| Author | Message | ||
     Larry Elie (Ldeliecomcastnet) Senior Member Username: Ldeliecomcastnet Post Number: 126 Registered: 10-2006 Rating: N/A |
OK, here are some details: Software: (DP = dual projector) ArcSoft: Blu-Ray direct; yes, dual projector..no ($90 US) Cyperlink: Blu-Ray direct; yes, dp, doubtful ($80 US) Roxio: Blu-Ray direct; yes, dp later ($80 US) Stereoscopic Player: BR, file only, dp yes ($60 US single user, 700 to 1300 Euros for theaters) (although I own a copy, I don't use it for the theater at all—I can't afford to!) DDD: BR, file only, dp yes ($50 US) IZ3D: BR, file only, dp yes ($50 US) StereoMovie Player; BR, file only, dp yes (freeware) ANY program that supports dual projectors will work for a theater. I do everything fully licensed. You need a dual head video card (preferably nVidia 8000 series or higher... I use a GT2400 and wish for better) and a good Dual Core computer, 2.4 GHz or more running XP or Windows 7 and 3 Gb RAM to do XGA (1024x768) video smoothly off a Blu-Ray file. 720P is very similar, while 1080P will require even faster hardware. Turn off all the virus stuff before playing a movie, and make sure the screensaver is set to a few hours. No updates either. I use 720P to dual XGA LCD projectors, 2400 lumens each for a 25' wide screen. The screen is critical; you have to have a silvered screen. Polarization of any kind will not be preserved without a good silvered screen. You also need that for brightness; remember, you lose 1/2 your brightness through polarizers of any type (except StereoBright off LCD... and that's harder to align). A 20' screen will be OK for 100 people in a very dark room. My screen lists at over $6 a square foot. Also, these screens are FRAGILE; they scratch. The manual says the brightness tapers off over the first 5 years, and will be very bad after 10. I roll up the screen; that MIGHT extend the life, or make it worse, and no one seems to know. I have now shown 4 full features plus shorts in 3D off the system (as compared to the 450 normal features I've shown over the last 9 years), and they all worked well until I got to the dark scenes on Christmas Carol 3D. I did NOT have enough light turned up to 2700 lumens (my max at this aspect ratio) in a dead dark theater! No one complained (it just made the scenes a little scarier) I wish I had 3500 to 4500 lumens each! If I do that I will buy a pair of 1080P native projectors, and I don't have money for that at a free theater! My projectors are 9 years old, and the bulbs only last 2 years max. They have been fine until now. BTW, people say the bulbs have to be matched; it is better, but if you allign as shown below they only have to be close. I will not be looking for dark features in the future. Alignment: First, I use the 1956 NTSC composite screen card. Low resolution. So what; it's gray, and it has excellent alignment marks that work well. I can set up the vertical lens shift easily for a dead match on the center target. I can set the side alignment by hand, and I can set the coning pretty well electronically. Even with one projector just 1 inch above the other, you can't get it perfect. It won't matter; you are 60' away, and only the edges will be off, and no one but you will know. That's not the hard part: DLP's and LCD's are different animals. DLP's don't polarize, but they turn on/off RIGHT NOW! Very good for games and 85 HZ and higher stuff. Movies aren't 85 HZ.. ever! LCD's have a kinder, gentler on/off state that makes them work real well for projection of normal films. Very nice, very smooth, even for 3D. The Big Boys use DLP's but they triple flash. With an LCD and dual projectors you don't have too. These are LCD projectors; they have a terrible downside; they have 50 to 80% polarization (depending on both color and manufacturing details) out of the box. Worse yet, red and blue are on one axis, and green is on the other. It sounds impossible (and you can find web pages that say it is) but it really does work. I have two circular polarizers, 3" square, one right and one left, By carefully rotating each until the gray color shift is neutral (which occurs in a less than 5 deg. band) on each projector, you will have good circular polarization, good extinction of the other direction, on each projector, and neutral color shift. It is tricky, and you will be glad the composite screen card is gray (it contains all the primary colors in equal quantities) and the result is fine. It works very-very well. I had people ask me how I could do 'as good as Showcase'. I also hold the polarizers with clip mounts usually used to hold parts for soldering. I leave space for air cooling in front of the lens. You can make better ones. The projectors are locked down. As I said, I have to roll up and re-stretch the screen for each showing; I have to re-align for each showing. I give myself 2 hours for setup. Alignment takes up to half an hour of that. BTW, my video card is 'dual head' with a DVI (dual) and a VGA. I use a DVI to VGA splitter, with one of those two images off the extended Windows Desktop to a 17" monitor I use to run the theater: YOU CANNOT SEE THE DESKTOP WELL ENOUGH TO RUN THE THEATER AT 60' AWAY! The other half of the first head goes to the first projector. The second head VGA goes to the other projector. People know what a windows desktop look like, and my background is that 1956 NTSC screen card. You can blank your projectors if you prefer. Even though there is excellent audio control at my amp, I use a 'enhanced' keyboard with volume control, pause, and all the things you might want. I also use a trackball as it's hard to find desk space in the dark of the projection booth. BTW, those 'REAL' glasses at the theater are $1.25 US in bulk plus shipping; I have 93 pair. I clean them myself. Side note; after the showing last Friday (about 75 people) I cleaned up and let 4 teens stay and play Thrillville, off the Rails on a 25' screen in full 3D. Thrillville works at 60 Hz just fine, and really has some fun Party Games for a 25' wide screen. One person told me that this was 'Historic'. The spectators had as much fun as the kids. I can't play anything on these LCD's beyond that speed, but hey, you use what you have. I used DDD for that one. | ||
| Fronzel Neekburm (Fronzel) Advanced Member Username: Fronzel Post Number: 101 Registered: 7-2009 Rating: N/A |
Very cool in-depth description. Really worth reading. My buddy got a quite old projector and the older the lamp gets the less bright it is. It's now like 5 years old and definitely lost much of its max brightness. No idea if that applies for all types of lamps, but it really might be an issue for some types of projectors/lamps. My buddy runs the projector on a kvm switch, so with the push of a button he can switch between his normal screen and the projector. Not as cool as dual head, but he usually just starts the movie, switches to projector and while the movie is running you dont touch the PC anyways. WHat's really cool is playing games on the projector using these IZ3D drivers. Most Direct X games work fine and some are really stunning in 3D. | ||
| Larry Elie (Ldeliecomcastnet) Senior Member Username: Ldeliecomcastnet Post Number: 128 Registered: 10-2006 Rating: N/A |
Yep, bulbs do lose brightness in age. A lot. Proxima claimed they were good for something like 800 hundred hours. Maybe, but I have to switch at about half of where they say. There is a built hour meter and a code to set/re-set it. I cannot get 2 years out of a bulb, and that's something like 300 hours per year. I always use the brightest bulb for the summer Drive-In (2D) which is on a 28' wide screen, and that's asking a lot from these projectors. My two projectors are pretty close (but not perfect) right now. BTW; you can see the brightness difference MORE in the color of what comes out the back at the fan than on screen. I suspect there are some dichloric filters before the LCD for color to protect it, and what comes out the back is native to the bulb. They probably regulate for constant current, which would keep the color temperature more stable, but that's all just an educated guess. | ||
| Larry Elie (Ldeliecomcastnet) Senior Member Username: Ldeliecomcastnet Post Number: 129 Registered: 10-2006 Rating: N/A |
LCD's, DLP's and video based theater. The above things about DLP's are all positive. Let me give a positive about LCD's. Because they are slow and have lot's of delay built in, they sort of 'dissolve' from frame to frame. Very smooth. Very bright transitions. Not good for fast things, but remember, film is still shot at 24 frames per second; super slow, and a pretty good match. |
