Ok, I'm now getting really close to completion of this projector. Or at least working assembly. I am going to start posting progress pics and eventually results here. As posted on the other 15.4" PLOG, I've gotten the pj frame assembled, fresnels cut and framed. Last night I ordered a piece of IR glass from diypc, one of those 400w HPS ballasts off the guy on ebay, and an Ushio conversion bulb from atlanta light bulbs. The only things I am lacking at the moment are a reflector and cooling system. Any reflector suggestions for this light are more than welcome!
For reference the setup is:
15.4" Proview
550FL 3DLens Fresnel
220FL DIYPC Fresnel
18"FL Beseler OPJ Lens
IR Glass
400w Magnetic Ballast w/Ushio UHI-S400DD Bulb
Reflector <need suggestions what/where to get>
Let me run my numbers by you guys and please tell me if i'm in the ballpark if you can. I'm no mathematician.
For 14' Throw, I came up with a distance from LCD to PJ Lens=512mm
For 100" Screen, I came up with a distance from LCD to PJ Lens=527mm
I've designed the enclosure so the PJ lens is adjustable between these two stting. maybe beyond a bit either way. So I hope my numbers are right or close.
As for the keystone correction, I need some advise here. I plan on having the projector always directly in front/middle of the screen. but may want to mount it high. So what I did was cut the field fresnel about an inch longer on the bottomside of center. The theory being it'f focal center will align with the lcd center but will have an extra inch below and will swing on 2 pins @ the top side corners. Will this work??? I considered putting the pins in the middle but the I figured I would have to pull the fresnel way out from the LCD and didn't want to do that. Help here would be greatly appreciated.
I will be posting some pics tomorrow.
For reference the setup is:
15.4" Proview
550FL 3DLens Fresnel
220FL DIYPC Fresnel
18"FL Beseler OPJ Lens
IR Glass
400w Magnetic Ballast w/Ushio UHI-S400DD Bulb
Reflector <need suggestions what/where to get>
Let me run my numbers by you guys and please tell me if i'm in the ballpark if you can. I'm no mathematician.
For 14' Throw, I came up with a distance from LCD to PJ Lens=512mm
For 100" Screen, I came up with a distance from LCD to PJ Lens=527mm
I've designed the enclosure so the PJ lens is adjustable between these two stting. maybe beyond a bit either way. So I hope my numbers are right or close.
As for the keystone correction, I need some advise here. I plan on having the projector always directly in front/middle of the screen. but may want to mount it high. So what I did was cut the field fresnel about an inch longer on the bottomside of center. The theory being it'f focal center will align with the lcd center but will have an extra inch below and will swing on 2 pins @ the top side corners. Will this work??? I considered putting the pins in the middle but the I figured I would have to pull the fresnel way out from the LCD and didn't want to do that. Help here would be greatly appreciated.
I will be posting some pics tomorrow.
I was considering buying this screen.
Does anyone have any experience with these? The price is right, but it's probably pretty cheaply made. That is somewhat ok w/me as long as it actually provides a descent difference in gain and usability over diy. I need my screen to be closable or easily setup.
Does anyone have any experience with these? The price is right, but it's probably pretty cheaply made. That is somewhat ok w/me as long as it actually provides a descent difference in gain and usability over diy. I need my screen to be closable or easily setup.
Can you take a closer pic of the LCD and fresnel holders?
The rest of my parts should be here tomorrow so I'll start construction on my this weekend.
The rest of my parts should be here tomorrow so I'll start construction on my this weekend.
I'll do that this weekend. I have to borrow a friends camera to take pics. What I did, and keep in mind this is untested by me and I have never built a projector, was cut 3/8" x 1/4" pine strips and then cut an 1/8" grove in them on the 3/8" side. The groove was 1/8" deep on the fresnel frames and 1/16" on the lcd frame. The fesnels are a minimum 3/8" wider than the lcd's viewable area both ways in the viewable framed area of the fresnels. With the 550 being about an inch long on the bottomside. On the lcd I figured I had 2 options. Either frame it with the attached pcb at a 90 degree or straight up and down adding hieght to the whole box. I opted for the latter wanting to leave my options open and figuring that space would give me room for keystone correcting and on the other side space for the controller, wiring, and maybe used as a duct passage as part of the ventilation.
Tonight I got the skin on the frame. I used birch veneered luan type 3/16" plyboard. I'm ready to start painting the inside and figuring out the ventilation/light engine design. I'm afraid to do too much with the lcd and fresnels until I get the light and the object lens in. I've got an idea for holding and focusing the lens so I'll try and get that done while I'm waiting for my ballast, bulb, and IR glass.
Tonight I got the skin on the frame. I used birch veneered luan type 3/16" plyboard. I'm ready to start painting the inside and figuring out the ventilation/light engine design. I'm afraid to do too much with the lcd and fresnels until I get the light and the object lens in. I've got an idea for holding and focusing the lens so I'll try and get that done while I'm waiting for my ballast, bulb, and IR glass.
Here's the box with the skin on it. I still need to sand the corners some and wood fill the brad holes and seams. This thing is huge, around 16.5" x 13.5" x 37.5" on the outside. I could have gotten away with around 16.5 x 12" x 34" I think, but I figured better safe than sorry. and I could change this box to a 17" LCD if I wanted or needed to in the future.
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gabel87 said:
If I were you, I would save the screen for last...
Run your projector for a few months first just using a white wall. Then once you are absolutely happy with PJ location, image size, contrast, brightness, etc... Then get a screen. At that point you will have a much better understanding of what kind of screen you will need.
yeah, that's a good idea about the screen. I haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to do the fans yet.
gabel87 said:
Another thing you may want to do is to cut your pieces before attaching them to the projector. That way if you screw up the cut, you toss the incorrectly cut piece instead of having to rip it off the projector.
Your box is HUGE! Darn near the size of my last apartment! 😀 You should be able to completely embed your lens (so it doesnt stick out of the front of the PJ) in that box though.
That bulb seems to be quite a distance from the back!
Dont worry about woodworking just yet, you shouldnt have even painted the insides yet... wait till all your holes are cut for fans/switches/etc, and you have a working projector... then disassemble, and paint/do finishing work. In otherwords mock up the whole projector... get it working then worry about finishing.
Where do you plan to house your ballast?
From the looks of your photos it seems as if you are planning to drill the hole for your lens square in the middle of the front panel, however, in another photo it looks like your LCD is mounted so that it will be offset a couple of inches from center of the PJ (center of LCD closer to the top or bottom of the PJ). The lens should be mounted so it is squarely centered on the LCD. Maybe you have an assembly strategy that will get around this? Maybe the photos are deceiving? Same thing with your fresnels unless the LCD will be mounted with the circuit card pointing up? Or maybe you are planning to mount the LCD circuit card down and shim the fresnels to center them on the LCD?
Thanks for your help Luca.
No, the hole is actually centered on the LCD, as is the arc of the bulb. In the pic it looks centered but it is actually towards the top of the box. The bulb is pretty close to where it will go. I wasn't sure how much to add to the rear of the light for the reflector and ballast, etc. so I added 6" or so behind the arc. I would've waited to build the box like guy recommends but I'm in a hurry, b/c my gf is going to be here in a few days for thanksgiving. I am going to surprise her with the projector over x-mas break when she will be here for a month. we like to watch alot of movies. I have a 47" ws tv which is great, but this thing is going to blow her away. so anyway, I can't work on it when she is here and I'm only going to have a week or so inbetween this visit and when she comes back for xmas to get this thing running! The biggest hurdle left is the focus system on the pj lens. I think I have it figured out, but don't know if I'll have the time to actually get it done. the box is designed so that the pj lens center is about 520mm from the lcd. that is the middle of the focal range I am shooting for with this projector.
Yes, the fresnels are a little larger than the lcd. the lcd will go circuit down, I think this is right? the LCD should be upside down right? with the normal viewing side towards the lamp? the lcd comes to about 3/16" from the crossbrace on top, the fresnels mount right up to the top of the cross brace, which centers them on the lcd. on the lampside a shelf will be made perhaps with some cooling going through it as a duct to the fresnel/lcd. on the field side I was considering a gravity keystone correction on the field fresnel, but am waiting to mount either the fresnels or the lcd until I determine what will work best. Whether the keystone works or is even needed, if not, whether it would be better to got unsplit with the fresnels, etc. I should be getting the ballast soon. who knows when the ir glass will get here. I still need a reflector recommendation for this bulb too!
No, the hole is actually centered on the LCD, as is the arc of the bulb. In the pic it looks centered but it is actually towards the top of the box. The bulb is pretty close to where it will go. I wasn't sure how much to add to the rear of the light for the reflector and ballast, etc. so I added 6" or so behind the arc. I would've waited to build the box like guy recommends but I'm in a hurry, b/c my gf is going to be here in a few days for thanksgiving. I am going to surprise her with the projector over x-mas break when she will be here for a month. we like to watch alot of movies. I have a 47" ws tv which is great, but this thing is going to blow her away. so anyway, I can't work on it when she is here and I'm only going to have a week or so inbetween this visit and when she comes back for xmas to get this thing running! The biggest hurdle left is the focus system on the pj lens. I think I have it figured out, but don't know if I'll have the time to actually get it done. the box is designed so that the pj lens center is about 520mm from the lcd. that is the middle of the focal range I am shooting for with this projector.
Yes, the fresnels are a little larger than the lcd. the lcd will go circuit down, I think this is right? the LCD should be upside down right? with the normal viewing side towards the lamp? the lcd comes to about 3/16" from the crossbrace on top, the fresnels mount right up to the top of the cross brace, which centers them on the lcd. on the lampside a shelf will be made perhaps with some cooling going through it as a duct to the fresnel/lcd. on the field side I was considering a gravity keystone correction on the field fresnel, but am waiting to mount either the fresnels or the lcd until I determine what will work best. Whether the keystone works or is even needed, if not, whether it would be better to got unsplit with the fresnels, etc. I should be getting the ballast soon. who knows when the ir glass will get here. I still need a reflector recommendation for this bulb too!
Yes the LCD should be upside down with the front of the LCD (the part you would be looking at if it was a monitor) facing towards the lamp, for a straight through design.
I used an IKEA SOARE napkin ring for mine, but then I built a light engine that could hold it. You could use the same but you will need to find a way to mount it.
You could cut a board that mounts the same way your lamp does and has a hole in it large enough to mount the IKEA reflector in. SO basically you would have an L shaped bracket that mounts to the side of the projector just like your lamp just behind the lamp. Cut a hole in this L big enough to hold the napkin ring, drill a hole in the napkin ring handle, and the L and put a bolt through it to connect the napkin ring to the bracket.
Ok, I've got some initially testing done. Looks like my calculations were ok. @13' I have about a 106" screen wich is what I was shooting for and it is near the middle of the focal stroke. looks like the focal range will be within a 9 to 15 foot throw, with a screen size from around 6.5' diag. to over 110" diag. I took some test screen shot. dismiss the colors, this camera is screwed up and I can't figure out how to make it work right. Sometimes wants to go into night mode and make things green and in general sucks anyway. the arc of the lamp was set at or very close to optimal using a piece of paper. the only reflector is a not so shiny piece of alum. flashing bent around the bulb in a large arch. If a reflector does not improve the brightness dramatically, I'm afraid this thing is not going to be bright enough for me. These pictures were shot on a light gray satin painted wall. The image size is as small as I could project within the box parameters, about 5.5' across horizontally.
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here's one of the meedio epg and some abc hd. when I get the reflector and the final tweeking done. I will try and get some descent pictures. this camera screws the color up and over exposes the pictures 
. It's actually better color, and dimmer picture than what you see here. I am getting good focus corner to corner and pretty even lighting of the lcd(despite how it may appear in the pic of the epg) with these lenses. w/o cooling in the box yet the lcd is wanting to start to black out after 10 min or so.
My beseler lens has alot of small scratches on it from being wiped off over the years. Is there anything that will remove this surface haze of scratches on the lens?
. It's actually better color, and dimmer picture than what you see here. I am getting good focus corner to corner and pretty even lighting of the lcd(despite how it may appear in the pic of the epg) with these lenses. w/o cooling in the box yet the lcd is wanting to start to black out after 10 min or so. My beseler lens has alot of small scratches on it from being wiped off over the years. Is there anything that will remove this surface haze of scratches on the lens?
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A good reflector can make a big difference...
Also, why not paint the wall matte white?
Im using a 250 watt bulb with a reflector in my 15" PJ and its pretty darn bright with a 9 foot image. I do quite a bit of tweaking with the computer video card settings to get it that way though.
Also, why not paint the wall matte white?
Im using a 250 watt bulb with a reflector in my 15" PJ and its pretty darn bright with a 9 foot image. I do quite a bit of tweaking with the computer video card settings to get it that way though.
after getting this thing together i think i am going to change the design slightly and install a fs mirror to get this thing upright and put it on wheels. i have been looking into removing the antiglare like they are on LL. no one has tried with this display though but it seems like it really is a worthwile endevor if possible.
while i appreciate this msg board, it is not active enough. even though it goes against my grain i am shelling out the 20 bones and going to the LL board. thanks for everyones help. my progress would not have been possible w/o this board. I will keep updating this thread as i progress. and let you guys know how it goes.
while i appreciate this msg board, it is not active enough. even though it goes against my grain i am shelling out the 20 bones and going to the LL board. thanks for everyones help. my progress would not have been possible w/o this board. I will keep updating this thread as i progress. and let you guys know how it goes.
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