my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » The Afterlife   » My Home Theatre/Screening Room (Page 2)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Author Topic: My Home Theatre/Screening Room Adam Martin I'm not even gonna point out the irony. Posts: 3686 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Nov 2000 posted 07-13-2006 04:02 PM                     Maybe it had something to do with those theaters running them ALL DAY LONG whether or not they were on screen?  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 07-14-2006 02:35 AM                     We tried it both ways, Adam. Originally Sanyo said we would get better life if we left them lit all day long, but we didn't so I changed the automation to turn them on only during intermission, and low and behold we didn't get any better life that way either. Chris is right and I'm not joking, Sanyo actually recommended we turn the projectors UPSIDE DOWN to solve the problems. I had forgotten about that one. Needless to say, since the projectors came with leveling feet, I refused to waste my time on that stupid idea.  |  IP: Logged Adam Martin I'm not even gonna point out the irony. Posts: 3686 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Nov 2000 posted 07-14-2006 10:50 AM                     For projectors designed to operate upside-down, it makes sense to give it a try. Think about it ... gravity will generally prevent dust from settling on the face of a mirror that's facing down. Maybe you should have bought the $20,000 model that we had at Imax. I never had any problems with that one, and it was mounted upside-up. Come to think of it, I don't remember ever cleaning the filters on it ... maybe the blocked filters prevented any internal dust buildup.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 07-14-2006 11:20 AM                     But it's also got leveling feet and the manual clearly says you can operate it in either position. If operating it "right side up" is bad, then they shouldn't have put leveling feet on it and they shouldn't have said you could run it that way in the manual. Sanyo still sucks.  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 07-14-2006 12:47 PM                     Barco LCD have sealed optical blocks so dust is not an issue but the price is much higher  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 07-14-2006 02:17 PM                     For what it's worth, the biggest bang for the buck in terms of inexpensive pretty decent video projectors IMHO is the Panasonic PT-D3500U. It's about $5000 with the long throw lens, and has a DB9 connection that can be hooked into any automation with make/break relays to control all of the basic functions. The picture is pretty darned good too for it's price.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 07-16-2006 04:10 AM                     quote: Adam Martin For projectors designed to operate upside-down, it makes sense to give it a try. In our small circuit with 32 screens, all of our Hitachi units are mounted upside down on the tilt platforms that originally held those Kodak Carousel units. This made is so much easier to do bulb changeouts, in as well as the filter cleaning - which the filters units are mounted on the bottom of the units.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-17-2006 01:23 PM                     By far, our Sanyos are mounted upside-down...this was done primarily to eliminate keystone (since the lower cost units often only will lens shift in one direction). No problems getting to the filters either...BTW...we just are not having service issues wit the Sanyos. In fact, we have repeat business on them all of the time. As to lamp life...it seems to be a pig in a poke on them...with any manufacturer...I've had my marathon lamps and those that seem to loose it by 500Hours. FWIW...my last lamp the PLV-70 has gone more than double the previous one and still looks good.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-22-2006 11:35 PM                        Which is preferable -- digital keystoning correction (wouldn't this cause some undesirable video artifacts?) or mechanical lens shifting correction? We rented an Eiki for preshow junk at the park venue and the thing wouldn't correct keystoning. They asked me why -- people get very frustrated when they push a button called keystone correction and nothing happens. I just laugh. I said I thought it might be because it was optical lens movement/correction; they had to switch lenses and the long throw may not have had the little motors or whatever instead of some digital correction shenanigans, but then, what the hell do I know. I said, just enlarge the picture so it spills over the sides of the hanging screen. The screen will look square, they won't be noticing the angled light on the sides of the back wall 10 feet away. Does ANY video projector put the menus on a separate output so that you can view the damn things close up instead of having to use a feakin Hubbel telescope to read them? How 'bout a $20 LCD display screen built into the top or bottom of the case, or just a simple output that you can run to a monitor any place you want? The kid who was trying to align this thing was about to take an ax to it, which I totally agreeded was quite appropriate. He is a lot stronger than me and has a much heftier, downward power swing.  |  IP: Logged Fred Georges Master Film Handler Posts: 257 From: Lombard, IL, USA Registered: Jun 2000 posted 07-23-2006 01:14 PM                     Eiki's are re-badged Sanyo's. Any of the larger Eiki/Sanyo's have motor driven mechanical lens shifting (Regardless of the lens installed) as well as electronic keystone correction. Within reason I've not noticed any nasty artifacting from using the Keystone correction. And, yes. Always carry your binoculars as the menus are a tough read 100 ft away from the screen.  |  IP: Logged Mike Schindler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1039 From: Oak Park, IL, USA Registered: Jun 2002 posted 07-23-2006 09:06 PM                     With my Sanyo, the problem which I noticed with the keystone correction (and I'd assume this is true for most projectors) is that the image actually gets squished in slightly. So instead of correcting the problem, it just makes it equally bad all the way around. Also, you lose a tiny bit of resolution.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-24-2006 06:51 AM                     As a general rule, you NEVER want to use any form of electronic keystone correction. A mechanical lens shift is perfectly fine so long as the shifting is within the lens' capability (no vignetting or other abberations). When you electronically keystone correct, you use a pixel-for-pixel representation and the lowering of resolution is quite notable, especially for data. Plug a lap top computer into a projector and one can instantly see the image quality difference when any amount of keystone correction is used.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 08-15-2006 06:32 PM                        Just an update.... my wife and I have put the home theatre on hold. We have just been made aware of other things we have to spend our money on.. Oh well............what's new?  |  IP: Logged Warren Smyth Expert Film Handler Posts: 158 From: Auckland ,New Zealand Registered: Aug 2003 posted 08-16-2006 05:22 PM                     While I fully agree with Steve's comment that electronic keystone correction is to be avoided, there is also a problem with optical correction via a lens shift. The Panasonic AE700 and 900 have this feature, but I have discovered an unfortunate disadvantage using it. My projector is slightly off set laterally, a necessity of wanting 35mm, 16mm and digital in a home theatrette. The correction works beautifully with the picture fitting exactly the maskings for 3x4 and 16x9. The problem occurs when I zoom the image out to maintain fixed height for cinemascope with all the variations in ratios that this format entails. Although the motorised maskings move out by equal distance, the scope picture is no longer fitting the maskings but is off set laterally to the screen. This is because the amount of lateral movement of the picture produced by the lens shift varies with the focal length setting of the zoom lens. The projector has an electronic zoom setting on the remote, but this doesn't suit the wide variety of scope aspect ratios with differing letterbox heights. This is particularly so on older titles that have originated from 70mm, 35mm 4 track mag etc. Because the projector is fixed mounted on a shelf, the most convenient way to correct this, is with the lens shift (keystone) adjustment. The method while a little clumsy, works fine. This however, rather spoils the presentation if I am running both formats to an audience. I have a solenoid operated shutter in front of the lens to enable changovers and can cue material up on a monitor screen in the projection room, but the picture movement adjustment can only be performed while viewing the projected image. The best way to overcome these problems, is to not have any keystone distortion at all. If you can place the projector squarely to the centre of the screen, then do so. Every solution is a compromise unless you can afford to do what my friend has. He installed two projectors, with each permanently set on a separate aspect ratio so that significant zooming isn't required. [ 08-17-2006, 09:20 AM: Message edited by: Warren Smyth ]  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.