so a friend of mine had 2 LCD projectors sitting in his shed so i nabbed them.
one is a fujitsu lpf-1000 and the other is a sharp xv-s1z
i think they are both about 10 years old. the story behind them is that they belonged to my friend's uncle, who grabbed them from his work (along with a box of parts, more on that later) in an attempt to make a single working projector out of them.
both projectors are missing various parts, yet there is a lot here, especially in the box of goodies.
exciting at first was the ammount of LCD screens i found. there must be about 15 lcd screens in this box, but the largest they get is 3" diag. since the projectors are so old I can only assume the resolution isn't that hot, but it's still cool that there are so many. the other issue with the LCDs is that i see no way of using them unless i can get the main electronics in the projectors back in working condition, and seeing as how they're in many pieces that may not be possible. the lcds have no interface, just connections for ribbon cable.
much more exciting than that are the optics and mirrors. the sharp came with a projection lens that measures 145mm-265mm and has a 1:4.5 zoom ratio on it. the fujitsu lens is much lighter and not labeled, yet visually seems to magnify just slightly larger.
there are also several other non-mechanical lenses.
there's a square single concave/flat lense which measures about 2 inches by 1 1/3" and looks to have a 1.5:1 - 2:1 magnification ratio. there are several filters that are the exact same size as this, and this seems to be the same size as several of the lcds.
there is a square 2.5"x2.5" fresnel lense that is completely flat.
there is a 1.5"x1" square that has some sort of honeycomb pattern in it, and is dark unless you put it right in front of a light.
there is a very neat 2.5"x2.5" (goes w/ the fresnel?) yellow/green mirror type filter that when held up to my eye makes everything blue.
there are a few 3"x3" flat fresnel lenses, one of which is dark. they seem to have a magnification of about 2:1-2.5:1.
there is a 3"x5" double sided mirror (both are reflective) and it looks VERY nice. there are 3 pieces of glass packed with it that seem to be coated with different types of filters (maybe rgb?). the filters look clear if you look straight on but then take on different colors when angled.
there is also a 4-5" double convex lens that has about a 3:1-4:1 magnification factor.
as for the light sources, it seems that those have been completely removed from the projectors. nothing to be found. alas.
also, the sharp projector still has all of it's optics intact. it has about 5 or 6 mirrors angled to create many "turns" in the lights path. i cannot find where the LCD goes in it though, I would assume next to one of the lenses but alot of it's enclosed to keep light out. i'm going to take it completely apart at some point but i'm trying to learn what i'm dealing with first.
there may be a circut board missing from the "guts" of the sharp, for I cannot find the LCDs hookup on the main board.
there was a remote for the sharp tho
the other frustrating part is that these units are covered in japanese, with little to no english whatsoever printed on them.
after doing a search on google I found that the sharp was made in 1991, but that's it.
i think my best bet would be to match up as much of this stuff as i can and see what i need to get to use it. i may be able to get the sharp working but i'll still need a light source (at the very least a flashlight could be employed to see the lcd display).
still, a great find for $0.
i'm completely new to the DIY projector concept but i think it's awesome. I would love to put something together to project an image in my back yard so you could watch movies while sitting on the deck, but that's a bit further in my future. for now I'm gunna learn the ropes and see what i can do with this stuff.
anyways, i'm really excited having picked this crap up and would love any input any of you have. anything to get a little further to the ultimate goal - big, clear video.
-eryk
insolace@yahoo.com
one is a fujitsu lpf-1000 and the other is a sharp xv-s1z
i think they are both about 10 years old. the story behind them is that they belonged to my friend's uncle, who grabbed them from his work (along with a box of parts, more on that later) in an attempt to make a single working projector out of them.
both projectors are missing various parts, yet there is a lot here, especially in the box of goodies.
exciting at first was the ammount of LCD screens i found. there must be about 15 lcd screens in this box, but the largest they get is 3" diag. since the projectors are so old I can only assume the resolution isn't that hot, but it's still cool that there are so many. the other issue with the LCDs is that i see no way of using them unless i can get the main electronics in the projectors back in working condition, and seeing as how they're in many pieces that may not be possible. the lcds have no interface, just connections for ribbon cable.
much more exciting than that are the optics and mirrors. the sharp came with a projection lens that measures 145mm-265mm and has a 1:4.5 zoom ratio on it. the fujitsu lens is much lighter and not labeled, yet visually seems to magnify just slightly larger.
there are also several other non-mechanical lenses.
there's a square single concave/flat lense which measures about 2 inches by 1 1/3" and looks to have a 1.5:1 - 2:1 magnification ratio. there are several filters that are the exact same size as this, and this seems to be the same size as several of the lcds.
there is a square 2.5"x2.5" fresnel lense that is completely flat.
there is a 1.5"x1" square that has some sort of honeycomb pattern in it, and is dark unless you put it right in front of a light.
there is a very neat 2.5"x2.5" (goes w/ the fresnel?) yellow/green mirror type filter that when held up to my eye makes everything blue.
there are a few 3"x3" flat fresnel lenses, one of which is dark. they seem to have a magnification of about 2:1-2.5:1.
there is a 3"x5" double sided mirror (both are reflective) and it looks VERY nice. there are 3 pieces of glass packed with it that seem to be coated with different types of filters (maybe rgb?). the filters look clear if you look straight on but then take on different colors when angled.
there is also a 4-5" double convex lens that has about a 3:1-4:1 magnification factor.
as for the light sources, it seems that those have been completely removed from the projectors. nothing to be found. alas.
also, the sharp projector still has all of it's optics intact. it has about 5 or 6 mirrors angled to create many "turns" in the lights path. i cannot find where the LCD goes in it though, I would assume next to one of the lenses but alot of it's enclosed to keep light out. i'm going to take it completely apart at some point but i'm trying to learn what i'm dealing with first.
there may be a circut board missing from the "guts" of the sharp, for I cannot find the LCDs hookup on the main board.
there was a remote for the sharp tho
the other frustrating part is that these units are covered in japanese, with little to no english whatsoever printed on them.
after doing a search on google I found that the sharp was made in 1991, but that's it.
i think my best bet would be to match up as much of this stuff as i can and see what i need to get to use it. i may be able to get the sharp working but i'll still need a light source (at the very least a flashlight could be employed to see the lcd display).
still, a great find for $0.
i'm completely new to the DIY projector concept but i think it's awesome. I would love to put something together to project an image in my back yard so you could watch movies while sitting on the deck, but that's a bit further in my future. for now I'm gunna learn the ropes and see what i can do with this stuff.
anyways, i'm really excited having picked this crap up and would love any input any of you have. anything to get a little further to the ultimate goal - big, clear video.
-eryk
insolace@yahoo.com
If both are VGA capable then simply start working with the one you believe to be the most complete. Missing a light source obviously is ok. If one is higher res than the other....www.projectorcentral.com will tell you. then start playing with that. Worst case scenario is both are missing key lcd driver components....in wich case dont bother....instead use the design to work with another self supplied lcd panel/driver.
that's the problem. one projector has either the wrong board in it or only 1 of a few boards that it needs. the other has all it's guts but it's almost impossible to sort them out because all the ribbons have been replaced with individual wires, and most aren't connected. there are quite a few. i can't even figure out where to hook up the 3 prong AC.
projector central found the LPF-1003 (mine is 1000, maybe that's the diff between english and japanese). the image looks identical but it has 0 specs.
nothing on the sharp. after examining it further it looks like the sharp actually uses filter to split the light into amber, blue, and green and then has a seperate LCD for each, then all images are recombined with mirrors at the lens.
so the housing for the sharp is out because I don't have the electronics to power 3 different colored LCDs at their appropriate filter rates or whater.
the housing on the fujitsu is out because it doesn't have the right mirrors that it basically needs to work.
however, the projector lenses look a bit promising. maybe they'll work in an LCD panel setup like marklars (which so far looks like the best DIY projector i've seen. I'd love to see it projecting a movie instead of that sharp screen though). i just bid on the same model OHP that he cannibalized for his stuff tho, so maybe i wont need any of it, just the panel and the ballast etc.
-eryk
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