CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[DrKnow65]

Hello Gentlemen (and ladies but I haven't gotten to that thread yet ,

My name is Jeff and I'll be around for a while so I thought I would introduce myself and open a thread that I will use to log my journey through the land of CRT.

I have recently changed career paths from an auto mechanic of 14 years into the field of home integration, I've been at the new job for about 8 months now and am enjoying it alot. I work for Electronics System Consultants here in Aspen, CO. It's a small company but we do some fairly large jobs. We deal with alot of AMX, Lutron, and RTI based systems, home A/V and user interface for the most part, we also do theaters but it is not our sole focus.

I recently received a Vidikron Vision One in a recent "employee giveaway" the company did to clear the shelves of old gear. It is in good shape with low hours and just got a new power supply. I just ceiling mounted the CRT in my master bedroom and only have done some basic adjustments to get an idea of how it will look as the project matures. This is not my primary display (LCD in the living room), but will see use regularly. The room it's in is long and narrow, 11' wide by 16' long, with a bed at one end and two doors at the other. the end with the doors will be where the screen will hang. I'm going to do a DIY screen that will swing down from the ceiling when I want to use it. No fancy lifts or actuators, the projector is solid mounted and the screen will have hinges and a latch to keep it up.

The Vidikron has HD10 GT17 lenses so it's 133-1/2" from the screen (over the bed, yikes!), the image will be 102-1/2" wide in a 16:9 viewing format. I'm planning on going with a HTPC, Bluray, and PS3 (when I upgrade from my PS2). The V1 has the traditional RGBHV input and no other special cards.

The punch list is plenty long at this point but the major persuits are standard to the forum, setup, focus, control, and source gear.

I've invested a bunch of hours on the forum looking at the manuals, tips and tricks, and tuning info related to the Elecrihome Marquee 9500LC line which I understand to be the platform the V1 was built on. I'm going to shoot for a working standard with the V1 in it's current shape befor I no doubt start persuing mod's...

I will be posting questions in random threads and will be most apreciative of the help you can throw my way. I'll keep coming back to this thread with updates to questions, problems, and solutions I come into.

Thanks for the time you all put in,
Jeff (DrKnow65)

[DrKnow65]

Question #1, where can I locate a (freeware?) program of some test images for focusing my V1? I'm aware of signal generators and do own a realy nice dual channel digital oscilliscope, but if I could just use my PC it would be a plus.

I used the internal test patterns for a rough alignment/focus, but there is a visual difference between them and the input signal, so using the input as the source for tuning seems the only way to go.

I am projecting on a flat primer white wall untill I locate some blackout backing and start my DIY screen. I hung a white bed sheet but it has a reflective glare from the wall behind... I can't do the "paint on screen" because there ar two doors on either side that the image overlaps onto by about 8" on both sides.

My budget will be about $200 a month give or more likley take the same amount again.


For now it's back to bed (2:30 am, went to bed too early tonight) but I will check back in the evenings usually between 10 and midnight as I put in an average of 65 hours a week at work.

Thanks again

[kschmit2]

You can get very good patterns here:

http://www.w6rz.net/

They are made by one of the most experienced professional hardware encoder designers out there

[DrKnow65]

Sweet!! No time this morning to down load any, got to run of to work, but they have been put in the favorites list.

Now I just need to know what they all do Which ones does one use for basic focus and convergence?

Thanks Kschmit2, quick reply and awsome info!

[cmjohnson]

As for your projector to screen distance, I think you're too far back.

120 inches from the center of the green lens to the center of the screen gives a 120 inch diagonal picture at 4:3, or 107 inches at 16:9.
Either way, it's an 8 foot wide picture.

This is within just a few inches of optimal as per the lens and placement formula. Easily compensated for within the projector's adjustments.

This setup will allow you to maximize the usage of the CRT's phosphor area, resulting in higher effective resolution capacity as the scan
lines are farther apart and longer, and greater output capability as you'll have more phosphor area in play to generate light. And, lower
contrast settings for a given screen brightness.

This is my own setup.


The 16:9 mod needs to be peformed if it hasn't already. Otherwise you may have trouble getting a correct 16:9 aspect ratio.


CJ

[Nashou66]

One thing you should check is the P14 voltage, it should be 6.35 volts.

Draganm is in colorodo and I am sure he'd love to help you out and service you PJ if you ever need it.
he is also offering an up grade to the Convergence amp so it doesnt drift as much. or you can do the procedeure
your self, its in my marquee thread.

Athansios

[draganm]

hi Jeff, as Athanasios mentioned, I'm in Brighton and have been working on these machines for about 6 years. It might be easier to just stop by and I can show you and explain every function and menu. Also, as CJ pointed out throw distance is absolutely critical. Even a foot too far back will degrade performance.

[Tim in Phoenix]

Hello


You can access the runtime hours by pressing UTIL, 9, 0901, 6, and 3. Let us know what you find.


.

[jantje112]

[DrKnow65]

Wow guy's! You are on the ball here. Give me a moment to compose myself.

Wow


Linched for the bed sheet huh? Did I mention the V1 was a freebee? Sorry- had to.

nashou66, is there a thread describing where to probe the P14 voltage (assuming at the power supply?)

cmjohnson, I'm game to move the projector location, it's easy since I have not sheetrocked the ceiling yet and have full access to the floor joist's. I went with the HD-17GT lense numbers from the manual for the calculation. It's currently 117" from screen location horizontally to the base of the projector like it shows in the manual (the 133" number was this weeks goal based on being half way between the min/max HTD listed in the manual, the coresponding width is straight across the screen not diagonal). I know it's either too close or too far because while doing the mechanical focus the edges of the screen are not coming completly into focus, I have the outer focus ring pegged clockwise- viewed looking into the crt lense if that's a good clue? If there is a better location I'll make the change befor getting too far into test patterns ect.

Is 120" the best number to go with, acounting for the lenses? I can put it exactly where it needs to be and fit the screen to match.
What is the 16:9 mod?

draganm, very cool offer. Brighton is 187.2 miles or 3 hours 17minutes away. We're hoping to put togeather a Denver trip to go see a few dogs, and hopefully bring home a playmate for my boxer from one of the pitbull rescue shelters. We don't have breed laws here... Mabey I could coax the wife into giving me some extra time? I'll try to let you know in advance so we discuss what works best for you. Very cool offer. I'll start looking into a good screen but cash is king- lots of kids to keep in mind.

P.S. just googled "Draper fixed frame" $$$ dang. I think I'll go with the cheap fix for now and upgrade after I'm addicted
Where can I find a list of the TSB's ? (familiar with the term auto mechanics use them too)

Tim in pheonix, did the hour check and it's 703 hours use and 0 hours in standby.
How is this as far as tube wear goes?

[Nashou66]

[bbfarmht]

HAHA I'll be the first to officially say-------

YOU SUCK!!!!!!


Welcome to the CRT addiction.


Hi, I'm Adam and I'm a CRT addict!!

[DrKnow65]

Thanks nashou66, I'll get on the placement and screen options. P14 shouldn't be too bad except the projector is up side down Either way it's worth protecting the tubes.

[DrKnow65]

bbfarmht, yup

[Nashou66]

Selecting placement of the CRT is best done after you select the screen size. then you maximize the mage on the tube face so your not wasting any phosphor.
Keep the image at least 5-7mm away from any edges so you dont blow up the tubes!!! the you turn on only the green by pressing Color then 2. only the green will turn on.
have your image on, prefferable an over scan image from DVE disc, then move the PJ back or forward till it fills the screen. If you have it mounted and dont have a screen yet then do as i said in maximizing the raster, project the image onto the wall and pic a screen to those exact dimensions.
But i'd pull down the PJ and revers the scan set it up on the floor(bed ) then set it up for the screen size you want. this way you can set it up better while on the floor then just transfer it to its final location up top.


oh and you DO SUCK !!!! Welcome to the You Suck Club !!!!


Athanasios

[AnalogRocks]

Cool a new guy that got a top shelf projector almost free! I hate you! Welcome to the fourm.

PS YOU SUCK!

[AnalogRocks]

Cool a new guy that got a top shelf projector almost free! I hate you! Welcome to the fourm.

PS YOU SUCK!

[Nashou66]

I wonder if he'll need new bellows ! Draganm can check that out when he goes to check it out!!

Athanasios

[DrKnow65]

I thought the lense's dictate the throw and screen size?

[Nashou66]

those formulas are a bit conservative, most set up the tube face first then set up the distance according to that.


Athanasios

[DrKnow65]

With the projector mounted where it is now (117" HTD) I get roughly a 105" diagonal screen in the convergence view. That is with the size set to 50 horizontal and 50 vertical. Any more vertical and I think I'd be less than 4-5mm away from the edge. Kind of a guess though looking through a lens and all.

I don't have any restriction on screen size other than what is available (again assuming I can fork out some cash soon).

I think I'm seeing a new bag of worms too, slight noise in the picture (squigly vertical lines of dots) and a sharp bright dot centered in the bottom of the red and green tubes when looking in with the contrast below 10