---Brightness isn't that bad. Ok so you can't watch it with the sun shining directly on the projector screen, but I can't watch TV that way either so it doesn't matter. They use a LCD projector in my CS classes, and it's easily viewable with all the bright fluorescent lights on, but I won't lie, it does look better with the lights off. Also the projector is a older Epson model (probably 3 or 4 years old?), so I'm sure the newer ones look much, much better.
2. Bulb Life:
Most decent projectors have a 2,000 hr life, while good ones have up to 4,000 hrs. This doesn't sound like a lot, but according to several sources (here's one) the average US family watches about 4 hours of TV daily, or 28 hrs a week. Sounds like a whole lot, almost 1,500 hrs a year, so the bulb will need replacing every 16 months or longer.
This sounds very costly, but considering the fact that just a 47" projection TVs cost $1500+ it would be several years before the price of a inexpensive eBay-purchased LCD projector would equal anywhere near the cost of even a 47" TV, much less 60", while the size would be much larger.
I've also noticed that most of the bulbs aren't so amazing, most are 100-200 watts, easily attainable using inexpensive bulbs purchased at Wal-Mart. While the real bulbs are quite different than standard bulbs, I'm sure there would be a way to hack the projector to use a less expensive bulb. Perhaps those bright white automotive bulbs may work? I believe those are 70 watts, so two should provide around 1300-1500 lumens, not bad. I also feel white LEDs may be a reasonable alternative in the next few years: they've already doubled their power within the last 5 years while the price is 1/10th.
3. Other options?
---slashdot did a story not long ago about the "build your own 100" TV!" internet scams that just put a magnifying glass in front of a standard TV. While that probably wouldn't work so well, a LCD projector is pretty much just that, a tiny LCD in front of a projector, and this site has instructions on how to build your own. Seems legit.
Like someone said, jail is for violent offenders that need to be removed from society, not for measly offenses like copyright infringement.
If the problem really is copyright infringement, why not just charge the kids what it would have cost them for all the original CDs they got songs from? Could get rather expensive very fast, most CDs only have one or two songs worth listening to, and they have to pay for the entire CD than a few thousand mp3s could easily be $10,000-$50,000.
I'm actually surprised he didn't consider that first, with all the state budget cuts he's suggesting taking more money from tax payers instead of making money from fines.
clear PCs are great, but I'm surprised no one has released clear ribbon cables yet to match the clear PCs. Something like home speaker wires would work.
Slashdot Mirror
1. Brightness:
---Brightness isn't that bad. Ok so you can't watch it with the sun shining directly on the projector screen, but I can't watch TV that way either so it doesn't matter. They use a LCD projector in my CS classes, and it's easily viewable with all the bright fluorescent lights on, but I won't lie, it does look better with the lights off. Also the projector is a older Epson model (probably 3 or 4 years old?), so I'm sure the newer ones look much, much better.
2. Bulb Life:
Most decent projectors have a 2,000 hr life, while good ones have up to 4,000 hrs. This doesn't sound like a lot, but according to several sources (here's one) the average US family watches about 4 hours of TV daily, or 28 hrs a week. Sounds like a whole lot, almost 1,500 hrs a year, so the bulb will need replacing every 16 months or longer.
This sounds very costly, but considering the fact that just a 47" projection TVs cost $1500+ it would be several years before the price of a inexpensive eBay-purchased LCD projector would equal anywhere near the cost of even a 47" TV, much less 60", while the size would be much larger.
I've also noticed that most of the bulbs aren't so amazing, most are 100-200 watts, easily attainable using inexpensive bulbs purchased at Wal-Mart. While the real bulbs are quite different than standard bulbs, I'm sure there would be a way to hack the projector to use a less expensive bulb. Perhaps those bright white automotive bulbs may work? I believe those are 70 watts, so two should provide around 1300-1500 lumens, not bad. I also feel white LEDs may be a reasonable alternative in the next few years: they've already doubled their power within the last 5 years while the price is 1/10th.
3. Other options?
---slashdot did a story not long ago about the "build your own 100" TV!" internet scams that just put a magnifying glass in front of a standard TV. While that probably wouldn't work so well, a LCD projector is pretty much just that, a tiny LCD in front of a projector, and this site has instructions on how to build your own. Seems legit.
Like someone said, jail is for violent offenders that need to be removed from society, not for measly offenses like copyright infringement.
If the problem really is copyright infringement, why not just charge the kids what it would have cost them for all the original CDs they got songs from? Could get rather expensive very fast, most CDs only have one or two songs worth listening to, and they have to pay for the entire CD than a few thousand mp3s could easily be $10,000-$50,000.
I'm actually surprised he didn't consider that first, with all the state budget cuts he's suggesting taking more money from tax payers instead of making money from fines.
clear PCs are great, but I'm surprised no one has released clear ribbon cables yet to match the clear PCs. Something like home speaker wires would work.