Hello WSGF,
First and foremost I want to say that I am 100% new to this. 6 hrs reading this forum / watching youtube links is about all that I know at this point and Im sucked in. I found this forum searching for the ultimate triple monitor set up and stumbled apon the projector forum and have not left since.
So from what I have gathered, this is a rather precise science and there is alot to learn before you just jump into and buy some projectors. I tried looking for a FAQ or some sort of base set of information and couldn't find one, so Im making this post. I guess It will just come down to a few set of questions to help me get a better understanding and see if this whole concept is for me.
1. Do projectors in general provide a real crisp HD image? I cant help but think about the 5 year old projector that I used, and everything was just fuzzy and no definition to speak of. Compaired to my 1080p Monitor it didn't compare at all. Do todays projectors match up better?
2. I am working with a limited space and Im not sure what is available to me. 10ft Wall, 6ft viewing distance, 10ft throw, 9ft height. (Basic bedroom with a HT Recliner in the center). Would I be able to support 1,2,3 projectors at 720, 1080p?
3. I am in love with the curved screens (again came here looking for a triple monitor setup, Nvidia surround etc..) but I am a FPS / MMO gamer and heavy into Photoshop and Web design. I also enjoy watching movies on my computer, I dont think 180* FOV is something Im interested in, but 120* sounds really interested. Are there pro's and cons between flat, 120 and up to 180 degree FOV's?
4. I assume that there is software that warps, blends and makes everything look natural on these curved screens, in that software universal across my entire PC, i.e Photoshop, Web browsing, Desktop view etc? Will this software work on curved screens and 3D?
5. And I guess my last and most important question would come to, What are the end game price ranges for one of these set ups. I have little to no clue on Screen / Software / Hardware / Projector cost and am not sure if I should expect 1500 or 15000.
Well I hope that someone can stick though my rather newbie questions and give me some great answers to point me in the right direction!
Let me know if I need to address anything to better suit these forums properly.
-type
1. To put a bit of reality to it all unless you're using special Goo Paint for the screen surface your contrast and brightness will be nowhere close to LCD. The larger the projection area is the more spread out the projection light is. It's a tradeoff between size and brightness/sharpness. Don't expect LCD razor sharpness from projection. Go into it knowing that it's one of the downsides to these setups.
2. Limited space dictates the use of 1280x800 720p ultra short throw projectors like the GT720/GT750. Anything more than 0.72:1 lens throw simply won't work within 10 foot throw distance. That knocks out 100% of the 1080p projectors. My preference lately has been to use two GT720's on my setup. They're a bright and affordable projector. They don't have very many extras and it's reflected in the price. They do S3D and they're short-throw and those are the key benefits in them. I actually would suggest 0.49:1 ultra short throw projectors like the Dell S300 because you're wanting to go three projectors. NVIDIA dictates you use triple display, so if you go NVIDIA keep that in mind. There is no AMD Eyefinity 2x1L option for NVIDIA. It's either three projectors or one. My personal preference has been Eyefinity 2x1L lately. It's simply more cost effective from a build standpoint.
3. At the moment the largest issue you'll have is that desktop pre-warping is not enabled with most consumer pre-warping options. Working outside of DirectX or OpenGL fullscreen modes wouldn't have pre-warping. That might change soon as I've been speaking with Immersaview on integrating seamless desktop pre-warping into NTHUSIM. But as desktop pre-warping is not something any consumer fullscreen pre-warping products do without an extra purchase you'll find that an issue in using the setup for general desktop use. Keep in mind that while Immersaview is reviewing the idea, it doesn't mean it'll be for sure implemented. As far as screen setup 120 degree is a reasonable setup for both movie and gaming as a general screen configuration. 120 degree does gear itself to dual projector and not triple though unless you want to have significant projector overlap (which shouldn't be needed).
4. As I mentioned in 3 the consumer options for desktop+fullscreen aren't really out there on the market. You can get one or the other, but they're not in the same product and you'll have to switch between them. Until NTHUSIM implements it seamlessly like Immersaview did with SimVisuals this will be an issue. As for S3D, NTHUSIM works great with NVIDIA's 3D Vision Surround. I actually have 5 sets of 3D Vision kit glasses that I keep with my setup so everyone can watch 3D Blu-ray or gaming content.
5. A realistic at-cost DIY budget goal for a triple-projector setup would be:
$500-2500 for screen materials (depends on materials used and if it's fixed or portable)
$650-850 x 3 for the projectors
$500-600 x 2 for the video cards (GTX680)
$50-100 video cables
$50-150 x 3 projector mounts
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