DIY Video Projector

[Bitch]

.. So I can happily announce that this msg is the 1000th post of this thread so I'll be waiting some suprise stuff and ****

[skilzygw]

I was trying the whole build it yourself with a tiny 5" screen and custom light/box. But my halogen kept melting the fresnel. So finally my OHP came. And when i tried my lcd panel on it it was AWESOME. Great picture + size. I have taken a bunch of pics and they have to get developed. I will post. I have seen Friends episode + Along came a spider DVD. All great quality. Movies are flawless. And yo dont really notice the blur effect from slow pixel speed. But where I definately notice the blurring effect is when I play XBOX on the panel. It blurs a ton. Its not very playable at all.

Anyway hope to have the pictures up soon. Thanks!

This is fun but nothing beats a real lcd/crt/dLp projector. My next project is gonna be a small 5" lcd probably PS1 with custome box/light. That should be fun to build.

[skilzygw]

http://www.etsusa.org/lamp/page20.htm

Is this site reputable?

I bought a bell and howard 301. But i dont know where to get replacement bulbs. Can someone help? Thanks!

Supposedly mine uses
DYS / DYV / BHC 120V 600W

thanks!

[lokost]

Skilzygw

I recall I posted this link after I bought from them and they were just unbelievable for the price. If you like an honest place that's them!

[MuzzMan]

I don't have any compatible hardware to use dscaler at the moment, and it doesn't seem to let you run the software anyway to poke around the settings, so I have to ask the forum:
What sort of gamma/brightness settings does the current version of dscaler support? Is it just a simple brightness adjustment, or can you alter the gamma curve in the same way you can for vga cards?
Myren:
Question for Myren, you mentioned you have recompiled the dscaler source to implement some sort of adaptive brightness control, how far have you got? Is it fairly straightforward to get to grips with the source and add your own features like this?

I am thinking of getting a tuner card merely to enable me to play around with the dscaler software.

[mosgaard]

Hi,
I am just looking around to find some info about DIY projectors. Can anybody tell me if I got a 15" LCD panel what size should the lens be? Could I use a 4" lens or should it be as big as the LCD?
Could you supply me with some links to some basic information about projectors? I have found a lot of links in this forum, but I haven't been able to find enough info if I doesn't use a OHP.

Regards,
Mosgaard

[tom1356]

Hello All!
I have been following this thread for a short time and I was wondering if it was possible to build a projector that could incorporate a line doubler and be capable of High Definition?
I would be very interested in talking to anyone wanting to offfer assistance.
Any ideas on the cost of a project like this?
Is there any reason not to try to build the best projector I reasonably can?
Are parts readily available in the US?
Thanks In advance
Tom1356

[jjasniew]

Here's a link to a place that will sell precut fabric for making your own screen. http://screens4u.com/default.asp?pg=home

Remember, the GAIN and the VIEWING ANGLE are two things to
consider.

ID Description Price

41468 Cut to Size Screen Da-Tex (priced per sq. ft.)
$11.00

79952 Cut to Size Screen High Power (priced per sq. ft.)
$20.00

41466 Cut to Size Screen Matte White (priced per sq. ft.)
$4.40

81323 Cut to Size Screen Cinema Vision (priced per sq. ft.)
$5.10

41460 Cut to Size Screen Glass Beaded (priced per sq. ft.)
$5.50

41467hc Cut to Size Screen Da-Mat High Contrast (priced per sq. ft.)
$6.50

41467 Cut to Size Screen Da-Mat (priced per sq. ft.)
$6.50

81324 Cut to Size Screen Dual Vision (priced per sq. ft.)
$6.60

41463 Cut to Size Screen Video Spectra 1.5 (priced per sq. ft.)
$6.60

41470 Cut to Size Screen Pearlescent (priced per sq. ft.)
$6.60

41462 Cut to Size Screen Super Wonder-Lite (priced per sq. ft.)
$6.60

84092 Cut to Size Screen Audio Vision (priced per sq. ft.)
$8.80

[Myren]

mosgaard: ultimately something needs to collect the light, something somewhere needs to be bigger than the panel. OHP's are nice, they've got decent sized fresnels. standard OHP's will cut off a little bit of a 15 inch LCD, but replace the fresnel, disable those hundred pixels on the LCD, or just deal with some nonvisible area and your fine. it looks damned sexy too.

tom: i'm currently building such a projector. 1080p. costs rapidly approaching $6000 - $6200, but thats not bad considering over 4000 lumens, quiet, powerzoom, autofocus and most importantly fully native 1080p. i really want to rant for a while, but i have some patent issues i need to work out first.

you can buy everything you need off the market. walmarts not exactly gonna stock everything you need, but with some digging its all readily available.

i cant really speak much about what i'm doing anymore. once i get past patent "issues", i'll have a nice world of knowledge to share. i'm afraid thats not much use now.

myren

[jjasniew]

So, why not use an OHP? They have several advantages. Three I can think of right off are -

- All the necessary optics are there.
- Cooling problems are solved.
- Product safety issues have been addressed.

Even if you cut it up and rearrange it into some other more suitable form, you still have all the parts and all the original optical dimensions to start from. I dont see what's wrong with an empirical approach, versus a paper design/procure and assemble individual components approach...

Sure, a 4" lens will accomodate a 15" panel. Just look at the lens on a typical OHP. I have two units with even smaller than 4" lenses. OHPs are usually graded by the number of lumens they output. A higher lumen machine will generally have a brighter light source AND better (sometimes referred to as "faster") lens, which allows a more efficient transfer of the light to the screen.

By getting to know your OHPs, a DIY can perhaps find a "broken", yet high quality unit, which would yield many useful components for their own construction. Things like lamp holders, reflectors, heat shields, fresnels, lenses, mirrors, fans, switches, etc. (Take a look at the Dukane 4000/4003)

An inexpensive "line doubler" is available from Viewsonic. It's a box with a cable TV tuner built in, that de-interlaces and scales NSTC resolution inputs (composite, s-video) to 640X480, 800X600, 1024X768 and provides a standard VGA output to a monitor. (I assume this device was created by Viewsonic so enhance monitor sales) So, you can take s-video from your DVD player, scale it up to 1024X768 and run it to such a LCD panel atop an OHP. At least, that's what I'm going to do. I have one on order from Amazon, which cost less than $100! From what I've read elsewhere, the performance is excellent, considering the price. You're looking at 5X$ to come close or improve on, so they said.