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Homebrewed LCD Projectors

Posted by timothy on from the depends-what-you-call-simple dept.

pseudofrog writes: "Seems the new thing to do may be to build your own LCD projector. For a couple hundred bucks, some guys are making projectors similar to the professional ones that cost thousands. And it looks pretty simple, too."

2 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Reasons for Skepticism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    In fact, the image quality on these systems can be much better than your typical projection television. I have a system such as follows:
    • Book sided pc with a Celeron 566/128mb, integrated sound (mostly left over parts+$75 for the case)
    • Generic BT848 tv tuner ($50 CompUsa)
    • Dukane 4000 lumen projector (ebay $100)
    • Active matrix Nview projector panel capable of 1024x786 native resolution ($200)
    Total $425

    I also got a 72" wide screen for $75 retail, but a flat white wall will do almost as well.

    The quality on the system with DScaler is very impressive at 1024x768. The only difference in parts between what I have an the author of the linked site is that I've not tried putting it all in a box. Currently it all sites on an end table next to my couch and projects onto a screen which hangs down from rafters. I see no reason why putting in a box would make a difference in the quality. It would probably make it better by blocking out extraneous light that escapes from the overhead projector.

    Now while the quality is excellent (you have to play with the brightness/contrast to get a good picture), there are quite a few drawbacks that don't have to do with image quality:

    • It get's damn hot. A 4000 lumen overhead projector bulb will heat up a small room pretty quickly. Fortunately I have very high ceilings (the screen hangs off rafters) so it's not too much of a problem
    • The fan in the overhead can be pretty loud, but I only use the projector for DVDs, and the volume of the movie is usually set pretty high.
    • The bulbs only last 75-100 hours. They only cost about $7 each (less in bulk), and my projector has a backup bulb replacement switch so it's rarely an inconvenience. The current halogen bulbs for stand alone projectors typically last 2000+ hours.
    • It's pretty ugly. After all it is an overhead projector on an end table, so it looks very out of place in a living room.

    My setup could use a little more CPU power. A better graphic card would be good too 'cause I had to settle on a Geforce 2 MX 200 because it was the best half height video card I could find. Also a sound card with a dolby decoder would make it even better.

    It does work, 'though, and looks great, but as you can see it's not perfect.

    -dameron

  2. Scam warning on building the LCD monitor described by eyefish · · Score: 5, Informative

    Please note that the monitor suggested for the experiment (at this link), claims to have a resolution of "960(H) X RGB x 240 (V)=230400" which can be a bit misleading if you're not too tech-savy on these numbers.

    Note that the horizontal resolution is NOT 960 pixels, but rather 320, since they're counting each RGB pixel as THREE pixels (very sneaky indeed).

    So just be warned in case you thought this was the deal of the century.