time for Breaking Bad

How do I build a SmartDMD?

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For those looking to purchase a PMD kit, here's the link to our SmartDMD web store:

http://pinballmiked.com/?page_id=320

For folks looking to build their own kits keep reading

Ok, here's how I build my SDMD kits:

For starter, I designed a PCB mounting panel for the Raspberry Pi and LCD driver board. My mounting panel is fabricated using 1/4" black acrylic material. Obviously it's laser cut for precision, guaranteeing the various mounting hole locations are always in the right spots. The SmartDMD logo is engraved in the panel for a professional look, of course that isn't necessary

PCB Panel.png

I'm sure with some motivation, a jigsaw and some lexan - the Do-it-yourselfer can come up with a workable panel similar to the one shown above.

In order to attach the hardware to the mounting panel you'll need the following items:

1) QTY 4 - 5/8" 6-32 Pan Head Philips machine screws
2) QTY 4 - 1/4" nylon spacers for 6-32 machine screws
3) QTY 4 - 6-32 nylon lock nuts
4) QTY 3 - 1.5" 4-40 Allen Head machine screws
5) QTY 3 - 1" nylon spacers for 4-40 machine screws
6) QTY 3 - 4-40 nylon lock nuts
7) A couple zip ties.

Mounting Hardware.png

Here are some pictures showing how to mount the Raspberry Pi B+ and SDMD interface board (note - the interface board is actually a daughter board that mounts to the first 16 GPIO pins on the RPi):

Back view:
RPi 1.png
Top view (Micro SD card access):
RPi 2.png
Front view (DMD ribbon cable connetion):
RPi 3.png
Bottom view (USB and Ethernet access):
RPi 4.png
Side view:
RPi 5.png

SmartDMD uses the RPi's HDMI port to send the DMD animations to the LCD driver board:

HDMI Connetion.png

Oh, that's what those holes were for
HDMI Mounting Location.png

PMD kits use a push button control board (this gives you the ability to adjust the various LCD screen parameters - contract, brightness, etc.) as shown below:

LCD Control Board.png

You can mount the push button control board with some 3M tape
3M Double Sided Foam.png

PMD kits utilize a M.NT68676.2 LCD driver board in conjunction with a 15.6" LCD screen; this replaces the factory DMD. Here are links to reliable Ebay venders for both parts:

ebay.com link: itm
LCD Screen.png
ebay.com link: itm
LCD Driver Board.png

The LCD driver board is attached to the mounting panel as shown below:

LCD Driver Board Installed.png
Oh, that's what those holes were for
LCD Screen Cable Mounting Connection.png

Ok, here's what we just built:

PMD SmartDMD Kit.png

Looks pretty good to me

Ok, so now we need to get power to our system. I make my power cables using #18 gauge Belden 8760 wire. I use the game's 12v circuit to power the LCD screen and the game's 5v circuit to power the RPi. I use a z-connector and a couple 6 pin IDC connectors to connect the SDMD to J11 on the MPU/Sound board. Here are some pictures:

PMD SDMD Cable.png

Game side connection:
Game connection #1.png
Game connection #2.png

SDMD connections:
SDMD connections.png

Anybody looking for a job making cables
Cables.png

I hope this information is helpful for folks looking to build their own kits. At a minimum at least you know how PMD kits are constructed.

How do I colorize a DMD using Pinball Browser?

Questions/Answers:

(1) This is all great, but how do I buy a SDMD kit if I don't want to build one?

Here's a link to the PMD web store:
http://pinballmiked.com/?page_id=320

Colorization Tip/Tricks:

How to install a SmartDMD kit:

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The instructions below are for PMD (Stern only) SmartDMD kits. If you are interested in purchase a kit please email me directly - [email protected]. If you want to build your own kit, hopefully this information will help you with your design.

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This is a tutorial thread. Obviously, I plan on answering the questions I posted. The first few posts are simply place holders until I have time to provide the information. I've noticed that many people don't read threads once they grow beyond a few pages, so I thought I'd provide answers to frequently asked questions at the beginning of this thread, not on page 27

Hardware installation info posted above.

Currently ACDC and FGY are the only games that have been completely colorized using SDMD. Avengers and MET are both in process. More games are actively being worked on, but I can't tell you when they will be completed. Most of the games are being colorized by hobbyist, so please keep that in mind. However, we will colorize every SAM machine, it's just a matter of time.

Any game I personally colorize will be open source.

I've decided to sell kits two different ways:

(1) Plug and Play ($299) - This includes everything shown in the "Installation" post above.

OR

(2) DIY ($199) - This includes everything minus the LCD screen and driver board.

Ultimately, both options will cost you around $300 to build a complete kit. We decided to offer option 2 for several reasons: (1) Many guys actually requested this option, (2) This gives you the ability to pick your own LCD screen, and (3) I don't always have the LCD and driver boards in stock.

So, to answer your question - Yes, kits are currently available and in stock. However, I'm only selling DIY kits for $199 at this time. This way you get all the custom parts (PCB mounting panel, power cable, and interface board) along with a Raspberry Pi and preloaded/licensed 8GB SD card. Both price points included a licensed version of Pinball Browser.

Screens can be purchased here ($60 with free shipping):

ebay.com link: itm

LCD Screen.png

LCD driver boards can be purchased here ($40 with free shipping):

ebay.com link: itm

LCD Driver Board.png

Info for building your own kit has been added above.

Are you asking about the LCD screen or the PCB mounting panel?

Oops, I'll get that added to the question/answer section.

The following games are open source:

ACDC
MET
Avengers

The install documented above is only for traditional style speaker panels. I have a new MET Pro as well, so designing mounting hardware for this is certainly on my list.

Search PinSide for "SmartDMD and Family Guy", it's on here somewhere.

Here's the thread:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/get-yer-friday-morning-pinball-porn-herepowered-by-smartdmd

It's a work in progress

Any Stern SAM machine is an option with SmartDMD.

Unfortunately, I can't control what other people do. Remember, Pinball Browser gives anyone the ability to colorize a game. What people choose to do with their work is up to them.

At this point the answer is no

However, it's being looked at

Nice work Rensh.

Oops, sorry....

I know you guys by your real names

Yes, DIY kits are available. I've been slammed at work and travelling for business, so I just haven't had a chance to updated the website.

To clarify "DIY" only means that you have to buy the screen and LCD driver board seperately. Free color files are available for: ACDC, MET, and Avengers. However, ACDC is the only title 100% complete. If you want to create your own colorization you can, just wanted to clarify the intended meaning of "DIY."

It looked good upscaled, but I like it more in dots.

Yes, I think there is a misnomer that it takes 100s of hours to do anything with SDMD. While that may be true for a full blown colorization effort like ACDC, POTC, Avengers, or MET, it isn't true for single palette applications. A single palette colorization is basically the equivalent of a CDMD "sigma" display and it can be done in a mater of minutes and doesn't require the game's ROM to be modified, just the RPi's text file.

Quick Update:

Oga has been working on a new feature for "Side Channeling" (this is part of why I've been holding off on the tutorial videos) for several weeks and it now looks like we're ready to start beta testing it with MET. This will enable colorization of any size frame used in the game ROM (with no restriction on animation locations). It also increases the number of color palettes for "Side Channeling" to 255 like "In Frame".

So, that means 16x255 = 4080 colors can be used for the entire game

Realistically you'd probably keep some colors fixed across palettes, like black, white, etc. So, lets say you keep 6 of the 16 colors in each palette fixed; you'd still have 2556 different colors. Very cool. I've already started tweaking MET to accommodate the new software

I'll post some pics of MET this evening. I have a test unit up and running at the Jax show this weekend.

Sorry for the low res videos, but it gives you guys with MET SDMDs a look at the progress being made.

More palettes = more colors

These videos also show off how standard dots, 2x, and 16x upscaling can be assigned directly to palettes, so you don't have to pick one or the other for the entire DMD. Anyway, it's getting better all the time, just need more than 24 hours in a day

Ok, back to work.

We decided to make the ACDC, MET, and Avengers macros free to "ALL" SmartDMD supporters several months ago. So, if you already have a SDMD (PMD or homegrown) you just have to email me and I'll send you the color files for FREE- no strings attached. Sorry if this was unclear.

Contact me via [email protected] or PM me your email address.

Right now MET is colored using "In-Frame"

However, I've been reworking MET with the new version of "Side Channel" in mind. FYI - I'll go back and do this for ACDC as well - one game at a time though

Once we've thoroughly beta tested everything, PB will be updated to include the new version of "Side Channeling." Side channeling will then use a serial link between the game's MPU board and the RPi's GPIO pins. Here's a list of the advantages for the new version of Side Channel:

1) 255 color palettes instead of only 15

For example, I'm now using 52 palettes for MET - about 330 unique colors as some colors are used in multiple palettes. I'm estimating about 500 unique colors will be used in MET when it's all said and done.

2) No pixel loss as the palette information is stored externally from the frame. This should greatly reduce the about of free ROM memory needed for colorization as well

3) With "In Frame" you can only assign palettes to full size frames or sprite frames that are displayed at (0,0). With "Side Channel" you can assign a palette to any frame, including dynamic text characters, regardless of where they're displayed on the screen.

Full Size frame = an image that is 128x32 in size, meaning 128 columns of dots by 32 rows of dots.
Sprite frame = any image that isn't 128x32 in size.

What does (0,0) mean? Do you remember your (X,Y) Cartesian Coordinates from Algebra? (0,0) refers to the origin, where both X and Y are equal to zero. (0,0) is the dot location in the upper left hand corner of the DMD screen. As you move from left to right (this is the X axis) you increase the value of X. So, the dot in the upper right hand corner of the DMD screen would be positioned at (128,0). Likewise, as you move from top to bottom (this is the Y axis) you increase the value of Y. So, the dot in the lower left hand corner of the DMD would be positioned at (0,32). Hence the dot in the lower right hand corner corresponds to location (128,32). Make since?

So, now we have the ability to assign palettes to any frame in the game's ROM.

The limitations are:

1) You can only use one palette at any give time. For example, when sprites are displayed on top of a 128x32 full sized background frame you'll only want to assign a palette to the background frame. You don't want to have more than one image with a palette displayed at any given time.

2) As before you can only have 16 colors per frame. However, I have some animations in MET that use over 30 different colors. This is done by using different palettes within a given animation (flip flopping between them).

Hope this helps.

I posted this in the MET thread, but figured I should put it here as well.

Here are some better quality pics to show the color variations and different dot configurations being used now that the palette count has been increased:

Sparky Shot.png
Lady Justice.png
For Whom the Bell Tolls.png
Extra Ball.png
Coffin.png
Battery.png
Grave Marker MB.png
Blackened.png

The new version for "Side Channel" will use a cable that connects to the game's serial port on the MPU board, so yes the cable will be different. I'll post more info on this once everything has been worked out.

No, you don't have to rework the colorization. Oga is saying that you have to select "side channel" in two places (in the SDMD configuration popup and under the SDMD tab - see attached picture). I'll cover this in detail once we have it 100%.

side channel setup.png

I own this machine and it's currently my favorite title, so I'm not sure it will ever be 100% complete. As long as PB evloves my colorization work for this title and ACDC will as well. The more tools in my tool box means the more I can do, hence the more I'll tweak and improve the artwork. First and foremost this is a hobby for me, so as long as I'm enjoying myself I'll keep hammering away. My work schedule is brutal right now, but playing with PB provides some good downtime for me - takes my mind off of work.

Nice.

Remember, only one palette can be used at any given time. To effectively colorize an animation you need to know which frames are merged together at run time.

For example, the following frames can all be displayed simultaneously:

Base Frame:
MET Letter Base Frame.png

Sprite Frame:
M Letter Animation.png

So, I only assign my palette to the "Base Frame". I don't assign palettes to the "Sprite Frames", I just need to make sure I can colorize the sprites the way I want using the palette assigned to the "Base Frame."

The first time a ramp shot is made, the "M Letter" animation is displayed on top of the "MET Letter Base Frame".

I hope this clarifies how palettes should be assigned. You must understand which frames are merged together during game play and then colorize them using the same palette.

Now that the serial side channel feature is up and running, I'll start working on the tutorials.

Shoot me an email and it's yours

Yes, the kits I made were for Stern SAM machines.

ColorDMD is getting ready to release Avengers, so your wait is almost over

No, not yet. SM is one of my favorite games, so it's on my list. However, I won't be colorizing low res dots for that title.

I have a color file for 1.63, just email me directly (not on Pinside much these days).