Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Aussiemorphic Lens MK3 On Line Instructions

Thank you for purchasing the Aussiemorphic Lens MK3. This prism based 1.33x Horizontal Expansion lens is corrected for Chromatic Aberrations, features anti-reflecting optic coatings and the prism’s surface is finished to a specified commercial optical grade. To allow you an easy step into Constant Image Height projection, all you have to do is fit and align the lens with your projector, scale the image and sit back and enjoy a Deluxe Wide Screen presentation.

The Aussiemorphic Lens MK3


Instructions:

The full on line instruction manual can be found HERE

1. The lens is designed to sit in the light path of your 16:9 projector allowing you to project images as wide as 2.37:1.


2. You must position the projector to provide a Throw Ratio of at least 2.0:1 [or longer if your projector’s lens is recessed] to prevent vignetting of the image.

3. To calculate the TR, measure the width of the Scope screen and times it by 0.75. Then times that by your TR to find the distance from the screen to the projector’s lens.

EG: Scope Screen Width x 0.75 x TR = Mounting Distance


4. The MK3 now has height adjustment to allow easer alignment with the projector. Please ensure that you tighten the thumb screws so the lens does not move.

5. So that you can easily move the lens out of the light path when not required, a simple manual sled is included, however, it is recommended that the lens be left in the light path all the time.

6. It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that the lens is secure and can not move or fall after installation. CAVX and OzTS are not liable for any loss or damage as a result of improper use or installation.

Once aligned, the Aussiemorphic Lens MK3 will optically stretch everything by 1.33x. To view CinemaScope [without black bars top and bottom], you will need to “scale” the image. This involves displaying the image with a vertical stretch of 33.3%.


Many of today’s HD projectors feature the mode 1 and 2 scaling needed for CIH, but a dedicated Video Processor may still be required with some units.


Aligning the Lens.

The lens is designed to give you the optimum performance. You must ensure that your projector is perpendicular to the screen. If the beam appears not to align symmetrically with the edges of the screen, firstly, check that your projector is centred. You may have to twist the lens (either clockwise or anti-clockwise) to trim the light beam to a perfect fit.

If you notice the optical effects of pincushion, you may need to tilt the lens to even the curvature out top to bottom and apply a small amount of zoom to projected image.

To correct for pincushion, tilt the lens up [table top] or down [inverted] depending on how the lens is mounted. This does not remove the pincushion, but rather, creates a more symmetrical effect. The only way to correct for pincushion is to curve the screen, but at long throws like 2.0:1 and above, the amount of pincushion should be small enough to go un-noticed.

Mark

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Friday, February 16, 2007

The Aussiemorphic Lens & New Sled

DISCONTINUED

Due to demand for a "pass through mode", the Aussiemorphic Lens once again has a "SLED"
[manual only at this time] to allow the anamorphic adapter to be easily moved in and out of the light path for native 1.78:1 and 1.33:1 program.

Aussiemorphic Lens & New Sled
[Inverted model shown]

New Sled
The new sled is smaller [260mm x 180mm x 61mm] and does not include the large plate [as pictured below] from the original design. The new sled now uses ball bearing slides for a smoother action.

NB: I have kept these older images simply for demonstration purposes.

POSITIONED IN THE LIGHT PATH

MOVED OUT OF THE LIGHT PATH
Whilst the new model does not include the mounting plate, the diagram below is a guide to show how to mount the Aussiemorphic Lens/sled combo in front of your video projector.
A New Plan
The diagram above shows the new sled mounted on a custom plate. In this diagram, the main plate is 16mm MDF [700mm x 600mm] with a 10mm Perspex used as a projector mounting plate [550mm x 500mm] which is then mounted to the main plate using bolts, washers, nuts [I'll use both wing and lock nuts] and compression springs. The design is large enough for projectors like the Benq W10000.

The New Projector Mount and Sled
The new mount is quite large. I have recessed the Sled back so that the front of the lens [when attached] is flush with the front of the mounting plate. The Sled attaches with two bolts [under the actual slide] to the main plate to allow easy attachment/removal of the Aussiemorphic Lens.

Mark

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Monday, February 12, 2007

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - A PERFECT MATCH

First Visit: Thanks to Mike [mgrobins] for allowing me use his Home Theatre to demonstrate the "Aussiemorphic Lens" with his Benq 8720 projector...

BEAUTY [BENQ 8720] & THE BEAST [THE "AUSSIEMORPHIC LENS"]

The demo was an excellent example of how easy the "Aussiemorphic Lens" is to use with virtually any video projector in a CIH set up. With the Benq 8720 already mounted on a shelf, the "Aussiemorphic Lens" simply sat in the light path. We used "Letter Box" to perform the "scaling" [using 100% of the panel] and below are some screen shots from...

THE LORD OF THE RINGS - RETURN OF THE KING...


The screen was supplied by Oz Theatre Screens and is the Majestic [with a flocked edge] using Evolution3D fabric. The screen surface is 2370mm x 1000mm...

Second Visit: A revisit tonight [9th May 2007] with new full sized image from
LORD OF THE RINGS - THE TWO TOWERS...

Third Visit: I have calibrated Mick's Benq PE8720 using Joe Kane's Digital Video Essentials DVD. The projector offers a wide variety of user options making calibration so much better than other projectors.

His room treatments also look and sound really good, so I will add photos of them to this page soon.

Forth Visit: As promised, I took photos of the screen and room treatments and of course another couple of screen shots, this time after calibration...

2.37:1 "SCOPE" BY OZ THEATRE SCREENS
LEFT FRONT CORNER
The custom treatments serve a dual purpose - Acoustics [controlled reverberation and sound isolation] and light control. Each panel is custom made for its specific location and gives the room a very professional look... And I just realized there is no photo of the cloud - doh!!! Anyway, here are some screen shots from -

GLADIATOR
I think Mgrobins has the perfect match of video components in his system -
The BenQ 8720 projector, the "Aussiemorphic Lens" combine to produce these stunning images projected onto the OzTS Majestic Screen with Evo3D fabric...

Mark


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Wednesday, February 07, 2007

A Look Back At An Earlier Project

Like all successful projects, this one started at plan stage and evolved into a very nice Home Theatre. This project was for a brand new home, and although the house plans already contained a "media room", the dimensions of the room were not ideal for a new construction AV project. Projects of this nature do not happen quickly. Each step from the Initial Plan to the final System Calibration must be agreed too by all parties before being signed off. This project took well over 12 months from the first meeting to the final handover.

A Quick Sketch Of The Room

The original media room was located at the front of the house and had some rather large windows. After several meeting with the owners, the plans were changed [3 times] and the room was located at the rear of the property. All the windows were removed, giving total light control in the theatre.

Working with both the client and architect, the dimensions of the room were also altered [as was the roof design] to allow this theatre to be so much more than just a "media room".

Screen and Front Stage

The stage was custom made for the room and houses the CAVX speakers [third system I built], the electronics and storage for DVDs. The electronics included a THX certified 7.1 AVR, the DVD/VCR combo player/recorder [that passes PLUGE] and a HDTV set top box for free to air High Definition TV. Notice that there is room at the sides for a CinemaScope Screen…

The Rear Of The Room

All cabling was installed at frame stage and the four Surrounds and projector had custom plates that were later colour coded to the walls of the room. The room is actually a much darker brown than this photo shows. Normally dark colours are said to make a room "feel" small. In this room, the walls, the cornice and ceiling are all colour matched. This creates an interesting effect when the only light in the room is from the image reflected off the screen. The soft ambient light actually seems to make the room appear larger than it is…


The CAVX Speakers [LCR] in 2PAK

The CAVX speakers in this system were all finished in 2PAK. There are some small differences between this system and my own [the grey system with the super tweeters] including a slightly different Sub-woofer [with side firing PR] and a different tweeter mounting system that required a higher frequency with the crossover due to the closer spacing of the drivers...

Mark


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