Re: laser projector...

Kurt Mahan wrote:
>
> > > Hey, you only need about 400 small vectors (max for Sundance, typically only
> > > around 200) at 38hz for Cinematronics games!
> > > (You build the contraption, I'll write the driver!)
> > The thought of being able to play Tempest on a 12x12 wall has always
> > been a dream of mine.
>
> If the laser project works then there is gonna need to be a new sound
> system done to support total surround sound..
>
> It would also be cool to change things around so that tempest was like
> the original where the tube spun. You could get seriously sick.. :)
>
> I had a friend that worked at Evans & Sutherland -- she showed me what
> some of the cool total immersion simulators could do -- they can make you
> sick instantly.. I dreamed of running tempest and asteroids on their
> supervector genenerator that they used for planetariums.. It would have
> worked -- just the hardware cost was >500k.. *sigh*

I have always wondered that If you could run Tempest on a RGB laser
projector would the colors mix correctly? even if the convergence was
perfect... I have been to a bunch of the laser shows, but I dont
remember ever seeing other colors than RGB and yellow. (most of the show
projectors split the beam into these 4 colors). I would assume the
colors wont mix to make colors such as purple, cyan, etc. seeing as how
they had a separate beam for yellow..

I know I've told this story before, but it relates so I'll tell it
again. I had the chance to run Tempest on a 5-watt RGB+Y laser
projection platform (the laserist was a BIG tempest fan!). We had the
tempest outputs scaled to the right voltage levels through a simple
voltage divider and the platform had indefinetely variable 'z' for each
channel so it would work fine! and all we had to do was strip out a
tempest cabinet and make a 'snake' for the tempest control panel to run
out into the theater (it was in an OMNIMAX theater). We never got the
chance to finish the project because the laserist decided to drop acid
on the 4th of July and his trip lasted 2 days.. he was on probation
after that so we had to drop the idea.. the screen would have been 80 ft
high and there was 6,000 watt sound system at our disposal.. and you
would play the game sitting in the middle of an OMNIMAX theater!

It sucked to be that close and to have to scrap the project just because
the laserist was a dumbass..

we know it would have projected fine because the galvo's were fast
enough to keep up with the game, but I dont know how the screen would
have looked. I would think it would have been distorted because of the
pincushioning compensation (like when you view Tempest on an O-scope).
And we could never figure out if the colors would mix the right way
though, so we thought we might as well just try it, now we will never
know.. I guess we could have tried asteriods and that would definately
have worked fine.. We wanted to run Star Wars (imagine the trench scene
on an 80 ft screen!), but figured that would over-tax the galvos..

Jeff
Received on Tue Jan 13 15:35:20 1998