CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[racerxnet]

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I have an opportunity to get a 9500 with HD-10L lenses and researched that they would not focus well on a 92 inch width screen (not diagonal). Are we sure that is the case and if so, is the GT-17 lens in order.

MAK

[Tim in Phoenix]

Hello

Edge focus may be compromised, or there just might not be enough range in the 10L to focus anywhere. I have some 17s if you need them, just PM me.

HD10E's are awesome, but are costly and hard to find.

[cmjohnson]

Which version HD-10L? Old version, made by 3M/USPL, or new version, with a VDC label and part number and actually made by Elcan, a division of Raytheon?

Actually I believe that you can use the older ones at a larger screen sizes than the book says, but they're not optimized for that size and range.

HD-10Fs are very good as well, alongside the GT17s.

I think I can spare a set of GT17s.

[greg9518lc]

If you have the 3m version you will be fine. Mine actually outperform gt17 and the eclans but what do I know. Congrats
On the 9500 I am sure you will appreciate the upgrade.

[koldby]

As far as I know and my experience with the new VDC HD10L lenses they are very capable of focusing on bigger screens than 92".
Mine are in the middle of their operating range on a 110" screen.
I think , cmjohnson, you nailed it in another forum:

Incidentally, the "new" VDC labelled HD-10L lenses are made by Elcan, a division of Raytheon, and the story behind them is that
US Precision Lens very abruptly stopped making the whole HD-10 series of lenses and did not even give VDC the opportunity to
make a final buy, which is kind of traditional among most companies.

VDC didn't have enough lenses in stock to even provide their current orders with lenses so they had to go into Scramble Mode.

They ended up working with Elcan to design the "new" HD-10L which is not at ALL like the old HD-10L.

Since VDC was ordering different lens types depending on the customer's application, and it would have been ruinously expensive
to get Elcan to tool up to make several different specialized versions of the HD-10 (like a GT17 variant and a small screen L variant, to name two) they decided to try to design a range of lenses that was as versatile as possible.

I know that Elcan made at least two lens variants. One is the newer HD-10L which has a lot of distance and screen size range capacity, and the other is the HD10GT26 which is meant for very large screen sizes.

I briefly spoke to one of the engineers at Elcan who was involved in the HD-10L project and he said that meeting the specs for that lens
was kind of difficult. But they got a lens that is equal to, or superior to, every lens that it replaces.

Since Elcan mostly makes optics for military applications, it comes as no surprise to learn that the quality and performance of the lenses will be about as good as it can be.

I never learned what VDC ended up paying to get the new lenses made, but I heard that they cost VDC "roughly twice as much" as the lenses they got from USPL. They are VERY expensive lenses.

[cmjohnson]

I do remember writing that!

Just for fun, because I can do it, I'm going to grab a USPL version L lens and directly compare its characteristics to an Elcan L lens,
and stick the GT26 on for fun as well.

Sadly I have only ONE GT26. I would like to complete the set.

I was given the GT26 when VDC recently moved to a new location. It was free and it's perfect condition,
but I only got one.

I have extra sets in stock of the USPL L model, GT17s, and HD10Fs. While I do also have two sets of Elcan Ls, I have not chosen to part company with the second set as they're always on my test unit. When I have completed all planned tests as I try to
make G90 magnetics run perfectly in a Marquee, then I will probably allow myself to sell one set of them.

[gregstv]

Any idea of a set of HD10f sent to Australia?