Time Circuits Display (TCD)

After years of research/development/rework, we are glad to announce the launch of our new generation of the Time Circuits Display REPLICA.

Compared to the older version 2, almost everything has been reworked: Enclosures, electronics, firmware… to make it the most accurate replica ever built. We had the chance to access to valuable information from the movie, like the exact dimension of one of the screen-used units. We developed a new fabrication method to allow us to precisely shape the aluminum sides: the straight bends are now replaced with soft curves, much closer to the original.

The 3H/3G/3F versions have the following changes/improvements compared to version 3E:

– High quality replicated version of the internal keypad + keys (as the original keypad has become impossible to find)

– Electrical contacts replaced with cutting edge photo-interruptors to prevent any bad contact

– Firmware upgrade to handle the new photo-interruptor contacts

The 3E version had the following improvements compared to version 3D:

– Bug fix on leap-year that used to prevent entering day 29 on every month on a non-leap year

– New improved green displays using pure green LEDs

– Better brightness balance on displays and seconds/AM/PM LEDs

– Independent volume setting for the beeping sound (can be set in the setup mode)

The 3D version had the following improvements compared to older versions:

– Genuine internal keypad and genuine enter button, so you get the exact same “touch and feel” as the original

– TRW plastic enclosure for the keypad (instead of the old resin-casted, then painted version) with the right mass-tinted color and the asymmetrical cutting just like the screen-used one !

– Weak battery indicator: An internal time back-up cell allows to keep the present time running when the unit is off. When it goes weak, the yellow indicator blinks, to let you know it’s time to change it.

– New process for sticking the gels of the face-plates, making these much stronger.

– Fixing of small problems: Present Time display brightness was a bit too weak, the blanking upon validation occurred on all displays but had to be on Destination Time only, the sound needed to be better amplified, the way to enter time in 12h mode or 24h mode needed to be improved and some related bugs needed to be fixed.

– The overall reliability of the system has been greatly improved.

– The internal time-keeping clock circuit is much more accurate than it used to be.

IN DETAIL:

The TCD functions like it was supposed to do in the movies, with the same audio and visual effects!

The center display line holds the real time accurately: There is a real-time clock circuit inside, backed-up with a lithium battery to keep time when power is off.

You can dial your destination time and date on the keypad a number of different ways (full, 12h mode, 24h mode, time only, date only…), and it is displayed on the DESTINATION TIME display with a slight delay for the month, just like it occurred in the movie.

With a back-button, or with the TFC unit, you can trigger the displays as if a temporal displacement really occurred: PRESENT TIME becomes the DESTINATION TIME, and LAST TIME DEPARTED becomes the old PRESENT TIME. By repeating the same process, you can set any time and date on all three lines. The PRESENT TIME always runs like a clock, whatever your settings. This makes you feel like you REALLY travelled in time!

Designed with measurements from a screen used unit

Custom-made LED displays with accurate segments’ shapes

Original LMB boxes with cutouts and venting holes

Setup mode to set the main volume, the displays brightness…

Slight delay when displaying months, synchro with sound

Full aluminum enclosure 1/8″ thick, professionally welded and curved

Plastic TRW keypad shell, with original color and screen-accurate cutting

High quality replicated internal keypad

Professional vinyl labels with the exact same font and size for the displays

You can either use on display (with your own 12 Volts power supply) or inside a real Delorean: it fits on the center console, just like the original! You can attach it with screws through the side holes.

This is the BTTF prop that you have always been dreaming of, either for your car or for your collection of BTTF items. So, don’t wait any longer!

What makes our time circuits better than others?

A. The LED displays:

Other makers’ designs are based on multiplexing. It consists in connecting LEDs into matrix, and lighting groups of LEDs one after the other at high speed so the eye can’t notice the trick (this is the persistence of vision).

This technique lowers the number of connections and it draws less power because fewer LEDs are connected at a time. But there are two consequences: 1. the average brightness is reduced, and 2. a flicker can occur, particularly when filming. The other makers use driver chip HT16K33, which lights up LEDs by groups of 16 every 1/8th of time. So the displays’ brightness is no more than 12.5% of the nominal LEDs’ brightness! Very dim… It’s the main reason why we chose to use several latched drivers in series instead. LEDs can either be lit to 100% or dimmed with a PWM signal. And there can’t be any flicker problem on any camera when making videos of these time circuits.

B. The keypad case:

Other makers don’t want to invest in an expensive plastic injection mold, so they either use resin casting or 3D printing, and spray paint.

This has several drawbacks: Resin parts are fragile, you can break them easily. 3D printed parts are usually made of PLA which deforms with high temperatures you sometimes get in summer inside a car. The spray paint is often not the exact color, and it tends to scratch from parts.

In the past, we used to make the keypad case in resin and paint it. But we decided to invest in injection molding and now our keypad cases are made of the original material, with the right mass-tinted color, with no approximate paint that could scratch!

C. The keys and internal keypad:

We have invested in an expensive double injection mold to make an exact replica of the original keys. Other makers just use a look-alike low cost keypad but the digits don’t look like the originals.

We also have invested in custom-made springs that are identical to the original springs, to achieve the same touch and feel as the original. Other makers with their low-cost keypad just offer the touch and feel of a membrane keypad, like your TV remote, which is very different from the original spring loaded keys.

D. The metal enclosure:

Other makers tried to copy our design, but they failed. They cannot make the smooth curves and they make straight bends instead, leaving press marks on the parts! We have fabricated our own custom bending press to create the smooth bends as the original. By the way, parts are made from measurements on the actual time circuits from the movie which is in the restored A-car that now sits in the Petersen Automotive Museum.