D-ILA Projectors » Reference Series

ID #1274

What is Lens Memory and how is it used?

Most people use the Lens Memory feature as an alternative to using an external anamorphic lens for widescreen movies.  As the name suggests, Lens Memory lets you set up the image size, position (by lens shift), and focus of the projector lens and then store those settings in memory so they can be recalled later.  Setting up for widescreen is fairly straight forward.  Naturally, this would require the use of a widescreen formatted screen (2.35:1 or 2:40:1 aspect ratio).  All you need to do is adjust the projector lens to zoom, position (lens shift), and focus the widescreen formatted movie to fill your 2.35:1 screen, and then store that setting into memory.  You can name this memory setting anything you want.  Next, change your video to a 16:9 source and then readjust the lens zoom and shift (image position) so the image fills the screen from top to bottom and is centered horizontally (don’t readjust focus – see tips below).  Store that setting into memory and name it.  Now you can use the remote control, or discrete command codes, to recall your stored settings for 16:9 HD and widescreen 2.35:1 image sizes.  You might also want to set up a third lens memory setting for widescreen movies that use closed captioning, which is sometimes located in the black bar at the bottom of the letterboxed image.

Tips:

  • We recommended that lens focus be adjusted and saved only when setting up the first memory. Do not try to touch up focus for the second or third memory settings. The focus motor is not precise enough to return to the exact position that was stored each time. If you properly set focus only once during the first memory setting it will stay sharp for both 16:9 and 2.35:1 image sizes.
  • Normally the throw distance range of the projector is 1.4:1 - 2.8:1.  However, when using lens memory for both 16:9 and 2.35:1 formats the range is 1.4:1 - 2.1:1.  There is a separate FAQ on this topic if you want more information.
  • When adjusting the lens settings a green alignment grid is projected to assist with alignment. If you prefer to adjust the lens using the input source video, the grid can be turned off by turning OFF the “Image Pattern” in the Lens Control menu of the projector.  Also note that with models RS49, RS4910, RS57, RS67, and RS6710 the green grid will not be shown during the transition from one memory setting to another even if the "Image Pattern" is ON.  This is not the case with older model projectors.  For those projectors we recommend the "Image Pattern" is set to OFF so that the green grid is not visible when transitioning from one lens memory to another.


Last update: 2014-02-11 09:37
Author: Ken Bylsma
Revision: 1.3

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