China 3D glasses in storage for 7 years. Not working. (or am I dong something wrong)

[James Gardiner]

Hi all,
I have a lot of old 3D kit I dug out of storage and have been trying to see if I can resurrect it.

Included in this is a number of MasterImage spare parts and some ReaD kit. See the For-Sale section on the forum for more details on that.

Due to a partner committing fraud and the company falling apart as the partner drew out the case as long as possible trying to win by attrition, all this kit was just put into storage and has been there for years. I was going to land-fill-it. But decided to put some time to sell to anyone interested, or even get it going to get a few independent cinemas going with a China-based active glasses.

So some background. This kit is basically the same as Panastereo3D, Volfoni 3D. This kit all came from the same manufacturer. The Intergrater I was working for, also used it and sold it directly from the manufacturer. Panastereo, Volfoni and others really only were marketing arms and didn't really do any tech, apart from certifying it and forcing the manufacturer to lift its quality.

It did work quite well.

Anyway, thats some history for you.

Anyway, I pulled it out, plugged into my test NC1100L projector, set it all up.. And I have not been able to get it to work apart from the following...
The sync box shows all the right lights. And appears to be working..

I have pulled out many glasses, checked all the batteries (As been in storage) strangely they are in good shape. (White paper covering the terminal so have been inert all these years. Tested to be 3.3 volt on the 2035 batteries.

But they simply do not kick in. Don't work. But I did manage to find ONE that does... I have the test-glasses-device too. The one that does work, flashes to the test box, and does work. But I do get this left to right wipe effect on scene cuts.

As I have one glasses working... and working with the test box... (But not perfectly) But all the other new glasse, not working in any way. I am uessig there is a compatibility issue or some type of activate sequence for the glasses I am missing. I am guessing I am doing something wrong. Or have missed something. I have gone over the manuals.

So, to save this kit from Landfill, and hopefully give it at least one last go at being useful, for Avatar2.

I would appreciate your help.


Thanks,
James

Images of kit follow.

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20221128_095148.jpg 20221128_094952.jpg

Kit in test projector. I have tried two different sync boxes.
20221206_161640.jpg

New glasses I am testing, none appear to work, but batteries all good.
20221206_161611.jpg

[Carsten Kurz]

I think these are known elsewhere as 'HI-Shock' shutter glasses. http://www.hishock.com

Maybe their support can help.

[Bruce Cloutier]

Makes me appreciate my LG flat screen that uses passive 3D glasses.

[Harold Hallikainen]

The Hishock web site ( http://www.hishock.com/EN_productshow-53-123-1.html) mentions an interesting way of getting 3D sync that I was not aware of. I have worked with Xpand glasses that sync with an IR signal in the auditorium. These glasses use DLP-LINK for sync. DLP-LINK which syncs based on a white flash between frames. Both lenses are opaque during the flash, so it is (ideally) not visible. Interesting idea! But this does not appear to be the system James has since his photo shows a sync distributor to drive IR emitters. Still, this DLP-LINK is an interesting idea.

[Marco Giustini]

Interesting indeed but I would imagine that you’d be able to see the white flash with your peripheral vision reflecting on the walls (even if dark). Not sure I’d like it. It might be a weird effect, particularly in darker scenes.

[Carsten Kurz]

DLP Link is/was a home cinema system, because it saved on the separate IR-Transmitter. There are also RF systems.

[Marco Giustini]

Ah, that makes sense! I watched consumer 3D only once and it took me 5 seconds to say "no" White flashes would not make it any worse than it was already!

[Bruce Cloutier]

My flat screen in the house has alternate pixels polarized and therefore uses passive glasses for 3D. The screen is 4K and so 2K per eye (full frame rate). This IMHO is the way to do this. The results are absolutely wonderful. The movies are also quite viewable without the glasses for those passing through the room. Are the large scale cinema LED screens handling 3D like this?

The systems we're talking about here all seem cumbersome and risky. I mean, how often do a room full of glasses all work perfectly. Are there patrons complaining? A lot of work seems required to insure that batteries are good to go. And... then there is getting all of the glasses back, cleaned and sanitized.

I would think you would want an RF sync signal as opposed to any light source that might be shielded even temporarily.

Is there an easy way to test the glasses individually outside of the theater?

[James Gardiner]

Ok, after a lot of experimentation.
Even though the original old batteries are showing 3.3 volts on a volt meter. They appear incapable of powering the glasses. Only a new Energizer CR2032 appears to make the glasses work. So I am going out to buy some in bulk on Monday to test this all out.

I did set it up in one of my full cinemas, and I must admit, it did look good... And looking at different trailers, Avatar2 does look so much better than all the Fo-3D trailers.

I'll come back with how getting the new bult batteries work out.

[Marco Giustini]

Bruce,
I was watching a home projector - so double flash and low brightness. I can't stand flashing, triple flash is bad, double flash is just not acceptable to me! I've never seen myself the system you mention - but I am aware of that, I think it was a bit expensive to manufacture - and I can believe you when you say it's the way to go.

Thankfully Home 3D is more or less dead

[Pietro Clarici]

Fun fact: the Face ID camera on newer iPhones and iPads (actually, the IR dot projector) seems to interfere with XpanD IR control signal with X101 and X103 glasses. Basically as soon as a patron tries to unlock his/her iPhone, every pair of glasses hit by the IR projector desyncs until the phone is put away.
I was going crazy trying to fine tune a 3D macro via VNC while in the auditorium, and then I realized that *I* was the problem.

I'm not sure if other active 3D systems are affected or if Android phones with face unlock can trigger it too.

[Harold Hallikainen]

And speaking of IR interference, if you run Xpand and IR HI/VI/CC (like the IRC-28C), it is best to put the two emitters close to each other so the two IR signals have very similar paths, shadows, etc. to maintain a relatively constant Desired to Undesired ratio at the receivers. If they are not close to each other, each receiver may see a much stronger undesired signal than the desired signal in some locations. With the emitters close to each other, Desired and Undesired levels go up and down together maintaining a relatively constant D/U ratio.

[James Gardiner]

I found a wholesaler that sells Energizer CR2032 for under $1aud. So super cheap. I tested over 20 units and they all worked find in the old stock but new active glasses. So I am putting 2 screens into 3D for Avatar2.

I was going to try some old Xpand 3D boxes and emitter but couldn't find a power supply at the moment for them and I am stretched for time getting everything ready for Christmas holidays.
(Note the Xpand Stuff is new and in the For-Sale area on the forum if interested)

But, in general, the lesson is, if the batteries are old, don't trust the volt meter, just replace them.

Plus, that wipe effect that I saw was because the "Input Frame Dominance" was incorrect. Was "right", and should have been "Left" (Only 2 options)

Otherwise, being able to pump the light output up a lot as small screens. The picture looked amazing. JamesC can really do 3D well.

[Bruce Cloutier]

The coin cells have limited capacity to transfer power. If you measure the (open circuit) voltage you can get a good reading but that's at zero milliamps load. They can't normally supply much current so when they are discharged they will quickly need to be changed.

Bruce,
I was watching a home projector - so double flash and low brightness. I can't stand flashing, triple flash is bad, double flash is just not acceptable to me! I've never seen myself the system you mention - but I am aware of that, I think it was a bit expensive to manufacture - and I can believe you when you say it's the way to go.

Thankfully Home 3D is more or less dead

So I have probably the first LG 4K 86" panel installed in PA. We worked directly with a VP at LG to get my local stereo shop setup as a dealer for it so we could get it installed. Those guys subsequently went to CES where this panel was being first introduced. Dealers were clamoring to apply and, well, the local guys were already installing and had one on display in the shop. They enjoyed that status.

So every other pixel is polarized opposite the prior. The 4K panel presents a full 2K image, at full brightness and at the full frame rate to each eye. The 3D result is amazing with no flashing or need for heavy glasses. I got a bunch of RealD polarized glasses from their booth (hallway suite) at CinemaCon one year. I won't give it up. We've been collecting 3D disks (of worthwhile content) when we can. But I can only really appreciate content that has been recorded using 3D cameras. The 3D processed in later is obviously inferior.

In the original Avatar I think the only fake looking 3D scenes are in the beginning when they are in space coming out of the suspension pods. There are maybe two or three short inserted scenes along the where where the 3D seems contrived. But obviously not all of it was 'filmed'.

I am not sure if 3D is still offered in flat screen panels. Mine was expensive. It gave me 4K in the house before there was much (if any) 4K content outside of the cinema. But politically because of the investment (and to maintain peace at home) I am not in the market for any new flat screen. This one is still perfect.