DMD Ext (Freezy)

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Click any image to enlarge it.

Colorized DMD in action

DMD Ext and Freezy are the same thing — just two names for the same tool. This is a very significant upgrade to your Virtual Pinball experience. It enhances the built-in table DMD to a much higher quality and fully customizable display.

"This project aims to connect digital pinball games with the physical DMDs that are widespread in the community. It also comes with pretty monitor output, supports frame-by-frame colorization, and can even stream over the network."
⬇ Freezy on Github 📄 Readme

What You Need

You will need Visual Pinball X installed, and you will need to download Freezy. Download the zip file rather than the auto installer.

💡 Download the zip, not the auto-installer — it gives you more control over where files go.
Step 1 — Download & Unblock
Freezy Github releases page Right click Properties Unblock

Right click the downloaded file → Properties → check Unblock → Apply. Then extract the zip.

Step 2 — Copy to Vpinmame
Extracted Freezy files Copy to Vpinmame folder

Select all extracted files and copy them to your VisualPinball/Vpinmame folder.

Step 3 — Change Vpinmame Settings
Vpinmame setup options

Run Setup.exe in the Vpinmame folder and change these settings:

  • Select the Setup Default tab
  • Uncheck Show DMD/Display window
  • Check Use External DMD (dll)
  • Check Colorize DMD (4 colors)
Step 4 — Run a Table
Sharp Freezy DMD running on screen

You will now see a much sharper DMD. Drag it to any location — even across other monitors in a multi-screen setup.

Step 5 — Resize & Save Position
Resizing the DMD window

Drag the DMD to position it. Resize by dragging the lower right corner.

💡 If you can't see your mouse pointer, disable Force Exclusive Fullscreen in VPX video settings.

Once happy with the position, right-click the DMD to save it globally (all tables) or for this table only.

Step 6 — Customize the Look

Select Customize Style to change the shape and colour of the DMD. Set it globally or per table.

Right-click DMD context menu DMD style customization
Save globally or per table

DMD Colorization

If you have Freezy running when launching a VPX table, you're almost there. The final step is getting colorized ROM files for the table. Not all tables have them — check VPUniverse.

🎨 VPU Colorized ROMs
VPUniverse colorization page Colorization files to download

Download both files and save them somewhere you'll remember — they are all named the same across tables.

Step 7 — Find the ROM Name
Finding the ROM name in VPX script editor

You need a folder matching the ROM name. Here's how to find it:

  • Open your table in the VPX editor
  • Click the script icon
  • Press Ctrl+F and search for gamename

Example: Const cGamename = "cv_20h" — the ROM name for Cirqus Voltaire.

Step 8 — Create the altcolor Folder
Creating the altcolor folder

In the Vpinmame folder, create a folder named altcolor if it doesn't exist yet.

Step 9 — Create the ROM Name Folder
Create folder named after the ROM

Inside altcolor, create a folder matching the ROM name (e.g. cv_20h).

Step 10 — Copy the Colorized Files
Copy pin2dmd.pal and pin2dmd.vni

Copy the 2 downloaded files into the ROM folder: pin2dmd.pal and pin2dmd.vni.

Colorized DMD result

If everything was installed correctly, you will now see DMD animations in vivid colours. 🎉

Serum / PAC File Colorization

Serum PAC file colorization example

A newer 100% open-source colorization format called Serum (cRom) uses .PAC files instead of pin2dmd files.

Serum DLL files to download

Download the 2 files linked in the article. Extract and paste them into the Vpinmame folder, overwriting existing files.

⚠️ Do NOT overwrite your VPMalias or dmddevice.ini files.

Once done, drop the .PAC file into the altcolor/[romname] folder, just like the pin2dmd steps above.

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Related: Visual Pinball X · DOF Setup · Software