ILDA Test pattern possibly not displaying properly in BEYOND 5.5 (Build 1939)

VexFX

VexFX

Active Member
I'm quite new to configuring lasers, but based on what I've seen in Pangolin videos and the ILDA test pattern documentation (https://www.ilda.com/resources/StandardsDocs/ILDA_TestPattern95_rev002.pdf) the pattern should appear somewhat like this:

1714702745003.png

For some reason when I run the pattern in BEYOND it is shown super small and inside an additional outline. The below image is projected on a 50-foot cyclorama.

1714703220908.jpeg

Is this normal, or do I have something set up wrong? No matter what zone I project to I can't seem to get the ILDA pattern to display properly.

Also, does anyone have a good link to a video outlining how to fine-tune a laser using BEYOND or on using the ILDA test pattern? I found the video on adjusting color settings, which was very helpful in getting our lasers to match, but I can't find anything else searching Google/YouTube. I've seen some short red segments at the ends of lines, and I suspect that indicates I need to fine-tune things. I plan on reading the ILDA documentation later tonight, but I was hoping a quick video might highlight the specifics of adjusting things from within BEYOND.

Thanks!
 
Ah, interesting, that page does a great job explaining the pattern, thanks! So BEYOND has the "ILDA B" pattern and not the "ILDA Standard" pattern? That's strange since I've seen a lot of Pangolin content with ILDA test patterns in BEYOND and it's always been the ILDA Standard pattern, not the ILDA B, unless the videos were zoomed in super far. When projected on a full 50' cyclorama the center of the ILDA B pattern seems a bit difficult to read/measure as it's so small that spacing is impacted by beam diameter. For example, the bottom of the ILDA test pattern shows 6 circles, and with the ILDA B test pattern, they all end up appearing the same size due to beam diameter. Is there a recommended way to get the main pattern into BEYOND (also, why is the main one not in BEYOND at the moment?)

Does my issue with the red segments at the ends of some lines sound like a common tuning issue that can easily be adjusted?

Thanks again, I appreciate all the help!
 
For many years our software had both the 12K and also 30K patterns. But the original 12K pattern was removed a few years ago. The problem is that very few people in the entire world really know how to use it. For example, most people do not know that -- to properly use the 12K pattern you must start very small, and make the pattern bigger and bigger and bigger until finally the circle stops getting bigger, and stop right there, and then measure the size of the pattern. This is completely the opposite of all other patterns in the system, where you can display them at full size, pretty much no matter what.

Given that, if you start the 12K pattern at full size, you cause extreme heat in the scanner (heat inside the scanner is proportional to the square of the size), this was actually burning out some people's scanners. We've also employed some other technologies to try to keep errant patterns from harming the scanners (for example, the Wide Angle Compensation, which is also found in Projector Settings).

For those who know that they want to use specifically the 12K pattern, and for those who know how to use it, those same people can simply load the pattern into a cue and go that way. So once again, this is a situation where THERE IS A SOLUTION, but the solution takes extra steps. But those extra steps are only involved by laser professionals who want to do one specific thing -- measure the applicable scan angle for the original 12K ILDA test pattern. For all other users, they can use the 30K pattern.

And finally, I will point out that -- although the 12K pattern may exist in libraries somewhere, it was replaced by the 30K pattern around 1995. I was ILDA Technical Committee Chairman back then... The 30K pattern puts the original 12K pattern into a larger box, such that it is automatically sized to 8 degrees.

Now -- given the content of your original discussion in this thread, it could be that the information in the article needs to be updated, to clarify that the image seen actually represents the small pattern within the larger box, and does not represent the overall pattern size.


Best regards,

William Benner
 
Hi William,

Awesome, thanks so much for sharing all that info! I was not sure what the specific use cases were for each of the 2 ILDA patterns and did not know about the 12k requiring the size changes. I did learn in the documentation that incorrect tuning could damage the laser, so I wanted to make sure I was better educated before making any changes to the lasers. The extra steps of loading the other pattern sound like a good safety measure to help prevent newer users from trying to make adjustments that are likely beyond their knowledge/ability.

Most of what I'm learning is from the videos on the Pangolin YouTube, and I know how fast things can change with software and tech. Those videos are a great resource.

Does the issue with the short red segments appearing at the end of some lines sound like a tuning issue?

Thanks again!
 
Might be tuning, or might be "vector settings", particularly if those short red segments are visible only with very wide projections.
 
I've tried tuning everything I can, but for some reason the red dots still exist on both of our Unity Pro 5 lasers. Also noticed that one of our lasers is around 10-20% dimmer than the other, which is a bit concerning.

The red dots show up a lot on the "Dark colors test 2" test pattern in the two center white circles. The left of the two white circles shows 18 red dots, and the right circle shows a single red dot at the bottom. Nothign I'vve tried in the "vector settings" or elsewhere has addressed the issue.

Really hopign there is a fix for this, as the red dots show up a lot in our content.

Any idea why one of our two lasers is so much dimmer than the other? Color settings have no impact on this.
 
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