Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Volfoni 3D

This is topic Volfoni 3D in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 07-09-2012, 04:42 PM:

Anyone any experience of Volfoni 3D?

There appears to be 2 versions, passive polarised which looks like a cross between MasterImage and RealD.

Also an active system which lookds like Xpand.

http://www.volfoni.com/marche-cine.html

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 07-09-2012, 07:15 PM:

Just finished my second install with the Active system, it works great and looks great. Very easy to install, and the cabling they provide makes it pretty much "plug and play" (at least with Dolby DSS200 and Christie CP-2210 and 2220.)

The active glasses seem pretty sturdy and are comfortable (at least for my melon).

The control box has "internal emitters" built in so you can, if the control box isn't buried in the rack, use the glasses in the booth easily to check your images.

Drawbacks: One major one, there is virtually NO documentation with these systems, but they did have great support online when we had a minor issue last week.

The cable from the projector to the control box is a bit on the short side but you can easily extend it (and the emitter panel cables) with a standard DB9 male to female extension.

And finally (don't know if this is a drawback really) the glasses use the CR2032 flat batteries.

Otherwise, I'd give it a 4 out of five stars. [beer]

Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 07-10-2012, 07:01 AM:

Thanks Tony, that's veru useful. I've got a customer interested in it.

Posted by Cameron Glendinning (Member # 3516) on 07-10-2012, 10:21 PM:

Panastereo do a good active 3d, you can even wash the glasses [Smile]

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 07-12-2012, 12:01 AM:

You're welcome Pete. [Smile]

Cameron, got a link to those glasses and do they sell the complete system? (If it uses IR to control the glasses.)

Posted by Ian Freer (Member # 1940) on 07-12-2012, 06:44 PM:

Panastereo 3D is an active glasses system complete with IR distribution hardware.
Ray Derrick, occasionally active on this forum, is the guy to speak to about it...

Posted by Geoff Newitt (Member # 6663) on 07-20-2012, 05:10 PM:

Pete - I've got some experience with Volfoni... I think I've even got a demo set of the active system in the garage (don't tell Marc John!).

It is *very* similar to XpanD - the control boxes appear to have come out of the same factory, and in some experiments both emitters and glasses were compatible with early XpanD systems (not later ones).

Our mutual friend Rob Younger had a system at his Richmond cinema before he put the dual projector system in.

Some people prefer the glasses to the XpanD ones; the ability to clip different arms on to switch between adult/child sizes is a plus. I have heard some negative comment about battery life, but I'm not sure how serious this is.

Posted by Antti Nayha (Member # 4980) on 07-22-2012, 05:55 AM:

quote: Geoff Newitt
Some people prefer the glasses to the XpanD ones; the ability to clip different arms on to switch between adult/child sizes is a plus.

XpanD also has child-sized ear pieces and nose pieces available for their X101 glasses.

I've only tried Volfoni active glasses on once, and that wasn't in an actual showing so can't comment on the image quality... The glasses are notably lighter than XpanD's X101 glasses (the heavier, machine-washable model) and even slightly lighter than XpanD X103. However, the nosepiece is somehow much less comfortable on my face compared to XpanD. It just feels a bit tight even though my nose is pretty narrow, and a colleague with a very different facial structure noted the same thing.

I've heard claims that Volfoni is brighter than XpanD, but it would sure be nice to see some independent test results. Anyone...?

By the way, Volfoni seems to be included in the FHD3DGI licensee list, which might mean that they will soon be compatible between various other active 3D systems – including but not limited to XpanD.

Posted by Geoff Newitt (Member # 6663) on 07-23-2012, 06:58 AM:

Volfoni is no brighter than XpanD - or indeed any non-Dolby 3D system - it's just marketing guff.

I was a party to side by side tests between Volfoni, XpanD, and RealD. The only significant difference (more than the odd % or two) was for the XL unit.

Posted by Antti Nayha (Member # 4980) on 07-23-2012, 08:23 AM:

OK, thanks!

According to the usually quoted figures, XpanD should be around 20% brighter than Z-screen RealD (18% efficiency vs. 15%) but it's interesting to hear about your test result.

It might worth noting that when XpanD updated their recommended projector settings last year to ensure compatibility with new glass models, they increased the dark time from 700 μs to 1100 μs. That means a darker picture – I didn't measure it, but the difference is enough to be visible on a naked eye.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 07-25-2012, 04:49 AM:

There are so many different versions of shutter glasses out there now, no one can really tell brightness by manufacturer. Even Volfoni has three different glasses, and of these, two different LCD technologies are used even in the same glasses type.

Current Volfoni glasses are brighter than older versions of Xpand glasses. I have no comparison with the more recent Xpand glasses. I also like the design and weight of the Volfoni glasses a lot more. They are very light and decent looking, I hate these ugly phantom-of-the-opera masks that some manufacturer (incl. Panavision) sell.

- Carsten

Posted by Antti Nayha (Member # 4980) on 07-25-2012, 06:33 AM:

I think the Volfoni glasses that I tried on were of the EDGE 1.2 variety. They looked something like this.

One of the testimonials at Panavision's web site actually mentions the ugliness of their glasses as an advantage: less glasses stolen by patrons. [Big Grin]

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 07-25-2012, 08:46 PM:

Volfoni Edge Manual with techspecs:

http://www.volfoni.com/IMG/pdf/MUV110064-V1R2_EDGE1-2_UserManual_ENG.pdf

- Carsten