[propeller_beach]

OH MY GAWD!!! This has been one of the most fun weekends in my life!!!


Just installed my Pannie. It took me all but 10 minutes tops. I was so fortunate that everything in my original projector installation went so exact as far as measures, that all I had to do was screw the plate to the hushbox frame and slide the Pannie in. That's it! The picture automatically just slid into place like butta! http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/biggrin.gif


I have a couple of things I need to square away now. First thing I did was to switch the ar to 4:3. Then I had to just tilt the Pannie a lil bit up. The problem now, is I am seeing that the image size is slightly bigger now, and it actually does not fit anymore on my screen. At top and bottom, the image bleeds about a good 4 inches.


Any suggestions welcome.


Cheers,

Luca


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PICTURES OF MY THEATER
albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1659592&a=12715694&f=0

 

[Alan Gouger]

Luca


Glad your enjoying the Panamorph.

Once you've had the chance to try a anamorphic lens with your system its no turning back.


I assume you are out of zoom range on your projector.

Other than shortening the throw distance between projector and screen I do not know of any other option to fix your problem.


I do not know what projector you are using but if it is a Dila you could use dilard to scale down the image a little. This would give you a slightly larger border of light but it would be the easiest fix.


------------------

Alan Gouger

Thanks for supporting AV Science.
www.avscience.com


[This message has been edited by Alan Gouger (edited 08-19-2001).]

 

[David Wallis]

Luca

Put on the anamorphic test pattern from VE or Avia and adjust the tilt on the Panamorph until the pattern is the right aspect ratio. Variations in the Panamorph tilt adjusts compression from 1:65 - 1:85.

To work out aspect divide width figure with the height figure. The Panamorph drop straight in with me as well very simple.


DavidW

 

[Shawn Kelly]

Luca, the exact aspect ratio placed exactly at a certain image height may require a coordinated tilt between the projector and the Panamorph. My guess is that you may need to tilt the projector up a bit and then tilt the Panamorph down. This will decrease the vertical dimension.


------------------

Shawn Kelly

Cygnus Imaging www.cgns.com


[This message has been edited by Shawn Kelly (edited 08-19-2001).]

 

[propeller_beach]

Thanks guys!


I'm battling with this thing as we speak. Been at it for the past 3 hours. Still cannot get the image to fit "exactly" where it needs to be. Talk about a challenge. It takes lots of coordination and patience in going back and forth between tilting the Pannie, tilting the projector, and applying just the right amount of zoom. It's driving me crazy. But I'll get it sooner or later tonight...


Meanwhile, the improvements the lens cause are of stratosferic magnitude. I know this weekend I quickly ran out of superlatives in describing both Laurence's and Roger Galvin's setups as I had the pleasure of witnessing. But I'd like to spend a word here about the Panamorph as well. The punch, the vividness, the depth of field, the added resolution, the added clarity...I can't thank Shawn and Alan enough for bringing this product to us. Such a breath of fresh air it is! The picture looks that much more three-dimensional and film-like. The liquidity of the resulting picture reminded me of what I'd just experienced at Roger's place yesterday on his "perfect" G-90.


To all those with a DILA waiting for a Pannie, just hang tight...this thing is worth every one of the 380 days I've patiently waited for it.


Thanks again Shawn, and I apologize for the rough times I gave you every now and then during the past year. Being impatient never gets you anywhere. When all was said and done, you delivered your product! And your product turned out to be a real success in my book!


More on the Pannie to come...


Cheers,

Luca


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PICTURES OF MY THEATER
albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1659592&a=12715694&f=0


[This message has been edited by propeller_beach (edited 08-19-2001).]

 

[Larry*F]

Hey guys---

What would a lens like this do for me on an Sanyo XP21? I don't know anything about these.

 

[propeller_beach]

Hi,


Just an update. I have finally been able to size the image correctly. As I said above, it took a pretty good dose of elbow grease in coordinating the three mechanisms. I now have a perfectly squished 4:3 picture which is perfectly boxed within my 16:9 frame. The amount of projector tilting is minimal, though noticeable upon both visual and instrumental inspection (level). The tilt on the Pannie is just where it needs to be for a perfect 1.78:1 size. The keystoning is very slight and non an issue, as it gets easily circumvented by bleeding the picture a bit into the sides of the black masking system.


Cheers for the Panamorph...!!! http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/biggrin.gif


Luca


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PICTURES OF MY THEATER
albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1659592&a=12715694&f=0


[This message has been edited by propeller_beach (edited 08-19-2001).]

 

[David Wallis]

Luka

Thats Cool. I must admit I was very impressed with the Panamorph. The resulting picture was excellent. Like anything it takes a little tweeking to get used to it and what it does.


Now all we need is for a native 1:78 owner to give the Panamorph a try and post the results of showing a 2:35 using the whole of the 1:78 panel.


DavidW

 

[anson]

You guys are killing me! Shawn, how soon before the 2nd preorder folks get their lenses?

 

[propeller_beach]

David,


Yes, this thing works, and it works wonderfully! I am very pleasantly impressed.


One thing I noticed though, which I was too tired last night to post about after watching Dinner With Friends on HBOHD.


The bottom 6" of the picture often had what looked like a superimposed transparent stripe across the width of the screen. It looked as if it could actually be some sort of sync error. The line would be present only from some of the camera shots and not others. I switched to the PBS Opera event, and it was never an issue. Did anyone else notice this? Was it Directv's signal? Was it cable related?..While assembling the Pannie, I did at one point disconnect the RGBHV cables from the DILA without turning off the DTC-100. Panamorph related?


Thanks,


Luca


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PICTURES OF MY THEATER
albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1659592&a=12715694&f=0

 

[Don O’Brien]

Luca,

this is a malfunction of the DILA's internal scaler when you set the HDTV source resolution to 4:3. There is a projector mod that has been making the rounds. I have it at home. If nobody is able to email by this evening, I will send it to you. The mod moves this information off the screen.




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STOP HDCP on DVI

Don O

 

[dcarl]

Luca,

OK, you've convinced me! I'm going to place my order now. The installation is going to be a nightmare, but I gotta have it. Maybe Xmas... http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

-Dave

 

[Ben]

I totally agree with Luca, the improvement in the image is very noticeable to me, its brighter with smaller pixels and the image appears more 3d and definitely appears to have more punch to it. There's no way I can go back to not using the Panamorph now. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif Also, it makes me really glad I pre-ordered the 2.35 Panamorph and I can't wait to see the improvement from that lens as well.


Now for the details.


My projector is an XGA Mits x300, which is 2,000 lumens and projects onto a 10' wide 16x9 Grayhawk. My current theater room (thankfully temporary) is pretty Panamorph unfriendly. The screen is about 4" from the ceiling and is only 2 feet off the floor, so up or down movement of the screen is out of the question. The table mounted projector should normally be level with the bottom of the screen (2ft), but in my case its 3'6" off the floor. ***Edit- It should be level with the bottom of a 4x3 screen, but since my screen is 16x9 I think it makes the tilting I have to do that much worse.*** The projector is 19' back from the screen and the image is zoomed as big as it can go, and the image still does not quite fill the width of the screen by about an inch or so.


I spent many hours over the weekend tweaking the setup. I lowered the projector to the same level as the bottom of the screen. At the 19' throw distance, the image was shifted 11 inches up, so I tilted the projector and Panamorph down together. This worked pretty well, and had very minimal keystone. But, the resulting furniture arrangement of the room was unacceptable.


So I put the projector back up on its normal 3'6" stand. At this height, and with the image shift, there was a significant tilt that was required, and the keystone was too distracting. Then it dawned on me. Since my setup requires the image to be shifted down, not up, I removed the Panamorph from the bracket, flipped it upside down and put it back in. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif For some reason it was a little more tricky to get this tweaked just right, probably because of the light "splash guard". So far I am much happier with this setup. Now, when the Panamorph is slide in front of the projector, the bottom of the image stays put at the bottom of the screen and the top of the image (which otherwise is all over the ceiling), is now brought down onto the screen.


Now I am working on the last issue Luca had...getting the aspect ratio just right.


Ben



[This message has been edited by Ben (edited 08-20-2001).]

 

[Jeff Smith]

So Luca...cost no object, which would you say had the better picture on the 8' wide screen, Roger's G90 setup or the "best" DILA setup (Martinized, Grayhawk, Pannie).


Harder question...how much bigger would the screen have to be to clearly favor the DILA...how about 107x60?


------------------

Jeff

Currently - Zenith 7" CRT, 80x60 1.3 gain screen


Soon to be - 107x60 1.3 gain...with whatever higher rez DLP gets its act together (finally)with Panamorph or B stock/etc 9" CRT

 

[propeller_beach]

Thanks Don! I got a couple of emails today with the mod.


Jeff,


I'd give a 5-10% edge to the G-90.


Having said that, I also strongly maintain that the digital package you mentioned comes very very close to emulating the liquidity of the picture from a G-90.


This scenario was just not possible without the Pannie (or the ISCO, although I have never seen one but I take Dean McManis' word) until a few weeks back. The Pannie adds that fullness to the image, that mass, that heaviness, that vividness, that feeling of flowing liquid mercury that you associate with when you think of film-like. The Pannie totally takes away the digital feel of the image.


The G-90 is actually capable of achieving a 10 foot wide picture with the same image quality it exhibits on a 8 foot wide screen. The problem is of course with the taxing of the electronics inside the projector. Few people would argue against preserving the considerable monetary investment in not wanting to push the guns too far and seriously reduce their operating life.


I guess that if it were me, I'd run the G-90 to 10 feet wide. I'd switch to the digital package mentioned for anything wider than 10 feet....or stack a pair of Electrohome 9500s, which introduces a totally different set of problems I'm sure you are aware of.


As for that extra 5-10%? This is just the indescribable feeling of being immersed in that aura and mystique I sensed when I saw Roger's setup. To me, this is simply priceless. And no digital projection system has been able to achieve that for me yet.


Luca


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PICTURES OF MY THEATER
albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1659592&a=12715694&f=0

 

[indygreg]

Quote:

Originally posted by propeller_beach: David, One thing I noticed though, which I was too tired last night to post about after watching Dinner With Friends on HBOHD.

so this is a surprise to me. i thought the downside here would be the innability to watch sources that are not originated or deinterlaced in a pc because you would not be able to stretch the image vertically for the lense. what stb are you using for hbohd that lets you do an anamorphic sqeeze so the pic looks right through the panny?

greg




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-------------------------

Why does he shake hands with that guy right after he sexed the alligator

 

[CCLAY]

Greg,


I'm not so sure the term "anamorphic" is one that can really be associated with what a stb(HBO, to more accurate) does to an image. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif


What most all st boxes do is give the choice of 4:3 or 16:9 output. We choose 16:9 which transfers to the DILA, then switch the DILA to 4:3 instead of 16:9, which expands the image vertically so the Panamorph can squish it back down to 16:9, using the full 1024 pixels of the panel instead of 768(non Pannie). No PC needed.


When HBO puts on most HD movies, they come onto the screen as a 16:9 image, but most of the time they've been rescaled to some degree, so we rarely get the whole untainted transfer. Movies that originate in 2.35 must be rescaled, but even ones that originate in 16:9 get some sort of HBO negative transcending. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/frown.gif


Still better than no Hi Def at all. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif


Chris

 

[kelliot]

Everything should be broadcast as OAR with user-controlled aspect ratio.


------------------

Ken Elliott

 

[CCLAY]

I agree to that!


2.35s would kick booty. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

 

[Tony-V]

Dear all


I hope you won't mind me asking the following questions:

I have a 3 year old Vidikron Helios 2-chip DLP projector.

No inputs for a progressiv dvd-player, no aspect control.

The chip is a SVGA chip, I can't connect a HTPC!

As very soon new 16:9 DLP projectors will be showing (Sharp 9000, Seleco HT300), I was wondering if it's still worth getting a Panamorph for my Vidikron.Would you invest the money or just wait a few months before getting a new projector? With the Panamorph I wouldn't have to change the distance<->screen, more brightness, more resolution.

Should keep me happy for another year.

As I'd like to wait and see what the future brings with the new models, software-updates,fixes and so on. There will be at least another 6-9 months before new models will be "mature" and have the community with the tips to calibrate them optimally.

Should I order a Panamorph and hope it arrives before the end of this year or should I just keep my set-up and change it in 6-9 months time ?


Thank you very much!


Anthony