wii sensor bar with projector

wii_joey · 12-10-2006, 03:16 PM

hey all

Im new to this forum so hello everybody, looking forward to joining the community n all that.

sorry to be a pain and post yet another projector post.

I have recently purchased a wii and have to say i am mighty impressed with this little beauty.

I have it hooked up to a 26" tv at the moment and not my projector as i cant use it until next week.

My understanding of the sensor bar is that their are two infra red emmiters on it seperated by about 12cm. These two emmiters are used with the remote to triangulate its position. This is the thing though, Has anybody experienced this. Due to the relatively small spacing between the two emmiters on the sensor bar, the further away from it you get, the smaller hence innacurate the angles become that the wii is calculating. I have found that the wiimote starts losing it at about 2.5 - 3m away from the sensor bar, as the angles used to triangulate the signal starts to get just too small.

here is my question

everybody on the internet who owns projectors myself included, has been worried about the length of the cord in placing the sensor bar at the from of the room possibly a good 5m away from the console, but has anybody successfully lengthened the cord (there are many methods circling around at the moment) and managed to sit 5 meters away from the screen and still et an accurate position on the screen??

Also has anybody experimented just placing the sensor bar closer to you and seeing what happens??

i think this is an issue which has been overlooked and would appreciate any insight fellow wii'rs can offer!

Thankyou

vagrant · 12-10-2006, 03:23 PM

You could do one of the following;

1) Make a home made wireless sensor bar.

2) Buy a third party one when they come out in the next few months

3) splice into the wire and extend it.

wii_joey · 12-10-2006, 04:15 PM

hey vagrant

cheers for prompt reply,,

I realise that you can make the wire longer, my concern is that if you are sat about 4-5 meters away from the sensor bar (as you would away from a projector screen), it is not able to triangulate the signal. Therefore it does not matter if you extent it to te front of the room, if you are sat more than 2.5 meters away from the sensor bar, it stops detecting anyway.

I was wondering if anybody got round this problem!

cheers Joe

dds · 12-10-2006, 05:06 PM

splice it and add an adaptor. That way you can plug it into an outlet closer to your seating area.

Kyusaku · 12-10-2006, 05:11 PM

I would have to suggest you make your own sensor bar. As stated many times on this board that the sensor bar, doesn't actually send any signals to the Wii, but rather just emits infrared light so the wiimote can figure out the general location of the screen. Figuring out a good location would be touch-and-go depending on distance, angle and etc. People have posted FAQs on how to make nintendo's sensor bar wireless also people have posted their own little creations.

vagrant · 12-10-2006, 05:14 PM

The IR's that come with the wii have a range of at least 10 feet.

duancg · 12-11-2006, 01:51 AM

May not directly answer your question, but FWIW, here is my expierence:

My room is about 5m long and I place my projector in the middle and projecting the picture to the wall. The sensor bar is placed right at the foot of the wall under the pciture.

While people stand in the middle of the room there is not problem playing, niether pointing (to click the buttons/etc.). If people stand in the far end of the room (5m away), there is no problem playing Tennis, but do have problem with pointing. I would imagine shooting games be an issue with this distance (sorry I haven't got my Zelda yet, so couldn't try).

The work around: I found that the sensor bar really doesn't have to be near the picture, so I moved it to the middle of the room (on top of a couch) between the people and the picture, it worked fine.

To the extreme, if all you care is Tennis game, you can move it to the side because it is not needed anyway; and you just have to point towards the side wall when you try to click some non-default button on the screen (not much of an issue for me).

wii love gamin · 12-11-2006, 01:56 AM

you could make your own

csiguy4u · 12-11-2006, 02:36 AM

http://wii.ign.com/articles/748/748011p1.html

relavant portion. . .

Quote:

Again, if you've got a larger living room, you may have already noticed the jittery, jumping movement of your Wii-mote reticule when you're stationed more than nine feet away from the console. If your sensor bar is at a raised angle, the distance may actually decrease. Obviously, there are quite a few consumers who sit 10 or even 15 feet away from their television and as a result these people have encountered the issues we reference.

You must use the Wii sensor bar as designed. . .but you could buy a 3rd party sensor bar which should be comming out at the beginning of the next year which should have a much larger range 25 to 30 feet.

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=11696

gmdan · 12-11-2006, 03:49 AM

dude what you can do is splice it and add an adaptor

Tooki · 12-11-2006, 05:46 PM

I like how about half of you didn't even read the TC's post. Anyway, I too have a projector, although I don't yet have a Wii. Does anyone have official release dates for third party sensor bars? Links? Anything?

DrYou · 12-11-2006, 05:54 PM

They have some for sale now actually

http://www.wirelesssensorbar.com/

csiguy4u · 12-12-2006, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrYou

They have some for sale now actually

http://www.wirelesssensorbar.com/

Range isn't any better though. I'll wait to spend an extra $30 for one that has a lot bigger range.

imahawki · 12-12-2006, 03:41 PM

I have a 120" screen and spliced my sensor bar wire to make it reach the Wii which is in an equipment closet. Be aware that the wires are enameled and you have to remove the enamel before you can splice it. I HAVE in fact noticed the issue with triangulation from the sensor bar being so small relative to the screen and at the distance that I am sitting. Hopefully someone will come up with some options but right now, its not bad actually. I'm about 15 feet away.