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A Practical Guide to DIY LCD Projectors
Compu486 writes "Inventgeek.com has a new article entitled
"A
practical guide to DIY Home Projection". The guide covers the basic theory
behind projection and provides a step by step guide for a "Practical"
DIY LCD Projector. Although this topic has been covered before, the perspective
they offer is refreshing."
In my day, we made our own movies using a light bulb and creative hand poses casting animal shaped shadows...
I wish they could use real images instead of obvious fake ones
Now I can finally watch my reality TV shows on a bigger screen. This is truely a fantastic day.
Voice your opinion!
I've found the perspective must be refreshing at 25ms or less to get adequate results.
Go with LumenLab's plan, if I was to do this at all.
And they have real pictures too, instead of faked images on thier site.
I don't really get why one would want DIY here... Having a video-projector, say for home-cinema sake or gaming is mostly about quality of the picture. Apart from the sake of learning I'd rather buy one. Oh, and not a LCD one, at least a DSP. Although laser projection tech has been around for some time now, I'm really surprised that it's not used. Although sounds like a feasible DIY project.
\u262D = \u5350
Although this topic has been covered before, the perspective they offer is refreshing.
Why? Does it give me a free beer with it?
Cursory overview leaves me unimpressed. It seems like a rehash of prior projects but using simpler and less expensive parts. Result: a projector that has less lifespan than a low-end projector for a bit more money and no warranty.
I'd rather wait a little while longer and wait till the technology matures a bit more. If I come into some money I can spend freely on a projector, I'll buy one that can do at least 1024x768 PC input and make sure to buy spare projector parts with it.
If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
Nah, my idea is better. Re-wire a retina scanner to output a DVD stream, and then you've got the BIGGEST picture of them all.
Although I did see Matrix 3 in the IMAX, and it was a little scary to see Morpheus's face. I mean, the dude had like 2-foot pores!
IGB: More fun than eating oatmeal!
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20041113/index.h tml
+ Video
well... you could connect your notebook that is on the crappy ugly shelf to the ugly loud useless rack and then project all your porn in your new projector.
http://stoploudness.org/
1. Take an old overhead projector, gives you the light & the focus part at once.
2. Strip LCD screen (takes about 20 minutes if you do it carefully and want to be able to reassemble it later).
3. Put the lcd without backlight on the projector, and you are done.
Yes, it is carppy mod day!
My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
Dear Slashdot;
I'm sorry I haven't wrote earlier, or made an account for that matter. I've been looking at you from afar for all these years, reading your posts, laughing at the good times, cringing at the bad. We've been through the dot-com, the dot-bomb, together.
Sometimes our relationship seems to go in circles, but you come back and make it better. Today though, I'm leaving you. Oh sure, maybe I'll visit, but it won't be the same. I just can't forgive you for this; a shelf, a case mod, and another LCD DIY. It's been nice, take care.
Wow, this is great. We're looking at renting a projector for my brothers wedding coming up, but the cost is pretty high. We have access to a screen, and I'm pretty sure an overhead. If I can get my hands on a cheap LCD projector, that'll cut our costs by at least 400%. Wouldnt bother with all the casing and such. Plus I get to keep the thing =D
Although I'm not sure I'd want to use something so kludgy for a once in a lifetime event...
-FL
Is today's Slashdot being brought to us by the DIY network or something?
Build a rack!
Build a shelf!
Build an LCD!
I admire the geek who homebrews hardware, but this is getting rediculous.
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
As for the projector, I don't want to build this thing myself, I'm willing to spend the bucks. So I'll likely go for the Panasonic PT-AE700U, which I've seen reviewed here.
So that leaves me wondering what sort of PC or hi-def receiver to buy to power this thing, so that I can use cable, satellite, game console, DVD, PVR and the PC.
Any advice would be most appreciated.
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My wife will accept one in the living room.
Otherwise this is just another "Overhead projectors with LCD panels make big ugly projectors that you cannot use anywhere but a darkened room" story.
I anxiously await the first person to point out a spelling or usage error in my post--it's traditional.
a 1024x768 screen is going to look pretty damn pixelated blown up to 100" unless you sit quite a way back!
The author of the article keeps saying it's better to DIY than spend $5K on a commercial model. However, you can get a decent projector for $800(or less if you buy a refurb non-current model). Plus, the picture quality is a lot better(supports 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i), and is in an appealing form factor.
The other question is how noisy is the overhead projector? Remembering back to elementary school, those things were pretty loud.
When commenting on lenses, it says:
"Many lenses are coated to improve the optics of the lens. Products like Windex will severely damage these coatings resulting in pilling, fogging, or even etching of the actually glass. FYI, most CRT monitors are subject to the same conditions. Don't ever clean your CRT with Windex or similar products. Of course you would know this if you read the manual."
Didn't know that! :) It's nice to get immediately useful info from an article about something you don't have time for.
I've been reading and re-reading the article to found out how the LCD acts as an imagery medium. How does this work? When I think LCD, there is the side that faces you and has pretty pictures and whatnot, and there is the side that has a plastic casing on it. How/where does the light pass through?
I just refreshed it a few times. It's randomly either a golfer or NFL players. The idea being, I guess, that you're watching sports on your home theatre system.
Looking for political forums? Check out "The World Forum".
Now, I do admit that its bigger brothers in the 5K price region have a little bit better resolution, and a little better refresh rates. But when comparing the bottom line here 0.2K verses 5K... it still blows my mind. The real benefit here is in the budget for our version of the DIY projector, we got a really nice screen out of it.
I bought mine on ebay for 600 dollars, and it has a remote control, will mount to the ceiling, and does NOT sound like a vacuum cleaner. Not to begruge anyone their project, but there is no good reason for anyone to ever build one of these things unless they are *really* strapped for cash, or they are bored and want to play (much better reason as far as i'm concerned).
George II -- Spreading Freedom and American values, one bomb at a time.
How is this a "do it yourself" project? You bought an overhead projector. You bought the LCD display that was made to go on overhead projectors. You bought a screen.
The only DIY here was "Make a box with a window in it" and that's not really a "Do it yourself LCD projector" now is it?
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
Cost: $174
Cost of SCREEN to project onto: $110
Why would you not just hang a sheet on your wall?
I am scientifically inaccurate.
...sit closer to your monitor!
I have to be honest, this screen is really worth it. It looks great in low light and no light situations and is very clear.
Projectors look really good in low light and no light situations, on a sheet or a wall, or on your little brother. The test of a screen is how it does in situations with higher amounts of ambiant light.
George II -- Spreading Freedom and American values, one bomb at a time.
why bother..
i recently plunked $1200CDN down on a old (circa 1994) "used" (4000 hours) sony CRT.
It will display 1080P.. which is more than enough..
i have a 120" screen in my basement now.. and it's VGA in as well.. (RGBHV).. my mythTV (necessary linux plug) and well.. it sure beats the crap outta any LCD/DLP solution i've seen lately for $5K+ (and that's professional not some hacked together POS)
LCD panels with overhead projector = HORRIBLE SCREEN DOOR..
so unless your a geek with cokebottle lenses in your glasses and everything is "kinda blurry" anyway and you need a 100" screen and LARGE FONTS to even see your 800x600 screen.. then don't bother.
OTOH.. go head and build one.. just means when i want to upgrade my CRT there'll be less people that want them. Go get your fresnel on..
(BTW.. has slashdot been taken over by the womens network? it's full of how-to articles.. UGH.)
and it just costs around $600. Its max resolution is 1280x1024. According to what I've heard so far, it's very nice. Visit here(Korean site), http://shop.diypro.net/?doc=cart/item.php&it_id=10 97818968
Your ego is Matrix!
Then you can roast marshmallows on the insuing bon fire that was once your house.
I thought this was a dupe. but it's not QUITE a dupe.
3 31241&tid=222&tid=4
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/13/0
"He's a real midnight golfer"
"Light passing threw the film, and interacting with a shutter created the viewable content."
Beware of flying film, particularly when it's thrown by passing photons.
Thanks for the excellent advice.
Looking for political forums? Check out "The World Forum".
We will be using some felt that we acquired at the local fabric store. Now I will say this on the note of the fabric store types: Not Geeks! These are the types of people that never get out and experience the world. And their idea of creative or innovative thinking is using a slightly-different-than-recommended shade of embroidery floss for their "There's No Place Like Home" wall hanging or pillow. So don't be surprised if you feel really uncomfortable in a fabric store. I sure as hell did! And people make fun of geeks dressing up like Jedi for star wars premiers and waiting in lines for days to be the first one in the door for the 12:01 AM showing....
He touched on exactly which geeks you might find in a fabric store. Roleplaying geeks! Not just Star Wars fanatics, but trekkologists, otaku, and LARPers. Geeks are everywhere... you just need need the right eyewear to see them.
All they did was take an LCD screen, designed to be used with overhead projectors, and put it onto an overhead projector. The only "DIY" was the case they built out of "partial board" and covered with black felt.
My department bought one of those transparent LCD screens in 1997, back when overhead projectors were still to be found in every lecture hall, laptops were $3000 and LCD projectors were $5000 and as big as a suitcase. The idea was to use this to go from the computer screen to the wall screen on the cheap. It was used every once in awhile, but if you weren't using a laptop, it was a pain to use, since you had to wheel in a cart with a desktop PC.
Once laptops got cheap enough so that they were commonplace, LCD projectors had gotten cheap enough that the department bought one and consigned the transparent LCD screen, with its terrible picture quality, to the back closet of the copier room. There, it collected dust, along with all of the other obsolete junk that no one wanted to use anymore, but had cost too much to just throw away.
The transparent LCD screen was an ugly kludge, a bridge technology to mate the old with the new. Let it die.
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. - Mark Twain
I seen plans for this on the web years ago. There's nothing here that hasn't been posted on 100's of websites already.
I would suggest you just relax. Aside from the obvious, "MAYBE I WANT TO BUILD MY OWN PROJECTOR", excuse, there are some very good reasons for an article like this. For example, I have several older laptops sitting around. One of them is a Compaq that is powerful enough to play MPEG video at SVGA, but the backlite is gone. And even if the backlite was gone, I still don't use it because its a few years old.
:) .o.
So in fact I've been thinking of some uses for this machine, and I can see that this would be perfect. Anyone else that has an older laptop and doesn't mind pulling it apart to make a project could make one cheaply. It would then become a dedicated video playback system. With Project. Great for parties!
People on slashdot do have parties don't they?
Look at the cost of life of the bulbs in OHPs. Typically 50 hours and cost of about £30-50 here in the UK.
Bulb life in a projector is typically 2000 hours (4000 in mine) and cost about £250 for the bulb.
So using 2000 hours as an example:
Projector cost £599 will last 2000 hours so total cost for first 200 hours is £599.
Self made projector will cost about £200-300, for 2000 hours of use you'll need 40 bulbs at £30 a go which works out at £1200 for bulbs and £200-300 so grand total of £1400-1500 (for which you can get a good DLP).
You also end up with a big ugly box which you can't place anywhere easily, a projector with no analog inputs, no warranty, no adjustments to compensate for placement etc etc.
Just buy a projector, it'll be safer too, something you can leave for 30 minutes and know you aren't going to come back to a fire.
Is that I remember in college a professor of mine using one of these overhead LCD projector doo-dads and she had to constantly turn the overhead off while lecturing because the heat of the projector would start to "burn" the LCD and the image would be distorted on the screen. After cooling down it would work again, but still during a 2+ hour movie or gaming session... I just can't see how this will work.
Now overhead projector technology may have come a long way (hehe) since then but isn't this an issue? At the very least, especially when it is crammed in a felt-lined box.
Anyone know?
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
http://www.metacafe.com/item22030/do_it_yourself_- _video_projector/GMSMA
amazing
According to this link the Proxima Ovation 944+ is 8 grand new. Not that anyone would pay that, right? Well...
None are listed on eBay.
Finished auctions on eBay list at about 300. That's fine, but try to find one!
Kind of eliminates the ability to do this project, doesn't it?
I don't understand why all of these DIY projects have to use some amount of unobtainium. Why not price out some NEW parts, ones that are currently on the market? Leave it as an exercise for the reader to find used or discounted products.
Only then can you make a fair assessment of whether or not one of these projects is "do-able."
I would love to see some names / brands of recommended overhead projection panels - but unfortunately, THAT is left up to the reader. I thought making these recommendations was a key part of a DIY article. After all, look at Woodworking magazine or any other DIY magazine - they all list the parts, the specs of the parts, and typically, a price or two with each.
Video Game News, FAQs, etc
Real LCD Projectors actually use three seperate panels with each panel reproducing a primary colour. The light source is filtered into the primaries. Each colour then passes through its own panel and the image is recombined and then projected.
The things are getting pretty low in price compared to other technologies... http://www.radioshack.com/content/promotionalpages /promo13.asp?find=DLP(keyword)&hp=search/
Don't you geeks make enough money to buy a real projector?
What's the point of being a geek unless you can make some bank, stay at home in a darkened room with lots of Mountain Dew, and enjoy your own company?
This is BIY "Buy It Yourself"
Making a crappy (and this one is REALLY crappy) "enclosure" for 2 electronics is not DIY.
He even spent over $100 on a screen! DIYers have been making projection screens under $20 for years.
can you show me how to get %300 back? ;-)
"He's a real midnight golfer"
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I've built an LCD projector. Despite all the naysayers here, it gave an excellent picture, it looked pretty snazzy, my girlfriend thought it was cool, and it was much quieter than an X1, which is the projector I compared it to.
I used a 17" 1280x768 flat panel monitor, a 250 watt metal halide bulb, a pair of 220mm focal length fresnels and a triplet lens out of a 3M 9200 projector.
All you people bitching about how a DIY projector looks sitting in your living room should be ashamed of yourself. If you cannot design and build a good looking case, that is your fault.
Hmmm, what does a 1280x768 native projector sell for these days? 2 or 3 grand? I built mine for $400, and it took about a month. Most of that time was making the case.
Sadly for my DIY projector hobby, I saw a CRT projector and was completely blown away. I picked up a Sony 1270Q CRT projector with mint tubes for $400, and I'm pleased as punch. The contrast in a CRT (and bear in mind, my CRT is 10+ years old) is better than even the $10000 modern LCDs and DLPs. I know, I have compared them.
So, to summarize for all you whipper-snappers who don't have the skill or patience to build a good DIY LCD projector: It is possible, fun, cheap, and interesting to build your own LCD projector. You can easily beat the resolution and color depth availible in current LCD projectors for a quarter of the cost.
But if you really care about the image, get an old CRT. It's 4' long, 3' wide, 2' tall, has 3 7" lenses, and weighs 150lbs, but damn that image is something else.
(P.S. CRTs don't have native resolutions, but for those who keep score my CRT can resolve about ~650 lines when it is properly setup. So while I lose some lines while watching 720p and 1080i, the image still looks fantastic. A good 8" or 9" CRT will do 1080p without breaking a sweat, but those will still cost you a few grand.)
so sit way back. duh.
if i could afford such a big room, id be able to afford a proper projector...
Why oh why would anyone bother?
:)
I recently purchased a very lovely DLP projector for business purposes. NEC, 1024x768, 5lbs. Composite, RGB, Component, S-Video inputs, a remote, etc. all for about $1,000CDN ($815USD). Similarly, you can get units like this from major retailers for $750-$1500 with spare bulbs, cables, etc. This project has a cost of "$200-800", but realistically, you're in the higher range if you want a decent LCD panel with good resolution, inputs, etc. and a bright enough projector.
So yes- this has the geek factor to it and all your friends will find it amusing that you were able to make a projector to fill your wall. These projects are intended to SAVE tons of money in DIY projects as well as add to the geek factor.
Instead, we have a big clunking machine, built on parts with low bulb life, not intended to go for hours on end, poor cooling, and far from optimal quality (usually splotchy projection comes from the overhead projectors).
Don't bother with this project. If you're going to spend this much, go out and buy a real projector. It'll be great for computers, home theatre, presentations, etc. and you'll be able to drag it over to a friend's house to have movies on a king sized bed sheet draped over his/her garage.
The costs of real projectors have come down! FOur to five years ago, a good portable projector was $3000-$5000. Nowdays it's $750-$1500- cheaper than most backlit projection TVs. Go buy a real projector.
-M
when you see the word 'Linux', drink!
I built one of these in college using a vga panel and an overhead projector. It was easy and cheap to build, but quite a hassle to use. The room had to be extremely dark and the contrast on the panel sucked. The panel also seemed to overheat a lot and sometimes even got burned. It really wasn't a good solution for casual viewing. I switched back to my 19inch CRT.
This comment shows lack of insight and/or knowledge of projectors.
AFAIK proper home theater LCD projectors are not constructed in this way at all. They use three separate LCD panels and so have much much better pictures. This isn't a cheap alternative to buying a real LCD projector; it's a fundamentally inferior solution.
You say that but many people are watching normal TV resolutions with quite large screens. HDTV (and HD DVD) is required for anything above 1024x768.
"and yes we are working on the "spelling issues" I am a computer geek, not a english major... deal with it!" I read through the rest of the article and it was almost amusing how many spelling errors they have. I would suggest using a spellchecker but the words they're using are actual words, so it wouldn't help. Like threw for through and setup for set up or a instead of an. Just a little piece of advice... if you write for Tom's Hardware Guide, get a really really really patient editor. Love your articles though... hope you get time to keep doing it.
Just to dispel any rumors the The Man is making you pay $300 for a $40 lamp in a commercially available projector, the $300 lamp is a "UHE" type arc lamp and the $40 lamp is a halogen. The UHE is going to produce I'd guess about twice as much light, with 1/2 the power consumption, it's going to last about as long as the halogen (1500 to 2000 hr) and it's going to have a much higher color temperature.
If you were really into DIY you'd homebrew an arc lamp power supply, but it's tricky, you can't just plug the arc lamp into voltage, the current has to be regulated, similar to a flourescent light ballast.
Mistakes with arc lamps can be fun - for the small lamps in home projectors blowing one up would not be a big disaster (though expensive). I worked once as a commerical projectionist, we would get replacement arc lamps as big around as your thumb for our projectors shipped in wooden crates with layer upon layer of padding and big labels on the outside "MISHANDLING WILL RESULT IN DEATH".
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
www.diyaudio.com (The Moving Image section)n y.com
www.lumenlab.com
www.diyprojectorcompa
And if you find yourself getting into DIY try
www.hackaday.com - at least one hack a week will be cool.
Building a LCD projector is a bit like building an old-style bicycle with the one huge wheel and no gear/chain system. There is better technology now, called DLP. There is no reason to mess with LCD anymore.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
I've been waiting (and drooling) over the prospect of laser projection techs for the last 10 years or so. Sony's done a lot in the field recently. In fact, they have a 2005 inch screen set up at their exhibition building at the 2005 World's Fair in Seto, Japan. I dearly wish I could see this thing in person...
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/GxL/
Be sure to have a look at their tech explanation too. They went with the Grating Light Valve design, using MEMS.
A preposition is a terrible thing to end a sentence with.
I can understand everyone being unimpressed with this article, but do not cast doubt upon DIY LCD projectors so suddenly.
c =4203
I built a projector with a resolution of 1920x1200 (WUXGA) - for around $1,000. My screen size is 102" diag, with my projector mounted behind me in the closet (silent).
Up to now people were limited to 1024x768 (XGA) resolution in their DIY Projectors, and that just isnt much these days. I set out to change this.
I accomplished a WUXGA resolution by utilizing a previously unusable LCD Panel, a laptop LCD Display.
I ended up using the SHARP 15.4" WUXGA displays used in laptops, and had a custom controller made for the LCD panel. The controller features PiP, PbP, DVI-D, VGA, Component, Composite, S-video, Remote, and other advanced features.
I have not heard one complaint from anyone who has watched my projector, in fact they all beg me to build them one or try to buy mine off of me.
For those interested in some REAL DIY with some REAL results, go to http://www.lumenlabs.com/, that is where I learned about all the necessary things to build a projector.
For those interested in the LCD Display setup I used, I offer them in the US & Canada once every few months in a group buy format. Read about it here: http://members.cox.net/minoten and here: http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopi
My only question has to do with the ramifications of enclosing the projector in a box; what about air flow, heat dissipation, and the like? I'd be throwing in a 120 CFM fan or two, noise or not. Better to have to turn the volume up than to start a fire!
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/05/13/005247
I got a free, working overhead projector from the curb on one fine trash day, and later I was given a fairly decent laptop with a screen that had a broken backlight and was not economically feasible to repair. I combined the two to create an LCD projector just as you describe. Pictures can be seen here: Click (please be kind to this server!).
Advantages:
*Cheap (I did it for $0.00)
*Easy
*Totally ghetto-fabulous.
Disadvantages:
*Really, really crappy quality (only really could be used for video, and only if you weren't picky about quality)
*Edges got cut off because the LCD was larger than the projector
*Pretty dim
*Noisy
*In my case, could only work with the laptop who's screen I tore apart
So in summary, if you have the parts laying around and have some time to kill - go for it. Otherwise don't even bother.
Not to knock what they've done (I did it myself using an Nview panel and OHP combo a couple years ago), but I think they're being a little misleading in their enthusiastic appraisal of the end product. Not only do those late model LCD panels have latency issues, but the contrast ratio on them is so bad they're practically useless for watching movies/tv. And that 'cheap' bulb??? Not really. $10 for 50 hours (lifespan of OHP bulbs) is 20 cents per hour. Guess what? A $400 bulb (like the one that goes in my Benq DLP) lasts 3000 hours in economy mode. That's 13 cents per hour, almost HALF as much as the OHP bulbs. They are also heavily biased in their cost analysis when saying that Proxima panel can be had for $25. Not saying it's impossible, just hightly unlikely. There are LCD panels in that price range, but not the 944. It's still going for well over $100 in hobbyist circles. Matter of fact, a quick Ebay search for completed Proxima listings shows that an Ovation 842 just sold for $90 shipped. The cables that go to those panels normally sell for almost as much as is being quoted for the entire panel !! When all is said and done, you'll likely spend over $200 to get a barely watchable 1990's LCD panel with an overhead projector that costs twice as much to operate and is 10-20 times as big and heavy as just purchasing a real projector. You can buy a used Infocus X1 or Benq 6100 for around $500. Either of these units will make that Proxima panel look like the waste of time it really is.
This ain't no upwardly mobile freeway This is the road to hell
2. Any size television or monitor.
Free Instructions:
Sit on your moveable platform and move really, really close to the television or monitor.
If you like I'll sell you the complete instruction with illustrations for only $19.99!!
That was harsh. Even if this article is a dupe, it's still creative.
1. I don't want a small room that would love a 6 foot image to death, to turn into a hothouse because of all the heat generated. I would much rather find a way to get enough LEDs to approximate 3500 lumens, without presumably generating any heat.
2. I'd like to plaster as much of the room with focused data, in other words using mirrors, some kind of fisheye or telescopic lens, or perhaps a conic mirror. This also means I need the highest resolution possible, though multiple panels might be acceptable.
3. The main aims are to make a planetarium and also to experiment with interfaces. In other words a cheap CAVE / CAVERN system would be real nice. If anybody can point to / provide info about what kind of a setup would be needed to replace the giant radiator with cold LEDs, please post on!
Currently, I have most of the parts I need - mainly, I just need the proper fresnels and wood to make the case. I have the LCD, the projection lens I plan to use one off of a busted LP20 projector, but I am still stuck on a light source...
First off - I am cheap (can you tell?). I have looked into metal halide solutions, and I like them, but it seems impossible to get a low-cost 400W ballast and the mogul base. Once you bump past about 150W, the price gets large, quickly. The bulb price is reasonable, though.
I have thought about trying a halogen work lamp - cheap, easy to get - but they get VERY VERY hot. I have heard (but not experienced) that a metal halide lamp runs cooler - but if the price for the ballast is insane, it is only worth it if there is good reason.
Something I am worried about that I have heard about a halogen work lamp, is that since the lamp is bright along the length of it (not a "point" source), you get a bright line in the image (but I wonder why you don't get a bright point using other lamps?) - how true is this? Does the color temp difference between halogen and metal halide make a big difference? Is there other lamp configurations I should look at (automobile, or small reflector halogens)?
A lot of questions on my mind - and not a lot of answers out there in the forums I have visited. Most homebrewers of DIY projectors have seemed to settle on metal halide. I haven't seen any others. Looks like I will be experimenting...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
http://demaagd.com/hometheater/ceilingmount.html
My mistake for not checking the link.
"Then you can roast marshmallows on the insuing bon fire that was once your house."
I'm sure you meant to say 'your Mother's house'
Cheaper on a per hour cost basis than OHP bulbs. The bulb costs need to be considered. The Benq has a $400 bulb that lasts 3000 hours in economy mode. But here's my thinking and why I went DLP. I was ready to spend $3k on a dinky 40-50 inch plasma. I normally run my DLP at 100". Any clue as to how much a 100" plasma would cost? I have to buy a LOT of $400 bulbs and watch for tens of thousands of hours before I even get to the $3k mark I was intending to spend on the dinky plasma. Enjoy.
This ain't no upwardly mobile freeway This is the road to hell
My Benq 6200 DLP has a 200 watt bulb. Not enough to worry with. You may want to check on what the power consumption of a plasma is. They can be upwards of 500 watts, which IS ENOUGH TO CAUSE HEAT ISSUES. My OHP bulb is 400 watts, though I never use it anymore since getting a real projector. Enjoy.
This ain't no upwardly mobile freeway This is the road to hell
Metal Halide is the bulb of choice for diy'ers because even though you consider it 'expensive', when compared to just about any alternative light source, it is the best option. You have to deal with color temperature as well as longevity. Instead of looking at how much the thing costs straight outta the box you need to run the numbers on how much it costs per hour versus the alternatives. Can't remember the lifespan of Metal Halide, but I recall it being quite a bit higher than some of the alternatives. You really don't want to build one yourself unless you're doing it for 'the fun and challenge'. You won't save any money over buying a used DLP, and your results will likely not be very good. The main reason that LCD sucks is the CONTRAST RATIO. The best you're gonna find, even if you spend several hundred bucks on a newer screen is probably 500:1. DLP is 2000:1 and many people BITCH about that (CRT sets typically 5-10k:1 CR) In plain English that means your blackest black is gonna be GREY. Enjoy
This ain't no upwardly mobile freeway This is the road to hell
www.diyaudio.com (The Moving Image section)
www.lumenlab.com
www.diyprojectorcompany.com
I have to agree. I've read a bit about those as it seemed like you could save lots of money.
But that was counting you could easily get all the parts for cheap (those 50% rebates on LCDs in big names stores I've never seen - or broken ones on ebay that sell for cheap - which never seems to happen either).
Plus, most places selling plans for them also try to sell you some of the parts (lenses, reflectors, etc), and not for cheap either.
When you add the REAL prices of all the parts, the plans, the wood (some people seem to do their build an enclosure, then redo it right the 2nd time) and lots of miscellaneous [not always cheap] hardware.
That's not counting your time either, that's also taking for granted nothing bad will happen (break the LCD, electrocution risks for some, lamp temperatures can almost be a fire hazard or melt the LCD...).
So you get a big and ugly project-box looking projector in your living room (no thanks), and for not much cheaper than a retail projector (if at all). The increased resolution of the monitor (if you bought a more expensive one) isn't probably making that much of a difference, unless you got really good optics too, and a very good design, and most don't have either (heck, isn't the whole point of this DIY to save money? Won't see any multicoated carl zeiss glass here!).
I've seen projectors on special at big retail chains (like staples) for like 800$ CDN - and they were easy to find and in stock. It looks nice and profesionnal, it's small, portable, runs cool-ish, has keystone correction, has a remote control, accepts all kinds of input types, it is brighter, has deinterlacing (faroudja DCDi!), and the lamp life isn't bad (would last me a couple years at least).
Why would someone want to spend time and as much money to make their own inferior product? I don't know.
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