Twilight Zone, being one of the top pinball machines with collectors and having a very good theme, has led to it being heavily customized, some of them being functional, but most just being ornamental, to make the machine more fun.
One of the cooler ones was done by a guy who took a small hallmark ornament that looked like a TV, put a small LCD display in it, and then used it to display pictures from the TV series while you played. It’s tiny (maybe 1.5”), and it fits inside of the game. And then somebody else did one that showed video.
I was thinking that it would be cool to do something that was game controlled, which is the whole reason I built the WPC pinball lamp decoder. And, instead of making it a small one that would go on the playfield, I decided to make it slightly larger and make it as a topper.
A topper is simply something ornamental that goes on top of your pinball machine. They are almost always lighted in some way, and, with a few exceptions, not controlled by the machine.
Mine would be. Twilight Zone has a bunch of different modes, and my plan is to detect those modes (and other events) by decoding the light state, and use that to play *appropriate* clips on the topper.
I needed a good enclosure. And, thanks to Ebay, it was simple to procure:
This is an early Sony 5” TV, and it was a bit of a design coup for Sony; nobody was doing TVs this small at the time. I toyed with the idea of just using it as a display, but then I took a look inside:
That is one of 3 circuit boards. These TVs have a reputation for being very hard to work on, and I don’t what that sort of project, so we are going to use it as an attractive case instead…
I plan on using as many of the controls as possible; at least the on/off switch and the volume knob.
For a display, I need a small LCD. I found one that is designed for a rear-view camera. Here’s a test-fitting in the case:
Fits but barely on width, but the height is less than I would like (the display isn’t really 4:3). Hmm. If I put it behind the original CRT protector…
That will likely work better. Assuming I stay with this display (and I think it’s the biggest one that will fit without hacking out the control section on the right), I will laser-cut an oval trim plate out of black acrylic that will cover the gaps. I’ll also modify the lens to get the display more forward.
and one more photo of the display working…
So, what do you think ?