I am also trying to decide between the two. Would you perhaps be able to post a video of how the different picture setting look for WCS?

Would anyone with an LCD ColorDMD by chance be able to post a video of gameplay with different screen settings? I'm interested in what the various settings (scan, pixel, xl dots, etc.) look like for WCS, but haven't been able to find any thing. Thanks in advance!

Edit: didn't mean to essentially include the same message twice. I must have had an earlier draft saved when I started the second.

My LED arrives tomorrow if you need pics of it once I have it installed. Personal preference for me is the LED, but you have more options with the LCD version. I have LCD in my TOTAN and LED in T3, Pinball Magic, and Breakshot.

Chris

Not sure why anyone would get the LED instead of the LCD. I have an LED on a a data East game because that is all that is offered. I have LCD on my WCS. With LED all you get are dots. The LCD you get dots and other options. Plus you don’t get any reflection on the playfield/glass with LCD.

In my opinion there’s one main reason to buy the LED over the LCD, and that’s the true black background. If anything less than black will bug you (and it does me) the LED is the choice. The LCD’s background is almost brownish and the contrast isn’t as distinct. It looks dim by comparison.

The lesser reason is that the LED fits perfectly and the LCD doesn’t. The LCD needs a little manipulation to fit right. Not that important but an issue.

I’ve owned one of each, and while I like the “smoothing” aspect of the LCD I prefer the pure black contrast of the LED. I just put an LED in my XMEN and it’s spectacular.

Looks like I’m leaving the club too. Have a buyer and am ready to move on. WCS is a great game and I’m so happy to have owned it. Always a crowd pleaser.

Yeah. I would only get the LED if it was the only option.

The only good thing about the LCD is you can get it to somewhat mimic the look of an LED. I like the look of the dots. It takes an artistic eye to get them to look right. Once you switch it to smooth animations it looses that artistic style and just looks like badly done animation. That's just my opinion though, get what you like.

Just to be clear, I’m against LED DMD unless it’s the only option. Haha

I prefer the XL dots on the LCD; I'm not sure how small the LED pixels are, but if they are as small as those on the standard DMD (or smaller), then the effect would be odd to me.

I'm not a fan of the smoothing mode; while it creates a cohesive picture, it comes off as evident that the designers didn't intend for that and the results look unpolished. Obviously others love it though, so in the end, that's just one man's opinion.

Colors look washed out at times too on the LED.

Um, no. Hardly. It’s the opposite in my opinion.

The colors aren’t nearly as rich. Looks weird. LCD or bust if you have the choice.

I think the colors look more washed out on our TOTAN with the LCD. Pinball Magic, Breakshot, and T3 are incredibly crisp and super colorful and all have LED versions in them.

It's all personal preference really. I don't find any of the added modes on the LCD version at all appealing to me, but hey, it would be really boring if everyone liked the same thing!

Chris

I have a couple of both, and they’re both good.

If you like dots, LED is an authentic dot experience. It also fits better, more akin to an original DMD. I like the brightness of it as well but that’s a personal preference.

If you prefer smoothing, tiles or the option of emulated dots in various sizes, LCD works great. If you’re really torn LCD gives you both, and that’s nice.

Here’s a video of the smoothing, I think it works particularly well on WCS...

And here is ColorDMDs trailer vid which I think they usually do in DotsXL... which is pretty close to what an LED would look like...

And here is some LED footage from TOM... I took this myself on an old iPhone so forgive the quality...

Thanks for posting! I just don’t see how anyone would prefer the 3rd video to the 2nd one. Haha

Oh, yeah. I misread your post. I disagree with Chuck...LOL.

Well remember the second is a professionally produced video that I doubt is being taken from a real display like the first and third ones are, plus the third one is something I took by hand so you know it’s not great, lol. It’s more just to show the dot size. The moral of the story is, they’re all pretty good.

I think you need to get your eyes checked. All kidding aside, you’re the first person I’ve ever heard say the LED looks washed out. For your eyes sake, make an appt.!

Even though there are topics dedicated to color DMD options, I'd figure I would throw out my opinion as I've seen an played both ColorDMD and PIN2DMD in a multitude of pins.

- I visually detest smoothing on any game, as it appears like a kindergartner did the colorization with melted crayons. Sure there are solid fills, but the edges are completely unnatural and it just looks cheep/low-end IMO. Search this forum, and you'll see a multitude of photos of ColorDMD with smoothing turned on, and they all look like melted wax if there is any detail in the frame.

- As far as the LCD vs LED debate, my opinion is . . . it depends. I like both depending upon the pin.

For classic DMD games I prefer LED since it replicates the visual dot pattern of the original DMD, but in color. It is far brighter than the LCD panels, and has more depth to it.

For pins with more DMD video type animation, I like the LCD panels as they seem to present detailed motion better. The viewing angles can suffer, but not really a big deal as a pinball screen, but they are visually flat and the colors are somewhat muted compared to LED.

Ultimately, there are 3 camps that people seem to fall into: 1) LED always, 2) LCD always, 3) it depends on the game. If you are trying to make a decision which one to buy for a particular pin then the best thing you can do is play it in person. If you can't do that, then find videos on YouTube of actual games, and not production videos released by the manufacturers that are simulations/computer captured streams and not actual video of the display on a real pin.

Im on Team LED.

I havent dropped the cash to buy one yet. But when I do I have to decide which game i would want to put it in..... WCS or Demolition Man?

I did this past year. I still need glass unfortunately. I was hoping they were getting better with old age.

Good thing with these is you can swap between the two no problem.

WCS is super colorful, and I think it really is complimented by a ColorDMD. It’s not that it doesn’t look great in DemoMan but it’s a lot of oranges and blues in the game mostly.

Well, I ordered LED based mostly on the basis that opinions seem mixed, I like the idea of wider viewer angles, and it was a small amount cheaper.

I'll take some video when I get it installed.

Personally, for this title, I too would choose LED. The good news is that if you don't like it and change your mind, you are pretty much guaranteed to get 95% of your cost back when you resell. Of course, you could just bye another pin to put it in, but that would put you just a little upside down on the cost curve.

My first attempt at creating the insert decals. I'm a bit torn between making them match the scan versus making them more symmetrical. These are the more symmetrical version.

WCS Insert Decals (resized).pngWCS City (resized).JPG

what's you're plan for covering them once you've applied the decals?

I was thinking mylar, but I'm open to suggestions.

If you’re not doing clearcoat, that’s what I would do.

Got my color DMD LED last night.

Here's an attract mode comparison vs. original, as recorded on I Phone. Both are brighter and more "crisp" in person. And I really need to clean that DMD window. LOL

Before (duh)

After:

And what the heck, a LCD / LED comparison between TOTAN and Pinball Magic. Camera has a hard time with LED because of the brightness I think. Just like when filming LED lights.:

Chris

Thanks for posting! I think these videos doa. Good job of showing one of my gripes with LED. I don’t like that I can see all the pixels even if they are black. LCD is just cleaner in presentation.

I will 100% agree with that. You can most definitely see the dots on the LED versions. I was actually thinking about using a tint on the DMD window which would hide the dots a little bit but it looks like a factory DMD to me also, so there's that.

Again, personal preference For me, the color vividness outweighs the seeing the dots.

Chris

I actually use the DMD glare film from Comet, and not only does it remove the glare, but it darkens the window some too.

https://www.cometpinball.com/collections/glare-eliminators

With clear is it automotive shop or bust? I had considered masking off an area around the inserts and trying a spray, but that makes me nervous.

No idea. I certainly would never clearcoat a playfield myself. Haha

Understood. I think it's going to be mylar in this case.

Are you planning to cut out a mylar sticker to fit into the insert, or put a strip of mylar over it? The former will probably have some thickness issues with the rest of the playfield, and so will the latter, considering the gap of air between the insert and the mylar.

I haven't tried to replace insert decals on WCS, but I have on my AFM.
I used Solarez UV resin: https://www.amazon.com/SOLAREZ-Fly-Tie-Cure-Resin/dp/B07MLTL3FM/ref=sr_1_14

Pour it into the insert, then place a stiff piece of mylar over it to flatten it out even with the playfield, then harden with a UV flashlight: https://www.amazon.com/LETION-Flashlight-Highlight-Waterproof-Detection/dp/B07X1H5TJQ/ref=sr_1_6

Curing the UV takes a couple minutes: shine the light on the resin for 5 seconds, leave off for 30 seconds, then another 5 seconds, leave off for 30, then leave on for another 30 (follow the directions on the bottle--my times might be off, but that's the gist).

This is not a perfect solution (stripping everything and clearcoating is more professional for sure); but I'm much happier with the inserts where I used the resin than the inserts where I used the stickers I purchased. Unfortunately the stickers are necessary for white lettering, as home printers won't do a good job printing white/light gray on waterslide decals.

I have a newb question. I am a new WCS owner and I am used to some 'ball save' time during multiball. Is there a setting I can adjust so that if I drain early in multiball those will be saved?

Nope, no multiball ballsave setting....

Pretty tough to do with no auto plunger.

Doh!

PLAY BETTER!!!

steve_waaaa-276x300 (resized).jpg

Have you played the World Cup final?

Everyone has. Haha

Not the same thing. In the final (which is a timed mode btw) it’s actually part of a strategy if you want to focus on one ball at a time or keep plunging and hoping for goal shots.

On a MULTIBALL if you could drain a ball or two, then keep just one ball in the shooter lane and focus on just one ball in play it would be terribly exploitable.

Also the opponent scores faster in WCF if you have fewer balls in play.

Selling my WCS if anyone is/knows someone interested. Ad in marketplace. Massachusetts area. No shipping

I never realized that! Probably because I plunge balls like a monkey hooked on crack, lol.

Well, sayonara folks. WCS has left the building. It was fun while it lasted!

What!?

I have seen some other threads on the ball not spinning at all, but my problem is not quite the same.
On my machine, when a goal becomes lit, the ball spins for a short time and stops. It seems it is supposed to spin for the whole time the goal is lit until the goal is completed.
I am trying to determine if this is a motor issue or something board related.