Rear Projection and a Curved Screen

Looks nice, but I think the size is to small (altho I can't find any). In my opinion half an oval dome would be more suitable.

I tried something similar a few months ago. Not with a dome, but with iron tube frame, a sheet clear polycarbonate and a cheap white shower curtain. The sheet is curved and tilted. The tilt is to replicate the angle of the front windescreen of a car. The middle part of the screen has a slight curve then becomes more to the sides and flatens at the ends.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEWvYjKnL18&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFtg73-QCuI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4okPtSh33o&feature=related

In video 1 its first filmed from the PJ position and then from the inside. In side you can see the hotspot from the PJ, the PJ was setup/maunted to low.
In video 2 you see my solution for a higher position of the PJ :lol: , but the hotspot is no more in your view. You also see the frame that holds the sheet of polycarbonate and you see the creases of the shower curtain :whistlegrin: .
Video 3 is an ai car shasing a nother car from the ponit where my head would be if I sat in my seat.

As you can see the image is of poor quality due to the rental PJ and my lack of knowledge of PJ's. I haven't used Sol7 for this as I first need a better PJ, so at the moment the project is on hold to raise more funds :5+5: .

Image quality was :thbd: , but the immersave feeling was :freu: :clap: :yippiee: .

Total build cost so far, about 60 euro's including the rental PJ.

Try to look for spherical mirror like http://www.atop.cz/foto_004.htm they make them 1m dia. from polycarbonate, i belive if you contact company which makes them they could sold unpaint mirror. Mirrors are cheap and should have good optical characteristics.

We were more inclined to go with a front projected image as opposed to using mirrors I am using Nthusim correction software so the warpage should not present a concern.
Frex canopy is only 40 X 20 X 12 and speaking to a few owners the general conscious is the Frex is too small.
Ours would be much larger.

I was thinking an oval may be a better choice but the angles of an oval may not transfer to a workable projected image.
I may make a trip to Maine (the outlet) to get a firsthand look at our options as I do not want to spend time and money only to find it is the wrong size or shape.
We truly believe this is a workable idea but as I stated earlier we need feedback and suggestions on what may or may not work.

The link to the street light was just thought; if someone was building a custom rig it looked like a great way to build a radial looking enclosed cockpit especially if you could project the image from the front

If you find a suitable clear dome, your biggest problem would to get the rearprojection paint evenly spread on the dome. I gues carefully appliing it with a spray gun would be your best option.
I know that 3M has a thinfilm adhesive (large sticker) that will do the same as the paint, but it's very expensive.
Don't know what the cost of this is, but it's also for rear projection.

Edit:
Just saw that you are located in GB :hi: . This might also be interresthing.

I'm the person who has been discussing this acrylic dome display with Brightonuk...

The size of the half-dome mentioned is 60 diameter x 30 high. Which would give 60 wide x 30 high x 30 deep when chopped into a quarter-dome like the Frex CanopyScreen. That's plenty big - in fact, I think it's actually too big and the 48x24x24 version may be better. It's also cheaper - this smaller one would work out $125 per quarter-dome and it's still bigger than the Frex.

I have no experience of the application of rear-projection paint, but I'm sure this is the same problem faced by any surface you're painting it with?

One question I have about the acrylic domes is how the thickness affects the image. Apparently the Frex screen is around 2mm, whereas the domes we are considering are available in both 4.7mm (3/16) and 6.35mm (1/4). Which do you think would be best?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkDQgC8JPRo

Third Attempt......... it is Wings of Prey but you get the idea.

I will have some behind the wheel video posted next week.

As I stated in the You Tube video personally I do not think the big ass curved screen is the way to go unless you use three beamers.
And IMOO you need a much bigger width to do that concept justice (considering the price tag and WAF of three PJs hanging from the ceiling).

The size of my image is great but the image is way below what you achieve using an LCD, although the Panasonic PJ is 1080i. I just do not get that emersion factor I am looking for.
The crappy video still gives an impression of total emersion but that is just not the case, again you feel detached from the experience due to the fact that you are x distance from the image.

At this point I still have to say the VCsims setup while lacking in the motion area is hands down the best emersion I have experienced.

May be if enough of us request he may sell just his screen setup. I will be the first in line if he does (without the ridiculous price tag).

I am sure the dome concept is a valid one I got the GOO screen paint, now I need to decide on what size dome remembering I am using one PJ.
I hope to start on this in a few weeks

As A side note I have about 1/2 Gallon of silver screen paint that i am givng away just cover $10 for the FedEx postage anyone want it shoot me a PM (CUS only Please) it must be sprayed on you cannot use a paintbrush or a roller to apply it.

You are doing very nice investigations on this stuff. Very interesting, so please go on with your excellent reporting.

I have a question which is not clear to me.
What is with the lost of accurate Focus on such a setup ( curved screen or triple screen with one PJ )?
With nthusim you can morph the output to your needs but is the deficit of sharp focus in huge areas of the projection not annoying ?

Best regards
newman

This is my biggest concern with a curved screen - loss of focus on the sides. I guess it's debatable what impact this has in a driving sim, considering the most blurry portions are those in our peripheral vision... Hoping to do some testing now that I have a PJ and a flexible front-projection screen...

I tried without correction software and the bigist issue was the shape of the image the focus really is a non issue.
I did not find it was out of focus then again that will all depend on the size and shape of your screen.
As you said the main area is straight ahead not the peripheral.

I still hope that the dome concept will work better than the screen
(It is a hassel as the dome has to come from Maine so I need to get it right the first time I am in Florida)as I pointed out in previous posts the size is great but the emersion factor is just not there with a curved screen.

I Need Advice Guys

I am fighting trying to figure what I am going to do I realy really need some advice on what direction to go.

My two choices thus far is ether a Dome (cut in half) or an oval dome an encapsulate the whole sim.

If I go with the 1/2 Dome I Place it in front of the sim and have a curved view (Projecting from the front) easy and fool proof.
I was figuring 40 X 20 High

http://www.cleardome.com/cddn.jpg

If I go with a oval dome I have a much more aggressive curve at the front but have the option of adding two more PJs at each side to get a close to 360 degree image and an encapsulated sim.
The size will be the 28 X 46

http://www.cleardome.com/cd2846.jpg

Do you think the oval dome will work? as this seems the way to go it is more challenging with the projected image and the curvature of the dome but if it works it would be an upgradable project.

The 1/2 oval is a sure thing IMOO easy to project below are some links to the two options I am contemplating.

Oval Dome
http://www.cleardome.com/ovaldomes.htm

Dome
http://www.cleardome.com/domes.htm

Thanks for any input

Dome topic continues here: sim-dome-rear-projection-on-goo-paint-t2839.html