Why weren't there more playfield level DMD machines made?

The playfield level DMD is really convenient. It's much easier to glance at it, or even actually read it, without fear of draining. Why didn't more tables implement this feature? Did they have problems with the ball damaging the display?

My guess. Money. The backbox design had been pretty standard for years and changing anything costs bucks. Nonetheless, it was pretty irrelevant at Bally/Williams I'd imagine because CV was close to the end of the WPC era with Pinball 2000 coming.

Another guess. Real estate. While convenient, having the DMD in the PLAYFIELD took up valuable space. While I love CV, one of the biggest complaints you hear is that there's nothing going on in the back of the playfield.

I agree with your assessment of a playfiled mounted DMD being convenient for the player and I applaud CV up and down for being a fairly unique table design but having it there would really limit the designer. They wouldn't be able to put anything bit in the back of the playfield. Forget Simpson Pinball Party for example.

Speaking of display's I know many have been demanding LCD's from Stern for quite a while. While LCD technology has dropped in costs considerably over the years it doesn't compare to the cheap price of a DMD. Like pretty much any company, Stern is concerned with one thing, profit. Keep the costs as low as you can to keep the profit as high as you can. Personally, I could care less about the display. Sure, you could probably do some cool things with an LCD and I'm looking forward to maybe seeing a WOZ one day but I really don't care about the video part. I never thought "video mode" was anything more than a novelty. The playfield and everything about it is where my concerns are. Pinball fans could and have had many a heated discussion over the cheapening of the playfield over the years. From the cut and paste celebrity photos to disappearance of wireforms. While I really like AC/DC it would have been much cooler with some more metal. And don't even get me started on this Pro and LE crap...

Oh wait. Sorry. I got a little off topic. Anyway. Money and real estate are my guesses.

Don't know that DMDs are necessarily cheaper. Replacing a DMD, from what I've heard, is around $300. You could get a 25 inch (or higher) LCD television for that price or less.

hm, burn in problems?

LCD's don't burn.

Charlie don't surf.

Metalzoic said:

LCD's don't burn.

Click to expand...

(Some) DMDs can.

Well, perhaps STERN could consider partnering with these folk. The ColorDMD mod for AFM looks AWESOME.

http://shop.colordmd.com/Attack-From-Mars-ColorDMD-Display-AFM.htm

It doesn't seem to be a cost issue at all. Doesn't matter much where you put the same DMD. A better reply to the OP: For WMS, CV was part of the last cycle of games before the 2 pin2k titles and then exiting the pin biz. For Stern, there's a patent on that display configuration and that may have kept Stern from using it. JPOP seems to be including a backwall display (LCD) in his upcoming Magic Girl and Zombie Adventureland games, although in a different configuration.

Capcom actually did something similar with Flipper Football in 1996:

http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=3945&picno=10744

But, yes, I think the innovation just came too late for Williams/Bally to put it into anything else. Stern, for their part, seem to have gone a very traditionalist route, making machines that technically would have looked familiar in the early 1990s.

Isn't there the chance a ball could strike a DMD that's on the playfield and break it?

Carl Spiby said:

Isn't there the chance a ball could strike a DMD that's on the playfield and break it?

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There's a wall of very thick plexiglass in front of the DMD on the real Cirqus Voltaire.

jaredmorgs said:

Well, perhaps STERN could consider partnering with these folk. The ColorDMD mod for AFM looks AWESOME.

http://shop.colordmd.com/Attack-From-Mars-ColorDMD-Display-AFM.htm

Click to expand...

Okay those are amazing! STERN totally should use these guys, if they do not plan on going to LCD anytime soon. Seriously update the DMD so it feels like a richer experience.

Whizkid33 said:

Okay those are amazing! STERN totally should use these guys, if they do not plan on going to LCD anytime soon. Seriously update the DMD so it feels like a richer experience.

Click to expand...

Rumor has it that Stern's next machine will run on new hardware and use an LCD display (like WOZ). However, there hasn't been any official announcement from Stern that I've seen.

I like DMD's

I played MM, TAF and AFM with ColorDMD at the Pinball Expo, and honestly, I wasn't super impressed. The animations really weren't created with the color in mind, so it looked very tacked on.

the thing with dmd's, for me at least, is how super low res they are... so the graphics don't look too realistic but more abstract... so u have to use your imagination more you know... and it works, it has this 'whimsical' feel to it... same thing with old retro pixelalted low res games... they appear cartoony and age really well, i mean just look at some of the neogeo and super nintendo stuff - it looks really good even today... then take a look at some of the earlier 3d polygon stuff... or even a couple of years old... yeah, not so pretty anymore...