Anamorphous lenses - Experiences?

[superconnie]

I just found something interesting in an HiFi forum, Anamorphous lenses for video projectors. They turn an 4:3 format picture into an 16:9 and a 16:9 into a 21:9 super widesreen picture. They basically stretch the picture horizontally and the benefit is that you have no loss of pixels. Of course the image has to be adjusted (compressed) in horizontal size by adjusting the graphics resolution accordingly.

Has someone experience with lenses like this? It could be a good solution for one single projector instead of 3 projectors....

Christian

- Happy new year
- Ein frohes neues Jahr
- Es guets neus
- Feliz Año Nuevo
- Shinnen Omedeto

[NicD]

I've done a similar thing with curved mirrors which works well - but only to a point. 21:9 would be getting beyond that I think... the scenery would start to look flat and squashed and scenery movement would be accelerated to the edges. This can make hand-flying (especially landing) quite an ordeal.

[steveeverson]

:cool:i've used a camcorder wide angle lens i bought from ebay for about 25pounds .. works well- made a piece of wood with a hole in that it fits in and attached to the front of my video projector. It makes a 4 1/2ft wide picture about 7 feet. (keeps the aspect ratio the same) Anyone wants details feel free to PM me.- also most modern projectors have an aspect ratio selction in the menus...
cheers
Steve

[superconnie]

I know... most newer projectors can be set 4:3 or 16:9 but in one of the two settings you lose pixels. Either on the side or on top/bottom. And none of the projectors is able to go 21:9. That's cinemascope format and quite interesting for simflight...

Christian

[BHawthorne]

What price point are the lenses? I have pretty standard 16:9 projectors (InFocus SP5000). If the gaming app has FOV correction settings 21:9 should work ok if you have a screen setup for it. My goal currently is using 3 projectors and TH2G, but if I can achieve the same with 2 projectors, dump the TH2G and go horizontal-span, that would give higher FPS (less pixel count to strain the system). I have extensive experience with using the TH2G, so I'm used to the FOV issues and how to address them in many cases.

[andyb]

Panamorph seem to be the most commonly used anamorphic lenses that I have found.

Pricing can be found at:
http://www.panamorph.com/Products.html

I've not had first hand experience, but I've seen them at a couple of shows and they certainly offer an alternative to increasing horizontal field of view .... but not cheap.

[BHawthorne]

SoftTH has FOV force settings parameter in it's preference file, but I've never used it. I'd have to use 3 projectors to go that route though.

[superconnie]

I have found this company in Germany

http://www.iscoprecisionoptics.com/isco_new_d/home_cinema_d.html

Price range is somewhat around 1200 Euro (us$1600). Its expensive but if you only need 1 projector instead of 3....?

Christian

[BHawthorne]

I have found this company in Germany

http://www.iscoprecisionoptics.com/isco_new_d/home_cinema_d.html

Price range is somewhat around 1200 Euro (us$1600). Its expensive but if you only need 1 projector instead of 3....?

Christian

I think it ultimately comes down to consumables bulb cost vs initial outlay of lens cost. With ywh supplying affordable projector bulbs, it's probably cheaper for me to keep with the 3 projector route. It's interesting to research out alternatives for me none the less. :)

[superconnie]

I wonder why these lenses should be better that a curved mirror.... if the mirror is curved correctly, the effect is the same. Of course the arrangement of the projector is different.

The effect of the image acelerated to the edges could be minimised by having the correct shape of the mirror. Maybe it also could be corrected by settings of the graphic card.
Does special software exist to correct image size and geometry in realtime? A good graphic card should be able to handle that...
Or is special software not necessary? Maybe some cool, never used features of the graphics driver?

[Matt Olieman]

The curved mirror topic has been around a while. I've definitely experimented with it.

WARNING: you just can't use any type mirror, it has to be a front surface mirror, otherwise you will get ghost imaging. (actually, you can if you want, but...)

Now we're talking big bucks again :(

[superconnie]

MattO:
What kind of mirrors did you use? I know that some good optical surface mirrors must be used for that... I just stumbled over another problem. Will I need a curved screen when I use a cylindrical mirror?

NicD:
You described the effect that the picture is accelerated at the edges. Were you using a flat screen or a cylindrical screen?

I just contacted a company who builds mirrors of metal instead of glass. They are normally used for high power lasers (with internal cooling) but they also have small mirrors and they say metal mirrors are much cheaper. Will see if it's true.

[Matt Olieman]

I tried several kinds of mirrors, the closest to a front surface was mylar covered over plastic (lexan), didn't work to well.

Part of the reason for curved mirror was to project on a curved screen. Curved mirror changes the distance of projection, so a curved screen would be required.

I'm far from an expert at doing this.... so don't take my experience to seriously, I too am still looking for the right answer for the best result.

Metal mirrors..... you got my attention.... keep us informed :)

[superconnie]

THIS would be the solution to all our problems:

http://www.openwarp.com/

But it looks extremely expensive... With this box you can trow pictures on any form of screen, with as many projectors as you want. All kind of geometric adjustments are possible.

[andyb]

There's also another thread describing a similar solution ......

One VERY exciting software program
http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11040


THIS would be the solution to all our problems:

http://www.openwarp.com/

But it looks extremely expensive... With this box you can trow pictures on any form of screen, with as many projectors as you want. All kind of geometric adjustments are possible.

[superconnie]

Are you the AndyB. from Immersaview.com? We are already in contact and I'm looking forward to get a price list.
I'm now downloading the evaluation version of the Sol7 software... let's see what it can do for me :-)

I have seen a price of $4000 and I hope this is only for large scale commecial applications because this is far away from what I can afford. For that money I almost build the entire simulator.

Christian

[superconnie]

I just tried the demo of Sol7 and it is great! Very simple to use and it works. You only need the manual to find out the keys used in the setup.

As screen I used a simple piece of paper approx. 60x45cm and positioned it in front of my beamer. I made a curved screen but with a very odd shape... the paper just stood there as it was.

After a few tries and restarts ( the demo works only 10 min.) I had a picture with an almost perfect geometry.... even on my improvised screen.

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/258/dscn6543sxy4.th.jpg (http://img247.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn6543sxy4.jpg)

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/6265/dscn6544slg9.th.jpg (http://img511.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn6544slg9.jpg)

[superconnie]

I got an answer from the metal mirror manufacturer... a 10x10cm curved mirror would cost about 1000 Euro. That's too expensive for an experiment I don't know if it works.
The interesting point is that the cost of the mirror come down to 1/10 if the price if you order a higher quantity.

However, I think I forget the mirror thing and concentrate on the Sol7 software.

Christian

[Matt Olieman]

That answers my question, regarding buying a metal mirror, OUCH!!! :)

Who needs a curved mirror anyway when you got Sol7....