| Author | Message | ||
     ray lewis (Raylewis) New member Username: Raylewis Post Number: 1 Registered: 1-2007 Rating: N/A |
I have a wonderful home theater that I built around used high end equipment bought through audiogon.com sevberal years ago. Most of it is older stuff, and I'm not sure I can go 3D. here's what I have: DVD player is a Meridian 596 (bought this because the controller and all sound sources are from Meridian 500/dsp5000 series stuff). This feeds a Runco Super IDTV II Scan converter SC 4050 line quadrupler. It can also feed a straight RGB signal through without messing with the signal (my DirecTV HDTV uses this straight pass through). With a 5 cable BNC feed, this goes to an NEC 6 PG XTRA multisinc RGB CRT ceiling mounted projector. This, in turn, throws the image to an 8' x 6' Stewart microporus screen (the only thing I bought new). Can I add 3D capabilty to this? If not, in the family room, we have a Yamaha DVR-120 Cinemastation feeding a Pioneer PDP-614MX plasma monitor. Could I add 3D to this? Thanks for any help. Ray | ||
| Scott Warren (Scott_warren) New member Username: Scott_warren Post Number: 6 Registered: 8-2006 Rating: N/A |
Well, yes and no... Reviewing the kinds of display tech options available to you (not counting buying a bunch of new and expensive equipment): 1. Freeviewing (Parallel/RelaxedEye or Convergent/CrossEye) 2. Anaglyph (R/C, R/G, R/B, Y/B, etc) 3. Passive Polarized (Circular or Linear) 4. Active/Sequential (PageFlip or Interlaced) 5. Active/Passive Ignoring the 1st 2 options (which --any-- system can do, but you'd rather not want to), your choices are Passive or Active (or both). Passive capability depends on being able to get 2 signals with 2 orthogonally opposing polarities onto a non-depolarizing screen and back to a pair of polarized-filtered glasses. Since a CRT monitor isn't natively polarized, you'd need to add filters in front. You don't mention the model of screen you own. Hopefully it is a non-depolarizing kind--this is required for polarized projection to work. Then you would need some glasses. But wait, what about needing 2 signals? You'd either need a 2nd projector (hopefully of similar/identical specs) or you'd need to be able to run the current projector at double the frame rate. It looks like your projector would be able to handle this (as long as the phosphors are fast-acting enough). Then you would need to buy a "Z-screen" filter, which is an Active/Passive filter that flips polarity for each of the 2 views. (Note: with the exception of DepthQ and some much more expensive Christie & Barco projectors, you WILL likely get some ghosting/color/sync artifacts on other projectors) It could normally be possible to not push the projector into double framerate by falling back to interlaced mode, but your "line doubler" most likely would wreak havoc with that. If that can be bypassed, that is a possibility, but you probably would not like the lowered frame rate (1/2 per each eye) with causes noticeable flicker. You could also do straight active projection, since as I stated, your projector should be able to handle the frame rates. Don't need to worry about the kind of screen you own. You'll just need some LC shutter glasses and a shutter signal transmitter (wireless IR is the most common these days). Now it's just a matter of how to get some media formatted into a usable mode for projection... If you're going strictly the CE (consumer electronics) path, you'll need to get a box(es) that can convert from the various storage formats to the format you choose (check out the Cyviz, etc). A much more robust and versatile way would be to not use your CE equipment as your head end, but instead use a MediaCenterPC (with Stereoscopic Player, and a good quality nVidia card, etc). These are generalized suggestions, I know, but you didn't specify all your equipment, budget, expected media to use, etc so I can't get too much more specific. HTH, Scott | ||
| ray lewis (Raylewis) New member Username: Raylewis Post Number: 2 Registered: 1-2007 Rating: N/A |
Scott: Thanks for your input. When I built the theater, I had the second row of four seats raised 8 inches. In the kickplate for the riser I inserted a number of inputs so we could send game and/or computer feed into the system. I therefore have a PC style (VGA/XGA, etc.) RGB port that goes into the equipment closet and hooks to an automated switcher that can tell where it has a signal. This in turn feeds the RGB through in the line quadrupler. So, from what you are telling me, I can buy or build a WinTel style pc that can output the active signal straight to the NEC. What do folks on the forum think is the best buy for the buck? What specs do I need to check on the NEC to find out if it will take the input I need? It handles 1080i from my DirecTV HD unit with no problem. BTW, I just bought a PowerMac Pro G5, Intel verision, that will run Windows via BootCamp. This has an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics processor. Can I use this, or must I create a dedicated head end? Given that I have an 8 seat theater, if I can make this work, I think the wireless IR shutter glasses would be best. Ray | ||
| Scott Warren (Scott_warren) New member Username: Scott_warren Post Number: 7 Registered: 8-2006 Rating: N/A |
Ray, You might be able to use that Mac/PC. I assume going via Bootcamp it's using native code and not emulating, so as long as you've got Win ATI drivers that are XP compatible, it's a strong possibility. Next, you'll probably want to get Peter Wimmer's Stereoscopic Player (and buy/register), or try StereoMovieMaker/MoviePlayer, etc. Since you don't have an nVidia chip, it'll be a bit harder to output (nVidia chips are currently much more stereo3d-friendly), but assuming you have a speedy enough computer (and it seems you do), you can try the "Dual Screen Output" or "Quad Buffered OpenGL" or "Software Pageflipping" output options and see which one works correctly. Worst thing that could happen is that you can't use the Mac. Then you'd get a MediaPC dedicated to Stereo playing (with a Dual-head nVidia card) and that should be alot smoother setting up. You'll have already got the license for Stereoscopic Player, so that'll work. I looked at your projector's specs online, and it looks like it --should-- sync to a double-rate signal (said highest Vsync was 160Hz). Unfortunately, unless you have FAST green phosphors, you may have some trouble with smearing and off-color ghosting. There are others here more knowledgeable in this area than I (M. Husak, the Moderator, etc), so I won't go into too much more detail, but that should at least point you in the right direction. Hopefully, they can pick up where my knowledge falters... (If you don't mind paying the $$$, you could also look into the Sensio processor...) HTH, Scott | ||
| ray lewis (Raylewis) New member Username: Raylewis Post Number: 3 Registered: 1-2007 Rating: N/A |
OK -- Here's my cpu setup on the Mac: 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4MB on-chip shared L2 cache running 1:1 with processor speed Here's the graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics processor, dual -ink DVI support, 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM. Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors DVI output port VGA output using included DVI to VGA adapter I have a full Windows XP with service pack 2 operating system installed for the Windows environment, and it runs native. Apple support says that the drivers they include cover graphics output. So, I'll get Stereoscopic Player and download it into the Windows environment. How do I see if it is working properly once I have it? ray | ||
| ray lewis (Raylewis) New member Username: Raylewis Post Number: 4 Registered: 1-2007 Rating: N/A |
OK -- I have downloaded Stereoscopic player, and it works just fine on my MacPro Powerbook in Windows mode. I'm not sure where to go from here. | ||
| Scott Warren (Scott_warren) New member Username: Scott_warren Post Number: 8 Registered: 8-2006 Rating: N/A |
(Assuming you want to go the Sequential/LCShutter method): Probably now you should get something like the eDimensional "3D Wireless" package (comes w/ Pair of Glasses, VGA Sync module, Infrared Xmitter + Software). Obviously, since this takes VGA, you'll need a DVI-to-VGA adapter if you don't already have one. [Could also get extra glasses if you need 'em] It is a little confusing getting it set up if it's not an nVidia, but it does work (I've got a similar setup at home, although I have to be stuck with interlace mode 'cuz my other components aren't up to snuff yet). Scott | ||
| ray lewis (Raylewis) New member Username: Raylewis Post Number: 5 Registered: 1-2007 Rating: N/A |
Well, right now I'm starting with baby steps, and working with anaglyphic red/cyan just to get a low cost taste. Apple includes a nice DVI-to-VGA adapter with the PowerBook Pro, so I have that. Tonight I get my laptop to output dvi high resoltion anaglyptic generated by Stereoscopic player to my Pioneer monitor for viewing via red/cyan. Tomorrow night I get it to go via VGA to my big screen, but with the resolution and frequency that appear to be called for for the shutter glasses. Over the weekend, I will try the anaglyptic Sharkboy/Lavagirl movies (30% off at Borders, with four pairs of red/cyan glasses -- $15 total). Once I am sure I can output the right resolutions and frequencies to the big screen, I will try the glasses. It looks like the eDimensional setup is the only game in town. In my case, I would need the long-range wireless which appears to be around $500 with just two pairs of glasses, and $50 each for the rest (I would ultimately need 8 altogether). Given what I've spent on the theater itself, this isn't crazy, but are there any alternatives? Ray | ||
| Scott Warren (Scott_warren) New member Username: Scott_warren Post Number: 9 Registered: 8-2006 Rating: N/A |
Sounds about right... Baby steps--good idea. Yep, after posting, I started thinking you might end up needing that long-range IR xmitter. Check with M.Husak and his/their site (Gali3D -- http://www.gali-3d.com/ --) as they are supposed to be creating one also (??could be the same one??). Not really any alternatives that are: #1-Inexpensive #2-Decent quality Scott |
