| Author | Message | ||
     WizardOfZo Rating: N/A |
I am new to 3d, so if this has been done before, sorry for the rerun. Even though they claim it won’t work, I bought the wireless Virtual FX box to try out on my Projection TV. It works fine for me! Here is my setup. I have an old Sony VPH1031 CRT projector. It has RGB and composite inputs. For my first test I ran a 3D composite video from my DVD player into the Virtual FX box and then into the composite input of the projector. The image was 3D but did not look right, when I reversed the left & right fields, the 3D effect was better but a bit corse & dim. I attribute the need to reverse the fields because I am projecting an image to a screen rather than viewing it directly. For the brightness problem I assume because of the fact that there is some shading in the glasses and because each eye only sees half of the projected lines, the video is a bit to dark. Another problem encountered in enlarging NTSC to 100" diagonal is you get resolution degradation as obvious horizontal lines. To compensate for some of these problems I decided to try line doubling. The Sony VPH1031 is an old projector but it has one benefit that others in the VPH10XX don’t, it can do 480I and 480P allowing it to accept a line doubler into the RGB input. My first doubling attempt was with a Silicon Image Iscan Pro. It does a great job of line doubling for regular movies but it does not work well with 3D movies because its internal line doubling method causes the 3d effect to be distorted. I dug out an old line doubler that I had not used due to its bulky size and input limitations. It is a Vidikron ET 100DS. It only accepts S-video and Composite inputs and outputs RGB in 480P. I used the S-video in & out of the Virtual FX converter into the Vidikron and at first I had the same results distorted as the Iscan Pro, Then I found the “Magic Switch” on the Vidikron The Frame/Line switch is actually described in the manual: “Select LINE for some 3-D video disk compatible players” When I set it to LINE the screen was almost as good a being at an IMAX 3D show. If you want to try this setup yourself it is not very expensive. The VPH1031’s are going for $300 to $500 on eBay, you need to be careful to be sure the CRT’s are in good condition and that it is a real VPH1031, You could pickup a VPH12XX series, (I think they will all do 480P) They are more money and weigh almost 200 pounds, compared to the 1031’s 80 pounds. One problem you will run into is finding a Vidikron, The company has been sold and I don’t see them on eBay much these days. (I paid about $200 for mine) No doubt there are other line doublers out there that will do 3D without distortion, but I don’t have the bucks to check them all out. I hope this information will help Big Screen 3D become a reality in your home, for me I am taking it “On the Road” My entire setup is mounted to the side of my RV, I bring movies to the outdoor festivals in the Northeast, and now … IN 3D! Now all I need are some quality 3D movies to show! Zo |
