YAKUZA Boards from Tadao Coming Soon!

Articles taken from http://www.tadaotechnologies.com/ and published by Will Roberson (Owner & President of Tadao Technologies LLC)

Tadao introduces aftermarket OLED display technology

I've been working on OLED (organic light emitting diode) based displays since mid-summer. When compared to an LCD (liquid crystal display), OLED screens have several advantages, including being cheaper to manufacture, lower power consumption, and higher contrast, especially while in sunlight.

Unlike an LCD, each pixel of an OLED is a light emitting diode, and therefore emits its own light. This makes the power consumption directly proportional to how many pixels are lit. With an LCD none of the pixels light up on their own, so a backlight must be used, which increases power consumption drastically. Paintball markers that use LCDs, like the original Bob Long Intimidator, were (and still are) very difficult to read when viewed in the sun, and impossible to read at night.

Another major factor is vibration and moisture resistance. OLED technology takes a step in the right direction because the manufacturing process involves fully sealing the organic films that make up the matrix of LEDs. In comparison, LCDs are made of multiple layers of polarizing material with a liquid crystal solution between them, and can be easily destroyed with excessive vibration (i.e. a paintball marker firing repeatedly).

The first markers for which we will release OLED based boards are the Bob Long Marq, Closer, Vice, and Protege. The following pictures are of a fully functional, preproduction prototype, with a white on black OLED module showing the boot screen and main operating screen. You can also see how bright it is, even with studio lighting and a camera flash:





The screen color choices will be white on black and blue on black. Battery life, top/bottom eye status, real time rate of fire, and a game timer are just a few of the features that will be included and shown on the display. A full graphical and text based menu system is also standard.

Grips will be included with a window in the correct location for proper viewing pleasure!

If you're coming to the NPPL Commander's Cup in San Diego stop by the Bob Long tech area to get a glimpse and check it out in person.

Yakuza OLED board for the Ego 7 and Ego 8

The Yakuza Series continues with an OLED based board for the Ego 7 and Ego 8. I think the most common complaint about all the aftermarket Ego boards is the lack of an LCD or OLED screen.

Now a true aftermarket upgrade board for the Ego is finally here.

The picture below also shows our new large scale text option for those who have been around for a considerable number of years. I expect this to be quite popular among the players in the Master's bracket (cough old people cough)! Also, since the Ego mounts the screen vertically through the rear window, there will be a reversal option to align the display whichever way the user prefers.



The prototypes for the Marq and Ego will be on display at the Commander's Cup NPPL in San Diego at the end of the month. I'll be working out of the Bob Long tech area. There may even be a few more OLED prototypes for other markers finished by then, too.

The Yakuza OLED Marq boards are in full production and will hopefully be available soon.

Yakuza OLED board for the Dye Ultralite frame

Yes, I've been working like crazy lately. I finally finished off the latest Yakuza series prototype for the DM8, which will also work in most Ultralite frames. Like our Universal Ultralite board, the Yakuza will also have ribbon and wired eye sockets so it can work in the Proto, PMR, and older DMs without any adapters or modifications.

The OLED screen is placed on the left side of the frame, near the power and eye switch, as shown in the following pictures: