I'm still new to this group, and I've been encountering a lot of the same problems that other newbies have. I'm trying to find the right panel, trying to understand all the optics etc etc etc.
Anyway, I've come across several of the specs pages for different panels and while there are a couple that are pretty good, I have yet to find one that has every panel I want to check out, or has all the specs even if the panel is listed. Then there are other things that you sometimes want to know about a panel... like one of the panels I was looking at and almost bid on, at the very last minute, I finally found a little chunk of info that said that the panel had 4k colors in VGA, but only 16 when using RCA inputs... danger averted!
Here's my idea though... I collect pinball machines, video games, and coin-op machines. Coin op collecting is not very dissimilar to this whole projection thing... There aren't that many places to look for help, and there are very definite pieces of information that can be extremely helpful, if you can find them.
As an example though, pinball info is getting much easier to find based almost wholy on a website called http://www.ipdb.org You can look up almost any machine by name. Find pictures of it, and for many of the games, you can find manual scans in pdf format, tech notes, service bulletins, even rom images for the games. For an example, look up World Cup Soccer (the pride of my collection) and you will find a link to a rulesheet, plastic scans, and even a parts list (not for the faint of heart)
This data is all submitted by other members of the online pinball community
My suggestion? There needs to be a place where panel manual scans can be uploaded, pictures of the actual panel and variations of the model, parts lists that are compatible with the panel, even results pictures.
This could even be expanded into LCD monitors if there was enough data for it. OHP's? Actual LCD projectors for all I care.
I can build a site that houses all the info, and spits it out in a format similar to ipdb.org, but I can't generate the data for it. I have a 3 month old daughter and I'm trying to sell my house... I don't have the time. But if there are people that are willing to help and think this could be a useful tool, I'm game.
Or if someone else wants to take the idea and run with it, please, be my guest. Just let me know the url!
Anyway, I've come across several of the specs pages for different panels and while there are a couple that are pretty good, I have yet to find one that has every panel I want to check out, or has all the specs even if the panel is listed. Then there are other things that you sometimes want to know about a panel... like one of the panels I was looking at and almost bid on, at the very last minute, I finally found a little chunk of info that said that the panel had 4k colors in VGA, but only 16 when using RCA inputs... danger averted!
Here's my idea though... I collect pinball machines, video games, and coin-op machines. Coin op collecting is not very dissimilar to this whole projection thing... There aren't that many places to look for help, and there are very definite pieces of information that can be extremely helpful, if you can find them.
As an example though, pinball info is getting much easier to find based almost wholy on a website called http://www.ipdb.org You can look up almost any machine by name. Find pictures of it, and for many of the games, you can find manual scans in pdf format, tech notes, service bulletins, even rom images for the games. For an example, look up World Cup Soccer (the pride of my collection) and you will find a link to a rulesheet, plastic scans, and even a parts list (not for the faint of heart)
This data is all submitted by other members of the online pinball community
My suggestion? There needs to be a place where panel manual scans can be uploaded, pictures of the actual panel and variations of the model, parts lists that are compatible with the panel, even results pictures.
This could even be expanded into LCD monitors if there was enough data for it. OHP's? Actual LCD projectors for all I care.
I can build a site that houses all the info, and spits it out in a format similar to ipdb.org, but I can't generate the data for it. I have a 3 month old daughter and I'm trying to sell my house... I don't have the time. But if there are people that are willing to help and think this could be a useful tool, I'm game.
Or if someone else wants to take the idea and run with it, please, be my guest. Just let me know the url!