Rob McDonough
Well-known member
I think there is a lot of enthusiasm out there for this projector. While we wait for it, or for more details about it:
How would you like to use it?
What do you need the Laser projector to do?
What features would you like?
What will help it sell?
Some of it probably is what it is already, since it was thought that we were close to ready at one point, but important features can probably be added if they make the projector a better tool, or a more desirable display. Maybe a future upgrade.
We should probably separate consumer fom professional in some cases, since it would appear that the professional version will be coming first with the name of CRIMSON.
I am personally interested in the $10K price tag of the smaller version, myself, but larger venues are really cool, too.
I really want a beautiful, bright 4K projector for my home, but which is accurate enough to be used as an
evaluation grade monitor. I would like it to be so good that our best source footage needs to improve to catch up in order to
demonstrate the full 100% capability of the projector. I would like to be able to blow away the competition in side by side shootouts, and create an industry buzz that will lead and drive the 4K revolution resulting in a major upward shift in industry picture quality. It would need to hold it's own with the Sony 1000ES, or beat it, as well as compete with any next generation Sony 4K at lower prices. I'd like to be able to do some competitive shootout booty kickin'. Bring it!
I loved the modular laser idea. One module for home, rent an extra module or 2 for larger venue events. Great concept. What a rental projector! Hope that can come back to the home model, or a lower priced model at some point. Last we heard, this is for the larger venue model only.
Interchangeable lenses are good, optimized for each range. Wide zoom range lenses are flexible, but can create up to a 40% loss of brightness from short to long throw, or more, depending on the range. That is a Zoom aperture issue.
Quality lenses are essential for 4K. Resolving a 4 micron pixel pitch should be a starting target for today's common panel sizes.
Aspect: DCI 4K is 4096 x 2160, which is 17:9, or 1.896:1. More wide screen friendly. Requires multiple aspect modes for image sizing. Helps reduce black bars at full width. Less light and resolution loss with 2.35/2.40:1 wide screen movies. A smart move would be auto modes, and auto detection of black bars. With defeat of course.
Or start a new trend with 2:1 panels, or something else based on foresight. Even more of the above wide screen advantages.
Processing needs to make 1080P look better than ever on a 4K panel. Newer processing methods can make 4096 (or wider) 2.35 images look just as good as 3840 wide (not true for test patterns which prefer exact multiples), with less wasted light and resolution caused by black bars. Better use of the available panel area. Also needs to look good even with poor and low res sources. But for 4K level detail, it just can't skimp on the processing. Gotta be great and up to date.
Convergence! Panels out of alignment kills edge detail, critical to 4K performance and acceptance.
Brightness: For home use, I would like to see above 2K lumens. 800 or 1000 Lumens is just too dim for screens above 100” in many applications. I like being able to play easily in the 120 to 150” screen size range, even with some light in the room. 1300 to 1700 starts getting a lot more useful. 2K and above is great. Of course much more for commercial theaters.
(Although we should begin to think in terms of light sources like laser! which won't be rapidly fading from day one. That will be a huge plus, and make lower output options more useful, since we don't have to figure in a drop to half output after only 2000 hours or less.)
High Contrast: Got to have good blacks or forget it. Contrast makes the image. Target should be unmeasurable black levels with most standard meters. LCoS can do it.
Iris control is nice. Helps set ideal output level for comfort/screen size. Auto Iris is good if done right. Optimizes black level/white level to better simulate night and day levels. Should provide many options, from off to different speed and range options. I would like to see an auto iris on a variable scale, full range, or ability to ramp a reduced range up or down. Could auto detect 3D, to better balance 2D/3D brightness.
Different picture settings for 2D/3D, memorized separately. No adjusting back and forth. Should auto detect when 3D is applied.
Any auto mode should be defeat-able.
Servo lens motors, with memory. Allow for “anamorphic” (simulated) aspect, zooming, focus, and shift setting storage for a number of image aspects, quickly and accurately switching back and forth between filling the vertical for 16:9 and the horizontal for 2.35:1, for example. Saves $10K or so on an anamorphic lens system. This method actually reduces optical
distortion, and allows for shorter throw options that anamorphic lenses don't like. Also, allow to custom label each memory per
user's applications.
Auto detecting of the above, so 16:9 menus could auto switch to a 2.35 movie.
Cropping (blanking) of 16:9 vertical down to 2.35:1 for those who wish to stay wide screen all the time, even with loss of image. (Not ideal, but some customers/installers/applications want it for low cost solution and no black bars ever.)
Anamorphic squeeze/expand modes for those who wish to pay for an additional external lens, rather than just zoom in and out. Should have modes for both Horizontal Expansion lenses, and Vertical Compression (VC can serve as a cheaper, longer throw option.)
[Sensed by the projector, perhaps auto sensing, to optimize anamorphic sources: create players with full vertical resolution output regardless of aspect, no black bars eating up data space. Black bars should be decided upon and added as needed by the display based on encoded aspect. Recording black bars mastered onto the 2.35 media like current Bluray is a ridiculous waste of space and vertical resolution.]
Must have capability of selecting HDMI range (Limited: 16-235 and Full 0-255, in a number of server applications, as well as with more typical consumer sources. Auto select would be great. This has to be properly matched between source and display, or washed out images, dynamic range compression, or crushed blacks and clipped whites are the result.
A manual dowser could be awesome for screen blanking in some more commercial applications.
DCI color space and color temp. Other up and coming color space options? Laser should provide wide color space.
And of course, accurate color, and color management, with accurate calibration options for system calibration including the screen, equipment, cables and room. Laser light should provide stability.
In addition to projector enthusiasts, I am curious to see what the camera and post guys want and what would help in grading, besides consistent output and accurate color in general.
How would you like to use it?
What do you need the Laser projector to do?
What features would you like?
What will help it sell?
Some of it probably is what it is already, since it was thought that we were close to ready at one point, but important features can probably be added if they make the projector a better tool, or a more desirable display. Maybe a future upgrade.
We should probably separate consumer fom professional in some cases, since it would appear that the professional version will be coming first with the name of CRIMSON.
I am personally interested in the $10K price tag of the smaller version, myself, but larger venues are really cool, too.
I really want a beautiful, bright 4K projector for my home, but which is accurate enough to be used as an
evaluation grade monitor. I would like it to be so good that our best source footage needs to improve to catch up in order to
demonstrate the full 100% capability of the projector. I would like to be able to blow away the competition in side by side shootouts, and create an industry buzz that will lead and drive the 4K revolution resulting in a major upward shift in industry picture quality. It would need to hold it's own with the Sony 1000ES, or beat it, as well as compete with any next generation Sony 4K at lower prices. I'd like to be able to do some competitive shootout booty kickin'. Bring it!
I loved the modular laser idea. One module for home, rent an extra module or 2 for larger venue events. Great concept. What a rental projector! Hope that can come back to the home model, or a lower priced model at some point. Last we heard, this is for the larger venue model only.
Interchangeable lenses are good, optimized for each range. Wide zoom range lenses are flexible, but can create up to a 40% loss of brightness from short to long throw, or more, depending on the range. That is a Zoom aperture issue.
Quality lenses are essential for 4K. Resolving a 4 micron pixel pitch should be a starting target for today's common panel sizes.
Aspect: DCI 4K is 4096 x 2160, which is 17:9, or 1.896:1. More wide screen friendly. Requires multiple aspect modes for image sizing. Helps reduce black bars at full width. Less light and resolution loss with 2.35/2.40:1 wide screen movies. A smart move would be auto modes, and auto detection of black bars. With defeat of course.
Or start a new trend with 2:1 panels, or something else based on foresight. Even more of the above wide screen advantages.
Processing needs to make 1080P look better than ever on a 4K panel. Newer processing methods can make 4096 (or wider) 2.35 images look just as good as 3840 wide (not true for test patterns which prefer exact multiples), with less wasted light and resolution caused by black bars. Better use of the available panel area. Also needs to look good even with poor and low res sources. But for 4K level detail, it just can't skimp on the processing. Gotta be great and up to date.
Convergence! Panels out of alignment kills edge detail, critical to 4K performance and acceptance.
Brightness: For home use, I would like to see above 2K lumens. 800 or 1000 Lumens is just too dim for screens above 100” in many applications. I like being able to play easily in the 120 to 150” screen size range, even with some light in the room. 1300 to 1700 starts getting a lot more useful. 2K and above is great. Of course much more for commercial theaters.
(Although we should begin to think in terms of light sources like laser! which won't be rapidly fading from day one. That will be a huge plus, and make lower output options more useful, since we don't have to figure in a drop to half output after only 2000 hours or less.)
High Contrast: Got to have good blacks or forget it. Contrast makes the image. Target should be unmeasurable black levels with most standard meters. LCoS can do it.
Iris control is nice. Helps set ideal output level for comfort/screen size. Auto Iris is good if done right. Optimizes black level/white level to better simulate night and day levels. Should provide many options, from off to different speed and range options. I would like to see an auto iris on a variable scale, full range, or ability to ramp a reduced range up or down. Could auto detect 3D, to better balance 2D/3D brightness.
Different picture settings for 2D/3D, memorized separately. No adjusting back and forth. Should auto detect when 3D is applied.
Any auto mode should be defeat-able.
Servo lens motors, with memory. Allow for “anamorphic” (simulated) aspect, zooming, focus, and shift setting storage for a number of image aspects, quickly and accurately switching back and forth between filling the vertical for 16:9 and the horizontal for 2.35:1, for example. Saves $10K or so on an anamorphic lens system. This method actually reduces optical
distortion, and allows for shorter throw options that anamorphic lenses don't like. Also, allow to custom label each memory per
user's applications.
Auto detecting of the above, so 16:9 menus could auto switch to a 2.35 movie.
Cropping (blanking) of 16:9 vertical down to 2.35:1 for those who wish to stay wide screen all the time, even with loss of image. (Not ideal, but some customers/installers/applications want it for low cost solution and no black bars ever.)
Anamorphic squeeze/expand modes for those who wish to pay for an additional external lens, rather than just zoom in and out. Should have modes for both Horizontal Expansion lenses, and Vertical Compression (VC can serve as a cheaper, longer throw option.)
[Sensed by the projector, perhaps auto sensing, to optimize anamorphic sources: create players with full vertical resolution output regardless of aspect, no black bars eating up data space. Black bars should be decided upon and added as needed by the display based on encoded aspect. Recording black bars mastered onto the 2.35 media like current Bluray is a ridiculous waste of space and vertical resolution.]
Must have capability of selecting HDMI range (Limited: 16-235 and Full 0-255, in a number of server applications, as well as with more typical consumer sources. Auto select would be great. This has to be properly matched between source and display, or washed out images, dynamic range compression, or crushed blacks and clipped whites are the result.
A manual dowser could be awesome for screen blanking in some more commercial applications.
DCI color space and color temp. Other up and coming color space options? Laser should provide wide color space.
And of course, accurate color, and color management, with accurate calibration options for system calibration including the screen, equipment, cables and room. Laser light should provide stability.
In addition to projector enthusiasts, I am curious to see what the camera and post guys want and what would help in grading, besides consistent output and accurate color in general.
