[Ash Sharma]

UPDATE: November 29, 2020
Panamorph has now added some “direct attach” DCR lens models under the flagship Paladin DCR and updated their website so Shawn has asked me to guide people to the Panamorph home page instead of the earlier links that are no longer active. Since these new lenses are just smaller, customized versions of the Paladin DCR please feel free to add to the discussion here.

Key distinctions between the direct attach DCR lenses and the Paladin DCR (per Panamorph):

1. Direct attach DCR lenses should be used with a 2.4:1 screen. Because these lenses fit directly into the projector lens opening there is very little adjustability for the older 2.35:1 format (as is possible with the Paladin DCR). If used with a 2.35:1 screen then 2.4:1 movies will overscan the screen border on both left and right sides by about 1% of screen width each. This can be absorbed by a typical 3”+ screen border or masked with projector blanking if available but will represent that much of the content being cut off on a 2.35:1 screen.
2. Direct attach DCR lenses are intended as a customized conversion lens for specific projector models and are not intended to be modified or retrofitted for other models. The much larger size and exterior mounting of the Paladin DCR means that it will likely work with a future 17:9 projector if a suitable new mounting system for projector becomes available.

UPDATE: January 5, 2019

Well it has been almost a year since my first posting (below) and this owner’s thread has grown to 40,000 views (so far) so I thought I’d update. As a summary of my own experience, with a serious amount of money invested in my theater – the DCR is very high in my component list and has a huge return on investment. Enough said there. You can read my findings and those of many others in the hundreds (so far) of posts below. More significantly - just a year ago there were only two projector models with the internal modes to work with the Paladin DCR lens. Now it seems that for 2019 every true 4K home theater projector from Sony and JVC have those DCR modes. I think that says a lot, so more in line with other AVS owner’s threads I’ll include links to the relevant Panamorph info …


Paladin DCR compatibility with Sony 4K/4096 projectors
Paladin DCR compatibility with JVC 4K/4096 projectors
Panamorph Cinema Design Guide
And especially if an anamorphic home theater may be unfamiliar to you Panamorph has a blog series on the basics of anamorphic home cinema.
- Ash


Thanks to Mark at AVS and Shawn Kelly from Panamorph - I placed the order for my DCR A Lens (before the price doubles on Monday the 15th).
I have been a using the ISCO 3 lens with Cineslide for years with my Sony Qualia and then my Sim 2 Lumis Host... so I am no stranger to the A Lens.
I am super excited about getting this lens and installing it very soon - Shawn Kelly gave more confidence on the product by offering a return with 20% restocking fee for the first 30 days.
Selling products to us AVS Nerds (and offering restocking fee return) is not for the faint of the heart as we measure - get calibrators to measure - analyze - yada yada...
My motivation to get this A Lens is:
1. Achieve 38 to 40% brightness (advertised) - I will be using a Sekonic Meter to measure this after install.
2. Using all 4K pixels.
3. AR Management without Zooming from Sony Menu - I don't have a outboard processor like Lumagen.
4. Ease of install - the mount and the way it will adapt to my Hush Box (which is packed with he ES5000.
5. I keep hearing how the ISCO lens is so heavy etc (and I know first hand because I had one for years) but I love the fact that this A Lens is light in weight - time moves and so does technology - you don't have to have a 20 pound glass to get a good image IMHO.
6. Sony 5000 has a built in Anamorphic Mode - Cool...
7. It looks bad ass...
If I come up with more reasons I sill post later..
Ash

 

[mani]

Congrats Ash. I know you have been debating about A lens for some time . Look forward to your measurements ..

 

[Ash Sharma]

Congrats Ash. I know you have been debating about A lens for some time . Look forward to your measurements ..

Sure... Mani... I know you are a proponent of a A Lens although I shot down the idea last time you asked me to look into it..
I hope I eat crow... here and DCR works as advertised.

 

[mani]

When you setup the lens bring up the zone convergence screen ( the one with small squares all across the screen ) . It gives a decent idea of pincushioning and geometric distortion . I have my setup so that you can see very slight pincushioning one the very top and bottom lines and that too a difference of less than one inch from the middle to the corner of the 16 ft wide screen . Try to setup sobthat the lines are as straight as possible from side to side and top to bottom . Of course there will be some distortion but try to find the setup with minimum of it

 

[jjcook]

@Ash Sharma Looking forward to your review of the DCR -- in particular a comparison to the ISCO IIIL with respect to brightness increase and if different magnitudes of pincushion vs barrel distortion.

 

[Steve Bruzonsky]

Congrats, Ash! Look forward to your [email protected]@@

 

[Ash Sharma]

When you setup the lens bring up the zone convergence screen ( the one with small squares all across the screen ) . It gives a decent idea of pincushioning and geometric distortion . I have my setup so that you can see very slight pincushioning one the very top and bottom lines and that too a difference of less than one inch from the middle to the corner of the 16 ft wide screen . Try to setup sobthat the lines are as straight as possible from side to side and top to bottom . Of course there will be some distortion but try to find the setup with minimum of it

Mani - please give me the steps on the 5000's menu system to get to the zone convergence screen/pattern. All I can see is pattern on and off in the menu system.
Thanks in advance.
Ash

 

[DaveN]

Mani - please give me the steps on the 5000's menu system to get to the zone convergence screen/pattern. All I can see is pattern on and off in the menu system.
Thanks in advance.
Ash

Installation menu on left. Select panel alignment and then you can choose zone and colors. Page 32 owners manual

 

[Al Leong]

I also have one on order, my only thought is how will Christopher Nolan films work with aspect ratio switching in his films. I may need to plan to remove use of the lens on films that switch between wide and IMAX frames.

 

[otismojo]

I also have one on order, my only thought is how will Christopher Nolan films work with aspect ratio switching in his films. I may need to plan to remove use of the lens on films that switch between wide and IMAX frames.

I assume it’s like my current 1080p set up with A-lens. You don’t notice it. The top and bottom are slightly cropped with IMAX material and unless it’s a real close up face shot it’s seamless. The face shots cut off the top of their heads which can be annoying.

I’ve got the DCR on order with my 885. Agree can’t wait. The wife ok’d a major theater upgrade. Now I’m consumed with the planning. Hoping to light up a 16ft screen with the 885 and A-lens and keep HDR decent?

 

[ccool96]

Panamorph DCR Palladin Owners Thread

Hoping to light up a 16ft screen with the 885 and A-lens and keep HDR decent?

Not going to happen.

If we assumed that you had zero light loss with the A-lens and you had a 1.3 gain screen, the very max fL you could possibly achieve will only be about 20fL.

You need a Sony 5000ES. I have a 17’ wide screen and I’m in the process of doing a dual stack 5000ES to get even better HDR performance.

HDR is out of the question on a screen that size with an 885. The A-lens will help, but no where near enough.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[*Mori*]

I’m in the process of doing a dual stack 5000ES to get even better HDR performance.

How many nits you are exspecting to have on your screen with a dual stack ?

 

[telem]

Thanks to Mark at AVS and Shawn Kelly from Panamorph - I placed the order for my DCR A Lens (before the price doubles on Monday the 15th).
I have been a using the ISCO 3 lens with Cineslide for years with my Sony Qualia and then my Sim 2 Lumis Host... so I am no stranger to the A Lens.
I am super excited about getting this lens and installing it very soon - Shawn Kelly gave more confidence on the product by offering a return with 20% restocking fee for the first 30 days.
Selling products to us AVS Nerds (and offering restocking fee return) is not for the faint of the heart as we measure - get calibrators to measure - analyze - yada yada...
My motivation to get this A Lens is:
1. Achieve 38 to 40% brightness (advertised) - I will be using a Sekonic Meter to measure this after install.
2. Using all 4K pixels.
3. AR Management without Zooming from Sony Menu - I don't have a outboard processor like Lumagen.
4. Ease of install - the mount and the way it will adapt to my Hush Box (which is packed with he ES5000.
5. I keep hearing how the ISCO lens is so heavy etc (and I know first hand because I had one for years) but I love the fact that this A Lens is light in weight - time moves and so does technology - you don't have to have a 20 pound glass to get a good image IMHO.
6. Sony 5000 has a built in Anamorphic Mode - Cool...
7. It looks bad ass...
If I come up with more reasons I sill post later..
Ash

Thanks for starting this thread Ash!

I have ordered as well, can’t wait to receive it!

Best,

Kostas

 

[otismojo]

Panamorph DCR Palladin Owners Thread

Not going to happen.

If we assumed that you had zero light loss with the A-lens and you had a 1.3 gain screen, the very max fL you could possibly achieve will only be about 20fL.

You need a Sony 5000ES. I have a 17’ wide screen and I’m in the process of doing a dual stack 5000ES to get even better HDR performance.

HDR is out of the question on a screen that size with an 885. The A-lens will help, but no where near enough.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Maybe I could become the first to stack an 885 ?

 

[ccool96]

Panamorph DCR Palladin Owners Thread

How many nits you are exspecting to have on your screen with a dual stack ?

Around 180 nit (52fL) to 220 nit (64fL) depending on if I use ST100 or ST130 fabric.

Currently I use ST130 with my single 5000ES, but will probably change this to ST100 for the stack.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[mani]

When you setup the lens bring up the zone convergence screen ( the one with small squares all across the screen ) . It gives a decent idea of pincushioning and geometric distortion . I have my setup so that you can see very slight pincushioning one the very top and bottom lines and that too a difference of less than one inch from the middle to the corner of the 16 ft wide screen . Try to setup sobthat the lines are as straight as possible from side to side and top to bottom . Of course there will be some distortion but try to find the setup with minimum of it

Mani - please give me the steps on the 5000's menu system to get to the zone convergence screen/pattern. All I can see is pattern on and off in the menu system.
Thanks in advance.
Ash

Hi Ash

That pattern is to see the distortions . Ken recommended not to use the zone panel alignment ( just do the basic center point panel alignment ) . Just play with throw distance , angle of the A lens , distance between Sony lens and A lens and if Panamorph has any other adjustment , to minimize distortions

 

[Ash Sharma]

Received a very smart looking XM2 Mount (premium feel) from Panamorph today - the kit contains detailed instructions and nifty Stanley Screw driver with bits and glow in the dark cover
My handyman is working on a contraption to install the mount in the hush box.
Shawn has been like... Johnny On the Spot with all my nagging questions to prepare for the mount to be installed - he is passionate about what Panamorph is all about ... that I can tell.

 

[Ash Sharma]

 

[Ash Sharma]

I recorded my light output readings with the current setup without the A Lens.
Methodology used is simple - used 1080P signal from a calibration disc on my Kaleidescape 100% IRE window. Used a Preset which is calibrated for Rec 709 for watching 2:40 Content with 100 laser setting..the ES 5000 HDMI 2 (I use HDMI 2 for 1080P sources switching through the Trinnov and HDMI 1 for UHD 4K).

Measurements came as follows:
Preset User 1 - 24 Jan 2018
16:9 - 30 FTL
2:40 - 21

The 2:40 FTL measured using my Sekonic light meter were same as what my calibrator measured using his super duper equipment - so it seems my light meter is not too shabby.

All I will do is once I install the DCR Lens is that I will measure the same preset (User 1) with same 100% IRE Window and use 2:40 and also 16:9 with Squeeze just to see on 16:9 if I use the squeeze to maintain the right AR what I get - that should give me the compare..

Let me know If I am going in the right direction.

With regards to distortion - my calibrator told me that in the current setup he did not see any distortion (I have a picture of this pattern in my setup) - but since I am more interested in light output that will be my first goal.

 

[mani]

I recorded my light output readings with the current setup without the A Lens.
Methodology used is simple - used 1080P signal from a calibration disc on my Kaleidescape 100% IRE window. Used a Preset which is calibrated for Rec 709 for watching 2:40 Content with 100 laser setting..the ES 5000 HDMI 2 (I use HDMI 2 for 1080P sources switching through the Trinnov and HDMI 1 for UHD 4K).

Measurements came as follows:
Preset User 1 - 24 Jan 2018
16:9 - 30 FTL
2:40 - 21

The 2:40 FTL measured using my Sekonic light meter were same as what my calibrator measured using his super duper equipment - so it seems my light meter is not too shabby.

All I will do is once I install the DCR Lens is that I will measure the same preset (User 1) with same 100% IRE Window and use 2:40 and also 16:9 with Squeeze just to see on 16:9 if I use the squeeze to maintain the right AR what I get - that should give me the compare..

Let me know If I am going in the right direction.

With regards to distortion - my calibrator told me that in the current setup he did not see any distortion (I have a picture of this pattern in my setup) - but since I am more interested in light output that will be my first goal.

Looks good Ash
Can you post the pictures of the pattern with and without the A lens . I think it will help lot of people to see the real world performance of the lens
Also how much vertical lens shift are you using in Sony

Thanks