46" / 30" / 19" widebody fullscreen visual pinball project

[chris77]

...check out my new pinball project!


Hey Guys!

I am planning to build a nearly "bezel-less" fullscreen visual pinball cabinet with a 46" lcd playfield, 30" lcd backbox and 19" lcd dmd-monitor. I will revive an empty star trek:tng widebody cabinet for this project which I got for a few bucks.

The following parts are already there:

- cabinet
---> empty star trek : tng widebody cabinet
---> new legs
---> new widebody lockbar
---> new "old" williams siderails
---> black painted coindoor (illuminated)
---> wired coin acceptors
---> pinball service buttons
---> new playfield and backbox glass
---> blank williams speakerpanel / grill

- screens
(if you need high-res backglass pics (2560res, 6mb each) for your cabinet check out my other thread at http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8860)
---> 46" Playfield 16:9 lcd sharp fullhd 1080p screen (sharp LC46D65)
---> 30" Backglass 16:9 lcd hdready 720p screen with DVI (noname tv brand, medion)
---> 19" Scoreboard 4:3 lcd screen (benq tft pc monitor)

- pc-setup
(check out our "How to get the best performance for your cab" thread at  http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8595)
---> win xp sp3 - 32bit
---> intel quad core i5-750 overclocked to 4x 4.0ghz
---> msi P55-GD65 mainboard
---> 2x2GB RAM DDR3 1600 (8-8-8 timing)
---> 2x GTX260 1792MB GPU (1x for playfield / 1x for backglass and dmd)
---> 32GB SSD (os booting / table loading / hyperpin browsing. just awesome!)
---> soundblaster x-fi music soundcard (creative crystalizer. great enhancement for pinball-sound)
---> 2.1 quality teufel soundsystem with huge subwoofer (provides a nice and clear force-feedback for bumpers, slingshots, replay knockers)
---> 550 watt 80+ arctic psu / 86% efficiency (pc power consumption is averagly about 350watt)

- additional details
---> 2 siemens 12V-DC industry relay (contactors) for flipper force-feedback (wow effect, check out my youtube-vid)
---> 2 original pinball tilt-bobs for nudge-left and nudge-right and 1 mercury-switch for front/top-nudging
---> original star trek tng plunger gun (sensitive ball shooting also possible)
---> all connected to an ipac/interfasd buttoninterface

---> 4x led-illuminated transparent pinball buttons with original leaf-switches (for the right feeling)
---> 6x led-illuminated servicebuttons with plotted inlays (countersinked)
---> 3x 22cm fans for cab ventilation / silent & powerfull 600rpm, 161.61mł/h (2x cabinet / 1x backbox)





======edit: project is almost finished===================





here is a first digital camera video of the machine. the quality isnt the best (switch to "hq" @ youtube for a better quality)





here is a  video of the virtual flipper sound and force feedback (industry relay +  2.1 subwoofer system) vs. a real medieval madness flipper.

I think the virtualmachine sounds better ;-)






fine adjusted my 2 tilt-bobs, works very well now. check out the smooth nudging... you can nudge left and right separately.

here is a youtube-vid for you:






Found some Links, Threads, Articles about my Vpin Machine... Trackback:


http://www.retrogamingroundup.com/shownotes/2009/roundup012_2009.12.htm
Full screen visual pinball project (Radioshow...Go to News)

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=380642
This is the most amazing emulation project i've seen in a long long time.

http://loading.se/forum.php?thread_id=73554
Ett flipperspel byggt för gudar

http://iddqd.blog.hu/2009/11/25/a_vilag_legjobb_asztala
A világ legjobb asztala

http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100736
The Most Amazing Emulation Creation Ever

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/video-game-talk/565362-greatest-custom-emulator-cabinet-youll-ever-see.html
The greatest custom emulator cabinet you'll ever see.. .

http://shogungamer.com/news/real-pinball-wizardry-virtual-pinball-machine
This is real pinball wizardry: a virtual pinball machine

http://www.gamoover.net/Forums/index.php?topic=21077.0
Intégration Visual Pinball dans un flipper




   
   




 






================================================



cheers
chris

[Pinball Wizard]

Wow! I am not too much a fan of Visual Pinball machines but wow this is AMAZING! Great job on the project. Any pictures of the build?

[javeryh]

Awesome!  More pics please!

[mountain]

Very nice! I plan on making one of these soon. Any way to flip the video?

[Epyx]

Aye more pics please...looks fantastic! 

[BobA]

Looks great  any additional pictures of the build would be very much appreciated.

[ivwshane]

I see the 46" screen and the 30" screen but where is the 19" screen?

More pics!!! Do you have any build pics?



I'm seriously thinking about building one but I thought everyone usually used a 42" screen for the play field. Why did you go with the 46"?

[Franco B]

Very nice indeed 

The 19" screen is where the DMD is. I guess its just the top part of it showing.

I imagine he used a 46" as the playfield as it seem to fit his original Star Trek cabinet nicely.

[ivwshane]

Sorry but what's a dmd?

[Franco B]

Dot Matrix Display. Its the part below the larger screen that generally displays your score/animations etc. I think the dot matrix is 'emulated' on the LCD.

[chris77]

thanks guys for your kind words!

46" is the maximum-size which fits in my star trek : tng cabinet. there is no visible bezel, so it gives a more authentic / realistic feeling at all.

here are some pics of the build















greets
chris

[unclet]

What front end software are you using to select the Visual Pinball tables? 

The last person indicating they made a pinball machine like this indicated they had to edit each Visual Pinball table individually to accomodate the screen size, etc...    Did you have to edit each table which is on your machine?

[smalltownguy]

Is that a Zalman copper cooler I see there? Gotta spare you wanna sell me? 

[Kevin Mullins]

- 46" 16:9 lcd sharp fullhd 1080p screen
- 30" 16:9 lcd hdready 720p screen
- 19" 4:3 lcd dmd-screen

Could you list specific makes/models of these ?
The fit in that cabinet is incredible....... looks awesome.

[Paladin]

That is all kinds of awsome!  The more I see of these, the more I want one.

[Pinball Wizard]

How did you get Visual Pinball to split across the three screens so well?

[ivwshane]

How did you get Visual Pinball to split across the three screens so well?

Exactly! I've seen two screens and that's easy enough but three? Does the video cards support three out puts?

And lastly; are all pinball machines the same dimensions (or generally the same)?

[Expressline99]

Wife says this would be the only way I'm getting a "fun house" pinball machine. Doesn't like talking dolls.

This project is amazing! Can't wait for the details. Might be the next build this coming year!

Great job!

 

[chris77]

unclet, i use the hyperpin (pinball version of hyperSpin) frontend. there are also cabinet versions of visual pinball tables available (16:9 fullscreen). so it is not necessary to edit each table, just plug n play.

smalltownguy, its a north q cooler, looks similar to the zalman.

kevin, installed a sharp d65 46" 1080p lcd-tv, for backbox a noname 30" 720p tv and the 4:3 scoreboard monitor is a simple benq pc-monitor.

pinball wizard, the hyperpin-frontend displays the backglass automatically. visual pinball and pinmame displays playfield and dmd/scoreboard. you can drag the dmd simply via mouse to the dmd-monitor. you have to do this only once - the last position of the dmd will be saved.

ivwshane, you need 2 graphic-cards when you use 3 displays. there are widebody pinball cabinets and normal ones. widebodys are a bit wider.

greets
chris

[Silas (son of Silas)]

I am soooooooooooooooooo jealous. This is awesome. 

[wilno45]

Wow that looks good!

 

Fantastical build.... I still can't believe sometimes that they are monitors!

Well done.

You are inspiring me to start projects I can't afford!

[ivwshane]

Thanks for the info.

46" blows my budget but what's everyone's take (OP especially) if I went with: 40" lcd tv 1080p, 23" wide screen lcd, and a 15" lcd (for dmd)?

[Bender]

Damn you Damn you Damn you!!!!

Now I have one more project to build!!!!

Really nice, best one I've seen yet, great work!

[BobA]

Thanks for the pics.   Guess I will have to try Nvidia cards.  I have had nothing but troubles getting just 2 screens working on various ATI cards.

[crashwg]

Damn you damn you damn you!

Every time I see something like this I go out and try to get all the various pinball emulators up and running only to end up banging my head against a wall.

I just can't seem to get my head wrapped around all the pieces that need to talk to each other and such.  Heck I even started a THREAD about trying to get it working.  This crap gives me a headache!

Off I go to try it all again though...

[KoolKolo]

I'm seriously thinking about building one but I thought everyone usually used a 42" screen for the play field. Why did you go with the 46"?

Why?

Let me answer this with a memorable quote from "The Rock":

Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and ---fudgesicle--- the prom queen. 

Or a bit more technical:

Because 46" fits perfectly in the widebody cabinet, where the 42" will leave a big bezel.

[slapaham]

This is stunning! If I had the funds I'd love to build one... I have done for a while now... however, with the budget I could achieve it could only be about a 19" screen... and that would be the most dwarfed pinball table ever conceived - pointless!

Full marks for this though - fantastic work!

[reko19]

Excellent job, might have to build one now myself, hopefully this LCD will come down in price after new year. Few questions. If I am not mistaking side rails are usually mounted on a self-stick tape in a real pinball machine. If for whatever reason you need to remove the LCD, would you need to remove the side rails as well? Or do you have some other provisions for that. And a second question is what happens with the DMD display when you are playing a game without a DMD such as an EM machine? Does it just stay black and score reels are displayed on the backglass?  And lastly is the full model number for the LCD is Sharp AQUOS LC-46D65U? Thanks.

[chris77]

reko, the siderails are simply attached with screws, so you can remove the lcd easily. the dmd-monitor displays all scores from all generations and the full modell number for the lcd is aquos lc-46d65e, i think they are similar.

here are some new pics, question: where is the virtual machine  









greets
chris

[reko19]

Thanks for the reply. Very nice lineup. Medieval Madness, very nice indeed, costs a fortune in US. Regards.

[Gamester]

This is absolutely fantastic!  Really well executed.   

I'm just putting the finishing touches on my arcade cabinet project, and was planning to sit back and relax for a while, and I'll be darned if you don't already have me thinking about my next project now. 

Again, great work! 

[Malenko]

This is absolutely fantastic!  Really well executed.   

I'm just putting the finishing touches on my arcade cabinet project, and was planning to sit back and relax for a while, and I'll be darned if you don't already have me thinking about my next project now. 

Again, great work! 

yeah now I need to finish up the bartop I was workin on just to start one of these!
smaller scale though, prolly 32" TV or smaller, Im a poor mofo

[wonderpuddle]

with the budget I could achieve it could only be about a 19" screen... and that would be the most dwarfed pinball table ever conceived - pointless!

Actually, if you go check out the hyperpin boards, you'll see a bunch of examples of mini pins that are all pretty cool:

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=38

I myself built a mini pin with a 22 inch playfield and it sits now right between my real life Twilight Zone and Pinball Magic:



 I love it.  It is small, but still a very fun machine.

[Malenko]

thats very cool and very inspirational! 

[shardian]

W      o      w    !

That's all I can say. I am envious of your skills and your budget.

[reko19]

Chris,
Do you think any 46" LCD could be used? There are some good deals on Toshiba LCD, yours is obviously a perfect fit. I am thinking I should probably stick with the same model. What do you think?

[wp34]

Chris,
Do you think any 46" LCD could be used? There are some good deals on Toshiba LCD, yours is obviously a perfect fit. I am thinking I should probably stick with the same model. What do you think?

Seconded.  What features/specs did you look for in choosing yours?

Very, very nice BTW.  Looks like a real pinball machine.  I'm very much inspired.   

[chris77]

thanks for the good words guys  

i looked for good viewing angles and response time. so i found the sharp screens with its "advanced super view" (asv) lcd-panels. sharp did a very well job, i am absolutely satisfied.

if you choose another brand, look for a very small bezel, otherwise the screen won't fit in a standard widebody cabinet.

here are some mounting pics, there is no space left in the cabinet.



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regards
chris

[reko19]

Chris,
Once you mounted siderails, is there a gap between the siderails and the side of the cab? Hard to tell from the pics. Thanks.

[unclet]

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