I have the PT-AE900E and just did the paper test. I'm not sure what my zoom is but I have a 80" wide screen at about 12' from the lens. I could move my projector about another 12" back if I needed to.
At 2" from the lense the image is 2.5" wide. at 4" its 4", at 8" its 7.5", and at 10" its 8". How short can you make a prism lens system with the crystal prisms? Do you think I should use the medium sized prisms?
I am planning on making a lens and can't wait to see an HD-DVD in full 2.35 aspect ratio. It will truley be a home movie theater then.
At 2" from the lense the image is 2.5" wide. at 4" its 4", at 8" its 7.5", and at 10" its 8". How short can you make a prism lens system with the crystal prisms? Do you think I should use the medium sized prisms?
I am planning on making a lens and can't wait to see an HD-DVD in full 2.35 aspect ratio. It will truley be a home movie theater then.
My AE900u made about a 3.5" x 6" square on paper at 8" from the lens.
But I was checking it while the picture was as wide as I wanted it to be on my screen (130") thrown from 18' away. Since these prisms should stretch the width I should have set my picture as tall as I wanteded it and then measured? Right?
I would like to get by with the small ones if I could. $$
Will it have a negative effect to use a small and medium together?
Thanks Mike
But I was checking it while the picture was as wide as I wanted it to be on my screen (130") thrown from 18' away. Since these prisms should stretch the width I should have set my picture as tall as I wanteded it and then measured? Right?
I would like to get by with the small ones if I could. $$
Will it have a negative effect to use a small and medium together?
Thanks Mike
mfeidler said:
There will be no negative effects from using the small and medium together. They are made from the same material, and they have exactly the same angle (5 degrees), so they will not affect the image different than using two smalls together or two mediums together. The only issue is the relative sizes of these things if you want to build a case around them. I was surprised by just how much bigger the medium one was compared to the small one.
I have ordered another small wedge, and it should arrive today or tomorrow. I want to make the housing as compact as possible, so I'm trying to see if I can get by with it. I don't have the same projector, but what I find may be useful for you.
mfeidler said:
I've been following this thread too and also have the AE900.
Mike, is that 130" width your final 2.35 dimension or the width before the stretch? Keep in mind that you set up your projector throw for a 16x9 image. This will affect the paper test.
Andy
z2895 said:
It seems that you have a throw ratio of 1.8 which should work with the small (4") prisms...
mfeidler said:
It depends if you intend to build a VC or HE lens. For the VC, you need the max width, as you will compress the height, but for a HE you will need to worry about the height...
andy238 said:
Do the paper test in either 16:9 mode or Zoom 1. The point is you need to measure the size of the full 16:9 panel...
Mark
I agree, Mark, measure the full 16x9 panel. I just mentioned that about Mike's post because a 130" wide 16x9 panel would be a HUGE 2.35 screen 😱
Of course, I do wish I had room for that! 😀
Of course, I do wish I had room for that! 😀
I have a 61"x130" sheet of MDF as my screen but i'm projecting a 55" height image so my CIH image will be 55'x 130". My 16:9 is 92 wide & 107 diag. Thinking of dropping down to 53" height, just to keep the brightness a bit higher.
mfeidler said:
Mike, that screen size is just too big for the AE900, you might think about moving closer and decreasing the screen size to under 106" diag. With a 130" screen the image is only going to be about 8 fL brightness, where it should be double that at 15 - 18 fL. You are going to see a huge difference in perceived detail by increasing the brightness, and moving closer will help a lot as well.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/Panasonic_Home-PT-AE900U-projection-calculator-pro.htm
My screen is going to be 130" wide in a 16:9 format. I think I might like to do a verticle compression. Is this possible with these Prisms? Any pictures of the orientation of the prisms for a VC?
A 130" x 55" looks awesome now but I would love to use all the resolution of my panel.
Thanks
Mike
A 130" x 55" looks awesome now but I would love to use all the resolution of my panel.
Thanks
Mike
130" wide is huge, so 149" diag? at that size you are down to 6 fL. yes they can do VC, all you have to do is reverse prisms and rotate them 90 degress I believe, although you will need bigger prisms as the short side of the prism must now fit within the long side of the image.
James
James
Yes, 130" wide is huge! I love it. That was the reason I decided on the Panasonic projector so I wouldn't see the pixels. I like to feel like I'm at a theater.
I may end up adjusting my zoom and doing a Horizontal Stretch to get the 130" x 55".
So many decisions.
Mike
I may end up adjusting my zoom and doing a Horizontal Stretch to get the 130" x 55".
So many decisions.
Mike
screen chat and some lens stuff
Bud,
I would suggest to get two "rips" of 3" MDF, paint them black and use then for top and bottom masking. 3" or 75mm is a good width for a frame. You then make side masking (more MDF or curtains) to allow differnt ARs...
The last screen I build like this used speaker grill clips to hold the masking on and it it not rattle 🙂
Also by securring the screen to the wall (behind the removable masking) will allow you to fix the centre hard, then add timber (wedges) behind the ends to allow the screen to flex should you need to correct barrel...
Mike, it is possible to turn the lens around 180 degree (now becomes a HC) and then lay it on its side (now becomes VC). I have tested this and it works quite well, but you will have to tilt the lens down, or you may end up with a ceiling reflection...
But in the end, the beauty of CIH is to have all ARs bigger not smaller. When HD DVD and or BrD (or some other 1080P format) replace DVD, your going to have 811 lines (and maybe one day 1080 lines) to rescale on your 720 panel all of the time, so why not make the bigger picture bigger...
A 130" diag 16:9 image is about 2800mm wide, and I have seen a 3m wide CIH that just rocks (using the Prismasonic H1200R) and even the 16:9 image is huge.
I am working on a room that will have a 3600mm wide CIH screen and masking because the guy does not want to reduce his screen height
That is 3600mm (a bit over 141") x 1500mm (59") (aprox 2.40) curved screen with curtains for side masking in a totally light controlled room...I've already run a light test to confirm the image brightness with his projector and it should be very impressive...
Mark
Bud Bray said:
Bud,
I would suggest to get two "rips" of 3" MDF, paint them black and use then for top and bottom masking. 3" or 75mm is a good width for a frame. You then make side masking (more MDF or curtains) to allow differnt ARs...
The last screen I build like this used speaker grill clips to hold the masking on and it it not rattle 🙂
Also by securring the screen to the wall (behind the removable masking) will allow you to fix the centre hard, then add timber (wedges) behind the ends to allow the screen to flex should you need to correct barrel...
mfeidler said:
Mike, it is possible to turn the lens around 180 degree (now becomes a HC) and then lay it on its side (now becomes VC). I have tested this and it works quite well, but you will have to tilt the lens down, or you may end up with a ceiling reflection...
But in the end, the beauty of CIH is to have all ARs bigger not smaller. When HD DVD and or BrD (or some other 1080P format) replace DVD, your going to have 811 lines (and maybe one day 1080 lines) to rescale on your 720 panel all of the time, so why not make the bigger picture bigger...
A 130" diag 16:9 image is about 2800mm wide, and I have seen a 3m wide CIH that just rocks (using the Prismasonic H1200R) and even the 16:9 image is huge.
I am working on a room that will have a 3600mm wide CIH screen and masking because the guy does not want to reduce his screen height
That is 3600mm (a bit over 141") x 1500mm (59") (aprox 2.40) curved screen with curtains for side masking in a totally light controlled room...I've already run a light test to confirm the image brightness with his projector and it should be very impressive...
Mark
😎 Ok, a VC makes sense then. A 130" wide 16x9 using an HE lens would be a ginormeous 2.35 image!
I agree with James though 130" is really stretching (no pun intended) the AE900 brightness wise. But hey, if you're happy that's what counts!
I did the paper test and it looks like the smaller prism will work out fine. So I think I'm going to go for the small and medium size prisms. Does anybody have an enclosure design for these yet?
I agree with James though 130" is really stretching (no pun intended) the AE900 brightness wise. But hey, if you're happy that's what counts!
I did the paper test and it looks like the smaller prism will work out fine. So I think I'm going to go for the small and medium size prisms. Does anybody have an enclosure design for these yet?
andy238 said:
The enclosure is actually pretty simple, as you can see in Mark's picture. I am currently working on dial-in capabilities, much like the Prismasonic. My idea is actually very simple, and utilizes about $10 in materials from the local hardware store. If I ever get the other small lens (hopefully today), I will be able to get everything together. Since I have a SVGA projector, I am attempting to have three dial in settings: Pass through, 16:9 and Cinemascope (if I can get it to stretch that far without distortion). Those with 16:9 projectors wouldn't need the cinemascope setting, so it would work easily with only the two settings.
Once I get the thing up and running, I will try to post on how I did it.
Nice pics Mark. Could you post some pics of your whole theater room and setup, I'm just curious. I think I'm going to try 2 smaller lenses, if that doesn't fit I can just order 1 more medium one. Currently I have a Da-Mat screen I made, it is awesome and very clear, but the black levels could be improved IMO, I am condering using a HC Da-Mat for my next one. I think I have the extra brightness to pull it off. If anyone is using the HC Da-Mat I would be interested to hear your results.
James
James
z2895 said:
James: I should be getting my smaller lens today, in which case I would have a medium one left over. If you think you might need a medium one, I could sell this one to you.
Nice pics, Mark. Thanks for the link.
Steve, the dial feature is great. I was thinking the same thing; try and duplicate the commercial version 😉 You're way ahead of me though. Yes, please post pics of your creation 🙂
Steve, the dial feature is great. I was thinking the same thing; try and duplicate the commercial version 😉 You're way ahead of me though. Yes, please post pics of your creation 🙂
