2 or 3 projectors?

[AVIATor-Olav]

I'm planning my visuals at the moment. I will build a curved screen to project my visuals on and I had planned to use 2 projectors for economic reasons. I allready have one Benq MW 811 ST, and the plan is to get an other one just like it.
I realize that most people with this type of visual set up use 3 projectors, so my question is; is it doable with 2 or should i bite the dust and go for 3? I'm aiming for a 180 deg FOV projected on a R1,5m curved screen. To acheive adequate throw distance I plan to cross project the beams if you get my drift.

Sketch below

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a15/Paganize/Proj2-1.jpg

[wledzian]

considering 'bite the dust' usually translates 'die', I suggest you don't do that. I suspect you mean 'bite the bullet', which translates to 'accept the cost'.
;P


Two projectors will do the job. There are three downsides: the seam down the middle and the required throw distance, and the reduced resolution. If you're using a warping package that handles edge blending, the seam shouldn't be a problem. If you've got the throw distance, don't worry about it. If you're OK with the larger pixels, again, don't worry about it. One benefit is that for a given horizontal FOV, two projectors will give you a better vertical FOV than three projectors.

[AVIATor-Olav]

Haha! Ok, but I may bite the dust anyway due to lack of food because I spent all my money on that 3rd projecor! :P

I'm planning on using warping software to take care of edge blending etc.
The throw distance will be as outlined in the sketch above. The MW811ST will give me a 222cm wide image at a distance of 130cm with aspect ratio 3:4.
I havent given the pixels any thought to be honest.

[Goldmember]

Interesting idea! You could just try how the pixels look with the one projector you have on a standard screen. I'd be interested to know the result.

[AVIATor-Olav]

I have used my single projector for a while. If you focus on it I guess there are pixels, but it hasn't bothered me.

[Goldmember]

Ok, good to know. Thx. I think I'll go for the 2 projector approach as well. If the resolution is too low, you can always upgrade to a 3 projector solution later.