Glasses Free 3D

[jayn_j]

Jay- which model did you own? FYI, mine began to fail in a big way in the early 90's. The deflection yoke's insulation began to fail and I actually rewound two of them to breathe new life, then after going through all that trouble, I met a local TV repair tech here who had a bunch of them in his garage. I gathered up freebees from his junk and kept my old CRT alive for another 7 years. Finally my wife said Please buy a new one! She would see all those new Sony's and Electrohome projectors at CES and wish I would just ditch the old Novabeam. (Later known as the Videobeam from Advent.) So when we had our roof replaced on the house, they had a big dumpster outside and I hauled the whole thing and tossed it in the big dumpster screen and all. Then bought the electrohome from that local repair guy, used of course.

Since goijng digital projectors I have made several upgrades. I moved to a Dwin and that thing was about to break the bank with new bulbs. I switched to a BenQ when I went to 1080P. That one wasn't cheap either but the powersupply went up in smoke about 3 months out of warranty and they didn't want to know me. So I ought a cheap Panasonic 1080P LCD and it was so bad on color, very harsh but I suffered with it for about 6 months until I could get the Sony 3D PJ. The bulbs are plentiful and last me about 2500 hours and only cost about $100 ( not from Sony of course). I use the thing hard, about 8 hours a day. But I turn it on just once each day, usually about 6PM to 2AM. I would like to have a 4K 3D Sony but want to see that track record first. I've seen it and it is really a beautiful picture. Like you, I would prefer to get 10 years from the Sony I now have before moving to 4K. There still is much to refine in that end of the market yet, not to mention available media and HDMI specs. I like the server idea Sony and now others have as that eliminates the high cost of optical per title.

Anyway, were way off topic for glasses free but frankly, with exception of the glasses free screens on my cameras, I don't see that as ready for prime time yet. I prefer passive for long hours of 3D editing and active on the big screen in the HT.

I also had the 3 tube horizontal model with a 7' screen. I think I paid just under $3k for it back in 1977. Paid $750 for that Magnavox laserdisc player as well. It wasn't very bright and demanded full darkness in the room. The curved screen gave a very small sweet viewing spot. That was good for a single engineer. I used to run tech for the local community theater, so we had a few cast parties at my house centered around the projector. Kinda nice to be bunched up around all the young wannabee actresses

As I said, I got transferred to California in 1981. By then I was married and expecting our first child, so I sold it to a friend. It was working perfectly. He continued to use it for another 5 years. I didn't put together another front projector system until the current one, although I did have several rear projectors.

I bought the current setup at a time I felt the industry had stabilized on 1080p and the new audio codecs became available. I knew 3d was on the horizon, but decided I could live without it. I've lived through several previous pushes into theatrical 3d and generally find it wasn't worth it. We have been satisfied with 2d versions of most of the 3d titles.

The way I figure it, my next upgrade will be to 4k. I will consider 3d at that time, but it would be a want, not a must. Kind of the same for ATMOS. I see it as evolutionary, but not revolutionary. I can definitely see the advantage of 4k on the big screen though and will look then. But that won't be until HDMI/HDCP stabilizes and the next generation of projector tech is proven. Oh yeah, and the early adopter price premium goes away. Probably 3-4 years.

 

[TheForce]

From here:http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/19...ideo-signal-video-input-projection-television


The scanned magazine article I found here http://www.walvisions.com/ArchivePages/walvisions__kloss_novabeam_1_1A_2_reviews.htm even mentions flat screens. (The Video Review article.)

Must have been after my time, after I moved from NY to Florida. Oh the first link did say 1986. I had heard they were making the 5 ft model but in the 70's that screen was never sold by Kloss. Plus the actual screen was 72" diagonal, not 6 1/2 ft. They must be including the frame which was about 3"

On those 5 ft screens, there is an interesting story behind those too. The guy I worked for in Middletown NY partnered with a guy named Muntz who built a projection TV from a Sony TV set and aimed it at the 5ft screen off a mirror reflection. We got in a truck load of those screens to sell with the Muntz TV but the brightness level was so poor we changed the design to a 3 ft screen. Those 5 ft screens sat in the basement of our warehouse. I won't bet on it but I wonder if that shipment of 5 ft'ers came from Kloss. Back then I didn't follow that end of the business that much. I was busy just working on installations and fixing the stuff we sold in the area. Yes the Muntz was the same guy on TV in the LA area many are familiar with. Was in the used car business too. Quite a character! Muntz TV's were a real POS compared to the Kloss system. I did what I could with his design fixing a couple tech problems and the brightness but couldn't work miracles. Most people traded up to the Kloss in a few months anyway.