DIY Video Projector Part II

[MikeZupcak]

Thanks for the help with the candlepower! Im looking for recomendations for a light source as well as an LCD. I want to use a 16:9 LCD and found one for 200. Can anyone tell me if this is a good one to use?

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/besttoys2/tm7001s.html

Also...im wondering about what types of lenses to use for this and how they should be arranged. Anyone got any diagrams?

I liked the way Zark5150 did his original design if anyone saw that. Also, anyone using ultra bright white LED's?

thanks

-Mike

[jjasniew]

This is a 600W, 2000 hour bulb, latest design. Brand new, never used. First $40 into my paypal (joejas@ihpc.net) gets it. This bulb is supposedly temperature expansion compensated, vis-a-vis its mechanical mounting.

This should provide plenty of light with the appropriate ballast. Probably in the 75K lumen range.

[woneill]

jjasniew,

Why don't you use it? If you have any hardware to mount such a creature, I'm sure you would have the best light source out there...

I have been checking out the Osram site regarding their 575 Watt bulbs, as apparently used in the Dukane 680 and Elmo 305, and they appear compatible with standard (M59 ???) 400 Watt ballasts when paired up with a "pulse start" igniter.

With the electronic versions of this ballast (higher frequency and better line regulation) the bulbs even give longer life than when used with their normal ballast...

Bill.

[noodles]

I'm giving up on my nView Spectra C. I contacted the eBastard but he never replied. When I power on the unit, it comes to a blue screen that reads, "nView Spectra C". Undream has reason to believe that I'm using a bad cable. It's the '92 model with Analog input, DB9 EGA input, Monitor out, Accessory jack,remote, and power supply.

Here is the link to the eBay auction including pic

As you can see, I bought it for $39.99 and it came out to be $55.99 including shipping. If anyone's interested, please tell me. Maybe you will have more luck than I do. I don't have the patience to go buy brand new cables. I'll part with this item at $25 + whatever the shipping costs. I'm not here to rip anybody off. It's just that it doesn't work for me. And I need a model with composite video-in. If you're not satisfied, you can try as I did and offer it to someone else to try out. I really don't want to rip anyone off. I'm a nice person. Unless my seller magically replies to my emails, then this offer will still stand.

[MikeZupcak]

I really need to know if a 7" Widescreen LCD will work. Im also looking for bulb recomendations. I really don't want to exceed 400 dollars on this project and the LCD is already 200. If the 7" widescreen LCD is too large, does anyone know where i can find a smaller 16:9 LCD? I REALLY need help on this. Also: does anyone know what kinds of lenses i will need and have links to a site that sells them. Thanks!

Also, this is the design i plan to build my projector by

http://www.audiovisualizers.com/madlab/lcd_proj.htm

Scroll down to the hand drawn design. Help is greatly appreciated.

[fender4]

MikeZupcak,
I think you might have a hard time finding lenses to work with the 7" LCD. They would need to be at least 8" in diameter to cover ther image, and that would probably mean a custom lens=$$$.

If you would like to stick with that LCD, you will probably need to use an OHP style setup...just use the LCD like others are using the LCD projection panels. You could downsize the enclosure by "folding" the light with mirrors.

It might be easier/cheaper to just go with a projection panel, but the 16:9 size is a nice feature to have. You could always black out the top and bottom bars and create a 16:9 LCD from a projection panel like posted earlier.

That's just my opinion. Good luck with it!

-f4

[MikeZupcak]

Im still looking into that 7" 16:9 LCD screen

Any way i could build an LCD projection panel using the aforementioned LCD screen?

[tomithy83]

ok ihavent made a projectos yet but why wouldnt you be able to use a 16:9? unless the ribbon cables prevent you from removeing the backlight and everything behind the lcd itself there shouldnt be a prob

$200

you can get panels on ebay for around 50-100

[daveb]

It's me, Dave. You may have gleaned that I'm a few steps behind you, but following directly in your footsteps.

I picked up my 400 W MH ballast/bulb/kit a couple of weeks ago, and wired it up yesterday, while the kids were watching "Shrek".

A couple of questions, for you, or anyone else, who knows:

1) the wiring diagram that comes with the ballast doesn't give any indication of what to do with the Ground wire from the 3 lead power cable. Black goes to the 120V wire, White (neutral) goes to the common, but what about the ground wire? I'm no electrical Engineer (Truth is, I'm a Mechanical Engineer; that plus $1.25 will get me a cup of coffee!) but I'm guessing that I should attach the ground wire to the metal bracket that holds the ballast. Comments?

3) The GE bulbs have a number of letters that may follow the 400W indication. Sometimes U, sometimes H, etc. I *think* these indicate the acceptable burning positions of the bulb: H for horizontal, V for Vertical, U for Universal (that is, any position is ok). IS this correct? I noticied that you mounted your bulb vertically in your early incarnations, but seem to have changed the orientation in your latest casing.

Thanks,
dave.

[Undream]

yep, your correct on the letter indicated burn position. I have a MH400/U

U: universal, any direction
BU: base up, which means, hung upside down
BD: base down, standing on its base
H (or HOR): horizontal.

As for the ground on the three prong? I didnt know what to do with it either, so, I just didn't hook it to anything. hehe. Someone please tell me if that is bad.