LCDs in pinballs, why not?

NeoTopher

New member
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
464
Reaction score
1
Location
VA Beach, Virginia
Just curious if anyone knows why under playfield LCDs have not been used? You see loads of pachinkos with LCDs, seems like a 12" or so LCD mounted under the playfield could be pretty bad ass if done right.

So, the question is...why is nobody doing it then???
 
The two reasons I can think of are that when the OS and CPU structure was developed by Stern, LCD's were still expensive and not as common.

The other is cost. Not just the cost of the screen, but also the additional time in writing the animations and the increased memory needs.

All just personal opinion though.

-Hans
 
The two reasons I can think of are that when the OS and CPU structure was developed by Stern, LCD's were still expensive and not as common.

The other is cost. Not just the cost of the screen, but also the additional time in writing the animations and the increased memory needs.

All just personal opinion though.

-Hans

I was in Vegas recently and the new slots have LCD screens, but there all LED'ed out. A brilliant move to bring people to the game with there bright clear colors. Even the 1 cent slots were all bright and LED'ed.
 
The two reasons I can think of are that when the OS and CPU structure was developed by Stern, LCD's were still expensive and not as common.

The other is cost. Not just the cost of the screen, but also the additional time in writing the animations and the increased memory needs.

All just personal opinion though.

-Hans


If pachinkos can pull it off fairly cheaply, pins should be able to do the same.

As far as animation goes, pull somethng established like Lupin where there is already enough animation rendered already to where it just needs to edited down into "mission" clips.
 
Pin's are expensive new as it is, we dont need them to add another $2000 to the bill.

How true!

However, one must also consider the amount of vibration and heat under the playfield. I don't think one of those displays would last very long in a pinball.
 
Plus, pachinko machines literally have people lining up to drop money in them. I worked for a guy a year or two ago, brand new pinball machines in huge locations were pulling in like 40 or 50 bucks a week for him. That suuuuuucks.

Gary Stern mentioned once recently that the reason they haven't moved to lcd displays in the backbox is that if he ran full video on the display, he'd have problems with the actors guilds for these movies that he buys the license from. He'd have to pay the guild to use the footage of each actor... and right now they're skating by not having to pay it since it's digitized for the DMD.
 
You guys are probably right. I just think about how cool it would be if the light grid on my Truck Stop was a LCD screen instead. It would be pretty cool to see a ramp shot showing a speeding truck taking a curve or seeing an animated Big Betty start talking to Slim or little destination animations.

IMO, I bet that if a visual element like this could be adapted and properly incorporated into a pin, it would probably sell like crazy.
 
LEDS in pins is great, a little pricey but the colors are amazing. I have them in my Demolition Man and Addams Family.
 
Plus, pachinko machines literally have people lining up to drop money in them. I worked for a guy a year or two ago, brand new pinball machines in huge locations were pulling in like 40 or 50 bucks a week for him. That suuuuuucks.

Gary Stern mentioned once recently that the reason they haven't moved to lcd displays in the backbox is that if he ran full video on the display, he'd have problems with the actors guilds for these movies that he buys the license from. He'd have to pay the guild to use the footage of each actor... and right now they're skating by not having to pay it since it's digitized for the DMD.


That makes sense - 40 to 50$ a week is pretty bad.

I can see the actors issue. Of course if you created your own properties and didn't license everything, that would be a non-issue.
 
With panchinkos and slots, I can see the development and parts cost being worth it, because they are selling so many more machines and can afford the lower profit per machine.

I hadn't thought about the actors guild issue with Pins though. Of course, that means he would just be filling the LCD's with clips from the movies. Typical Stern lack of imagination.


-Hans
 
That makes sense - 40 to 50$ a week is pretty bad.

I can see the actors issue. Of course if you created your own properties and didn't license everything, that would be a non-issue.

Stern doesn't have the resources or money to have an LCD screen in the playfield in addition to original properties. Can you imagine Stern having to come up with full color animation, voices, scripts, etc. from scratch!? On their budgets, project schedules, and staff size, it's not even remotely possible. Hell - an original property on a DMD would be damn near impossible.
 
I would think a spectator would get more out of it then a player. How many of you look at the screen a lot while playing? I've found myself glancing at the display more lately than before but it is still very quick glances. Most of the time I'm glued to the playfield to hit the ball and keep up with what ramp shot, target, etc. I need to try to hit next.

The screens on the Williams 2000 machines (Star Wars and Revenge from Mars) get seen a lot because they are integral to the game and reflected so they appear on the playfield. I really don't see screens in the back box doing much from a player's perspective.

At least for a traditional type pinball machine; personally, I would be interested in a Williams 2000 type setup but not an LCD in a backbox. For a video pinball machine, such as a Visual Pinball or Future Pinball setup, I can see an LCD in the backbox to emulate / display various things.
 
Last edited:
I would think a spectator would get more out of it then a player. How many of you look at the screen a lot while playing? I've found myself glancing at the display more lately than before but it is still very quick glances. Most of the time I'm glued to the playfield to hit the ball and keep up with what ramp shot, target, etc. I need to try to hit next.

The screens on the Williams 2000 machines (Star Wars and Revenge from Mars) get seen a lot because they are integral to the game and reflected so they appear on the playfield. I really don't see screens in the back box doing much from a player's perspective.

At least for a traditional type pinball machine; personally, I would be interested in a Williams 2000 type setup but not an LCD in a backbox. For a video pinball machine, such as a Visual Pinball or Future Pinball setup, I can see an LCD in the backbox to emulate / display various things.

I think what we're talking about here is an LCD integrated into the playfield....that really would be amazing - imagine if you're playing Spider-Man and right in the middle of the playfield all the cool footage from the movies is shown, rather than on a DMD...this would also replace a lot of the inserts, as animated arrows could guide you to your shots for combos and whatnot. Personally, I think that would be pretty amazing, but probably cost prohibitive for Stern....and who knows what the reliability would be. replacing a few insert bulbs is much cheaper and easier than replacing an LCD display.
 
I think what we're talking about here is an LCD integrated into the playfield....that really would be amazing - imagine if you're playing Spider-Man and right in the middle of the playfield all the cool footage from the movies is shown, rather than on a DMD...this would also replace a lot of the inserts, as animated arrows could guide you to your shots for combos and whatnot. Personally, I think that would be pretty amazing, but probably cost prohibitive for Stern....and who knows what the reliability would be. replacing a few insert bulbs is much cheaper and easier than replacing an LCD display.

This is exactly what I'm talking about!
 
Back
Top Bottom