Prismasonic Lenses

[Gary Lightfoot]

Anybody here tempted to get a prismasonic anamorphic lens:

http://www.prismasonic.com/index.asp...first_page.htm

The prices look reasonable, and they do a constant width, height squish version, as well as a constant height, width stretch version.

Probably ideal for 800 x 600 4:3 projectors that give a good picture, but need the extra resolution.

The prices look good, but I've not seen anyone use one yet, so I'm waiting to hear from a guy over on avs who sems to be going for one.

Gary.

Gary,

I've gone for the horiz stretch model.
Should be here next week.

Did you ever get to demo a HT1000 in action?

CKA

ps gotta' love those new smilies. Soon we won't need the english language anymore!

[maj74]

So how much has it cost you.... If I might ask?

Martin

[maj74]

Would it benefit an XGA machine such as my Sharp PG-M20X ?

[Gary Lightfoot]

Hi Cornelious,

yes I did indeed demo an HT1000 - along with a Sim2 HT200DMF, Sharp Z90 and Infocus X1. I went down to Jeff Paynters' place in Horsham and spent over 5 hours there. He let me try my htpc on the the HT1000 and X1 as well. Brilliant service which I'd reccommend to anyone.

The Sim2 had the slightly better picture IMHO, but the HT1000 wasn't far behind. The other 2 were excellent, but lacked something in comparison. Somewhat harsher pictures is the only way I can describe them. Personal preference more than anything I guess.

I should be getting my HT1000 in a week or so hopefully, so I'll probably post my impressions here after I've got it properly set up.

I'm looking forward to your review of the Prismasonic lens. It looks like it should be a great add-on for any 4:3 projector, considering the price and what it should achieve.

Gary.

So how much has it cost you

£440. paypal payment.

Would it benefit an XGA machine such as my Sharp PG-M20X

You'll be able to project a 16:9 image using the entire lcd/DLP panel.

Note that the throw distance is reduced (?by 33%) with the horizontal stretch model whilst the vertical squeeze gives constant width IIRC.

CKA.

If you have any questions about Prismasonic products, visit their site and write a message to the message board. I've noticed that they're very helpful, and will gladly answer your questions.

BR,
Olaiho

[Spacecat]

i am considering getting one of these lenses, has anybody here actually used/seen one and if so how much diffrence did it make?

[Gary Lightfoot]

It looks very similar to the Panamorph design, including the liquid lens, so maybe you could do a search over at avs and see what Panny owners over there have said.

I think something like that is ideal for any 4:3 pj, especialy lower res 800 x 600 models, as you can use the whole resolution of the DVD (maybe scaled up to 750 x 600?), and then use the lens to do the squish.

You'll end up with more resolution and a brighter image. I think reduced screendoor is a by product as well.

There may be some problems with projectors that have the heat exhausting from the front (heating up the liquid prism), or those where the remote control receiver is masked by the lens when it's in place.

Gary.

has anybody here actually used/seen one and if so how much diffrence did it make?

Not yet.
I like my movies in 2.35:1 and also need to reduce the throw of my projector a tad.
Prismasonic have an excellent returns policy and will offer a full refund if you're not happy.

CKA.

[jonny m]

has anybody here actually used/seen one and if so how much diffrence did it make?

I'm in helsinki visiting the wife's family at the moment and I've just come back from viewing both lens's at anssi leppanen's place, who is one of the guys who run Prismasonic.

He was running a Davis 4:3 DLP on a 2.5-3m wide screen using the vertical squeeze lens and we were 3-4m from the screen I think.

The quality of the image was amazing from a 800x600 dlp, it really moved the pj into another level. You could still just make out the pixel size sometimes where we were sitting, but overall we were very very impressed and he was only using a anamorphic 16:9 image from his pc that the lens was compressing down to the correct size, he wasn't even using the 600 lines from his pj just the 450.

The lens's themself are composed of 2 liquid filled prisms that you can adjust using the knobs on the side to vary the squeeze/stretch effect, I couldn't really make out any pincushion effect, if it was there is was very slight. And they look much smaller than on the website which is good as I think they look huge there.

I have some photos of both lenses and the image on the screen, but I don't have usb my cable with me. If anyones interested I might be able to get them onto the web tomorrow.

Cheers
John

Recieved my H100 today, well packaged; took a little time because I was a cheapskate with the postage.

Here are my initial impressions (note that I'm currently projecting on a red wall till screen arrives):

1. Thought the Sharp was large but this lens is BIG
! Really makes you feel as if you should be changing the 35mm reel at the next showing!.

2. Optics appear to be excellent. I haven't seen other anamorphic lenses but compared PJ with/without lens and everything looked fine.

3. Minimal degree of pincushion when usinig MINIMUM amount of zoom however, the more zoom you use the the greater the distortion. I played with ~half zoom and the pincushion effect was acceptable to me. This could easily be masked with 3" of blackout lining.

4. Image sharpness again was excellent from edge to edge when using MINIMUM zoom. The more you increase zoom, the greater the image will blur at the edges.

5. There are 2 nice dials for varying the amount of stretch. The first lens can be rotated 180 degrees to aid cleaning. The second can not.

6. Adjusting the height/rotation was a doddle.

7. I was worried about the image not fitting within the first prism. It does fit with ~1cm margin of error if you move it laterally.

8. For those wishing to reduce the throw distance of a long throw project this works very well.

Overall I'm quite happy with the lens. With enough time and patience and access to the right tools it would be very easy to build one as others have done before. Prismasonic have done a good job. I don't think it's worth £440 perhaps £290 and I'm sure they would dominate the market.

Screen next week and at last I'll be watching movies again following avia calibration, cable laying, smart caliibration, sound tweaking blah blah blah....

CKA.

[Gary Lightfoot]

Thanks for the report CKA, bet you can't wait to get your proper screen now.

When you say min zoom, I assume you mean the image is as small as possible?

If I went for one, I'd get the vertical squeeze to keep the pj where it is, so I assume the same caveat applies?

Considering the similar Isco lens was around $2000 IIRC, then Prismasonic should have the market sown up with these lenses at this price point. Any cheaper, and world domination isn't out of the question.

My pj has a front exhaust which may be partialy blocked by the lense, and the liquids may heat up and possibly leak, so I'm going to see if anyone over at the US forum gets one of the $800 Panamorph lenses for their HT1000 and has any problems.

Gary.

Yes.
Min zoom=image as small as possible.

CKA.