My 17" Projector

[superdaveumo]

Ok I've finally got the projector to a point that I can call "finished". Of course there is more to do, but it's good enough to use and looks finished. Here are the parts I used:

- 17" LCD - Dell 1702FP (20ms, 400:1, E-Bay)
- 220mm Back Fresnel (DIY Projector Company)
- 550mm Field Fresnel (3DLabs)
- Opaque Projector Lens (18" FL; Beseler off E-Bay)
- 12" x 16" FS Mirror (DIYPC)
- UV Filter (DIYPC)
- IR Filter (DIYPC)
- Ushio 400W Bulb (AtlantaLightBulbs)
- 400W Magnetic Ballast (GoodMart)
- Base Mogul Style (Lumen Lab)
- 2 Squirrel Fans (100 CFM, Lumen Lab)
- 1 90mm Fan (CompUSA)
- 1 80mm Fan (CompUSA)
- 500mA AC/DC Converter (Radio Shack)
- Switch (Radio Shack)
- Hardware (Screws, Nuts, Plug, Power Cord, Blank Face Plate, Angle Brackets, Flashing; Home Depot and Lowes)
- Frames (Poplar, Lowes)
- Box (Oak, Lowes)
- Stand (Oak and Pine, Lowes)
- Screen (1/4" MDF with a white surface, Home Depot)
- Soup Ladel (Crate & Barrel)

So after I got all the parts together, I made the frames first. I used a miter saw ($20 at Lowes). Made it much easier. Cut the poplar wood with 45 degree corners.



I used 3/4" framing to hold the fresnels in there.

Next, I built the LCD frame.



The circuit boards are mounted with screws and the spacers are nuts.

[superdaveumo]

From here, I built the box. This was made out of oak and I used a jigsaw to cut everything.



I used foam to seal the sides (from light leakage). The current design doesn't have dual exhaust fans anymore and there is flashing installed and a reflector. I used angle brackets to mounts all the parts.

Here are the pics from the blub mount and projection lens mount.



The bulb mount is adjustable. I utilized the projection lens mount from the opaque projector.

Here are the pics after it was stained.

[superdaveumo]

After I found that my temps were a little too high, I rearranged the fans to blow more directly on the LCD.



Now the temps are around 92F between the LCD and 550mm fresnel and around 110F between the IR/UV filter and 220mm fresnel.

I also changed the 220mm fresnel mount. It was originally just hot glued on, but that didn't stick to the fresnel very well. So I ended up drilling holes into the fresnel and mounting it with wood to the LCD frame.

So the next part was the stand. The projector is mounted perpendicular to the wall.



I used angle brackets to attach everything together. I found the stand a little wobbly when I put the projector on it. So, I took metal coat hangers, staightened them and used them as cross members to stablize the legs. The stand is stained the same color as the projector (special walnut and 2 gloss clear coats; from Lowes).

[superdaveumo]

The final piece is the screen. Like I said before, it's just some 1/4" MDF with a white layer on one of the faces. Originally I was just using the wall. You can see how much of a difference the wall and the MDF are. The picture color is MUCH better with the MDF. I haven't tried the paint ideas from avsforum.com. Maybe later. I mounted the screen using a wedge brace. There are 6 braces: 3 on top and 3 on bottom with 3 spacers (plain blocks) in the middle to keep it from sagging.

Here is the whole projector all put together on its stand.



I added a couple papasans to the room. Very comfy. The projector and stand is 1360mm (53.5") tall and the throw is 2250mm (88.5"). The screen size is about 165.5mm (78") diagonal.

[superdaveumo]

Ok, now for the screenshots. These haven't been edited except to correct for barrel distortion and to increase the JPG compression.




The first 8 are from about a month ago. They are before I removed the anti-glare (AG) layer from my LCD and before I put up the MDF screen. The color grids are comparing the wall (top part) to the MDF screen (bottom). The color grids are after the AG removal. The Patriots game is from today. It is entirely on the MDF board, the AG layer was removed, and it's from an HD broadcast (720p). The guy smoking and the scene from Robots is also in 720p. The others are upsized (interpolated) to be full screen.

You can see the color difference in the shots with the color grid. The wall is off-white and textured.

[superdaveumo]

Some final thoughts? Well, the projector is nice and quiet. You can hear the fans, but it's about the same as a desktop computer (an off-the-shelf type). The picture is great; especially in HDTV. The stand works awesome! The stand/projector is a nice complement to the room. I've hooked up a Radio Shack HD receiver to the projector (HDMI out of receiver to DVI in projector). So I now have both TV and computer inputs. The screen size is very comfortable at a 10ft view distance (the seats are about 10ft away).

Improvements? Well, the right side is slightly dark. The corners and edges are a little out of focus. Might try the pro lens from LL in the future. The mirror is only mounted from the bottom and not the top. So it bounces every time the projector is touched (making the picture move). Gotta stablize that. I have some small light leakage. Aside from that, it works! It's alive! I want to thank the people here for giving me advice and helping me with my questions.

I hope this walk-through can help others with their projectors. Here are some links to my other threads about this projector:

Anti-Glare
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...724#post781724

Bulb and Ballast
The 400W Venture Lighting Ballast and UHI-S400DD USHIO 400W Bulb

LCD Disassembly
Dell 1702FP 17" LCD Disassembled

Opaque Projector / 18" FL Projection Lens
A solution for projectors with 17" LCDs!

[ink]

very good work!!! congratulation

[kosimazaki]

Nice! Congrats A+ for the casing. Great job!

[snortonnorton]

awesome.

thanks for posting the pics.

it will help my build alot.

[pepe303]

Very nice, thanks for sharing with us! So opaque lens can be used with success. I remember I had read somewhere else that it's not suitable, I even remember who claimed that...

In the picture where you compare MDF screen to the wall, do you mean a white wall, or coloured one, like in the pictures of the screen?

Regards