Continued Refinement

Below is a collection of images of the table running at the improved scale.
The operating resolution is set to 1280x720.  With a max resolution of 1400x1080 or some such.  I've run it at max res and it looks good.  The InFocus XS1 does a good job of scaling resolutions over it's native 1024x768.  It is also worth nothing that the machine I'm using to drive this table is a Toshiba M200 which does not have digital output.  Using DVI I could probably get higher fidelity of image.  Still, I'm not about to start complaining!

Worth noting, the image projected is still blurred due to the double reflection of rear faced mirrors compounded by using two of them.  I'm waiting till I'm completely done testing to attempt the task of removing the protective coating from the rear face of the mirror due to the delicate nature of the then unprotected mirrors.

When in use, I added rigid cardboard along the long edges to minimize the camera seeing a passer by.

Apparently Rosco Grey suffers from hot spots fairly significantly.  Unless viewed straight on, the image is very muted into the far distance.  The photos below actually do not show the level of muting which is visible to the naked eye.

  

  

 

Happy Accidents

As I've stated numerous times in previous posts, mirror placement has been a complete bear.  Well, for various reasons I found myself needing to move the test table temporarily.  This process was slow and involved as the parts are not fastened down in a solid way.

The table moved, cleaning of the space commenced and I hear that there was an accident involving a vacuum cleaner being shoved into the projector side of the case repeatedly.  Egads!

When I got home the signs were there that tampering with the delicate parts of the table had occurred.  The IR Ribbon power cable which I'd reinforced was protruding at a very unattractive, freightening angle.  Fearing the worse I rolled out the support cables and powered the bad boy on.

My first shock was in discovering that the projector wasn't displaying.  Opening the case I was greeted with the sight of the projector resting on it's lense pressed heavily on one of the mirrors! Oh noes!

I gently tilted the projector back into place cursing my not having crafted an upper latch yet, and inspected the mirror for damage.  Since the projector hadn't been on for too long there were no signs of heat damage and there were no new scuffs in the already scuffed section of mirror I've been using for testing.  Whew.

Next I plugged my laptop/control computer back into system and fired it up for real.  The first thing I noticed as an even blur across the image.  Ugh, the projector mishap had messed up my focus.  Grumbling I reopened the case and adjusted the focus.  Close, check, open, adjust, close, check, good.

The second thing of note wasn't apparent until after I'd logged into windows.  The focus was nearly completely even.  I could easily read text in both the near and far height of the screen.  Sweet!

This test was with a different laptop, as I'd left my normal machine at work, I quickly jumped in to the display properties and set it for my normal 16:9 1280x720.  This produced the third most significant discovery.  The screen now contained 98% of the actual display being presented.  Roughly 5 pixels along the bottom edge (start bar) and maybe 2 pixels across the top edge (ui cruft) were clipped by the screen edges!

Tonight I will be spending some, very delicate, time measuring the mirror placements and recording angles.

Finally, I feel confident that I can begin planning and working on the final hardwood coffee table/case.

Here's a pre-party photo of my son playing on the table... literally.

Party Time!

This past weekend we had a party in which the table mock-up was setup.  Fun times!  It survived a number of under 10-year old's as well as their parents.  Thanks to the fire flash demo (the party was fire themed), it was a big success and the various mirror placement problems were not evident.