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Anyone used tiny displays to "label" buttons on a Mame cab?
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javeryh:

--- Quote from: bkenobi on July 14, 2009, 10:40:43 am ---I personally don't use any of this.  I have solid buttons and no LCD anywhere.  I just use CP Wizard launched before each game to tell the user what is active.  I like lit buttons, but I really don't like the price.  I haven't been willing to drop ~$200 for my 2 player CP when I don't think it will add that much usability or even cool factor.
--- End quote ---

Same here.  I might try some bling way way way down the line if I ever get that mansion with a dedicated gameroom but for now if something doesn't add to the WAF then I want no part of it.

Did any one else hear that whip crack or is it just me??
AndyWarne:
Buttons with built-in LCD screens are made by a number of amusement parts suppliers such as Gamesman and Industrias-Lorenzo.

But they are all rectangular. I doubt if we will ever see a round one of these, the size of a normal arcade button.

Andy
koz319:
Well,

I was saving this for when it was completely finished, but in a word, yes, sorta, kinda :)

I bought 30 surplus oled modules on ebay for $1 each that seem to be (almost?) identical to these:

http://www.crystalfontz.com/product/CFAL12864N-A-B1.html

(the ones I have are the same size, same connector, 2 color, same controller, but say different manufacturer) 


Currently, its all running in prototype form.   I'm using an FTDI FT232RL breakout board as a usb->serial driver for an atmel dev board I had laying around, which parses commands from the serial data and shifts data out to the individual displays.   I have a prototype control panel with the displays inlaid on top of the panel but under the lexan cover.  The panel has two joystics w/ 6 buttons each, and a player 1 and 2 button.  Each joystick gets 1 display.  The admin displays are at the top of the panel with the displays just below.  The six buttons per player are 2 rows of three. each button with a display, with the displays above the top row and below the bottom.  And yes, aligning the displays was painful.

I have a crude plugin for mala running as ringmaster for this circus at the moment.   

Everything is far from a finished state, and development has stopped cold due to the fact that our first kids (twins!) decided they just couldn't wait to meet us and arrived 2 months early. :)

I'll try to take some pics of the displays in action if I can, but it may be a little while. (The workshop is sort of verboten at the moment) I was actually hoping to be able to make some of these available once I was finished, but who knows when that will be now.  If I can ever get it to the state where it's not horribly embarrassing maybe I'll just open source the whole thing.

Anyway, I'll try to get some pics sometime soon.

Koz
GaryMcT:
koz, Awesome!  I can't wait to see this!
rooter:

--- Quote from: drventure on July 13, 2009, 07:11:09 pm ---I don't imagine you could use that PICOLCD for that purpose, its a tad big. The Crystal screen might work. I've seen a keyboard that has an OLED in every key to label them, but it's INSANELY expensive.

I'm guessing it might be easier and work a little better to get a small LCD screen (say 4x5 or so, from a car stereo TV or something) and run an image out to it to show your CP layout, but that's just one idea.

--- End quote ---

I'm working the exact same thing right now.  I bought a MiniDVD Player for under $20 and I am going to build the screen into my cab somewhere.

I just have to figure out how to load an image on my second screen with a Frontend.  I use Hyperspin currently, but I don't even know if what I want to do is possible with it.   How are you guys planning on sending data to your monitors/lcds?
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