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Lumenlab > Audio Video Sciences > Projector Builder > PLOG, Your Project Logs
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samuraijack
QUOTE (SIMUL8R @ Sep 28 2006, 03:56 AM) *
Congrats AV, would you say that the brightness is as exact as shown in your pics? Also, how are your corners in both your smaller and larger projection considering your using a 18" trip and a 17" panel?

BTW, you just started another itch to bring my box out for another test as well tongue.gif


Very Nice AV! When I read you were going to make a drive-in I was thinking you were joking. laugh.gif

Im very impressed.!

SJ.
GadgetSmith
QUOTE (arizonavideo @ Sep 28 2006, 02:12 AM) *
I would say any one getting over 40 LUX on the screen should be happy in a dark room


I would say VERY happy wink.gif biggrin.gif ... but as with anything until I actually experience 100lux at the screen I just won't entirely understand if this is true or not...

I like it. 22' projection... nice ! Don't you know it's much too cold to watch a movie outside ! laugh.gif (about 48°F last night here in cowhampshire... brrr....) must be nice being able to watch movies outside this time of year... smile.gif

BTW... when's the movie party ? smile.gif
samuraijack
QUOTE (GadgetSmith @ Sep 28 2006, 10:11 AM) *
Don't you know it's much too cold to watch a movie outside ! laugh.gif (about 48°F last night here in cowhampshire... brrr....) must be nice being able to watch movies outside this time of year... smile.gif


C'mon! Be a man! I wear shorts in the winter! Ar Ar AAAAAARRRR!!!!
Lemme guess, Southern NH? laugh.gif
arizonavideo
QUOTE (SIMUL8R @ Sep 27 2006, 11:56 PM) *
Congrats AV, would you say that the brightness is as exact as shown in your pics? Also, how are your corners in both your smaller and larger projection considering your using a 18" trip and a 17" panel?

BTW, you just started another itch to bring my box out for another test as well tongue.gif



I can't adjust the lamp right yet so I still have an uneven screen. The feed wires to the lamp were just a dad too short.

This screen is just for a little while so I can see how large I want to make the projection. I cheated with a 1.8 to 1 movie. The 4/3 stuff is kind of small. The screen is only 64" long.

My wife says that it is plenty big and she just has no need for any thing bigger, she has always been kind that way.

Brightness is not a problem at all. The 250" screen is still nice and bright brighter than the old LL setup with the S400 and Ikea at 70" diagonal. Because of the screen door effect I may stop at 150" to 180".

Any larger 4/3 screen will be taller than the house which means the screen will be on the side of the roof will let the rain get on it. I really like how easy the screen I have now works. It is 30 years old and came with the house.

I may cut a whole in the back of the box t let me get to the adjustments easier. Then make a removable cap to let me get to the adjustments easier. I left the front triplet end removable but not the back I should have done the back too and used a cross brace to hold the shape of the box.
arizonavideo
QUOTE (GadgetSmith @ Sep 28 2006, 06:11 AM) *
I would say VERY happy wink.gif biggrin.gif ... but as with anything until I actually experience 100lux at the screen I just won't entirely understand if this is true or not...

I like it. 22' projection... nice ! Don't you know it's much too cold to watch a movie outside ! laugh.gif (about 48°F last night here in cowhampshire... brrr....) must be nice being able to watch movies outside this time of year... smile.gif

BTW... when's the movie party ? smile.gif



It was 101deg yesterday but 78deg last night. I barley got the PJ done for the season. In AZ we have around 6to 8 months that are vary nice outside at night.

I need to find the lamp spectrum so we can look at it next to a ceramic. The Shark-x has 92 CRI and a great color pattern. It should for a $180.00 lamp. They do make a 575 watt too.


The LUX reading was for the large screen the small one will be a lot brighter around 100 LUX but I'm not teling right now smile.gif
arizonavideo
Just for those low wattage types I guess the Shark-xs had a baby this year.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Lets see 5mm arc ,90 CRI and 3000 hour life Just add the reflector from that 3M 9850 OHP

http://www.mbelectronics.com/quickreferenceguide/9850ipb.pdf
PLJack
I'm very impressed as well.
Out door movie with the charcoals burning. How great is that!

QUOTE (GadgetSmith @ Sep 28 2006, 10:11 AM) *
(about 48°F last night here in cowhampshire... brrr....)


Small world. I'm in south east NH.
GadgetSmith
QUOTE (PLJack @ Sep 28 2006, 05:47 PM) *
I'm very impressed as well.
Out door movie with the charcoals burning. How great is that!
Small world. I'm in south east NH.


I've got my fire pit out back and a shed just "screaming" for me to put up a temporary type screen for a fine evening of Monday Night Football.. New England Style ! (...ya know... with snow on the ground smile.gif laugh.gif I just gotta get some wheels on this thing... smile.gif ... A/V you're a bad influence... tongue.gif biggrin.gif ph34r.gif
arizonavideo
QUOTE (PLJack @ Sep 28 2006, 01:47 PM) *
I'm very impressed as well.
Out door movie with the charcoals burning. How great is that!
Small world. I'm in south east NH.



Not just charcoal but the one of the best wood ever for cooking. My favorite thing from Mexico.
Mesquite charcoal. Once you start there is no going back. Some times I add some pecan wood from the pecan trees for a little extra flavor.

Tonight was half of a fresh river salmon. Just perfect. 79deg too. tongue.gif

Click to view attachment


I re did my light box to allow more adjustment so I now have more even light. I cant get the light pattern 100% even. I think the small arc fresnels rings problem might be what I have.

I put a LUX meter on the 70” screen and I’m still laughing. I knew it was bright but not that bright. Don't let any one say you cant have a vary bright picture and not have good contrast and color because I do right now. cool.gif

I will do more pictures later.
GadgetSmith
QUOTE (arizonavideo @ Sep 29 2006, 03:41 AM) *
I put a LUX meter on the 70” screen and I’m still laughing. I new it was bright but not that bright. Don't let any one say you cant have a vary bright picture and not have good contrast and color because I do right now. cool.gif


well ! ... are you gonna spill the beans or what ! laugh.gif

... it must be pretty bright... you were getting 40 with a 22' height projection... i'm getting 40 on my 63" high projection. laugh.gif
arizonavideo
My light box has been just a tad too tall to slide all the way back. So I trimmed the bottom and the top of the box and made a taper to fit the box. This took hours because the lamp track had to be trimmed too and re drilled to fit.


Click to view attachment

I made a new one piece top and went to a side draft setup with two 80mm fans. I had one that has an aluminum frame and I had a steel grill frame that covers the motor structure so the heat from the lamp should not melt the motor structure.

Click to view attachment

The fans run at about 115deg but this was on low. I need to do more testing on the temps.

I get more air flow but I may up the voltage from 12v to 16v or so. I still may cut an air exit for the LCD air I just have not decided where.

I also moved the power cable to come put the front of the light box. I now can move the light box all the way back. But the lamp adjustor is on the back so I still may make some changes.

I still have uneven Fresnel rings in the light pattern I wonder if the 7mm arc is too small for the rear Fresnel?
SIMUL8R
QUOTE (arizonavideo @ Sep 29 2006, 12:41 AM) *
I put a LUX meter on the 70” screen and I’m still laughing. I new it was bright but not that bright. Don't let any one say you cant have a vary bright picture and not have good contrast and color because I do right now. cool.gif

Aw stop it!!
arizonavideo
Well I spent some time trying to get rid of the strange ring pattern I have had in the light pattern.

It turns out to be the reflector making them. I moved it back but the pattern is still not perfect. And I lost a ton of LUX I was at 123, 172 120 LUX across the middle of the screen but now I am at 94, 121, 105

The numbers.

The screen size is 67"x57" or about 2.4M ^2

The stray light is about 2 LUX

61 92 58
94 121 105
75 118 95


Average of 91 LUX

Times the screen of 2.4m =218 ANSI.

Click to view attachment


I don't know what I'm doing wrong right now my 1200 watt bulb is making more than 200 ANSI. The last time I got almost 500.

I did adjust for the more even light pattern but I still have a ways to go before it is even.

The picture still looks good.


Click to view attachment

I still have lots to do. I need to inprove the cooling so I can leave the PJ on high. and make a new slide stop for the lamp. I do have another reflector to try if I have to but I don't know why my light pattern is still not that good yet.

EDIT I need to re-check my fresnels to make sure they are not backwards.
elken2004
check the precon, or briefly remove it..
DAZZZLA
Also try offsetting the reflector slightly so that its return path misses the arc vessel.

DJ
mikyd1954
is that your colortran reflector? I know I had a similar problem that disappeared when I switched to a reflector that was bigger than the precon...otherwise looking good, odd lumen drop though....
arizonavideo
QUOTE (mikyd1954 @ Sep 30 2006, 05:39 AM) *
is that your colortran reflector? I know I had a similar problem that disappeared when I switched to a reflector that was bigger than the precon...otherwise looking good, odd lumen drop though....



Yes it is my 8" colortran. I have seen the rings when the reflector was placed too close but I dont think it is. I have a heck of a time adjusting the reflector when the light box is in the PJ. I will pull it out and set it on the bench with some fresnels and no LCD, then I can see the lamp image fron the lamp and the reflector and I can set then exactly on top of each other. It now has it own cooling and I have extera fresnels. Once the reflector is set centered on the lamp it should never have to move. The track that it is on lets me move the lamp for different seting.
arizonavideo
I still had a heat problem to fix. I could only leave the PJ on full power for about ten minuets before the LCD would start to make the dark spot of death.

I tried a few other 120mm fans from a server and then just one of the panflows at 20v or so. All the fans made too much noise for me so I went back the three standard 25mm x 120mm fans. They do not mach one is a .4A one is .3A and one is .28A so they all go a different speed. This is not all bad because each fan is making a slightly different pitched noise so they don't all sing together.

The transformer is a 16v 800ma which is undersized for the load but the voltage is 16.3v with all three fans running. I did have the two 80mm fans on the same transformer but I added a third transformer for them to leave more power for the front fans. Before the voltage was about 15v.

I then drilled three holes in the board that is the air cap on the LCD and Fresnel holders, this lets the air go straight up and out the top which I drilled three more holes in too.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

There is still air flow over Fresnels because the light box sucks air and there is a little pressure from the front fans. Many people have had large light leaks by having a hole at the top of the Fresnels but I had no problems. I have a little bit of light that I can see on the rood but almost nothing. No light shield is needed.

No more sound comes out either.

With a total of six fans everything is now cool. One 120mm for both of the ballast, two 80mm for the light box and three 120mm for the LCD and box. I did try a peice of the foam to cover the air inlet. I cant tell if helped.

Click to view attachment


With all the fans inside the box with the lid on it is still fairly quiet. It is quieter than some PC's. The 1/4 " hard board is a lot better at keeping in noise than ply wood it is just right with the roof side facing in. I have a few sheets of sound absorbing fome for PC’s that I keep around but I don't think I need it. The PJ makes a nice low hum that you can barely hear from 3' in front.

I placed the air intake and exhaust on the same side so I could point the sound away by having a loud side and a quiet side.

I now can leave the PJ on high for a long time.

This does not mean that is cool running. Everything in the back gets hot. I took some temps with a laser temp gun.

Bottom of box in the back 150deg
Top of box over the light box 160
Top of the light box 200

Fan housing 150

Front of the LCD 104 smile.gif

I need to add some air holes to let the hot air leave the back of the box to cool things down some but the 150deg is OK.


I also found the power level for the ballast and lamp. On low it is 683 watts

On high it was 1177 watts.

I added a 7.5uf cap to the S51 ballast to get 1282 watts.

With all the things taking power from the wall plug that I use there is a fair amount of voltage sag in the line voltage that I won't get with the 40A outlet and the 12 gauge extension cord.

So I went to a 2uf cap on the S51 ballast to give 1,236 watts. The S106 has an extra 10uf on it. It might balance out better if I went with a 7.5uf on each ballast. I will use the temp gun to try and set the ballast to run at the same temp.

I re adjusted the lamp some and got a little better light pattern. The middle of the screen LUX is now 135 on the small screen I did not do the large screen today.

For some reason the color is not as good tonight? The slight change in power should not have made much of a difference. It could be the lamp adjustment. I do have a blue tint that some times happens from the condenser Lens. I did take some screen shots.
arizonavideo
We watched the Incredible tonight at full power and all went fine. I liked the color yesterday better but I have a hard time saying why.

A few screen shots full auto no tripod.


Click to view attachment

With the laptop and the 138" screen at the same time. The PJ looks a lot better than the laptop screen it is old

Click to view attachment

The white screen

Click to view attachment

It looks bad but it is fine on most video.

The whole setup running.

Click to view attachment

With the heat problem fixed I need to clean up the wires and then work on the light pattern some.
Hirudin
I don't know if I have an "eye" for these things, but I'd say that your DIYPRO test image projection looks the best of all that I've seen! Congradulations!

Those The Increadibles shots look very good as well! There doesn't seem to be any aparrent vignetting either, awesome!

The white screen shots do have some aparrent arborations. To me it looks like they may be from the glass around the arc, or maybe the reflector. Do you have any theories about what is causing them? (Please forgive me if you've already answered this question...).
arizonavideo
With no reflector the light pattern is perfect. I may just be placing it too close but I liked the 175 LUX sreen!

I needed to fix the heat promlem first so I could other adjustments without killing the LCD.

Now that the power level is set I can mout all the caps and finish up the wirering for the cooling.

I may cut a hole in the back of the PJ to let me adjust the lamp reflector but I'm still thinking about that.
Fulcrum
A/V,

That is a great set-up you have. Nice and cozy. I'd love to see a pic of your screen in the daylight.

Cheers!

Fulcrum
arizonavideo
Fulcrum: I can take a picture in the day time I'm not sure that a 20 year old rolling blind is that much to look at smile.gif I think it is large enough for a 16/9 movie but for 4/3 it just is too short. I’m talking with the boss about how large the final screen need to be and she wants me to change the light fixture in her bathroom? dry.gif

I did some more adjusting on the light box and it looks like I need to move the reflector just little further away from the lamp. I removed one washer and now the reflector image is perfectly in the middle of the screen. The slot that the reflector slides in is just a little too short :angry: so I will have to remove it to make it longer.

My brightness is back up with 194 LUX in the middle of the screen the screen is smaller so all is not the same as the other day. The color is better too.

I did find that the screen is dimmer when the LCD is powered on I had 194 in the middle with the LCD and 300 LUX with the LCD off. I guess the brightness or RGB are not set to 100%. I hope this does not bugger the contrast because it is good right now.

My light pattern is a little better but it will not be right until I make the slot longer for the reflector.

I think I need to find a picture of a hot looking erotic red head to keep it interesting

So I need to use the LCD OSD to set the brightness or RGB to 100% and some lighter box work.

The lux with about a 70x 64 screen

92 137 74
132 194 156
107 164 149

With the LCD off across the middle with a slightly larger screen (I had to move it to get sharp focus.)

177 278 194

I still may try the 550mm front Fresnel. This will move the light box forward by 50mm or so and be a lot brighter. It may give me more range to move to condenser/lamp for more even light and another 100 LUX would be nice.


Windows just ate my pictures and blanked my card so I will have to take some more later sad.gif strange
arizonavideo
I moved the reflector back a few mm and the light pattern is almost perfect.

I also went to a 550mm front fresnel. This shortened the rear fl some and gave me the room to adjust the lamp a little better.

My LUX readings are up and the evenness is better.

Dazzzla pre condenser spreadsheet says I can run a 220mm /610mm setup.

I could do this too. It places the lamp at around 45mm from the condenser rather than the 60mm it is at now.

The condenser will then be at 165mm rather than the 240mm it is now.

This would mean a lot more heat on the rear fresnel so I will leave it alone for a bit.

No pictures the room is too bright.

I did have around 100 LUX at the side and 135 in the middle. The screen is about 2m^2
arizonavideo
I have to use my sons camera untill I get a new card for the Olympus.

I swiched to a 550mm front fresnel and I like the light pattern better I almost have even light now. I reset the brightness of the OSD to 100% and now I only loose a few % of light between having the LCD off and on.

Tonight was Scoobby Doo Aloha which is a nice movie for the kids but it is growing old. Daf got a make over and looks hot now.


Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

The movie is a 4/3 aspect which is why I picked it. I'm trying to see how big the screen needs to be. The 4/3 stuff is so tall it went over the top of the screen and I had moved the PJ forward over a foot.


The image size was about 98 x 79 with the middle of the screen with 80 LUX on about a 4.5m screen so around 360 ANSI ( I know it will be lower) I still think I should be able to get to 500 ANSI with better lamp alignment and a antiglare removal. I need to recheck if the laptop is full 255 white on a white screen.

The 360 number seams low but the image is nice and bright. It looks brighter than a drive in and around the same as a movie theater.
arizonavideo
QUOTE (Fulcrum @ Oct 1 2006, 10:39 AM) *
A/V,

That is a great set-up you have. Nice and cozy. I'd love to see a pic of your screen in the daylight.

Cheers!

Fulcrum


a picture if the back of the shack.

The Speakers were free They are Raido Shi** so I can just leave them out in the rain. With the plastic venere and on a brick they may last a yeat or two untill they crumble. For junk they sound OK and even make some movie bass.

The screen has some waves but for some reason I cant see it when a movie is playing.

Click to view attachment
arizonavideo
QUOTE (Hirudin @ Oct 1 2006, 03:55 AM) *
I don't know if I have an "eye" for these things, but I'd say that your DIYPRO test image projection looks the best of all that I've seen! Congradulations!

Thanks for the Congratulations it has been a long hall to get here.

Rember everyone said it would not work. Too much heat. The lamps take$1000 ballast. The polarizer will melt. The color filters will fade out. You don't want a bright PJ.

The only thing I don't like is the darn thing weights around 100lbs I need to put it on a scale. It is quite and the picture is vary good now and will get better. I love the color of the lamp and there is no washed out whites or bloom. My old TV looks like crap next to the PJ image.

I can see the screen fine with the yard light ON! They don't shine on the screen but still 900 watts if indirect light is a lot.

I'ts movie season so I will finish the little things but I want to just use it some and enjoy biggrin.gif

The second 1000 watt hps will be here soon so I can do some testing on the 2000 watt PJ cool.gif

Never stop!
GadgetSmith
very nice ! gotta start thinging about short arc lamps... although more expensive, the image looks very nice, and maybe worth the price when all is said and done... not the cheapest, but perhaps the best in terms of quality...

congratulations !

cheers,
gs
Kryptonian
Hey AZ great work-

Quick question- there apeares to be a grid pattern in the scooby pics of very large bars in the top right hand

corners, is that from the screen? huh.gif Becuase i don't think any part of the pj could make that type of

pattern wink.gif
arizonavideo
QUOTE (Kryptonian @ Oct 3 2006, 07:02 AM) *
Hey AZ great work-

Quick question- there apeares to be a grid pattern in the scooby pics of very large bars in the top right hand

corners, is that from the screen? huh.gif Becuase i don't think any part of the pj could make that type of

pattern wink.gif



My kids camera is a $40.00 1.3mp Samsung (he is 5) I got from eBay cheep. It make a vary noise filled picture so when I compressed them with a 72% compression like I have been doing for a long time the picture was around 90Kb instead of around 30Kb ( 30 K lets me do 3 pictures per post) So the Jpeg compressor just failed big time. tongue.gif

It did re color balance for me. The real balance may be slightly red right now. The pictures are only to get a general idea of how it looks.

GS: The short arc lamps have as good of color as the ceramics but there are two huge things that make the ceramic a better choice. First is the life of 6000H v 1000H but also the lumens per watt. The ceramic is 106 lumens per watt and the most HMI types are around 70 lumens per watt. The energy not turned in to light will be made into heat.

It is almost funny to see how much heat my PJ makes. The top gets 150 to 180deg, the bottom gets 150 to 180deg. It blows out hot air just like a blow drier.

If I ran this in my house in the summer time the AC would never turn off. It was the only way to get the light I wanted.

The HMI 575 is still a good choice for many movie watchers. Most people will get two yeas out of a lamp and the lamps are less than $100 and will be brighter than any 400 watt system.

Things get a little bit less clear when you look at overdriving a "normal" lamp. The HQI 400 can go 650 watts and has a higher luminous efficiently than the 575 so should be almost as bright and might last longer.

A T15 might have a better CRI at 450 or 500 watts and has a higher efficiently than a 575 and at 500 watts should still last a good long time like 3000 to 6000 hours. Some one need to do this still.

A HQI 250 watt at 300 to 400 watts will still have a good life and may be close to a 575 but make a lot less heat.

I have a 175 watt HQI that I was running at 482 watts and it lived! I was adjusting the power level and there was a point around 300 watts where it looked great. I paid less than $20.00 for it.

Still a 400 watt 20mm arc ceramic will be hard to beat ever.

I see one problem with the vary small arc lamps(less than 20mm or so) that they need a fairly short fl condenser to be efficient. So now chromomeric distortion by the condenser is real problem. Larger arc lamps don't let you use as short of an fl condenser so the distortion is less.
weldonjb
Well, at least you have 3 seasons covered. Spring and Fall are great outdoor movie times. And in Winter, you can heat the whole house while watching favorite movies, lurid 70's cartoons and Christmas specials! Now Summer ... hmmm ... is that enough heat to make ammonia ice? hehe
Fulcrum
QUOTE (arizonavideo @ Oct 3 2006, 01:43 AM) *
a picture if the back of the shack.

The Speakers were free They are Raido Shi** so I can just leave them out in the rain. With the plastic venere and on a brick they may last a yeat or two untill they crumble. For junk they sound OK and even make some movie bass.

The screen has some waves but for some reason I cant see it when a movie is playing.

Click to view attachment


A/V,

Thanks for the picture. I was wondering if your screen could stay outside all summer long, and how you rigged it into position, while keeping it from the elements. So, I see your taking full advantage of your roof overhang, which I'm sure helps keep it dry. BTW that is a good sized screen. Do they still make rolling blinds that long? I'm sure your neighbors are jealous.

Cheers!

Fulcrum
arizonavideo
The blind is a "Standard” Shade roller by Joanna Western Mills Company Chicago

Two came with the house I almost threw then out but we some times used them.
Every window in the house had some kind of double blind on it. It was like a cave. Most I have removed but some are still useful.

The picture made the screen look mixed in color but it is not, it has just a few small marks.

They are vinyl coated cloth and nice and heavy but the big on only 65' tall so 4/3 stuff doesn't fit well at all.

I told my wife I could move the screen in the picture to the living room so I could put a bigger one in the back yard but that didn't fly vary far.

I’m still working on that. What do you do when it rains?
arizonavideo
I swiched too the MHI 1200 watt lamp today just to put some time on the lamp. It is a lot larger with a 12mm arc.

Click to view attachment

This lamp has always ahs a green push. so I turned down the green on the LCD to 80%.

It is brighter with 200 LUX in the middle of the screen with the LCD off.

I made the reflector slot longer so I couls move the reflector back more but I still have that darn hot spot.

If this keeps up I'm gong to get out the black spray paint and make a black spot in the middleof the reflecter.

I may step up the power slightly to see if the green push goes away.

The screen. I used way too much compresstion.

Click to view attachment
arizonavideo
I also did a set of lux readings.

Strau light was around 5 LUX

Screen was 62 x 51"

94 124 82
98 169 110
81 132 104

And with the LCD off

101 170 110

I have some adjusting to do but I almost have the reflecter right, just back a little more.
SupraGuy
Taking your screen size as 62" (1.575m) by 51" (1.300m) gives a screen size of 2.048m^2

Taking the lux values of:
94 124 82
98 169 110
81 132 104

gives an average lux of 110.44.

This makes the total ANSI lumens equal to 226.1

WTF? I was expecting a much higher result than that!
arizonavideo
QUOTE (SupraGuy @ Oct 5 2006, 08:10 AM) *
Taking your screen size as 62" (1.575m) by 51" (1.300m) gives a screen size of 2.048m^2

Taking the lux values of:
94 124 82
98 169 110
81 132 104

gives an average lux of 110.44.

This makes the total ANSI lumens equal to 226.1

WTF? I was expecting a much higher result than that!



Me too, I still need to pull the LCD and set the lamp and reflector with no LCD. That way I can see the real lamp image at the triplet. I still think this is the best way. You can see exactly the lamp and the reflector image right at the triplet and overlay them perfectly.

In real life the image is nice and bright. I don't really need any more brightness on a 120 to 140" screen. In fact the real limit is the screen door effect. I wish I could have used a 19" LCD to give less screen door and I did leave room one if I really want to.
The pro lens and a 19" might be a nice upgrade some day. The throw would be about the same and the mag factor would be around 20% less for 20% less screen door.

That would be around $400 for that kind of bread I might be able to look at a 15.4 wuxga so I will have to wait on that.

I have a new card for the good camera so I can take good pictures now. I have some time today so I think I will pull the LCD and triplet for some lamp setup.

I may just have supper antiglare that is spreading the light everywhere. I do not have anything like a sharp image going into the triplet.

I still like the new lamp with the slight over drive the color is vary nice and it is bright. I re set the LCD to a 6500k picture and put the brightness to full and it look good.

We had bad Scooby Doo last night but at least it looked good. I did find one hot pixel but can't find it when watching a movie.

My wife has now put the clamp on spending more money on the PJ (I guess $1500 is enough? $50 x 25 things= too much) now that it is up and running. So for a larger screen I'm going to just add two feet onto the 126" screen that I have. I have a second 5x9 screen that is made from the same exact material so it will be a perfect match. 16/9 is OK on the screen now but 4/3 makes me move the PJ way too close to the screen to get it all the fit. I would be happier with a longer triplet too, what do they call that thing? biggrin.gif
arizonavideo
QUOTE (SupraGuy @ Oct 5 2006, 08:10 AM) *
Taking your screen size as 62" (1.575m) by 51" (1.300m) gives a screen size of 2.048m^2

Taking the lux values of:
94 124 82
98 169 110
81 132 104

gives an average lux of 110.44.

This makes the total ANSI lumens equal to 226.1

WTF? I was expecting a much higher result than that!



I pulled the LCD for some fine tuning. I now could see the arc image at the triplet. I also removed the triplet and set a targer there. The reflector was about a inch too far away and off to one side.

I can get a perfect light pattern now but not at the same time that I fill a 4/3 image. My light box is still just a little too big sad.gif

If I move the LCD all the way foward and the fresnel tray I can vary good light pattern but then I have some FOV problem with the triplet.
I also found some lux.

152 183 130
148 234 162
132 198 171


The screen was about the same size. about 2m^2

168 x screen od 2 = 336 ANSI.

I'm sure I can get another 100 or so ANSI but I will have to change something. Either a shorter rear fresnel or make the box longer or move everything foward. I could cut a new slot in the fresnel holder and move the fresnel foward some too.

The problem with the light pattern is it is the reflector is in focus. The light system in our PJ's is 50% out of focus at the screen. If you move the lamp foward 50% of the rear focal distance you will get a perfect lamp image on the screen. We don't want that, we want light blending. If I can get my lamp more out of focus then I might be able to move the reflector slightly closer for more LUX.

The light pattern.

Click to view attachment

I can make a light pattern with no defets by moving the lamp a little further away fron the condenser lens. This also tightens up the light cone and will not fill the rear fresnel all the way. I need one more inch.


I have the will and a saw I just need to deside if it will be the light box or the box.
GadgetSmith
QUOTE (arizonavideo @ Oct 5 2006, 06:26 PM) *
I have the will and a saw I just need to deside if it will be the light box or the box.




It doesn't matter how much adjustments are added... I always need that extra inch.. dry.gif ... when does it ever end... I feel your "pain"...
SupraGuy
Hmmm... When I was tweaking my projector, I was treating the secondary optics as a completely separate system. The lamp never came even remotely close to being in focus at the screen, but then my focus mechanism didn't allow any flexibility at all in the placement of the objective lens.

I came up with several sets of fresnel lens placements, all of which got a sharp lamp image at the entrance to the triplet. I did my first test with the placement set that had the collector lens closest to the lamp, which is where I got the 460 lumen measurement. With that placement, the vignetting was more extreme than the placement that I'm currently running, but there was certainly no lack of brightness. (I had that "extra inch" to play with, as I deliberately oversized my projector to give me some room.)

Of course I do realise that I managed to really luck out with my LCD panel, which seems to be the largest single factor in determining the potential for lumen output. (Though as you've seen, lens placement can make large improvements.)
arizonavideo
QUOTE (SupraGuy @ Oct 6 2006, 07:50 AM) *
Hmmm... When I was tweaking my projector, I was treating the secondary optics as a completely separate system. The lamp never came even remotely close to being in focus at the screen, but then my focus mechanism didn't allow any flexibility at all in the placement of the objective lens.

I came up with several sets of fresnel lens placements, all of which got a sharp lamp image at the entrance to the triplet. I did my first test with the placement set that had the collector lens closest to the lamp, which is where I got the 460 lumen measurement. With that placement, the vignetting was more extreme than the placement that I'm currently running, but there was certainly no lack of brightness. (I had that "extra inch" to play with, as I deliberately oversized my projector to give me some room.)

Of course I do realise that I managed to really luck out with my LCD panel, which seems to be the largest single factor in determining the potential for lumen output. (Though as you've seen, lens placement can make large improvements.)



With out the LCD I had a little over 8000 LUX in the middle of the screen. After I replaced the LCD I had "only" around 275 LUX. That would make the LCD around 2.9% Tranmissive. (Did I do that right?) This is lower than most. It is a 700 to 1 contrast and everything is almost adjusted perfect. I checked the reflector image and the centering of the arc image in the triplet.

This is the PJ partly striped when I had to make the wire channel longer so I can pull the LCD or Fresnel sleds easy.


Click to view attachment

The power switches one is a 30A and the other is a 15A that connects the two ballast together. The lamp would not start with both ballast connected. It is nice having a hi / low setting for doing adjustment. You can watch movies at low (about 700 watts) but the color is a little cold.) Judging by the burn on my left arm today I wish the low setting was even lower.

I still may add a power outlet for the lap top or PC so I don't have to split the power cord and maybe a super low setting (that would be the 600 watt ballast with the extra 10uf cap disconnected)

The power cord I used is way to short and needs to have a ground prong to stop the extension cord from falling off. I might add a small flex light so I can see at night too.

Click to view attachment

And the LCD image at the triplet with a sheet of black 500 sand paper covering the inside of the triplet.

Click to view attachment


I still have no idea how you could get 475 ANSI unless you LUX meter is off some ( reading the green peak from the lamp)and the panel is way way more transmissive. ( A 8% panel make a huge differance) I think that a 700 to 1 panel just may be less transmissive than a 300 one. There is a reason that bright PJ have bad contrast. I still need to do contrast readings.

I do have a second panel to play with and I will. If I was smart I would make a slead to fit in the PJ.
mikyd1954
on the contrast/transmissiveness... I believe that supras' panel is 600:1 and 8.5% transmissive, so its not as simple as higher contrast->lower lumens, though that may be true in some cases.... imagine if you had 8.5% trans, you'd have 700 lux readings.... as supra says, the trans of your panel is the single most important measure of brightness .... notice I said brightness, not quality of picture, I don't want to get elken all stirred up.... but you know AV from your past that people in general will usually pick a brighter picture over a higher quality..
and btw....pj is looking really good! movie season indeed..must be nice I had to turn the heater on in the lab yesterday!
Durachko
QUOTE (arizonavideo @ Oct 6 2006, 12:44 PM) *
With out the LCD I had a little over 8000 LUX in the middle of the screen. After I replaced the LCD I had "only" around 275 LUX. That would make the LCD around 2.9% Tranmissive. (Did I do that right?)
I'd take 275 divided by 8000 and multiply by 100 to get percent transmissity which would then be >3.4%. Sounds better!!! smile.gif

In any case, you're NOT lux-challenged AV. laugh.gif
arizonavideo
It's just hard for me to believe that a 400 watt system is beating a 1200 watt one with no down side.

Sim said he got 275 ANSI on one setup which was good too.

I'm happy with the picture quality and contrast. I would think the 3.4% would go up some with an antiglare strip and some day I will but I said I will watch at least 100 movies before I KILL, I mean strip my LCD.

I have no need for more brightness. If surpra is getting anything around 400 ANSI that is way bright for an 80" to 100" screen.

Today I will be getting the second 1000 watt HPS ballast for the 2K setup. I just don't see the need for that right now.

Some were saying that a movie theater screen was 100 LUX but I don't think most are. Next time I go I'm brining the LUX meter.

Perhaps a 15" LCD with replaced high transmissive polarizer for max LUX?
SupraGuy
Heh. That's why I de-tuned my projector back down to ~250 lumens. It was way too bright.

I am getting around 8.5% transmission through my LCD at 600:1 contrast. AG strip (done due to a scratch, NOT to improve anything) didn't really make much difference, perhaps a bit on the extreme edges.
Durachko
QUOTE (arizonavideo @ Oct 6 2006, 02:58 PM) *
Some were saying that a movie theater screen was 100 LUX but I don't think most are. Next time I go I'm brining the LUX meter.
We'll all be scanning the AP releases for the following article:

Arizona Man Runs Amok in Movie Theatre: An Arizona man was arrested last weekend after theatre officials caught him frantically waving an unknown electronic device in front of the projection screen. Witnesses report him shouting - apparently to the projectionist - "Please just give me a white screen for 30 seconds! That's all I ask!" The man does not appear to have threatened anyone but refused to leave the theatre until - in his words "I get my damn readings!!" Neighbors were contacted and they described the man as friendly and kind but somewhat reclusive. Strange lights and burning electronic smells were said to emanate from the man's house almost constantly. The man is currently awaiting trial and has requested only that he be given access to an Internet connection so that he can "keep up with things at Lumenlab".
PLJack
QUOTE (arizonavideo @ Oct 6 2006, 12:44 PM) *
<clip..>
with a sheet of black 500 sand paper covering the inside of the triplet.


Somehow, that just does not sound right. huh.gif
GadgetSmith
AV, can you take a picture of the back of the triplet when projecting ? I'm curious to see how much light spillage you have around the triplet. This is really the only thing a/g effects. If you've got lots of spillage a/g strip will help with brightness... if you've got no spillage, then an a/g strip will do nothing to increase brightness. (but you still do get the sharpness and color improvements with the a/g strip... IMHO)

I find it hard to believe that you get any spillage at all with your lamp (7mm arc ?), but who knows... a picture will tell the tale... I think...

What fresnel setup are you using now; 330/550 ?
arizonavideo
QUOTE (GadgetSmith @ Oct 6 2006, 01:28 PM) *
AV, can you take a picture of the back of the triplet when projecting ? I'm curious to see how much light spillage you have around the triplet. This is really the only thing a/g effects. If you've got lots of spillage a/g strip will help with brightness... if you've got no spillage, then an a/g strip will do nothing to increase brightness. (but you still do get the sharpness and color improvements with the a/g strip... IMHO)

I find it hard to believe that you get any spillage at all with your lamp (7mm arc ?), but who knows... a picture will tell the tale... I think...

What fresnel setup are you using now; 330/550 ?


I can't take a picture right now I pulled the 330mm rear fresnel and went to a 220mm This is a no go for me. I could not get the light cone to cover and then I had heat problems with the LCD. I don't know why I tried the 220mm. ( The condenser spread sheet said it would work.) The lamp would have to touch the condenser to fill the rear fresnel. I only have one condenser now so I don't want to crack it.

There is no real spillage but a little bit of light wash but I will take a picture.

The arc of the MHI is 12mm.
Hirudin
QUOTE (Durachko @ Oct 6 2006, 02:10 PM) *
We'll all be scanning the AP releases for the following article:

Arizona Man Runs Amok in Movie Theatre: An Arizona man was arrested last weekend after theatre officials caught him frantically waving an unknown electronic device in front of the projection screen. Witnesses report him shouting - apparently to the projectionist - "Please just give me a white screen for 30 seconds! That's all I ask!" The man does not appear to have threatened anyone but refused to leave the theatre until - in his words "I get my damn readings!!" Neighbors were contacted and they described the man as friendly and kind but somewhat reclusive. Strange lights and burning electronic smells were said to emanate from the man's house almost constantly. The man is currently awaiting trial and has requested only that he be given access to an Internet connection so that he can "keep up with things at Lumenlab".

That's great smile.gif
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