Cyclop balls Not good for TV!!!

[lfigueroa]

I agree. Seems like people are rehashingthe same complaints from 2014, even after previous problems have been address and fixed.

Sometimes -- when people complain about one set of balls or another -- I wonder whether they ever get out into the world. I've played in tournaments where the entire set of balls don't match -- management having replaced stolen 8balls and/or 9balls with spares from other sets that obviously don't match; red circle CBs that are so small and old they should be called pink circles; on tables that roll off or have gaffe pockets or tons of tears in them or a dead rail or two.

But oh my, gosh me!

God forbid they don't like the colors of a certain set or the way a particular CB plays, lol.

Lou Figueroa

 

[Cardigan Kid]

Cyclop makes a traditional color set, and I've yet to see them played during a tournament. I always wonder if this is deliberate on the part of Cyclop-kind of like thumbing their nose at the naysayers. It would be really easy to just make a switch to traditional color sets at these big tournaments and let the public know there is such a thing.

 

[JC]

IMO the reason the balls were hard to discern on the stream was because Lenny chose to over expose the table in favor of making the room visible. The trouble wasn't the color but the inability to tell the spots from the stripes due to the overexposure.

As far as the balls playability sucking I would advise all you keyboard world beaters to check the mirror. I watched Sky Woodward play for about 6 straight hours without missing a ball or getting out of position. The problem with your game isn't the balls.

JC

 

[9Ballr]

+1. I was very happy to sell my set and get another Aramith set.

Funny, I just did exactly the same......lol

 

[Johnnyt]

Come on. We all know exactly why promoters have changed to Cyclop. They are CHEAPER. Plus Cyclop probably pays more to be ball sponsors. Aramith has hiked their prices, so tournaments have gone to Cyclop balls. IMO Simonis and Aramith has way too much power it the pool industry. Johnnyt

 

[Nick B]

As far as I'm aware it played fine. A little different but then the measles ball plays different that a red circle.

Lou Figueroa

All equipment plays different. No two tables play the same etc. It's raining, airco is on///etc. If you see my previous post it's about the cue ball. Look at the base color (based color of stripe) vs cue ball. Cueball is almost translucent and feels different. It's more than just pigment. Close your eyes and rub a Cyclop cueball vs balance of set. The cueball feels porous and plays very "grippy". You can draw the ball to places that you simply can't get there with any other set.

Quality balls are matched. If I need to get marketed to then that speaks for it's self. Seems I'm not the only one who feels this way. Many pros also have a similar sentiment (unscientific poll by myself).

On the matter of color...well who cares. That is not the issue.

 

[trob]

completely agree..when I struggle with speed control or the rails I blame myself. I'm a good player and good players adjust to those things. As long as the table is some what level (I never expect a bar table to be perfect) I expect to figure it out and play well.

Just as a general comment: being able to adjust to different equipment is a skill in and of itself. Some tournaments and pool halls use Aramiths or Centennials. At many pool halls these balls have miles and miles on them and there is often a pygmy CB to add to the fun. More and more pool halls are using Cyclop to go with their Diamond tables.

Other times you have to adjust to a measles v a red circle CB. At one major venue in the midwest, players are shuttled from GCs to a Diamond table, from tournament round to tournament round.

Sooooo, like I said, good players learn to adjust regardless of their preferences. I own several sets of balls and have come too peace with all of them. It's the price of being out in the world. OTOH, if you're just going to play in your basement all the time, certainly you should use whatever you prefer.

Lou Figueroa

 

[M.G.]

I didn't have a hard time discerning balls the last time when they were Cyclops.
Maybe the camera they use for the stream is just bad or not calibrated (yes, you should do that).

Cheers,
M

 

[Straightpool_99]

My main reason for not liking strange colored balls is that it is confusing. It's confusing to the players, it's confusing to the viewers and it's confusing even the commentators. Personally I think they are ugly as well, but that is just a matter of personal preference.

This crap wouldn't be happening if pool had an actual organization who cared about the game! I can understand using the tournament blue cloth, as that is scientifically determined to be a color that causes less eye strain. I don't like breaking the tradition of the green cloth, but here we are. At least the change was made for an actual reason, not just for the sake of change. Changing the color of the balls away from the tv colors, that were made to be easily distinguished, to a color scheme that are HARDER to distinguish than even the traditional colors makes ZERO sense! The traditional colors are nice to look at and can now (due to better technology) be easily distinguished on the tv's and computer monitors. Why not give tradition a chance?

There are other issues as well. I do not like a company that not only put a defective product out onto the market (cueball that rolled off), and actively pushed to have them in important tournament, then took ZERO responsibility for that and even DENIED that it ever happened on this very forum. "The cloth was stretched incorrectly". Seriously, that's the company you are defending? By all means, buy the stupid skittle balls, "marbled" balls or whatever stupid crap you want, but don't lobby for others to use them, and especially don't cram them down peoples throats.

 

[j_zippel]

IMO the reason the balls were hard to discern on the stream was because Lenny chose to over expose the table in favor of making the room visible. The trouble wasn't the color but the inability to tell the spots from the stripes due to the overexposure.



As far as the balls playability sucking I would advise all you keyboard world beaters to check the mirror. I watched Sky Woodward play for about 6 straight hours without missing a ball or getting out of position. The problem with your game isn't the balls.



JC

Lmao. Exactly!

The people saying cyclops are 'cheaper' are right, but I'm sure the cost of manufacturing for Aramith is cheaper. ?Why don't the Aramith lovers complain about the higher cost? Brunswick is even more ridiculous. Let's be real, Cyclops is partnered with the best table manufacturer in the world and they make a great set of balls at a price point that makes sense. Sure, the odd set gets passed through a sleeping quality control guy and a ball will roll off, just get the set replaced. I don't even own a set of cyclops, so, if any of you don't like yours, I'll gladly trade you for a set of Aramiths I have kicking around.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lfigueroa]

Cyclop makes a traditional color set, and I've yet to see them played during a tournament. I always wonder if this is deliberate on the part of Cyclop-kind of like thumbing their nose at the naysayers. It would be really easy to just make a switch to traditional color sets at these big tournaments and let the public know there is such a thing.

At the DCC the Cyclop traditional colors were in play. The skittles set is their version of TV balls for the streaming table.

Lou Figueroa

 

[lfigueroa]

IMO the reason the balls were hard to discern on the stream was because Lenny chose to over expose the table in favor of making the room visible. The trouble wasn't the color but the inability to tell the spots from the stripes due to the overexposure.

As far as the balls playability sucking I would advise all you keyboard world beaters to check the mirror. I watched Sky Woodward play for about 6 straight hours without missing a ball or getting out of position. The problem with your game isn't the balls.

JC

Yes. Funny how the same cream rises to the top at events using Cyclop balls.

Lou Figueroa

 

[lfigueroa]

Come on. We all know exactly why promoters have changed to Cyclop. They are CHEAPER. Plus Cyclop probably pays more to be ball sponsors. Aramith has hiked their prices, so tournaments have gone to Cyclop balls. IMO Simonis and Aramith has way too much power it the pool industry. Johnnyt

Cost was not the issue. Diamond and CSI went to the Cyclop balls for other reasons.

Lou Figueroa

 

[lfigueroa]

All equipment plays different. No two tables play the same etc. It's raining, airco is on///etc. If you see my previous post it's about the cue ball. Look at the base color (based color of stripe) vs cue ball. Cueball is almost translucent and feels different. It's more than just pigment. Close your eyes and rub a Cyclop cueball vs balance of set. The cueball feels porous and plays very "grippy". You can draw the ball to places that you simply can't get there with any other set.

Quality balls are matched. If I need to get marketed to then that speaks for it's self. Seems I'm not the only one who feels this way. Many pros also have a similar sentiment (unscientific poll by myself).

On the matter of color...well who cares. That is not the issue.

The translucency of the original Cyclop CB was part of an effort to make the CB more distinguishable to the Diamond Smart Table optical density sensor. And yes, the ball played differently than a red circle, which plays different from a measles CB.

Now there is the Cyclop red dot which is better matched and plays very near a red circle. You should try it. Manufacturers are usually trying to improve their product. GCs went from the GC1 to the GC5. Diamond went from the Red label to the Blue label and even Blue labels will have changes in the future.

Look at all the generations shaft makers have gone through, and for that matter, pool cue makers in general. Over the course of time they learn things about their product and player preferences.

As to the opinion of pros, take a look a tournament results. The same guys seem to do fine with the Cyclop balls.

Lou Figueroa

 

[lfigueroa]

completely agree..when I struggle with speed control or the rails I blame myself. I'm a good player and good players adjust to those things. As long as the table is some what level (I never expect a bar table to be perfect) I expect to figure it out and play well.

Yes, but for some guys it's easier to blame the equipment :-o

Lou Figueroa

 

[lfigueroa]

My main reason for not liking strange colored balls is that it is confusing. It's confusing to the players, it's confusing to the viewers and it's confusing even the commentators. Personally I think they are ugly as well, but that is just a matter of personal preference.

This crap wouldn't be happening if pool had an actual organization who cared about the game! I can understand using the tournament blue cloth, as that is scientifically determined to be a color that causes less eye strain. I don't like breaking the tradition of the green cloth, but here we are. At least the change was made for an actual reason, not just for the sake of change. Changing the color of the balls away from the tv colors, that were made to be easily distinguished, to a color scheme that are HARDER to distinguish than even the traditional colors makes ZERO sense! The traditional colors are nice to look at and can now (due to better technology) be easily distinguished on the tv's and computer monitors. Why not give tradition a chance?

There are other issues as well. I do not like a company that not only put a defective product out onto the market (cueball that rolled off), and actively pushed to have them in important tournament, then took ZERO responsibility for that and even DENIED that it ever happened on this very forum. "The cloth was stretched incorrectly". Seriously, that's the company you are defending? By all means, buy the stupid skittle balls, "marbled" balls or whatever stupid crap you want, but don't lobby for others to use them, and especially don't cram them down peoples throats.

The blue cloth is not about eye strain. It is the color that eye science guys decided provided the best contrast to pool balls. And, if you're going to come out with a new TV set you want to distinguish you company's set of TV balls from the udder guys set.

As to the CB rolling off, the CBs put out rolled fine for several years. After several years there was *one event* were some balls were found to roll off. We've all seen the video.

It just so happen that a Cyclop factory rep was in attendance at that event and he immediately had a box of new Cyclop CBs flown in, overnight, from the factory in China. Problem solved. Turns out Cyclop had become so popular they moved to a larger factory and in the move one of the machines got knocked out of tolerance. SH.

The new Cyclop red dots play very nicely. You should try it.

Lou Figueroa

 

[lfigueroa]

Lmao. Exactly!

The people saying cyclops are 'cheaper' are right, but I'm sure the cost of manufacturing for Aramith is cheaper. ?Why don't the Aramith lovers complain about the higher cost? Brunswick is even more ridiculous. Let's be real, Cyclops is partnered with the best table manufacturer in the world and they make a great set of balls at a price point that makes sense. Sure, the odd set gets passed through a sleeping quality control guy and a ball will roll off, just get the set replaced. I don't even own a set of cyclops, so, if any of you don't like yours, I'll gladly trade you for a set of Aramiths I have kicking around.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The cost may be cheaper but: Cyclop balls have a higher percentage of phenolic in them, which makes them harder, so they can take a higher degree of polish, which makes them stay cleaner longer. And, they are coming out of the factory in sets that measure to better tolerances in terms of consistency of weight and size, which means they play truer.

Lou Figueroa

 

[West Point 1987]

I believe that the "TV" color balls thing is a mistaken reference to what were originally designed for color blind players...someone looked at these balls and not knowing any better, assumed the color differences were for ability to better discern the differences on TV, which is demonstrably untrue. I'd always heard the color change was done to help color blind players (and if I'm not mistaken, color blindness is much more prevalent in Asia) see the different solid colored balls better, often mistaking the blue, red and green balls. The "TV" balls' colors are more about the intensity of the shade of color. Marketers have gone with the TV excuse, since more people would give them a try if they were for TV (where the big dogs play) as opposed to something that helps color blind players differentiate balls better.

I play with the standard color Cyclop balls and the original translucent CB on my table at home and have no problems...I love them. The CB is much more lively than the measle ball, but that's just fine by me. I play equally well with Aramith and measle CB, either works well for me.

 

[erhino41]

Balls are balls, they all go in the holes the same. As far as the colors are concerned, I don't see a problem. They are much more friendly to the color blind.

You should be able to adjust the aspect ratio of your tv to correct the stretching. If not you need a new tv.

 

[Johnnyt]

Cost was not the issue. Diamond and CSI went to the Cyclop balls for other reasons.

Lou Figueroa

Funny, but I know I heard Mark G from CSI state on AZB or the TAR podcast that Aramith had raised there price and got too expensive. I'm not going searching for it. Johnnyt