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pinDMD-2 development :)


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#1 russdx

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Posted 17 September 2012 - 03:07 PM

as some of you might know i was working on a FPGA version of the pinDMD for the past few months. The board was a success :) it works great!! upto 32 shades / running at 60fps it can run any pinmame machine you can throw at it with no flicker and great contrast shades :)

sadly the board it self is to complex for what it needs to be and has to many components and would cost to much to get assembled :(

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I want the pinDMD board to cost the same if not less then the previous version and want it to be extremely simple. so i have decided to go down another route using a stm32f4 micro controller. This has the usb coms built in! (no extra ftdi chip this time) it also runs at 168mhz so is plenty fast enough to create 16 shades flicker free (no machine supports 32 shades). it also supports usb firmware upgrading (no moving jumpers hehe)

so i am currently developing the new pinDMD 2 using this method and hope to have a prototype very soon and be in production within a few months :)


if you are interested in one could you fill out the form at http://www.pindmd.com to register your interest. this gives me an idea of how many to make in the initial batch :)

Edited by russdx, 17 September 2012 - 03:08 PM.


#2 Aurich

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 05:32 PM

So to be clear, all 16 shades should be supported with the standard Vishay LED DMDs, it's just a question of the refresh rate right? I'm still waiting on my DMD to arrive, but I have your first pinDMD board already (got one of the last ones as far as I know actually). I honestly ordered it to hedge against there being a problem with the pinDMD-2 even though I knew you were developing it, didn't want to miss out on the fun if you couldn't make the new one work for production. :)

I'd be more than happy to upgrade though if I knew the advantages. I didn't think many games uses more than 4 shades though, I presume the 16 would be more useful for HyperDMD homebrew applications?

#3 kruge99

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 05:51 PM

Hey Russ, I registered for one. Nothing wrong with the original version, but it doesn't hurt to have a backup, right? ;) Thanks for continuing development on this project! :D


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#4 russdx

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 06:46 PM

this one will be 100% flicker free. and run at full 60fps (pindmd1 does frame skip on some games, only supports up to 30fps) the 16 shades can be used with hyperDmd and othet custom roms/apps :)

it will also use the bigger usb b connector. just genrally all round b better :)


Edited by russdx, 18 September 2012 - 06:47 PM.


#5 Slydog43

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 07:18 PM

Great News Russ, Really love you first Board, its so cool! Everyone should get one of the old ones or wait for the new batch if you want a more realistic PinCab.

#6 Aurich

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 08:02 PM

this one will be 100% flicker free. and run at full 60fps (pindmd1 does frame skip on some games, only supports up to 30fps) the 16 shades can be used with hyperDmd and othet custom roms/apps :)

That's good enough for me, I registered for one on your site. Whenever it comes out I can swap out my gen one for it. Thanks for continuing to work on this, I realize it's a labor of love and not a way to make yourself crazy piles of cash. ;)

#7 russdx

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 08:45 PM

all 135 old ones sold out about a month ago lol. thts y im makin the new one hehe :)

#8 kruge99

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Posted 18 September 2012 - 11:58 PM

all 135 old ones sold out about a month ago lol. thts y im makin the new one hehe :)


...as is repeatedly printed in a particular internet meme: "Shuttup and take my money!!!!" :D
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#9 russdx

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Posted 19 September 2012 - 08:53 AM

lol

forgot to mention any one who's got the previous version will get a discount!!! :)

#10 arngrim

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Posted 19 September 2012 - 10:32 AM

no objection sir! :dblthumb:

#11 unclewilly

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Posted 19 September 2012 - 10:49 AM

This sounds great russ

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#12 Aurich

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Posted 20 September 2012 - 12:13 AM

lol

forgot to mention any one who's got the previous version will get a discount!!! :)

Dang, and I was on board already.

#13 Zablon

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Posted 20 September 2012 - 01:05 AM

Oh wow, you know how to sweeten the pot! ;)

#14 russdx

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Posted 20 September 2012 - 08:40 AM

ok discount removed :D

























only jokin :)

#15 The Loafer

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Posted 20 September 2012 - 08:32 PM

Will sign up for sure, thanks. When people see my pincab, it's probably the Dmd that gets most attention. :)

#16 russdx

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Posted 20 September 2012 - 09:56 PM

:)

nothing beats the warm glow of a real dmd with its nice 3 shaded pixel art animations :)

#17 RNunez187

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Posted 20 September 2012 - 11:29 PM

I signed up too. Still waiting on my PinDMD from virtuapin but its coming with the vishay display so still a few more weeks.

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#18 JayP

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Posted 21 September 2012 - 12:15 AM

Hi Russ

Great news and interest registered.

Did you ever get a Vishay LEE-128G032-1 of your own? As you know I have been having issues for a while now and at that point of I give up! So if you are interested pm your address and will send you my Vishay and PinDMD so you can test it for me! If it is working correctly you can keep hold of the DMD for testing the PinDMD-2.

Regards,
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#19 russdx

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Posted 21 September 2012 - 11:38 AM

hey JayP

Slydog43 a while back very kindly let me borrow his LEE-128G032-1 display for development :)

im still not sure what is going wrong here :( all the latest firmwares/.dlls seam to work cool with both DMD's when i test them my self :/
if you could send me your pinDMD ill check it out for you and make sure its 100% and make any repairs if needed.

ill pm you my address :)

just noticed your from the uk (that flag sorta gives it away lol) we will have to meet up one day hehe :) could show you the one off pinDMD FPGA in action if you want :)

#20 ArcadiusMaximus

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Posted 21 September 2012 - 12:52 PM

Signed up the other day. At first I steered away from this since the cost for the LED display ( to me) was out of my budget range. Looking back at the money I spent on a 15"ws monitor and GFX card to control it I could of spent a little more and just got this from the get go. The viewing angle of the 15"lcd is atrocious and doesn't do the cabinet justice. Oh well live and learn. Can't wait to see the new board. Thanks for this !
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