How do I know if I'm Pushing scanners to hard?

[onsatmex5]

I would like to know... how do I know what the limits of my scanners are? Will they make noise...what happens? I do not know what the scanner specs are....

Thanks for any help

[taggalucci]

Try the ILDA test pattern at the scan rate, size/angle you are trying to use for normal projections. If the test pattern is wrong, your scanners are likely:

a. Not tuned
b. Being over-driven

Noise is sometimes an indicator, though some scanners and patterns are noisier than others. If your images seem unstable with complex images, then you're likely over driving them.

[norty303]

Noise
Sharp corners becoming rounded
Images becoming distorted generally
Overshooting tails and gaps in lines
A static dot...

...are all big giveaways of being 'over the limit'

[steve-o]

If smoke starts pouring out of 'em

[taggalucci]

...also, if you're asking how to work this out without pushing them too hard, you could set the scan rate low (say 15k), run the ILDA test pattern and slowly increase the rate until the circle is the same size as the square. This relies on the scanners being tuned, so if that's wrong, you have to do both together (slowly, carefully and incrementally until you get a good balanced image).

The key thing with the ILDA test pattern is that it tests is whether your scanners can operate fast enough at the given scan rate to draw the circle and the square. When the scanners are under-driven, the circle is larger than the square and when over, smaller than the square. So provided your tuning's not way off, this is a good guide to figuring out your scanners' capability. The rest of the test pattern's really for fine tuning.

[kel19700]

Im a newbie and using Moncha, does this have the ILDA test pattern or can i download it.

[allthatwhichis]

If smoke starts pouring out of 'em

Majik blue smoke that is damn near impossible to get back in...

[-bart-]

Im a newbie and using Moncha, does this have the ILDA test pattern or can i download it.

You can always load the ilda test partn, into moncha, but as I recall, it has little use because mocha (like ishow) does some voodoo to imported frames.
Moncha adds anchor and blankingpoints, therefore crippling testframes. Check the showtacle forums if someone has a fix or workaround.

[dzodzo]

Im a newbie and using Moncha, does this have the ILDA test pattern or can i download it.

Hello, i got test frame from here: http://www.laserfx.com/Backstage.Las...Scanning1.html

I can try the test pattern in Moncha and the one that comes with LSX and compare if there's any difference between these two, i faintly remember that with Moncha the inner square of the test frame was too small at even the biggest scan angle.

[LKH]

Hi,
I have attached the pattern. Tester.rar

Just choose Open ILDA and load attached ILDA frame(s). Use Fixed scan-rate to display it at whatever the projector is capable of.