Playfield sizes

I did a little experiment, made a table 1000 units wide, had a ball roll to the flat bottom, copied to photoshop, and duplicated the balls from edge to edge along the bottom, and I came up with, based on the known fact that pinballs are 1 1/16" in diameter...

1000 VP units = 21.25" or 539.75 mm

therefore...

1 vp unit = .53975 mm

47 VP units = 1 inch

therefore...

Early Bally Wide body table playfield i.e. future spa is....

1167.2 VP Units Wide x 1908.3 VP units long.

Of coarse I could be wrong.

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EMs

Bally 70s EM - standard = 20.25" x 41.00" = 952 x 1927 vpus = 506 x 1024 bestpic size
G 70s EM - standard = 20.25" x 41.00" = 952 x 1927 vpus = 506 x 1024 bestpic size


Early SSs

*G System 1 - standard = 20.25" x 42.00" = 952 x 1974 vpus = 494 x 1024 bestpic size
Early SS Stern - widebody = 23.875" x 45.00" = 1122 x 2115 vpus = 543 x 1024 bestpic size
Zaccaria - standard SS - 20.25" x 42.00" = 952 x 1974 vpus = 494 x 1024 bestpic size
*Pre WMS Bally - standard = 20.25" x 42.00" = 952 x 1974 vpus = 494 x 1024 bestpic size
*Pre WMS Bally - widebody = 26.75" x 40.50" = 1257 x 1904 vpus = 676 x 1024 bestpic size
*WMS System 1-11 - standard = 20.25" x 42.00" = 952 x 1974 vpus = 494 x 1024 bestpic size
WMS System 1-11 - widebody = 27.00" x 42.00" = 1269 x 1974 vpus = 658 x 1024 bestpic size
*Atari - widebody = 27.00" x 45.00" = 1269 x 2115 vpus = 614 x 1024 bestpic size
*G System 80 - standard = 23.75" x 46.50" = 1116 x 2186 vpus = 524 x 1024 bestpic size
*G System 80 - widebody = 26.75" x 46.50" = 1258 x 2186 vpus = 590 x 1024 bestpic size


Modern SSs

Capcom tables = 20.25" x 46.00" = 952 x 2162 vpus = 451 x 1024 bestpic size
*Data East - standard = 20.25" x 46.00" = 952 x 2162 vpus = 451 x 1024 bestpic size
Data East - widebody = 25.00" x 51.75" = 1175 x 2432 vpus = 494 x 1024 bestpic size
*Safecracker = 16.50" x 41.50" = 776 x 1950 vpus = 408 x 1024 bestpic size
*WPC (through 1987) - standard = 20.50" x 42.00" = 964 x 1974 vpus = 500 x 1024 bestpic size
*WPC (1987 on) - standard = 20.50" x 46.00" = 964 x 2162 vpus = 457 x 1024 bestpic size
**Apparently at least one of these is not like the others.. I measured the Drac PF and it was/is 20.25" x 45.00" = 952 x 2115 vpus = 461 x 1024 bestpic size
*WPC - superpin = 23.25" x 46.00" = 1093 x 2162 vpus = 518 x 1024 bestpic size
*Pin2K tables = 20.50" x 43.00" = 964 x 2021 vpus = 488 x 1024 bestpic size

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From WMS site

"Williams' standard playfield length increased from 42" to 46" in 1988"
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just remember the ball=50 units=1.0625"=.54054mm and most any dimension should come out fine

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Williams Varkon (1982)
24" across x 21" deep!
(Yes, it is wider than it is long. Plays like a cocktail table.)

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According to the press info and documentation, the Hercules playfield took up 18 square feet, or 36 by 72 inches.

Actual cabinet size was 39" by 93", and 83" tall.

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A few examples from Plumb's size conversion sheet:
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Pre WMS Standard Size Bally: 952 x 1974
Standard Williams through 1987: 964 x 1974
Standard Williams after 1987: 964 x 2162
Super Wide WPC: 1093 x 2162

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No measurement for Gottlieb system 3 games? I just noticed this. & I wonder if the measurements are different from early system 3 to later system 3 with dmd's.

just look at the Super mario playfield we did, it's scanned in full size. see what the dimensions are.

I don't see a Super Mario PF scan anywhere. But the Stargate scan, assuming it is indeed 46" tall, it does equal the width of what Plumb says at 20.25" (20.253" to be exact). Wonder why Data East, Gottlieb, & probably Sega all went 1/4" less width on the PF? At that rate why not just make all sizes totally standard for all manufacturers, sans widebody efforts of course.

My reference had System 3 in one of the later revisions but, of course, I didn't keep my version on my home computer and never expected the old VPF to vanish so....

Gottlieb System 3 = 20.25" x 46.00" = 952 x 2162 vpus = 451 x 1024 bestpic size


It looks like I need to update and rerelease this reference. Is there any chance that someone grabbed a copy of one of the last versions that I posted before the old VPFs demise and could send it to me?

if you need measurements, I own nearly something from everyone. I have SEGA widebody, which is the same as DE widebody. GNR and Batman forever are the same size. I have gottlieb system 3's tho we uploaded the actual scan of the playfield, so you have the full size image. Any of the scans we supplied are full size real scans of the playfield, so the playfield is exact actual size. tho, when we upload it's 75dpi to reduce file size. so just take your measurements off that. SMB playfield is on it's way to be uploaded. I have it scanned in, and somehow we missed stitching it together.

Lastly, I'm not sure what you mean by the "actual size" thing. I don't think I have any PF scan from you guys that has an accurate size in photoshop. It does still help that the size height/width ratio is correct, but I'm unable to confirm any actual sizes with them. Some of them have print size that come close to the real size, but still just a little off. Then other scans, like the new Stargate scan, that only shows a "real" print size of like 5" x 11". Obviously nowhere near correct. I don't know a ton about how all the print or "real" sizes work on PC because I don't really do any printing.
Am I missing something here?

Yes! That would be great if you could confirm the Sega/DE widebody size. I'm very curious to know if they are about the same size (or the same) as the Superpin's, or if indeed they are 4-5 inches longer (front to back). That just seems like too much to me but could be correct.

Also, do you think it is safe to say that standard Sega size is the same as standard Data East? I assume yes, but would be good to verify.

Also based on your guys' Al's Garage Band scan, that is another one where I'm guessing but would be surprised if I'm wrong. But since that PF has the same proportions as the older PF's, I'm guessing that it must be shorter than others, only 42" long. Interesting that they are fitting so much onto the smaller PF design (if I'm correct on this).

Anyhow, yeah if you could help with those Sega sizes that would be awesome because then that chart would have accurate measurements for almost every pin ever made.
The only other notable measurement aside from that would I think be for cocktail tables, I have no clue how those measure out. Also we have no confirmation on Game Plan tables, but probably safe to say they are same as Bally from that era.

Neo can measure the Sega/DE widebody. I've never owned a Sega or DE widebody but he certainly has them.
Since Data East became Sega became Stern, the standard pf lengths should be 45 or 46 but we can verify the Sega for all.

Alvin G Garage Band is 42 long. Which can be verified with the scan we uploaded. Mystery Castle appears to be 46 inches long

Stern SS Standard = Bally SS Standard = Zaccaria SS Standard = Game Plan SS Standard = early WMS SS Standard = Gottlieb System1 standard size = 20.25" x 42.00" = 952 x 1974 vpus. I just measured my Sterns, Ballys, and Game Plans.

I did have a Game Plan cocktail at one time but don't anymore.

There was a later version of this guide that had other confirmed measurements but it is lost in the ether.

There was a later version of this guide that had other confirmed measurements but it is lost in the ether.