37 replies to this topic

[settingsons]

I am currently experimenting with different settings for a 3rd screen for the DMD ready to go in a cabinet, and while playing with some settings in the registry for VPinMame I get better performance by changing just one setting at table level.

Using the Visual Pinball F11 key I get about 120-150 better FPS (I know these are not actually frames per second but I think are an indicator of how much draws VP manages).

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/FREEWARE/VISUAL PINMAME/ <your-table-name>
and change ddraw from 1 to zero.

It sometimes resizes the DMD, so I just resize it back. It would be interesting to see if it improves for anyone else.

Also does anyone know the approximate physical size of a real DMD display?

[Itchigo]

My guess would be about 8 inches high by about 14-18 inches wide.

Edited by Itchigo, 20 March 2011 - 10:27 PM.

[deadsoulz]

What exactly does this setting do? Seems like it would indicate whether to use DirectDraw or no...???? Or a certain DDraw pathway?

[settingsons]

sorry to bump . Did anyone else try the registry change?

Hi destruk - do you know what the ddraw setting does and why I see a performance boost. Thanks

[Rook]

My guess would be about 8 inches high by about 14-18 inches wide.

The dot matrix display on most Stern machines is 13.25"w X 3.5"h. Maybe "slightly" larger, but that's the actual area you can see.
Bally/Williams machines are about that same size.

Edited by Rook, 21 March 2011 - 07:08 PM.

[pinball buzz]

Could you post your pc specs, and vp version you are using.
I wasn`t aware you could change the direct draw setting, so thanks for pointing this out.

Cheers Buzz

[destruk]

sorry to bump . Did anyone else try the registry change?

Hi destruk - do you know what the ddraw setting does and why I see a performance boost. Thanks

DirectDraw uses hardware acceleration to create the VPM display window itself. It also allows you to stretch the dmd by multiples of 8 pixels if it is enabled. You can also disable Direct3d.
Your game will run slightly faster but you'll have less dmd control over sizing and other features - ie, if you like antialias it might not work with DD and D3d disabled. Some of the Ultrapins had that change but I didn't like how much smaller the DMD was with it off.

[chriz]

very nice find! tried the registry change. thanks for the info!

on some tables like AFM it adds about 100fps+ to the score, on others like the new roadshow only a few fps more.

i will try more tables soon!

[settingsons]

Thanks lads for the info on the DMD sizes.

Could you post your pc specs, and vp version you are using.
I wasn`t aware you could change the direct draw setting, so thanks for pointing this out.

Cheers Buzz

Hi Buzz. Getting ready for the next stage of the cab build (, I actually took apart my Dell Core i7 PC and gave it a new motherboard, a Zalman cooler, SSD drive, and cheap 2nd video card. Using the motherboard BIOS utility it overclocked the CPU from 2.8Ghz to 3.6Ghz but apparently it can go higher (I am reading up on overclocking now).

The new build is running everything between 30-40% faster plus I am driving a 3rd screen from the 2nd graphics card.

Core i7 860 (2.8Ghz overlclocked to 3.6%)
ASUS P7P55D PRO Motherboard
4GB DDR3 1333Mhz RAM
nVidia GTX260 896MB PCI-e (Playfield)
nVidia 8400GS 128MB PCI-e (Backglass and DMD)
OCZ Vortex 2 SSD 60GB.

FP performance has no issues. VP is also great, although just occasional stutter on the 3-screen UVP setup. In VP for say Medieval Madness and AFM I get about 650-700 FPS with the odd stutter. That is why I started experimenting with settings and when I set ddraw to false I got 800-850 FPS which pretty much runs perfectly.

This setting might do the opposite for others, but you never know.

All in all I think the motherboard (120 Euros) and cooler combo really boosted the performance of the CPU. The SSD is remarkable. When XP starts up I usually don't see the scroll bar with the logo screen - it is so fast!

very nice find! tried the registry change. thanks for the info!

on some tables like AFM it adds about 100fps+ to the score, on others like the new roadshow only a few fps more.

i will try more tables soon!

That is great Chriz! Not sure what this parameter is disabling and using instead - maybe Destruk knows. Out of interest what kind of VP FPS do you get?

Edited by settingsons, 21 March 2011 - 08:12 PM.

[unclewilly]

does this only effect the pinmame window, or does it effect the vpplayer also

[settingsons]

does this only effect the pinmame window, or does it effect the vpplayer also

Hi unclewilly - it increases the VP 'F11' FPS for me. The DMD is on a 3rd screen. It is as if more resources are freed up for VP although the CPUs are nowhere near fully utilised. (maybe there is less of a bottleneck in communication between the programs??).

[destruk]

If DirectDraw and Direct3D have less to do, more cpu will be freed up for VP, so it makes sense to turn them off if you have issues. It is a setting for visual pinmame so it directly impacts visual pinmame. It depends on the table as to how much performance impact it will have so it's not like it is this massive difference we've been hiding from you for years... or if you like conspiracies, maybe it is! !!! Personally, I think the DMD looks better with them enabled and since the tables I play run at sufficient framerate, that is just my own preferred setting.

[settingsons]

sorry to bump . Did anyone else try the registry change?

Hi destruk - do you know what the ddraw setting does and why I see a performance boost. Thanks

DirectDraw uses hardware acceleration to create the VPM display window itself. It also allows you to stretch the dmd by multiples of 8 pixels if it is enabled. You can also disable Direct3d.
Your game will run slightly faster but you'll have less dmd control over sizing and other features - ie, if you like antialias it might not work with DD and D3d disabled. Some of the Ultrapins had that change but I didn't like how much smaller the DMD was with it off.

Thanks destruk - I thought you would have the answer . I didn't personally notice a difference in the display apart from having to resize the DMD after changing the setting but I will experiment some more. I will also check out the Direct3d setting. Cheers.

.....it's not like it is this massive difference we've been hiding from you for years... or if you like conspiracies, maybe it is! !!!

The 'DMD' files.....

[chriz]

very nice find! tried the registry change. thanks for the info!

on some tables like AFM it adds about 100fps+ to the score, on others like the new roadshow only a few fps more.

i will try more tables soon!

That is great Chriz! Not sure what this parameter is disabling and using instead - maybe Destruk knows. Out of interest what kind of VP FPS do you get?

vp9.12: tested the following tables yet

AFM: 940
CV (jp's new one): 650
RS: 840
IJ (lord hiryu's new one): 790

here are my pc specs

optimized win XP SP3 - 32bit
intel quad core i5-750 overclocked to 4x 4.0ghz
msi P55-GD65 mainboard (easy overclocking, very stable)
2x2GB RAM DDR3 1600 (8-8-8 timing)
2x nvidia GTX260 1792MB GPU (1x for playfield / 1x for backglass and dmd, overclocked to GTX280+)
32GB SSD (os booting / table loading / hyperpin browsing. just awesome!)
soundblaster x-fi music soundcard (model SB0460. great enhancement for pinball sound + more cpu power left)

[Flying Dutchman]

To gain performance is to set the Backglass monitor to 16-bit instead of 32-bit color ..

My 3-screen stutter disappeared because of this adjustment .. also the reel-supported Tables run fine using 16-bits ..

Cheers,
FD.

[settingsons]

To gain performance is to set the Backglass monitor to 16-bit instead of 32-bit color ..

My 3-screen stutter disappeared because of this adjustment .. also the reel-supported Tables run fine using 16-bits ..

I had already changed my backglass to 16-bit and it certainly was a great improvement for me too so would highly recommend trying it

I did a little bit more experimenting with the ddraw setting. For a 3-screen setup with the DMD on it's own monitor I regularly get 100+ FPS, so recommend giving it a quick go. For my 2-screen tests I didn't get much improvement but maybe that is just my configuration.

Also as recommended by Chriz there are also gains to be had reducing the resolution of the 3rd screen.

[jdsabin1]

I wonder if it would help Monopoly and the great 'FVP' experiment? I love that table so I am a glutton for punishment and try anything I think will help the thing run right.

[mandelbloom]

To change the backglass color depth does one just need to change their monitor res in windows or is there a config file ?

[Rawd]

To change the backglass color depth does one just need to change their monitor res in windows or is there a config file ?

Change it in the Windows Display settings.

[lettuce]

Using the Visual Pinball F11 key I get about 120-150 better FPS (I know these are not actually frames per second but I think are an indicator of how much draws VP manages).

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/FREEWARE/VISUAL PINMAME/ <your-table-name>
and change ddraw from 1 to zero.

Is there a way to get this to be applied to all tables, rather than going through each table?

Also have noticed that the DMD only seems to snap to 2 sizes when DDraw is disabled, any way to sort this out so the size scales up and down like it usually does?

Edited by lettuce, 27 March 2011 - 03:26 PM.