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LCD Topgun distance requirements kind of crazy...
RandyT:
--- Quote from: Fozzy The Bear on August 09, 2006, 10:17:17 am ---That said, I'm now developing a wide angle lens system to fit on the front of the gun which should cut the distance to 2 Feet by making the gun think it's further away than it is.
--- End quote ---
Wide angle lenses impart a "fish-eye" effect on the image which will change the relation of the LEDs to one another, possibly to the point that the software doesn't recognize the pattern anymore. Moving the camera (gun) will also alter the pattern to something completely different from center as it is moved from side-to-side or up and down.
Worst case, it won't work. Best case, really poor accuracy. But I could be way off base, so prove me wrong :)
HOTD3 is meant to be played close up to a big screen, not 9 feet away from a 37" tube (which is probably why I haven't played with the guns since I first got them) This is the only flaw with these guns.
RandyT
jjd:
Are there any bright lights behind you, overhead or otherwise? It took me awhile to figure out that an overhead light was screwing with mine. With the light on I can't get the guns to work unless I'm at the end of the cord. With the light off they work from about 4 or 5 feet (21" monitor).
kiddk1:
calibrate at night with all lights off and see if that helps, this is how I finally had to set up my led's
Fozzy The Bear:
--- Quote from: RandyT on August 09, 2006, 10:28:20 am ---
--- Quote from: Fozzy The Bear on August 09, 2006, 10:17:17 am ---That said, I'm now developing a wide angle lens system to fit on the front of the gun which should cut the distance to 2 Feet by making the gun think it's further away than it is.
--- End quote ---
Wide angle lenses impart a "fish-eye" effect on the image which will change the relation of the LEDs to one another, possibly to the point that the software doesn't recognize the pattern anymore.
--- End quote ---
Not if you also include a fish eye correction lens in the system. That part of the lens system then distorts the image in the oposite direction. so the net result is apparent distance without distortion.
I'm still working on it...... The calculations and theory work on paper but I've yet to track down lenses cheap enough to make it a practical proposition.
Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)
RandyT:
--- Quote from: Fozzy The Bear on August 09, 2006, 08:29:37 pm ---I'm still working on it...... The calculations and theory work on paper but I've yet to track down lenses cheap enough to make it a practical proposition.
--- End quote ---
That's why I assumed a single lense. By time you pay for lenses, the housing to position them accurately in relation to one another, and a method to attach them onto the end of the gun you would probably be better off buying a real arcade gun and one of those expensive interfaces that are supposedly available to drive one.
I hate to say this (because it sometimes gives manufacturers more credit than they deserve) but you have to make an assumption sometimes that the manufacturer understood the shortcoming, but could not remedy it inexpensively enough to include a solution and still make the product marketable. Not trying to dissuade you from trying, but 12 years of optics related manufacturing has left me skeptical about what can be done to fix the problem without specialized injection molded parts, a fair amount of trial and error, and possibly LEDs that are brighter than what are currently available. A single lense will let you get away with a lot from a quality standpoint. Multiple lense systems require much more accuracy. More lenses in an optical system also tend to cut down the amount of light that gets through (unless they are quite large and made of very good materials). Lots of potential problems, but few inexpensive solutions.
Then again, for the price of these guns and the method used, I'm pretty impressed that they work at all. So maybe something is possible :)
RandyT