SmartDmd supports 2 different colorization modes :
- "In-Frame" mode : the color information is embedded into the frame. For some frames, this can lead to 8 missing pixels in the upper-left corner (but there are ways to minimize this)
- "Side-Channel" mode : the color information is transmitted from the pinball machine to SmartDmd in a separate cable.
(More info about these modes
here)
For the ones who want to build the "side-channel" cable :
You need 4 wires between the Sam-Cpu-Board-J1 connector and the Raspberry B+ J8 connector :
Pinball -> Raspberry
J1-6 -> J8-37
J1-7 -> J8-35
J1-8 -> J8-33
J1-9 -> J8-31
Here is a photo of the connections :
The Raspberry B+ is on the left (with a SmartDmd adaptor installed) and the pinball machine is on the right.
On the cpu-board, I have crimped the wires directly on the connector
On the Raspberry, I have used the following connectors :
http://fr.rs-online.com/web/p/connecteurs-idc/5067036/?searchTerm=506-7036
but any similar connector will work.
Once the cable is made, use Pinball Browser to colorize your game
Don't forget to select "side-channel" in the SmartDmd tab (before assigning palettes to your frames) and to configure SmartDmd accordingly (select "side-channel" in the SmartDmd configurator).