New Supported Hardware: PIN2DMD - A Color LED Dotmatrix Controller for Virtual and Real Pinballs

25 Jan 2020 - jab

In MPF 0.54-dev, we added support for PIN2DMD. PIN2DMD is a RGB DMD display which connects to a PC via USB. It exists in a 128x32 (traditional pinball) and 192x64 pixel (large SEGA/Data East displays) version. Those can now be used in your custom game with MPF!

To use PIN2DMD in MPF you should first install your panel as described on the PIN2DMD homepage (steps hardware and firmware). Afterwards, configure your machine as follows:

1. Add pin2dmd to your hardware section:

    hardware:
      rgb_dmd: pin2dmd
   

2. Configure a display for your DMD:

    displays:
      window:  # on screen window - useful for debugging without real hardware
        width: 600
        height: 200
      dmd:  # source display for the DMD
        width: 128      # 192 if you got a 192x64 pin2dmd panel
        height: 32      # 64 if you got a 192x64 pin2dmd panel
        default: true
   
    rgb_dmds:
      default:  # your DMD
         brightness: .2     # adjust the brightness of your display if it is too bright
         fps: 30
   

3. Configure your pin2dmd hardware:

    pin2dmd:
        # debug: True           # uncomment this if you experience any issues and need debug output
        resolution: 128x32      # or 192x64 depending on your panel
        panel: rgb              # or rbg if colors are swapped
   

This is how a 128x32 pixel PIN2DMD looks in action:

And this is how a 192x64 pixel PIN2DMD looks:

For more details follow our tutorial on RGB DMDs in MPF or the tutorial for PIN2DMD in MPF in the MPF docs.

Thanks to Lucky1 for providing sample code, testing with real hardware and taking pictures!

Did we forget anything? Please let us know! Discussions in MPF-Users.