DECISIONS
Once I finally made the decision to go all-in on building a pincab, a couple of very important decisions needed to be made that influence everything else going forward.
First, screen sizes. The playfield screen size determines the size of the main cab and what will be able to fit inside. The backglass size determines the size of the backbox and what will be able to fit there. And DMD - real DMD or LCD? If LCD, full size or just simulate the DMD part? This will determine the speaker panel size and shape which has to fit in the back box.
I want a full-size cab of some sort. Some may be happy with a mini, 1/2, or 3/4 cab, but to me anything smaller than full-size I think will feel like a video game/simulator more than the real thing. I decided to go with a 43" screen for the playfield. It's a standard size TV/monitor and fits perfectly in a standard wide-body cab. 32" for the backglass - also standard size TV and fits well in an ultra-widebody backbox, which pairs well with a widebody cab. As for the DMD, I went with a full-size 15.6" LCD. Based on research, it seems to work well with and can adapt to older and more modern games, and as a bonus, it's cheaper than a real DMD by quite a bit.
Second is the playfield specs. Wow, this was an agonizing process. Nowadays, 4k can be cheap enough that there's no reason to go less. Super important to have low latency/image delay, but a fair percentage of what's out there meets the need for virtual pinball. But do I go 60Hz or 120Hz? A good 120Hz gaming monitor right now runs about $1k, whereas a decent 60Hz TV can be had new for around $200. And going with the 120Hz monitor means the cost of the computer basically doubles from around $800 to $1500 or more (mostly due to the graphics card specs). In the end, I decided it just wasn't worth the extra cost and went with a 60Hz TV. I can upgrade later when those costs come down. Oh, and the backglass/DMD specs are pretty low (1080p-60Hz for the BG and even less for the DMD) so those are cheap and easy to find.
Third is how do I build the physical cab shell and backbox? With a Masters degree in electrical engineering, I'll have few issues with all the electronics, wiring, toys, boards and software. I'm also pretty handy mechanically, but not that handy. I could do all the woodwork myself, but a) it would require a lot of tools I don't have (cha-ching!) and b) I just know I won't be happy with the way the end product looks. I can do the small things (shelves for the cards, etc.) and can put the main pieces together, but the main cab/backbox I want to have a pro do. I finally decided to go with a flat pack from VirtuaPin. They are super nice and helpful (I talked w/Paul for a while). The widebody flat pack with ultra-widebody backbox and full LCD speaker panel is on order. They say it should get to me in early January.
PARTS, PARTS, PARTS!
I started ordering all the parts back in November as soon as I placed the order with VirtuaPin. Most of them have come in at this point. Take a look:
It is A LOT of parts. I'm keeping track of everything in a Google Sheet located here. I have a feeling I'm going to miss my budget of $4k by a little bit once all is said and done. The only things that won't be on the spreadsheet are tools I buy as I'll use them for more than just this project.
So far, the only parts I put together are the DMD LCD (bought on eBay for about $10) and the controller ($20 on aliexpress):
The 12V power supply (you can see the brick on the left) was not included, but I had one lying around. Eventually, I'll hook this up directly to the 12V supply in the cabinet so I don't have the extra brick to deal with.
I wanted to make sure these worked together, as it can take a while to get things delivered from eBay and especially aliexpress. And, yes, miraculously, worked straight out of the box once I hooked everything together.
Next up...computer, screens, and software setup.
Comments
Post a Comment