Dot Matrix Display

In 1991, Williams introduced the Plasma display on Funhouse and The Addams Family, and pinball changed overnight. A 128×32 grid of orange plasma dots, each one individually addressable, could show animations, character art, scrolling text, and simple video sequences at a speed and resolution that made alphanumeric displays look primitive by comparison. The DMD gave every machine a face.

The warm orange glow of a plasma DMD became as iconic as the score reel clatter had been a generation earlier. Designers used the display to extend licensed themes into the machine itself — Twilight Zone’s Gumball Machine, Medieval Madness’s castle siege, Attack from Mars’s alien invasion — creating a visual narrative layer that had never existed before. The dot count was low enough that animators developed a distinct aesthetic: chunky, high-contrast characters that read clearly from ten feet away under arcade lighting.

Williams and Bally dominated the DMD era, shipping machines that collectors now consider the pinnacle of the art form. Stern continued manufacturing DMD machines well into the 2010s even as competitors moved to LCD screens, and a devoted community of players still prefers the plasma display’s analog warmth over modern HD panels. Color DMDs — aftermarket upgrades that replace the plasma tube with an LED matrix capable of full RGB color — have extended the display’s life indefinitely, giving classics a vivid new look while preserving the original gameplay.