Widescreen Gaming Forum

HDCP actually is fully functional if you use nVidia Surround. One would assume it's also functional with EyeFinity. It's not functional with TH2G though. Regardless of HDCP status, just use AnyDVD HD and open the m2ts file with Media Player Classic right from the disc using Combined Community Codec Pack. AnyDVD HD is a lifesaver for those that want to do multiscreen or multi-projector. Avatar and the latest Star Trek look great on my setup in 2.35:1. Also, NTHUSIM 2.0 is out now with improved video playback compatibility. No need to mess with video renderer types now, it just works with EVR and VMR9 renderers. :)

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

The center screen always appears darker than the two outside screens. Is that a temporary problem you know about that will be corrected with the final screen material?

Also, how many women have offered to have your babies since you set this thing up? :hide

It was a temporary thing that is now fixed. Was a mixture of out of focus and color settings off on that particular projector and looked a lot worse because of the edge blending overlap areas too. The edge overlap is still there slightly in the blacks when watching low light video in the edge blending areas, but it's a marginal issue. :)

Most of my hobbies are women repellant. :doh

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

I've not updated the build thread in awhile, so I'll chime in on a bit of the current progress. At the moment I've been doing a few new videos and pondering a screen redeisgn to be more portable. It's fun having this setup, but it's physically stuck in it's current location with the current design. I'm wanting to make a more portible design where I can setup anywhere now that I know things really work.

I have a few more YouTube videos up on my YouTube channel -- BHawthorne72. They're nothing that professionally done, just uncut footage of a few things in 720p. Previously I was only doing 640x480 videos, so the resolution improvement is a bit better. I purchased two Sony Bloggie flash camcorders earlier in the year to attempt to take better HD videos but the Bloggie is FAIL for low light capture. My current video capture testing is attempting to use Logitech C910 and two C510 Webcams. Much better low light use, but the frame rate and frame drops are making that an annoying solution too. If I don't figure out the issues with the Webcams the next solution will be to ebay off some spare stuff and pick up a Canon T1i DSLR and a wide angle lens to do the 1080p and 720p video capture. Of all the stuff in my price range ~$500 USD the DSLR looks to be the most professional looking video capture. I would have never associated DSLR with video, but whatever works... :wink:

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

Thanks for the update BH. Any ideas on how to make the screens mobile? When you say mobile, do you mean in the sense that you can disassemble/reassemble them easily when you move to a new house, or do you think you would be taking the screens elsewhere more frequently?

Thanks for the update BH. Any ideas on how to make the screens mobile? When you say mobile, do you mean in the sense that you can disassemble/reassemble them easily when you move to a new house, or do you think you would be taking the screens elsewhere more frequently?

I am pondering a build using chain link fence piping and electrical conduit bolted together as a frame for the screen. The materials I plan on just buying from the local Home Depot and making it so everything would be able to be purchased there for the build.

I recently purchased some chain link fence piping there for an outdoor tarp tent build I did. It was simple enough to work with that material with a hack saw and a cordless drill that I think anyone could use that as a basis for the build. I'll probably need to also pick up a $50 manual pipe bender to do the arc at Harbor Freight. Once all built and refined I'll just rattle-can paint the poles with flat black grill paint or whatever sticks well to galvanized metal surface. I should have a better thought out screen design along those lines in the short term -- tentatively within a month or so time frame if I don't get sidetracked on other crazy tangents. :wink:

My portable screen design is in mind for setting up and taring it down as needed. Not everyone wants an ungodly huge circular screen taking up a room 24-7. Besides it would be very cool to be able to drag the setup to local LAN parties. At least in my area that have 150+ people lan parties monthly.

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

I got a PM earlier today that seemed like it would be helpful for others to know the answer to the questions asked. I'll copy it here for the benefit of everyone else.

I have a few questions, if you don't mind answering, that I'd like to address before I actually purchase all the equipment.

1. What is the minimum amount of space I would need to setup that same or slightly smaller projection setup you have? I noted you used a 13x13 foot room, but were the projectors also placed in that 13 foot proximity, or is it outside that area?

2. Immersaview Sol7's software is another issue I'm trying to work out. Is there any other software out there that will do a similar effect? If not, what features did you use out of the software? I really need help with this part of the whole setup. I saw you payed 430AU, roughly 380 US? That's not too bad, but are they still offering this same deal, and if so, do they have that DX10/11 support now? Thanks.

3. What was the total cost of your screen setup that you have?

Thank you again.

1) The minimum space required is pretty much dictated by the lens throw of your projectors. You really need to limit your projector search to 0.5:1 or 0.6:1 ultra-short-throw DLP projectors -- preperably at least 1024x768 or higher resolution and 3D Ready to give you up to 120hz refresh rates. I would go no smaller than a 12x6 foot half-circle screen -- preferably with 0.5:1 ultra-short-throw projectors. You could probably get away with doing it in a 10x5 foot half-circle, but the tighter the curve the harder it is to setup.

2) ImmersaView has rebranded it's non-commercial line of pre-warp software to now be called NTHUSIM Standard and NTHUSIM Plus. They have a website and wiki for users over at http://www.nthusim.com. They just added DX10, DX10.1 and 64-bit OS support with NTHUSIM 2.1. NTHUSIM 2.2 will most likely have full DX11 support also.

3) Breaking down the build cost -- Roughly $100 for the screen canvas, plastic trim and black paint. Around $800 each for the Optoma EX525ST projectors (there are better options out now than the EX525ST though). Two nVidia GTX470 video cards, or an ATI 5870 video card.

Keep in mind that my particular setup is meant to be proof of concept and it is rough around the edges. A more professional build can be accomplished with high quality 4-ply fiberglass screen material from ebay and a better trimmed out and finished looking room. My main priority was to do a proof of concept and show others it's merely possible to do with COTS equipment you can buy at any store.

You really should check out the nthusim.com website. It's still new, but there is a growing community of users there pioneering these types of builds and sharing their troubleshooting experience. Don't be afraid to build something like this if you are comfortable with tinkering with computers and DIY projects. There are others that have done the same thing recently besides me that are happy to help you work through the specifics. The largest issue I've found so far is finding a spare room to do the build in.

Overall if you take anything away from this message, remember 0.5:1 or 0.6:1 short throw lens, at least 1024x768, and at least 12x6 foot area. Everything else basically just falls into place with those numbers.

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

BHawthorne well done,

This is an extremely insteresting thread, will be following it closely. I have been projector gaming since 2000, amazing to think my gamechair is now 10 years old.. it may be time for a change with all this eyefinity, edge blending, curve shape adjusting, and lost cost projectors around.

I have some questions, and some suggestions, mostly questions :), and one big request.

Suggestions:
1- Have you thought of using a TrackIR device? (headtracker) I wonder how that would feel with x3 setup, would it be too much movement? On my game I mounted one to a mechanical arm from a drafting lamp.
2- Possibly find a cougar joystick, and older thrustmaster pedals?, the metal ones..
3- Please Try World War II online. Its a great balance of simulation and massive combat, the graphics are not cutting edge but the gameplay is feature rich : planes, infantry, boats, tanks, virtual online battlefield 24hours a day, lot of the original airwarrior, warbirds, IL crowd and fighter ace crowd have ended up there sinces it is one of the last holdouts of true sim type combat games. I think you might love it with that setup especially. Nothing like staffing infantry on a big screen.

Questions

1- Have you considered making a dome? Is it possible with existing off the shelf games and hardware?
2- what do you think about this projector XD300U mitsubishi, a 96"x68" throw is 10', 2000 ansi, dlp about $350 used. I have one, course thats not what i payed for it new...5 years ago. Would probably be getting two more if i did x3 setup.
3- How is eyefinity working out? Do you need Thd2go also with it?
4- The radius of your curve would a less or more be better? or is it just right
5- Screen material. how about using some Da-Lite material and getting a nice contrast from it versus paint or canvas?
6- Are you using eyefinity? If I setup will have to buy 3 mini-port to vga adaptors since my projector only supports that, what are you using?
7- What is the size of the room you have including area where the projectors are projecting from?

Request :)
4- Please download WWII online, try it offline or online 2 weeks free and post screen shots of your setup, really need to see the inside of a plane in that game. Thank you! I have found the game to be pretty tough on my projector, its a bit dark and the camo on the infantry and planes against the background requires a good projector to get the contrast. I am an old Airwarrior II fan, 1994, this game still has that hard core 24 hour crowd, maybe you remember those days, when a 21" screen was something people could only dream of, even a 17" was remarkable.

I got a PM earlier today that seemed like it would be helpful for others to know the answer to the questions asked. I'll copy it here for the benefit of everyone else.

Thanks for posting the PM BHawthorne!

BHawthorne well done,

This is an extremely insteresting thread, will be following it closely. I have been projector gaming since 2000, amazing to think my gamechair is now 10 years old.. it may be time for a change with all this eyefinity, edge blending, curve shape adjusting, and lost cost projectors around.

I have some questions, and some suggestions, mostly questions :), and one big request.

Suggestions:
1- Have you thought of using a TrackIR device? (headtracker) I wonder how that would feel with x3 setup, would it be too much movement? On my game I mounted one to a mechanical arm from a drafting lamp.
2- Possibly find a cougar joystick, and older thrustmaster pedals?, the metal ones..
3- Please Try World War II online. Its a great balance of simulation and massive combat, the graphics are not cutting edge but the gameplay is feature rich : planes, infantry, boats, tanks, virtual online battlefield 24hours a day, lot of the original airwarrior, warbirds, IL crowd and fighter ace crowd have ended up there sinces it is one of the last holdouts of true sim type combat games. I think you might love it with that setup especially. Nothing like staffing infantry on a big screen.

Questions

1- Have you considered making a dome? Is it possible with existing off the shelf games and hardware?
2- what do you think about this projector XD300U mitsubishi, a 96"x68" throw is 10', 2000 ansi, dlp about $350 used. I have one, course thats not what i payed for it new...5 years ago. Would probably be getting two more if i did x3 setup.
3- How is eyefinity working out? Do you need Thd2go also with it?
4- The radius of your curve would a less or more be better? or is it just right
5- Screen material. how about using some Da-Lite material and getting a nice contrast from it versus paint or canvas?
6- Are you using eyefinity? If I setup will have to buy 3 mini-port to vga adaptors since my projector only supports that, what are you using?
7- What is the size of the room you have including area where the projectors are projecting from?

Request :)
4- Please download WWII online, try it offline or online 2 weeks free and post screen shots of your setup, really need to see the inside of a plane in that game. Thank you! I have found the game to be pretty tough on my projector, its a bit dark and the camo on the infantry and planes against the background requires a good projector to get the contrast. I am an old Airwarrior II fan, 1994, this game still has that hard core 24 hour crowd, maybe you remember those days, when a 21" screen was something people could only dream of, even a 17" was remarkable.

My plan is to upgrade my non-simpit flight controls when I can with deals on ebay. I've wanted to build a FreeIR setup for awhile now to experiment with, but haven't yet.

1) I originally pondered dome and after a recent dome build setup shown on the NTHUSIM site, I'm still pondering it in the future specific for the F-84F hanger/projection room. The problem is dome really limits your game selection because of how in-game cameras work. My current focus in general gaming, which requires a more traidional flat screen aspect ratio that I can use with a circular screen.

2) Not really sure about it other than street price on it certainly looks good. Geting the price of projectors down in the build however possible is something that will directly lead to a more cost effective build. Your single largest expense in a build is the projectors.

3) I've not used eyeFinity yet. I've been using Matrox TH2G and NVIDIA Surround both as needed. NVIDIA Surroud is still quite tempormental, so sometimes I revert to TH2G.

4) A wider radius is easier to configure projectors for, but is in direct conflict with getting that 180 degree full FOV in a build. It's hard to fit 180 degree into anything less than 12 foot diameter half-circle with 0.6:1 short-throws. that's why I'm really liking the 0.5:1 short-throws that I've seen on the market recently.

5) My primary concern with the initial build was "will it even work at all?", After getting past that long ago, I do need to look into better screen materials.

6) See answer #3 :)

7) The current room I am using is a 20 x 13 foor basement room. It has some ceiling beam and air ducting issues that are annoying but the space was otherwise unused for anything other than storage. My projectors are mounted at the center point of the radius of the 13 foot diameter half-circle -- putting the lens locations roughly 5.5-6 foot away from the screen.

Re: WW:II Online. When I get a chance I'll download the app and try it out. My attention span is a bit torn in 40 different directions, so don't expect immediate updates on this though. :wink:

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

thanks for detailed response. I am wondering if 180 degrees is really ideal, I was thinking maybe 150 degree beinig that i think would lose some image as it gets behind you. what do you think?

any motion sickness? read some posts that side images can cause some, looks like allot of fun, you really worked it out nice.