| Steamer |
Materials:
-Lilliput 7" XGA (Got touchscreen cheaper than one without, hope I can remove it)
-60mm x 192mm fl objective from sciplus.org
-200mm fl front and rear fresnals from DIYBuildergroup.com
-88mmdia x 110mm fl condensor and 55mm dia x 35mm fl sperical reflector from
Anchor Optics
-Icecap Ballast and Osram Powerstar HQI 250 W/D UVS
5100k, 90cri, 20,000hrs, 1500 lumens
All shots taken with a polaroid PDC 2300Z 3.2MP unedited and saved thru Adobe Photoshop as .JPG images |
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| Steamer |
I will be posting some test bench pics
First up,
Full bench,
That is not the Icecap Ballast and HQI bulb, by the way, I hope I can get some of the same results with it. I was just getting my reflector and condensor distances straightened out first. Got some good results with just a 75 watt incandescant desklamp. |
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| Steamer |
Made this test screen from a sheet of coored plastic and wrote my name on it to learn about future LCD orientation.
This is a shot thru the front fresnal
Test Screen |
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| Steamer |
| This is the light path thru the condensor |
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| Steamer |
Nothing was staked down or precisely placed. I just eye-balled it all in line and made small adjustments until I got tis image on the wall. The paper has light blue graph lines in it. I figure this is pretty good detail for a 75W house bulb and eye-balled centerline! The detail is actually a little finer and I can even see some of the wrinkles in the testscreen. I'm not a very good photographer, and I don't have a tripod so I am moving a little. (tried holding my breath a-la Splinter Cell; worked a little bit)
Screenshot |
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| Steamer |
Close-Up of the Screenshot. I zoomed in and took another pic, this is not a blow-up of the other pic. You can see where some of the color is fading off the plastic.
Screenshot Very Close Up |
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| Steamer |
| One more Screenshot |
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| Steamer |
| I gotta start tearing down-- or should I say strip the LCD. Prolly start that Wednesday. Don't have a lot of time between working midnites, and some afternoons doing something else, and trying to get some Zzzz's before the next midnite shift. |
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| Steamer |
BIG PROBLEM!
So I got everything setup last nite and it worked perfectly!. except I realized, it wasn't as bright as it should be. So today, I re-re-design my light box to get it within spec, and I put it all back on the bench to test the new distances to start buiding my box. And now the panel has no power! I mean the standby light won't even illuminate! So much for having my 119" screen in time for the Super Bowl! ****! :hot: :bawling: :hot: |
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| Steamer |
Problem solved!
EVERYONE: CHECK THE ORINTATION ON THOSE FFC CABLES BEFORE YOU GO OUT AND GET ANOTHER ONE ( thanx ACE!)
I was bound and determined to get this thing working tonight to meet my superbowl deadline and I found the problem. I first lightly filed the FFC from the button panel to the mian controller board. Then I noticed there were 14 pins on the connecter on the button panel. There are only 13 pins on the cable. You have to make sure you have the cable going into the right set of pins.if you have the wrong one open the entire LCD will not operate.
I was certain the controller board was zonked. ACE suggested that I check the cables again. I had already took my meter to them and I was getting values on both ends of the cable so I ruled it out.
Ace suggested that I check at the back of the connecters instead. I kept getting problems at those end leads. So I lightly filed the cable. Nothing... then I counted the leads and that's when I noticed that there was one more lead on the connecter than the cable. So I tried it on one side, nothing.. tried it on the otherside and, Vóila! A working LCD!
Lost a few hours but I still can make it! :cool:
Steamer
( colors are washed out because of the extra light fro the light engine that has not been corraled) |
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| SolarGuyOne |
So how is the picture ?
Is it worth the build?
I wan't to make a Lilliput also, but want to make sure the Res is there before I spend the dough.
;P |
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| Steamer |
The picture from these lilliputs are awesome. Have a look in ACE's thread
He may have posted a few pics by now, as he does a lot of extensive research and development. but there are a lot of guys using this LCD. I-Eat-Flowers being one of them. His post is the one that I tried to link to. He has his own thread too.
Hope this helps.
Later...
Steamer |
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| Guy Grotke |
The best (and most expensive) Lilliputs have 800 by 480 resolution. So it depends on what you want to do with it: For NTSC TV, VHS tape, and standard DVDs, that is fine. For PAL TV etc, it is a bit too low in the vertical dimension but still quite watchable. For use with a computer, all you will get is VGA resolution.
If you want higher resolution, higher contrast ratio, and quicker response time, then you have to go up to a 15" monitor (1024 by 768 >350:1 contrast <30 msec response time), or a 17" monitor (1280 by 1024 >450:1 contrast <25 msec response time). |
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| Steamer |
Another setback.
Now, I know... I know... I'm supposed to take good care of the little VGA controller board, but that thing seem to be indestructible! I mean, I dropped the LCD onto the little board several times, (when I say dropped, I mean it was standing on end in a frame I built and it teetered over) I flipped it back and forth and it still came up when I turned it on.
Then I did it. I was trying to get the final alignment within my cabinet, when I realized I didn't have any room for that little controller board to lay out of the way. Plus I was in a rush because I keep missing my self imposed deadlines. Anywho, yadda,yadda,yadda, It didn't fire up the last time. I saw the little hairline fracture in the little red fixed cable. IT'S DEAD!!!!:bawling:
I have a friend who took it to work and they are going to try to revive it. meanwhile I am looking to get another LCD. My wife wants a new bedroom set so I have to wait for the funds. Although, I was looking last nite and found some interesting prosppects as alternatives. One example is the HAMI H8001 300:1 contrast xga resolution w/TV tuner. I have seen a DIY PJ using this LCD. It has a couple of boards that need support, but it just might fit into my current cabinet. I would simply need new fresnels cut to the 4:3 aspect. I really did want a widescreen projection but this LCD does not look half bad at all!
Later...
Steamer |
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| Guy Grotke |
That 8" TV is very good for a small format LCD, but it actually only has 800 by 600 pixels. They can include circuitry to make an LCD "interpolate" any number of pixels received in an input signal, but that doesn't make any more dots on the screen. It actually can introduce some aliasing that shows up as moire patterns in the image. (As a side note: "Interpolation" implies using known points to estimate additional points inbetween. What they are really doing is called "decimation" or "down-sampling": Estimating fewer sample points from a larger data set than can be displayed.)
So when you compare it to other LCDs, it is an 800 by 600 SVGA, not XGA. The price is good for a small format LCD, but you need to think about 15" 1024 by 768 and even 17" 1280 by 1024 450:1 contrast ratio monitors you can get for the same amount! |
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| skiguy411 |
So would you recommend the 8 inch or 7 inch lilliput for the projector?
I currently am biding on the 7 inch liliput with the touch screen that is 2,400 x 480. |
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| Guy Grotke |
The Lilliput is really 800 by 480. They are counting each colored dot. It takes three dots to make one pixel.
So the question is 800 by 600 versus 800 by 480. I am sure you could make a fine video or game projector with either one. The Hami will be 4:3 format, like normal TV. The Lilliput will be a 16:9 format, like HDTV.
I don't have any experience with building small format projectors, so somebody else will have to make a recommendation. |
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| mememem |
steamer, did you go for the hami?
thinkin bout gettin 1, let me know
thanks |
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| slize |
my advice: go for the HAMI, we have very good experiences with that display in the german and swiss forum, plus the fact that it may fit in your actual case...
you have to extend 2 ribbon cables, but that is no problem, as you can buy them very easily...
here is a shop for you to go to; it is in Germany though but may be he also sells to the US... i would give it a try...
www.gadaffy.ch.vu |
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| Steamer |
| I didn't go for the Hami, no. I didn't get any feedback on it's performance or stripability, so I steered clear. I was really interested in it though because of it's price. The only problem i saw is I really liked the fact that the Lilliput was in a 16:9 native format. Since I have a widescreen formatted TV now, I buy all DVD's in a widescreen format if possible. The Lilli would not have added any black bars, whereas the Hami is native 4:3 or possibly even closer to square being in a SVGA resolution. That is the greatest reason for me personally. Even though the Hami would allow for a bigger screen at the same distances (in theory). |
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| Steamer |
Good news. Just saved up a little scratch. got a brand new Lilliput on the way. Should be here 10:30AM Thursday morn. (est)I wil start getting this thing together. Hopefully I can get it done by the SuperBowl. Gotta find the time though... Pics of progress forthcoming when I get to my home PC. I know I promised them before, but I will get them up now that I have some motivation.
Steamer.:D |
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| Steamer |
As promised, here are som pics of the box. Should be 3 shots of the box and a shot of the setup working before I damaged the 1st Lilli:
   
You can see in the setup shot, it was taken while there was no enclosure, a lot of ambient light and a poor photographer. It should look good. I should have taken a size reference shot, but I wasn't thinking. Some of it will change as I have learned a few things since then... More to come.
Steamer |
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| Steamer |
Got some fresh fresnels in today. Won't cut them until I'm ready to put them in the box. I may have to alter the box a bit first, so I want to see where it'll all lays out first. I'll use the ones I have for now.
Had an interesting conundrum regarding my wiring. I plan to use 2 Evercool PCAC's for the system's cooling, and I found a 5A 12V AC/DC PSU, for laptops. I was trying to figure out how to wiring everything to one switch and have a temp controlled cooling circuit stay alive after shutoff. Every wiring diagram I found ar saw, used a DPST switch but was designed with 2 seperate power supplies for the 12V components, 1 for the LCD, and the other for the fan(s). I didn't have a lot of space to play around with. So I thought the single 12V supply would do. Long story short, the DPST switch was not going to work. Either I would not be able to isolate the LCD from the fan(s) or I would not be able to maintain power to the fan(s) without also powering the LCD. I came up with 2 solutions:
1) Get a seperate thermostat that would kill the power to the LCD, I couldn't figure the right temp that would let me do that right, or
2) use a 3PST (3 Pole Single Throw) switch and wire the thermostat and fans to the third pole, thereby isolating the fans from the LCD.
The only con I see is that there will be live power in the box after the switch is thrown to off, however I think that is the way all the wiring diagrams with a temp controlled fan circuit are setup.
Here's my diagram:
 Steamer's Wiring Diagram |
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| Steamer |
There's a problem with the thumbnail. I can't blow it up. I'll repost it.
...I think the problem is with image shack. I'll just put it in the attatchments... |
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| Luca Brazzi |
| Maybe Im missing something but why do you want to kill power to the LCD based on Temperature? |
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| Steamer |
| quote: | Originally posted by Luca Brazzi
Maybe Im missing something but why do you want to kill power to the LCD based on Temperature? |
You are mistaken. I don't want to kill power to the LCD except by the switch, I am killing power to the fans based on temps. Blow up the diagram and have another look-see.
Steamer |
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| Steamer |
Well some up dates before I get to the bad news...
I just about had the box finished. I have a size comparison shot coming up. I was having difficulty with the cooling circuit. I think I was over-complicating things a bit. That said I was doing some more tweaking, being the perfectionist I am, (all this before the first real usage) And I realized I was over-complicating things. |
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| Steamer |
Here is the size comparison shot I promised. The Projection lens goes in the wall just to the right of the DVD case.
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| Steamer |
...Now the bad news, keeping in mind that I have a dead bulb and a good bulb... I mean I had a good bulb...
I was trying to make an adjustment to the fitting of my lightbox, As the rear wall of the PJ would not fit in the current configuration. So I pulled it and tried to elongate the mounting holes and "slide" it up a little. I forgot I out the good bulb in the light engine, and the dremel tool I was using to ream the holes got away from me for a second, and "Crash!" My bulb shattered and the light box was practically destroyed, the holes were too big and not on line.:smash:
I never even fired that lamp yet! That's 2 bulbs I ruined being careless. The first one I ruined because I didn't know I should run it at least 15 min. before shutting it down. |
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| Steamer |
| Needless to say I had to rebuild a couple of things. I got a nice prefabbed light kit from YWH with optics that are matched to work on small form factor PJ's. I need to order a couple of bulbs and the alignment process will begin. |
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| Steamer |
I found this great lens at surplus shed that has a huge 88mm-90mm FOV and a perfect FL for my fresnel that I will eventually have to recut my front wall to accomodate it. I will show the 2 side-by-side.
My Fresnel's FL is 200mm and my original lens had a FL of 198mm, but the new lens' FL is almost perfect at 239mm I wish it were 220mm but this is good. If it's too long, I did order a 220mm Fresnel from 3Dlens.
The one on the left is my original, I got it from sciplus.com it has a 63mm barrel, about 60mm FOV (prolly a little less) and its FL is a little short. I got it to work but I havn't tried it on my big screen I just had a small 30" or so image shot on the wall
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| Steamer |
Call me Mr. Procrastinator,
We got our income tax returns and guess what?!? I'm turning my basement into the Theater I've always wanted! Pics coming. In the process, I did order that replacement bulb I needed. So as I build the theater, I will align the optics on the PJ and get it mounted in place.
Up first: the proposed video wall... I have since decided that it will be one solid color, probably the darker brown, as that is what is going on the other walls where the ocean blue is.
...and the mess that will create it...
If you can't tell from the drawing, the screen you see is my existing 53" rear projection TV that will be inset behind the wall. the PJ screen will pull down from the ceiling. That is what the black bar is across the top of the drawing.
That reminds me, I bought some screen material from a fella on eBay to make a permanent PJ screen. It is enough to make a nice 54" x 96" screen (57" x 110" seamless material) any takers? Lemme know. |
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| rob1231 |
| nice..keep us posted man. |
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| Steamer |
| ImageShack did a nice little slideshow to keep y'all aprised of the status of the project. Enjoy! |
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| Steamer |
By the way, I got a new lamp when I got the bulbs for the new ceiling can lights. I will get back on the PJ soon, I did get some of the interior lined up in the new viewing area. it's nice. Still gotta strip the LCD, but I have everything I need. Prolly get on it in September or October, when the motorcycle riding weather starts to dissipate. (Sheesh! Too many ovens in the fire!)
Steamer |
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Steamer's Wiring Diagram
New Light engine
Finished Wiring
Shot of Rear With Fan and Power Panel
