Author Topic: Serial Display (LCD & BetaBrite) Plug-in for MaLa V1.0 Finished (Read 50109 times)

Circo · « **Reply #80 on:** December 23, 2006, 08:40:05 pm »

Quote from: loadman on December 23, 2006, 05:34:05 pm

Of course someone else who has the time and knowledge may of course like to take this on themselves? (you can make plug-in's using C++ too)

Whoa I just make videos, I have a hard time with batch files. Woe me of little programming talent.

The plug-in is great, I just bought the wrong thing.

loadman · « **Reply #81 on:** December 23, 2006, 08:58:10 pm »

Quote from: Circo on December 23, 2006, 08:37:52 pm

Not a biggie, I have some emails in to some 3rd party betabrite software company to see if it can send commands via command line or an external program, once I get the info I will post an update as well. Or worse case scenario, I can get the right one and re sell this or something.

Good Luck

Circo · « **Reply #82 on:** December 24, 2006, 02:47:56 am »

I just checked on ebay and it looks like I can snag a stadard old betabrite for around $80-$100 so why all the fuss. I think I may use both

Bid in, the wife is gonna kill me

loadman · « **Reply #83 on:** December 24, 2006, 03:04:25 am »

Quote from: Circo on December 24, 2006, 02:47:56 am

I just checked on ebay and it looks like I can snag a stadard old betabrite for around $80-$100 so why all the fuss. I think I may use both

Bid in, the wife is gonna kill me

Kewl............Will try to release the next beta version 'this year'

Circo · « **Reply #84 on:** December 24, 2006, 04:13:55 pm »

looks sweet!

Dariusz · « **Reply #85 on:** December 24, 2006, 09:40:27 pm »

LoadMan,

The software looks intresting. I just quickly glanced through some of the post. I have to see if I can integrate LCD into my cabinet project.

I have a LCD of type I do not know if you support.

I have a 240x128 lcd using a Toshiba T6963c controller. Can the your software operate the controller?

Curious - On a large LCD of type 240 x 128 or similar, is it possible to display the joystick controllers which are available to the game on game launch and/or when displaying the game on the FE? ie. if you have a 8 w joystick, and 10 buttons cabinet setup, and say the game only uses 4w and 2 buttons, is is possible just to display the 4W options of the joystick, and the 2 buttons on the lcd, with the option of showing the button labels of the action (ie. Jump etc). The LCD display joystick setup would change for each game.

BTW Any recommendations on large LCD(s) with USB support (optional) and where to get them.

Keep up the good work, the project looks promising, especially with the Betabrite display. Great idea to use the displays as a Macquarie to display the game name during viewing game on the FE or displaying the game during the period the game is launched.

Tx

Dariusz

loadman · « **Reply #86 on:** December 30, 2006, 12:12:31 am »

Beta Version 1g now available

- Added:
* Support for two displays (1xLCD & 1xBetaBrite)
* Basic Support for NEC FC20X2JA VFD (2x20)
- Other
* 'Work around' so that info is passed when lunching PC games via a shortcut (.lnk)
* Re-wrote config prog for aesthetic reasons.

Look to top of thread for download link

Dariusz:
What you descibe is a 'Graphic LCD' not a 'Character LCD' so it it not supported by this Plug-in 'sorry' nor do I know if anything does yet as that is a more complex animal.
I would say your best bet is looking a J5 (Jonnny5) as rumors have spread about future display support

http://www.mameworld.net/tigerheli/johnny/

Circo · « **Reply #87 on:** December 31, 2006, 12:13:36 am »

It will still be awile until I get to try this out to it's fullest. Finally took back the betabrite prism and now I can't find a standard beta brite. There was about 10 on ebay a week ago and now there are none. So I will keep my eyes peeled and let you know when I finally get my hands on one.

And a personal thanks to you loadman, for that .lnk file support. Now only waiting on the LED-WIZ plug in to get updated. woohoo!

headkaze · « **Reply #88 on:** December 31, 2006, 12:09:37 pm »

Circo: Err you took back the betabrite prism? Did you consider a USB->COM port converter? Did you contact BetaBrite and ask them if you can do standard serial COM port communication with it? It would be really stupid if this sign would only work with the supplied software. Many people purchase LED signs so they can write their own software to control them.

Great work BTW loadman, the new version looks great!

P.S How different are the two BetaBrites you support? Do they use completely different protocols?

loadman · « **Reply #89 on:** December 31, 2006, 05:59:37 pm »

Quote from: headkaze on December 31, 2006, 12:09:37 pm

Great work BTW loadman, the new version looks great!

P.S How different are the two BetaBrites you support? Do they use completely different protocols?

Thanks Mr Headkaze, I appreciate your little tips you give. As always if I can help you with something let me know

It only supports one type of betabrite at the moment as that is the only model that I have been asked to support (other than the usb one). Anyway from the docs I have seen that protocol for betabrite models is very similar, the main difference is added transitions and some graphics.

The idea with this Plug-in is you can have one LCD and one BetaBrite

Circo · « **Reply #90 on:** January 02, 2007, 10:08:55 pm »

Quote from: headkaze on December 31, 2006, 12:09:37 pm

Circo: Err you took back the betabrite prism? Did you consider a USB->COM port converter? Did you contact BetaBrite and ask them if you can do standard serial COM port communication with it? It would be really stupid if this sign would only work with the supplied software. Many people purchase LED signs so they can write their own software to control them.

Great work BTW loadman, the new version looks great!

P.S How different are the two BetaBrites you support? Do they use completely different protocols?

I spoke with a few 3rd party vendors that write software for beta-brites and all I got was that they don't support it yet. When I could just take it back and spend close to $100 less for one that would work now, it made the decision fairly easy.

Susi2005 · « **Reply #91 on:** January 08, 2007, 03:33:09 pm »

Hi loadman,
i tested your new version 1g with my NEC FC20X2JA. It works but i have some wishes to you

- some game with longer name as 20 character are continue in the second line, the better solution is that the name was scrolled only in the first line so that we can use the second line for other information

- the cursor is now visible (with a _ ) , its better when the cursor not visible (cursor of 14h)

That was only a short test, there I in the moment unfortunately the correct time. sorry

Yes the new version looks great !

loadman · « **Reply #92 on:** January 08, 2007, 04:09:30 pm »

Quote from: Susi2005 on January 08, 2007, 03:33:09 pm

Hi loadman,
i tested your new version 1g with my NEC FC20X2JA. It works but i have some wishes to you

- some game with longer name as 20 character are continue in the second line, the better solution is that the name was scrolled only in the first line so that we can use the second line for other information

- the cursor is now visible (with a _ ) , its better when the cursor not visible (cursor of 14h)

That was only a short test, there I in the moment unfortunately the correct time. sorry

Yes the new version looks great !

No Worries...

I will Fix for next beta version

PileDriver · « **Reply #93 on:** January 10, 2007, 08:13:39 am »

Hi Loadman,
I have an older Betabrite and it uses com1 - E,7,2.
Can you make the port configureable?
I'm ready to test!
Thanks

Havok · « **Reply #94 on:** January 10, 2007, 09:26:55 am »

I really love the idea of having a changing marquee that matches the original when the game is played, however resolution and cost are definite issues. Does anyone know of something that is about the same size as the betabrite, but has more color depth than the prism, something that could at least come close to rendering a decent marquee image?

loadman · « **Reply #95 on:** January 10, 2007, 03:37:04 pm »

Quote from: PileDriver on January 10, 2007, 08:13:39 am

Hi Loadman,
I have an older Betabrite and it uses com1 - E,7,2.
Can you make the port configureable?
I'm ready to test!
Thanks

Cool... What model is that?

You can change the Com ports already with the current version.

I will make the other protocol settings configurable too for the next beta version

johnperkins21 · « **Reply #96 on:** January 10, 2007, 05:09:09 pm »

Quote from: Havok on January 10, 2007, 09:26:55 am

I really love the idea of having a changing marquee that matches the original when the game is played, however resolution and cost are definite issues. Does anyone know of something that is about the same size as the betabrite, but has more color depth than the prism, something that could at least come close to rendering a decent marquee image?

You're just slightly ahead of your time, but they are definitely working on it. Here's some info on OLEDs:
http://www.universaldisplay.com/tech.htm

Who knows when this will be commercially available at a good price? I'd say we're less than 5 years out, hopefully 2008 but I haven't been keeping up on too much at this year's CES.

PileDriver · « **Reply #97 on:** January 10, 2007, 05:58:06 pm »

Quote from: loadman on January 10, 2007, 03:37:04 pm

Quote from: PileDriver on January 10, 2007, 08:13:39 am
Hi Loadman,
I have an older Betabrite and it uses com1 - E,7,2.
Can you make the port configureable?
I'm ready to test!
Thanks
Cool... What model is that?

You can change the Com ports already with the current version.

I will make the other protocol settings configurable too for the next beta version

When I fire it up it said it was an "1040-4402 EZII"
I can manually send silver's LCD files to it and it works so I'm sure it's just the com port settings.
Can you can just read the windows com settings as default?
What I mean is, if I select com1 it will use the windows setting for com1.
I hope that made some sense, I'm not a programmer.

Thanks

headkaze · « **Reply #98 on:** January 10, 2007, 07:59:43 pm »

Quote from: johnperkins21 on January 10, 2007, 05:09:09 pm

You're just slightly ahead of your time, but they are definitely working on it. Here's some info on OLEDs:
http://www.universaldisplay.com/tech.htm

Who knows when this will be commercially available at a good price? I'd say we're less than 5 years out, hopefully 2008 but I haven't been keeping up on too much at this year's CES.

I remember reading about OLED technology a long time ago and they were having problems with longevity in the screens. I also remember talk of being able to literally cut LCD screens to any size you want from sheets of cardboard like rolls of OLED screen. There have been some video cameras and devices that use OLED screens already. I guess when the price comes down, this will be the ultimate dynamic marquee for a cab.

Havok · « **Reply #99 on:** January 10, 2007, 11:01:11 pm »

I'd like to see a marquee sized version of these buttons:

youki · « **Reply #100 on:** January 11, 2007, 04:02:57 am »

Quote from: headkaze on January 10, 2007, 07:59:43 pm

Quote from: johnperkins21 on January 10, 2007, 05:09:09 pm
You're just slightly ahead of your time, but they are definitely working on it. Here's some info on OLEDs:
http://www.universaldisplay.com/tech.htm

Who knows when this will be commercially available at a good price? I'd say we're less than 5 years out, hopefully 2008 but I haven't been keeping up on too much at this year's CES.

I remember reading about OLED technology a long time ago and they were having problems with longevity in the screens. I also remember talk of being able to literally cut LCD screens to any size you want from sheets of cardboard like rolls of OLED screen. There have been some video cameras and devices that use OLED screens already. I guess when the price comes down, this will be the ultimate dynamic marquee for a cab.

You could imagine to cover our cab from that kind of screen. We could have dynamic marquee , but dynamic side art too!!!

.... ok..i dream.. but...who knows...

I look for a solution for Dynamic Marquee for years now...

loadman · « **Reply #101 on:** January 11, 2007, 05:55:26 am »

Quote

When I fire it up it said it was an "1040-4402 EZII"
I can manually send silver's LCD files to it and it works so I'm sure it's just the com port settings.
Can you can just read the windows com settings as default?
What I mean is, if I select com1 it will use the windows setting for com1.
I hope that made some sense, I'm not a programmer.
Thanks

That is good news... I will spit out a new beta tomorrow

The windows settings won't help you, Be patient with me. Its school holidays in Australia and the Kids want Dad to get off the computer on his days off....

I will do this tomorrow :-)

johnperkins21 · « **Reply #102 on:** January 11, 2007, 12:00:36 pm »

Quote from: youki on January 11, 2007, 04:02:57 am

You could imagine to cover our cab from that kind of screen. We could have dynamic marquee , but dynamic side art too!!! .... ok..i dream.. but...who knows...

I look for a solution for Dynamic Marquee for years now...

You could do a dynamic marquee now using multiple TFT LCD screens. Just line up 3 of the 8" models and send 1/3 of the marquee to each one. I'm not saying it would be easy, but it's theoretically possible right now.

On pace with those buttons Havok linked to, I had thought it would be cool to put something like that above each one of my buttons under some plexi, so depending on the game they would light up with the actual button assignment. Say for instance you launch Street Fighter 2, then right above the top row of buttons you'd see the labels "light punch," "med. punch," and "fierce punch." I don't think it would need to be TFT for that, just a regular LCD or even a small betabrite or something that covers the whole top row. Definitely dreaming, but I think it would be awesome to have a dynamic control panel in that fashion.

loadman · « **Reply #103 on:** January 11, 2007, 04:05:49 pm »

Hey guys,

Any Chance of starting a new thread for the Marquee discussion as this thread is getting too big already and it makes it hard for an idiot like me to follow all the posts for my plug-in

Thanks

loadman · « **Reply #104 on:** January 12, 2007, 12:59:35 am »

MaLa Serial Display Plug-In Beta 1h

now avaliable for download

Version 1h
- Added more Serial protocol options for Beta-Brite (Bits/Parity/StopBit)
- Added codes to hide cursor and scroll for NEC FC20X2JA VFD (2x20)

Look to top of thread for download link

PileDriver · « **Reply #105 on:** January 12, 2007, 05:15:43 am »

Loadman,
We're 1 step closer.
The plug-in now sends the test messages to the betabrite.

The button "Test LCD Files" opens the com but appears to try to send to the BPP-440 serial LCD not the betabrite. Also MALA doesn't send anything at all, It does find the LCD files.
Thanks,
Piledriver

loadman · « **Reply #106 on:** January 12, 2007, 06:46:37 am »

Oppps My mistake. I forgot to change the LCD file code. I blame family distractions. Real life got in the way again

MaLa Serial Display Plug-In Beta 1i now avaliable for download

Version 1i
- Bug Fix for Beta-Brite

Look to top of thread for download link

Susi2005 · « **Reply #107 on:** January 15, 2007, 02:44:30 pm »

Quote from: loadman on January 12, 2007, 12:59:35 am

MaLa Serial Display Plug-In Beta 1h now avaliable for download

Version 1h
- Added more Serial protocol options for Beta-Brite (Bits/Parity/StopBit)
- Added codes to hide cursor and scroll for NEC FC20X2JA VFD (2x20)

Look to top of thread for download link

Hi loadman,
yes the code for hide cursor works, but the scroll code works not.
The start message "NEC....." comes good, but the game list is not really working.

When you choice a game, the display will show this name really short (1/2 sec.) an than was the whole display dark.
I mean - you can see the Text in a short flash (longer Names as 20 characters are continued in the second line.

Here a short video:
http://rapidshare.com/files/11859373/MOV00010.avi.html

loadman · « **Reply #108 on:** January 15, 2007, 04:28:54 pm »

Quote from: Susi2005 on January 15, 2007, 02:44:30 pm

Quote from: loadman on January 12, 2007, 12:59:35 am
MaLa Serial Display Plug-In Beta 1h now avaliable for download

Version 1h
- Added more Serial protocol options for Beta-Brite (Bits/Parity/StopBit)
- Added codes to hide cursor and scroll for NEC FC20X2JA VFD (2x20)

Look to top of thread for download link

Hi loadman,
yes the code for hide cursor works, but the scroll code works not.
The start message "NEC....." comes good, but the game list is not really working.

When you choice a game, the display will show this name really short (1/2 sec.) an than was the whole display dark.
I mean - you can see the Text in a short flash (longer Names as 20 characters are continued in the second line.

Here a short video:
http://rapidshare.com/files/11859373/MOV00010.avi.html

OK I will take the NEC scroll character out. I thought it was too easy. :-)

I am not planning on having any scolling function until V2 as I need to work on the LedWiz Plug-in for a while...

For such a small display I will crop long filenames to 20 characters so it will not spill onto the 2nd line on your display type if you like

I will do this in the next beta version :-)

Thanks

Susi2005 · « **Reply #109 on:** January 15, 2007, 04:43:50 pm »

Quote from: loadman on January 15, 2007, 04:28:54 pm

For such a small display I will crop long filenames to 20 characters so it will not spill onto the 2nd line on your display type if you like

I will do this in the next beta version :-)

Thanks

Yes its OK for me. Thanks

Red 5 · « **Reply #110 on:** January 15, 2007, 07:53:13 pm »

Is the CrystalFontz 634 supported in this?

I just version I and no joy with the SerialConfig.exe program.

No display

Thanks,
Jon

loadman · « **Reply #111 on:** January 17, 2007, 02:00:53 am »

Quote from: Red 5 on January 15, 2007, 07:53:13 pm

Is the CrystalFontz 634 supported in this?

I just version I and no joy with the SerialConfig.exe program.

No display

Thanks,
Jon

Not yet

Red 5 · « **Reply #112 on:** January 17, 2007, 05:00:42 pm »

Quote from: loadman on January 17, 2007, 02:00:53 am

Quote from: Red 5 on January 15, 2007, 07:53:13 pm
Is the CrystalFontz 634 supported in this?

I just version I and no joy with the SerialConfig.exe program.

No display

Thanks,
Jon
Not yet

Soon ?

loadman · « **Reply #113 on:** January 19, 2007, 03:54:24 pm »

Quote from: Red 5 on January 17, 2007, 05:00:42 pm

Quote from: loadman on January 17, 2007, 02:00:53 am
Quote from: Red 5 on January 15, 2007, 07:53:13 pm
Is the CrystalFontz 634 supported in this?

I just version I and no joy with the SerialConfig.exe program.

No display

Thanks,
Jon
Not yet

Soon ?

.. Well if you want LCD file support you will have to ask Silver
http://www.silverfoxy.f2s.com/LCDGen.html

I will add basic MaLa data support for CrystalFontz 634 in the next beta version ok?
I sent you a PM.

loadman · « **Reply #114 on:** January 27, 2007, 12:12:48 am »

Version 1 Released

It should be posted on the MaLa website soon.

Feel free to keep sending me suggestions for the next version but I won't be working on this plug-in for a while. The next version will probably have more formatting/scrolling options for LCD displays when using MaLa data.

Any spare time I have for now will be spent helping Edge get V2 of the Led-Wiz finished.

Thanks

Simon

swindus · « **Reply #115 on:** January 27, 2007, 04:43:11 am »

http://mala.arcadezentrum.com/plugins.html#SerialDisplay

Circo · « **Reply #116 on:** February 08, 2007, 01:43:11 am »

Loadman, I finally got my new (old) serial betabrite today and I have a day off tomorrow. I will finally get a chance to test the dual display and will post back with results and hopefully pics. Thanks again for all of your work on this.

Circo · « **Reply #117 on:** February 22, 2007, 08:32:44 pm »

After many delays and projects that the wife has me on for the new baby, I finally got it all set up and it works great!

Couple of questions:

#1 I see in the setup that there are options to select what mala data is sent to the display but they are all grayed out. Also the betabrite options such as color and time are greyed out as well. Will these be activated on the next release?

#2 In V2 would it be hard to filter out the "not used" buttons from controls.ini?
IE: Button 1: Fire, Button 2: Jump, Button 3: Not Used

After all was said and done it worked out perfectly that it didn't work with the prism. Took that back and got my $200 then found the betabrite on ebay for $60. The wife was much happier.

loadman · « **Reply #118 on:** February 22, 2007, 08:49:43 pm »

Quote from: Circo on February 22, 2007, 08:32:44 pm

After many delays and projects that the wife has me on for the new baby, I finally got it all set up and it works great!

Quote

Couple of questions:
#1 I see in the setup that there are options to select what mala data is sent to the display but they are all grayed out. Also the betabrite options such as color and time are greyed out as well. Will these be activated on the next release?

Yes I just put it there to show you what it was doing, I can make it configuarable for the next version

Quote

#2 In V2 would it be hard to filter out the "not used" buttons from controls.ini?
IE: Button 1: Fire, Button 2: Jump, Button 3: Not Used

Sounds easy... PM what you like ideally and what display it is for (LCD/Betabrite).

Quote

After all was said and done it worked out perfectly that it didn't work with the prism. Took that back and got my $200 then found the betabrite on ebay for $60. The wife was much happier.

Great news

edge · « **Reply #119 on:** February 22, 2007, 11:44:19 pm »

Circo - would love to see some pics of the betabrite in action....


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Author Topic: Serial Display (LCD & BetaBrite) Plug-in for MaLa V1.0 *Finished* (Read 50109 times)

Author Topic: Serial Display (LCD & BetaBrite) Plug-in for MaLa V1.0 Finished (Read 50109 times)