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DIY Projector Plans Released
vroom writes "Lumenlab, a rapidly-growing website dedicated to the art of building LCD projectors, has just released its guide on how to build your own projector. The guide used to sell for $19.99, along with entrance to the "Premium Forums," where like-minded DIYers work together to constantly push this obsession forward. Not sure if building your own LCD projector is for you? Not a problem anymore. Just download the official torrent file of the guide and you're good to go. If you want to roam with the others in the Premium Forums, however, you'll still need to buy a membership."
I didn't see anything on their site that they were releasing it via torrent... are we sure this is truly an official release and not someone just tossing it up without permission?
I see a LumenLab banner at the top of Free2Code's site, but with a referrer link like they're an affiliate.
Maybe I'm just paranoid, but this doesn't feel legit.
"Minor carpentry and electrical skills are required for this project."
What do they mean by "minor?" Why can't there be a rating system?
MINOR (Carpentry/Electrical)
Drunken Redneck/Three Month Old Chimp
Middle-Age-Crisis-Ridden Father-in-Law/Community College Electrical Engineering Dropout
Bob Vila/Uncle Ben
Jesus/Ben Franklin
MAJOR (Carpentry/Electrical)
Here is the list of basic equipment
1. lcd
2. strong light source
3. lens
4. case
5. smoke
6. mirrors
7. done
8. profit
WhatMeWorry!!!
Are building these worth these worth it? What is the final cost/hours spent/usability/style/performance of the finished product? Compared to say a cheaper $600 finished projector?
For a 1-page article that's a lot of exclamation marks! Somebody count them! I counted 21 !'s ! That's lot when you take into consideration that the whole article is like 15 sentences ! Seriously it becomes annoying after a while ! Somebody should tell these marketing morons that .!=! !
My roommate and I actually are going with this route (although we are poor college kids, so obtaining the parts is a slow process). We know a few people on campus that have used this method as well. Coming from an engineering school something like this guide isnt much help to me, but access to those forums have been invaluable, there's just the little things that you just dont quite think of when you're building your projector that other people have done (i.e. keystoning and different methods of implementing it), and plus it's nice to have a big community to help you along with something like this. Stripping down a LCD may seem intimidating, but with some tips from the community, it's something that can be easily achieved.
/me puts on my flame suit for forking over the $20 some-odd bucks and prepares for a raping.
Now...
Hardly "Just released" ! My personal copy of the lumenlab guide
says "Copyright lumenlab.com 2003-2004".
BTW It is a good guide, but the same information can be collected elsewhere.
http://izzotek.com/index.php?lang=en
http://www.diyprojectorcompany.com/
http://www.diybeamer.ch/portal/index.php (German, Ahh es macht so gut..)
http://www.gadaffy.ch.vu/
http://www.gwidijanto.fcpages.com/index.htm
Yet buying the guide allows access to the forums, which by itself is worth the price.
It's a great tutorial on how to convert a laptop TFT screen and a regular overhead projector into a great big screen! A good read, practical and down to earth.
Ok... this is one of those DIY projects that can be cool to do, but overall its not worth the effort unless you need a very custom looking projector. Quick cost breakdown: You have to buy all the parts - that can easily run over $300. Add $N if you need tools. We are already sitting at $300+N, not counting labor. This project does not appear to be something you can do in 30 minutes or less. And when you are done, you are without any kind of warrenty. Total price so far (best case) = $300 + N + (Hours * Hourly wage) - warrenty Total price so far (worst case) = $300 + N + (Hours * Hourly wage) + Hospital trip - warrenty Or you can go and buy a new cheapie projector for under $600. It is also safe to assume that an occasional projector will turn up at a computer scavenger or pawn shop. Of course, I'm waiting for the SCO corporate liquidation auction to pick up my projector...
Navicula hydraulica plena anguilarum est. Omnes castelli tuus nostri sunt. Ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta.
So the reason you're condemning this is because your *eight year old* OHP projection screen is, um, eight years old.
This isn't putting an OHP LCD on an OHP, it's converting a normal desktop LCD screen (you know, the ones that have gotten very, very cheap and very, very good in the past couple of years) into a projection system. The output can be great, and they are an order of magnitude cheaper to run than *any* commercial projector. Sure, you need to hook up a PC or a video-to-VGA converter to it, but so what? Laptops and HTPCs (and video-to-vga converters) are plentiful.
The Tom's Hardware article was a great proof-of-concept, and is still useful if you have a spare LCD screen and an OHP floating around, but it's hardly elegant or robust or electrically safe. The Lumenlab style of PJ is a refinement of the idea - less duct-tape and more lounge-room appliance. Your wife would probably want the TH PJ thrown out :)
A bit off topic but regarding projectors, I always wondered why the lamps are so expensive (>$200). Are the filaments made of gold?? (joking). Seriously, I would like to know why manufacturing could not yield much cheaper lamps. Anybody got a clue?
Remember the year 2000? They promised us flying cars. They delivered the PT Cruiser...
Go home.
Place tablet on projector.
Plug in all cords into their correct sockets.
Enjoy!
There are many more guides about building your custom made LCD projector around. From my experience it can be difficult to find them with Google. But here is a starting point for more and free practical guides to do-it-yourself DIY LCD projectors. There are also guides for building projectors from old dia projectors and tutorials to build overhead projectors yourself. You may even use a display from an otherwise broken and unusable laptop.
HTH
Windows is like decaf - it tastes like the real thing, but it won't get you through the day.
Just think, if anyone could squeeze 800x600 onto a 35mm LCD then they could produce 12000x9000
It's not how it works. That's why you don't see wall-sized 12000x9000 screens being just a seamless 10x10 matrix of 1200x900 screens, same pixel size, bigger image size. You can make bigger screens by making bigger pixels, and opposite, tiny screens with tiny pixels, like in the expensive "real" projectors. The problem is the number of interconnections, data lines for each pixel. You can squeeze in only as many while keeping the latencies at reasonable level, and the physical size has little (even if some) to do with it.
There are tiny XGA displays that could nicely go straight for such a projector, expensive like the hell, but they exist. The problem here is heat, they are way too heat-sensitive to survive it.
I was thinking more along the lines: Take it apart, change the distances between lenses, possibly add two fresnels or something like this, use normal LCD screen.
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
Not sure why the release of this particular set of plans is news, really. There are a ton of guides for DIY projectors, that go from simple fresnel based systems, through LCD + overhead projector, all the way to building the whole thing yourself.
FYI, see:
- Building a Home Theater (a guide and study of my own experience)
- Operation: Big Screen, using an OHP
- Inventgeek's guide
- Building an LCD projector from the ground up
And there are many more, just a g00gle away...Comment removed based on user account deletion
Why would you want to buy a refridgerator when you could just buy an esky and dump some ice in it? Why would you want a TV when you could cut up some paper, draw images on each piece, then assemble them into a flipbook? :D
An OHP with an LCD on top is going to be ungainly, fragile and is going to dump a lot of waste light around it, washing out the image. DIY projectors aren't infinitely bright; controlling the ambient light is an important consideration.
-- .sig like home.
There's no
What the hell kind of question is, "not sure if it's for you"? Why is that even being asked on Slashdot. This is supposed to be the place where DIYers congregate and talk about technology. But I see that ever since the sheeple have been admitted things must have gone downhill. You wouldn't have seen this kind of thing on Slashdot in 1957. Back then it would have been a bunch of guys with nicknames like "Buzz", "Jupiter" and "Mousemeat" working on a project like this. And they would have been happy to share the info just for the sake of how cool it is to share instead of profit. And they would have all been members of the ARRL (American Radio Relay League to you greenies who don't know anything about REAL technology) who were excited about their QSL card collection. THAT was the REAL geek. None of this namby-pamby "for a fee you can join our club and get access to the good stuff" tack that these people are up to. Truly a sad day and age we live in. The 50s were much better. At least every kid knew how to build a crystal radio set and knew what a "cat whisker" was.
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
If you are using third world child labor, don't count your time at all, and happen to have all the tools and most of the miscellaneous supplies just lying around ready to be put into the transhcan, I'm guessing you might break even.
Of coursem that's if you don't mind poor color rendition, and have an enormous space for your projector.
Don't be put off by lamp life. 2000 hours? My first PJ lasted more than 4 years on its original 1000 hour lamp (it had about 1700 when I sold the house, and still looked fine). 2000 hours - that's 8 hours a day, five days a week, 50 weeks a year, or 5.5 hours a day, every day, all year. Unless you plan on just leaving the thing on all the time, it should take you a good two years to go through a 2000 hour lamp, and several HT projectors are sporting 4000 hour lamps now. Heck, by then you'll want a new projector.
Officemax recently had a PJ on sale here for $499. 1100 lumens, 4000h lamp, 2000:1 contrast. That's going to be hard to beat with a DIY setup.
Spend a couple of hours searching for a bargain, instead of building your own. You'll probably be happier in the end, and if you're married, you'll definitely be happier with the WAF in the end.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Dude... this is someone who builds their own LCD projector. What wife?
Once you've gotten your spiffy projector built, you might as well attach it properly to the ceiling. I didn't build my own projector, but I did build my own projector mount. I have pictures and more details available. I've built the mount for a couple of different types of projectors, but the design can easily work for just about any projector. Total cost ended up being 2 or 3 bucks for the hardware. I had a couple of old pieces of wood lying around, so I didn't have to buy that.
http://www.WinWithRealEstate.com/
The users in the LumenLab member forum are the real reason to buy the plans. Their experience is invaluable and they are amazingly eager to help you.
Brain, the guy who operates LumenLab.com is highly accessible, both in forums and LL's IRC channel. He's an interesting character. He and his wife built a biodiesel car that runs on hemp oil, a DIY home CNC machine, among other things.
I highly recommend browsing the LumenLab free forum where users post pics of their finished projectors. Hundreds of success stories. Look for my friend PyrettaBlaze, his finished PJ is amazing.
The finished result with the LumenLab kit is siginificantly sharper and brighter than the overhead projector/LCD panel kludge - Approximately 1800-2000 ANSI lumens at 1024x768 with the ability to throw anything from your PC to the screen (or other sources through adapter box.) The LL guys are using quality optics and have a fanatical support community behind them.
Check it out.
THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.
I know that many of you will belive this to be a scam just as I did when me and a friend found it about 2 years ago. I plunked down the 20 bux at the time and then started reading the protected forums looking at the different ideas. After a month or so of gathering a list of things that I should get( basically what was most popular with many of the other builders) I decided that I would give it a shot and see if I could actually make it work. The build process was not very hard at all. I took my time building and measuring everything in about 2 weeks. When I first turned the projector on, I was waiting for it to not work and me to look like a fool to my wife. Much to her and my surprise the first projected images of Shrek where absolutley jaw dropping. Now, when ever we have a party or gathering at the house, everyone always wants to check out the gaming/movie projector as I sit there with a smug look on my face saying "Yea I built that for under 500 bux" Anyhow, here is a link to my finished working projector that has been running for over 1.5 years and is still great. http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic =1576
If you truely want a home theater, do not just blow this off as a scam. Putting a TV in a cardboard box to get a 120" picture that is crystal clear and high definition is a scam. This is true science. And you will be very pleased with what you come up with after you are finished with your DIY projector.
The point of releasing the guide for free is to get exposure and to let people get a feel for if they have the time/ability to start a project like this. You're getting the same guide that I bought over a year ago, the forums is where the real value lies and it has always been that way. The guide not specific enough? Remember, its DIY (DO IT YOURSELF). Its about experimenting, learning, having fun, and, if all goes well, getting a kick ass projector out of it. I've taken a look at the new pro lens setup, and it makes a SPECTACULAR picture, for less than half what a commercial projector will cost. Operating costs are a fraction of commercial projectors. But if you're not ready to build something like this, then don't buy into it.
At least you get a good idea of what it will take now, since the guide is free, so you can make your own decision about if you have the ability or the want to do something like this. As opposed to those eBay auctions for "plans" that doesn't tell you anything about it, you just have to risk your (guide) money on it. And too often it will turn out to be some shit plan that doesn't work well if at all. These guys know their stuff, they get their own lenses, made specifically for them. Its all very professional and you get great results. If this is something you can do, then I highly recommend this site.
I know the idea is to get light emitting from a tiny point, hence the super expensive bulbs... but couldn't that be solved somehow, using a different configuration for the optics or focusing the light, etc.. It would be so much cheaper to just plug in maybe 6 100 watt regular household light bulbs. Possible?
Meh.
...but a number of the drawbacks relative to commercial projectors put me off after I really researched it in-depth. Assuming that you already know that size, noise and heat are inherently worse with an overhead projector, there are some other issues:
Throw distance / placement restrictions: most overhead projectors are designed to be used a presenter *at the front of the room*, while most people would prefer their front projection system to be located at the back. The el-cheapo overhead projectors have a single element lens with no ability to zoom- for a given screen size, the projector can only be put a specific, short distance from the screen. This is evident if you look at pictures of DIY projectors in action.
There are overheads with two- and three- element lenses, but they are less common (harder to find used) and significantly more expensive new. Even then, the adjustability is limited- you still will need the projector close to the screen. Which makes the noise / heat / size issue much more significant.
Uneven brightness: many overhead projectors have a significant "hot spot" in the center of the screen, and substantially dimmer edges. A three element lens will deal with this, but then again you're spending more than this kind of project justifies. Commercial projectors are much more consistent
Contrast: Black isn't very black- LCD panels designed for monitors don't block the extremely bright projector light source very effectively, so the best you will get is a dark gray, substantially degrading image quality compared with a commercial projector (resolution and contrast are the twin holy grails of projection and display quality).
Limited color gamut: I think one of the reasons overhead projector bulbs are so much cheaper is that they don't make pure white light. You can use color correction tools found in most video drivers to fix this to have more accurate color, but the side effect of such correction is to limit the range of color that can be displayed.
Don't get me wrong- I'm not some videophile snob, but if I'm going to put time and effort into something, I want it to be done right, and there's a limit to how good the results will be with a DIY projector that has nothing to do with your craftsmanship or skills. Rather than building one myself, I'm holding off until I can justify buying a commercial unit (which may be never).
But then again, I'm a professional with a family and a house. I would have been *all over* this in college- it's an awesome dorm room project.
-R
I built one. My favorite reference, and probably the largest information collection and most active discussion, is at DIYAudio in the "Moving Images" section.
Here's two photos of my results:
http://lserve.homelinux.net:7780/PICT0056.jpg
http://lserve.homelinux.net:7780/PICT0141.jpg
The white bar on the lefthand side indicates one problem you'll have: the internal components of an LCD are very delicate. I can solder 0603 SMD resistors without breaking a sweat, or lift a 208-pin FPGA from a circuit board without damaging either, but I still managed to tear one of the mylar edge connector ribbons loose. Fortunately it was right along the edge and there's still plenty of usable viewing area. I do have another monitor I'll use to replace the broken one, but for now it works.
You do need a fairly dim room, but the image is definitely bright enough. I use a 400W metal halide, but I don't have a reflector so that's one possible way I could upgrade the projector another 30% in brightness. And the cheap lenses have a short focal length, there is no zoom control and to fill an entire 8-foot-high wall, the lens is only 10 feet away. Makes couch placement difficult. I ended up putting my couches in an angled arrangement with the projector in between. Kind of like this: \./ except a shallower angle.
Anyway I like it and it was definitely worth the pain, misfortune, and expense.