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HD (High Definition) and a way to make it work??

Okay...

So I have a video screen that is about 60' wide by 16' tall being driven by by Catalysts machines though an Edge Blender to three XGA projectors. The problem is that I am no longer doing piece content but content that spans all three projectors. So basically, One Image and Three Projectors. This is a tremendous waste of Catalyst and the synchronization across Catalysts is killing me.

It makes much more sense for me to run a single media server to playback than to run three and try to sync them. I am interested in solutions.

For Instance:
Matrox makes a device called a TripleHead2Go. This is an idiot box that takes a single feed from a PC computer and splits it into three screens wide.
For example, I would set my PC to display 3072 x 768 (3072 is 3 x 1024). I feed this into the Box and it takes the first 1024 and puts it on monitor 1, the second 1024 on monitor 2, and the third on monitor 3.

The TripleHead2Go requires the source computer to have a custom raster size (in this case 3072 x 768) which it splits into three images. I use 1024 x 768 as my reference since that is the display resolution of my projectors.

The wish I have is that I could run two Catalysts outputting HD at 1080p on two sides of a DMX video crossfader and that from the crossfader I could output the HD file and split it to send a third each to the three screens.
Yes, to all of you who know... This sounds like a job for a screenPro2 from Folsom but since I don't have $60,000 to spend on that switcher, and I don't need it, I want to find a better and cheaper way which does the same job.
Any suggestions are appreciated.
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  • [quote=developer]
    what practical output resolution would you like to get to the projectors?

    The projectors are native at 1024 x 768. I would prefer to keep close to that with stills. What I normally do is build everything in photoshop and just cut the final files with a bit of overlap so that when placed, are pixel to pixel matched. The thing is, the pixels end up being a 1/4" x 1/4" in size. I know this seems small but the application is to be a background for a speaker standing within 10' of the screen. Since this is all on TV, graininess has to be minimal.

    [quote=developer]
    you might like to try running a single triple head 2 go at 640x480 to each projector with a single 1920x480 photo jpeg movie- split to each projector.

    Since you just got the software to do HD, I don't think I'll try to test it. Especially since the codecs are already specified for 1920 x 1080. What I will do though is just keep pjs at higher rez and zoom the file to the screen width.
    Also, because I cannot have any jerk, I probably won't jump right into photoJPG but keep content in a simpler codec. I would rather sacrifice color depth than divulge jitters.

    [quote=developer]
    i suspect a movie size of 3072 x 768 - isnt going to work just yet due to opengl and possibly os issues. i probably need to start testing larger movies in wider aspect ratios.

    Actually, my screen is 2816 x 768. Edge blending eats up 256 pixels.
    Until we jumped into the whole 3head2go discussion a short time ago, I was prepared to just propose buying a screenPro Scaler/Switcher. I had (and still have) been driving each of the three pjs with its own Catlyst.
    When I was using spandex and no edge blending, this method was fine because no one noticed differences between projectors. Now that It's one large edge blended screen, the seams between Catalyst can be seen.
    I have been creating content that is 2816 x 768 that I would chop to fit on screens of 1024 x 768 or 1760 x 480 which I would chop to 640 x 480.
    Oh and since your cap is 2048 x 2048, wouldn't that mean 3072 isn't possible anyway?
Reply
  • [quote=developer]
    what practical output resolution would you like to get to the projectors?

    The projectors are native at 1024 x 768. I would prefer to keep close to that with stills. What I normally do is build everything in photoshop and just cut the final files with a bit of overlap so that when placed, are pixel to pixel matched. The thing is, the pixels end up being a 1/4" x 1/4" in size. I know this seems small but the application is to be a background for a speaker standing within 10' of the screen. Since this is all on TV, graininess has to be minimal.

    [quote=developer]
    you might like to try running a single triple head 2 go at 640x480 to each projector with a single 1920x480 photo jpeg movie- split to each projector.

    Since you just got the software to do HD, I don't think I'll try to test it. Especially since the codecs are already specified for 1920 x 1080. What I will do though is just keep pjs at higher rez and zoom the file to the screen width.
    Also, because I cannot have any jerk, I probably won't jump right into photoJPG but keep content in a simpler codec. I would rather sacrifice color depth than divulge jitters.

    [quote=developer]
    i suspect a movie size of 3072 x 768 - isnt going to work just yet due to opengl and possibly os issues. i probably need to start testing larger movies in wider aspect ratios.

    Actually, my screen is 2816 x 768. Edge blending eats up 256 pixels.
    Until we jumped into the whole 3head2go discussion a short time ago, I was prepared to just propose buying a screenPro Scaler/Switcher. I had (and still have) been driving each of the three pjs with its own Catlyst.
    When I was using spandex and no edge blending, this method was fine because no one noticed differences between projectors. Now that It's one large edge blended screen, the seams between Catalyst can be seen.
    I have been creating content that is 2816 x 768 that I would chop to fit on screens of 1024 x 768 or 1760 x 480 which I would chop to 640 x 480.
    Oh and since your cap is 2048 x 2048, wouldn't that mean 3072 isn't possible anyway?
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