Sorry for spamming the thread 😛 but i found this page very intrestin:
http://www.spatialight.com/Technology/lcos_color_methods.htm
Spatialight is one of the biggies in lcos displays, just take a look at this:
http://www.spatialight.com/Products/1280scd.htm
hmmz don't think they'll go cheap 😀
http://www.spatialight.com/Technology/lcos_color_methods.htm
Spatialight is one of the biggies in lcos displays, just take a look at this:
http://www.spatialight.com/Products/1280scd.htm
hmmz don't think they'll go cheap 😀
we need to either start splitting this thread into topics, or goto this guys forum he setup... this is gettting TOO huge, and ppl are posting just about everything. its impossible to find what you want.
http://talk.to/DIYprojectors
http://talk.to/DIYprojectors
results
Hi
I've enjoyed reading this forum and figured I shold share my results. I have gone the traditional route of LCD panel and OHP. I picked up a Sharp QA-1150 LCD panel off Ebay for $100 and a 5000 lumen Buhl OHP also from Ebay for $80. With my pc connected and a homemade screen completed I was ready to go. First of all a darkened room is needed but who really cares when the image (16:9) is sooooo big 🙂 Anyway quality from DVD and TV from dScaler are great. Sure its not the most elegant solution but it works and works well.
Screen resolution is 640x480 which is a pain for your pc desktop with a 16:9 screen but hopefully the panel will accept a 640x320 resolution from powerstrip.
Anyway feel free to ask questions. I probably won't try photos as everyone says how crappy they come out.
Ian
Hi
I've enjoyed reading this forum and figured I shold share my results. I have gone the traditional route of LCD panel and OHP. I picked up a Sharp QA-1150 LCD panel off Ebay for $100 and a 5000 lumen Buhl OHP also from Ebay for $80. With my pc connected and a homemade screen completed I was ready to go. First of all a darkened room is needed but who really cares when the image (16:9) is sooooo big 🙂 Anyway quality from DVD and TV from dScaler are great. Sure its not the most elegant solution but it works and works well.
Screen resolution is 640x480 which is a pain for your pc desktop with a 16:9 screen but hopefully the panel will accept a 640x320 resolution from powerstrip.
Anyway feel free to ask questions. I probably won't try photos as everyone says how crappy they come out.
Ian
lcd and overhead
i too have gone the route of ohp, and i bought my panel of ebay for $40 (3m 4180) i got the ohp for $5.50 at a garage sale (suckers) for video source i use the aimslab jam. I have to say that my xbox is just awesome on this thing, all for a total cost of $70. Thanks to this forum, and the greenspun board, my home theater setup is great. i finaly have quality video to go along with my 5.1 surround system.
by the way, how old are all you people. (i'm 15)
i too have gone the route of ohp, and i bought my panel of ebay for $40 (3m 4180) i got the ohp for $5.50 at a garage sale (suckers) for video source i use the aimslab jam. I have to say that my xbox is just awesome on this thing, all for a total cost of $70. Thanks to this forum, and the greenspun board, my home theater setup is great. i finaly have quality video to go along with my 5.1 surround system.
by the way, how old are all you people. (i'm 15)
reflective LCDs
OK, I didn't know what a reflective LCD was, until now. Apparently all you do is stick a mirror behind the LCD instead of a light and you all of a sudden it reflects.
Doubt this is any use to anybody, just wondered if I was the only person who didn't know that.
And it's probably more complicated than just sticking a mirror back there.
Cheers,
OK, I didn't know what a reflective LCD was, until now. Apparently all you do is stick a mirror behind the LCD instead of a light and you all of a sudden it reflects.
Doubt this is any use to anybody, just wondered if I was the only person who didn't know that.
And it's probably more complicated than just sticking a mirror back there.
Cheers,
Quarter Wave Plate
Did anyone notice this thing?
Quarter Wave Plate - placed at a 45 degree angle to the optic axis to convert linearly polarized light to circularly polarized light to enhance the overall contrast ratio of the optical system.
Seems to me these could be really usefull to improve the final result of your projector allthough i haven't found a price yet. Anyone have more information on this?
Well I'll need to find a good display first 🙂
Just to let you know about the reflective 0.5 1280*1024 lcos displays they go amazingly cheap, just $250 a piece, BUT (yeah indeed there allways has to be a but) they only come in a 25.000 pack 🙁
Did anyone notice this thing?
Quarter Wave Plate - placed at a 45 degree angle to the optic axis to convert linearly polarized light to circularly polarized light to enhance the overall contrast ratio of the optical system.
Seems to me these could be really usefull to improve the final result of your projector allthough i haven't found a price yet. Anyone have more information on this?
Well I'll need to find a good display first 🙂
Just to let you know about the reflective 0.5 1280*1024 lcos displays they go amazingly cheap, just $250 a piece, BUT (yeah indeed there allways has to be a but) they only come in a 25.000 pack 🙁
Target color temp for LCD projector
Just wondering, I'm waiting for the VG150 I ordered to come(I got sick of retarded people overbidding on ebay, so I just bought a new one) And I was wondering what is the target color temp I should be shooting for in a MH lamp? Is there a color shift in the optics or LCD panel I should correct for? I also understand the MH has a certain brightness decline with age, does its temp shift down too? Some peoples' posts suggest 6,000 K, are these just guesses? Should I get the highest color temp possible (>10K kelvins?)
And on last thing, has anyone had the missfortune overpowering the lcd with light yet? Either washing the image out or burning the panel with too much heat. A lot of the disscussion early on in the thread was about using cold mirrors. Are these considered overkill now? I'm considering mirrors in my design to keep the size down...
Just wondering, I'm waiting for the VG150 I ordered to come(I got sick of retarded people overbidding on ebay, so I just bought a new one) And I was wondering what is the target color temp I should be shooting for in a MH lamp? Is there a color shift in the optics or LCD panel I should correct for? I also understand the MH has a certain brightness decline with age, does its temp shift down too? Some peoples' posts suggest 6,000 K, are these just guesses? Should I get the highest color temp possible (>10K kelvins?)
And on last thing, has anyone had the missfortune overpowering the lcd with light yet? Either washing the image out or burning the panel with too much heat. A lot of the disscussion early on in the thread was about using cold mirrors. Are these considered overkill now? I'm considering mirrors in my design to keep the size down...
The best color temp would be 5500 try to get a buld that is close to that as possible. As for loseing lumens MH bulbs will lose about half thier orignal lumens when they reach about 3/4 of thier life but they last so long and most MH bulbs are $50 and less but we have yet to find the perfect bulb. Well at sylvania I found a 4500K 9000 hour fiber optic bulb it is a focused point bulb but its not cheep. I put some in for some Sonic signs and the manager said they were about $300 but for 9000 hours thats not all that bad but the color still isnt perfect.
Bulb Links
This is a list of the places you will find the bulb we need, if you cant find it here then I don't know what to tell ya.
Sylvania Bulbs
Here you can search or browse thier database of all thier bulbs.
GE Lighting
Here you can download PDF's of thier bulb catalog.
Phillips Lighting
Here you can download PDF's of thier bulb catalog.
This is a list of the places you will find the bulb we need, if you cant find it here then I don't know what to tell ya.
Sylvania Bulbs
Here you can search or browse thier database of all thier bulbs.
GE Lighting
Here you can download PDF's of thier bulb catalog.
Phillips Lighting
Here you can download PDF's of thier bulb catalog.
possible bulb
175W Metal Halide, R-40 5" diameter 15 degree spotlight - 95000candlepower (~8000lumen), 4000K, 10,000 hour life
its #12144
possible? wonder how much it is.
175W Metal Halide, R-40 5" diameter 15 degree spotlight - 95000candlepower (~8000lumen), 4000K, 10,000 hour life
its #12144
possible? wonder how much it is.
I allso saw these (no spots though)
400 watt Metal Halide Bulb 36000 lumen 4000K 20000 hours
price $40
http://www.hydroponics.net/_scripts/_lists/details.asp?i=242016
and some others:
http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/high_intensity_discharge_bulb_sp.asp
so i don't know if they're usefull
400 watt Metal Halide Bulb 36000 lumen 4000K 20000 hours
price $40
http://www.hydroponics.net/_scripts/_lists/details.asp?i=242016
and some others:
http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/high_intensity_discharge_bulb_sp.asp
so i don't know if they're usefull
screens
http://www.herma.com.au/news/news_super_specials.htm
it might be too expensive for the u.s. people,but it might work out ok for the aussies on this board 🙂
http://www.herma.com.au/news/news_super_specials.htm
it might be too expensive for the u.s. people,but it might work out ok for the aussies on this board 🙂
Polarized
Axel666
You posted about a polarizing mirror and I was just wondering where You found it?
As Scot_lad mentioned a fiew posts back, I olso think the secret to a good projection can be some well placed polarization.
I think that a polarizing glass or mirror can help both before the LCD and after if it is used correctly becouse a polarizing glass can filter any strey light (from a wide lightsource for instens) and by that get ridd of the blured image.
Bye for now
Axel666
You posted about a polarizing mirror and I was just wondering where You found it?
As Scot_lad mentioned a fiew posts back, I olso think the secret to a good projection can be some well placed polarization.
I think that a polarizing glass or mirror can help both before the LCD and after if it is used correctly becouse a polarizing glass can filter any strey light (from a wide lightsource for instens) and by that get ridd of the blured image.
Bye for now
mirror
might be of some use to someone...
tp://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1344922693
might be of some use to someone...
tp://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1344922693
Re: Polarized
The thing i meant was the quarter wave plate, if you look at the figures on this site:
http://www.spatialight.com/Technology/lcos_color_methods.htm
You can see that there is one in every setup, as far as i understood it was used to increase the contrast. I did find a site where they sell them but no prices, I'll send them a email tonight (haven't got the link atm, its on my laptop)
Hellfire said:
The thing i meant was the quarter wave plate, if you look at the figures on this site:
http://www.spatialight.com/Technology/lcos_color_methods.htm
You can see that there is one in every setup, as far as i understood it was used to increase the contrast. I did find a site where they sell them but no prices, I'll send them a email tonight (haven't got the link atm, its on my laptop)
For anyone interested, here is an update on my progress so far (rambling post 😱 :
I am using the nView Spectra C panel with an LOA 65watt Fluorex light and plano-convex (PCX) lens from www.surplusshed.com (it is 4.5" in diameter with a focal length of 12.5", item #L1593, thanks Gunawan for informing me about it). With just three parts, I can get a surprisingly clear, although fairly dim, image. I will make measurements of the produced image and possibly pics (if they turn out) as soon as possible. Without using a point-source light with a fresnel, I am probably losing a good bit of light as it is scattered to places other than the PCX lens. The apparent brightness should increase when I build an enclosure to house and contain the lighting. Right now, I am only holding the lens in front of the projector by hand (not very practical!).
I was surprised to find that the PCX lens alone could produce an image, because I intended to use it to gather the large image source to send to a Fujinon lens assembly. But after some thought, it made some sense. The image is clear, but the coloring is not optimised yet, because I think the "Macrovision" copy-protection is kicking in when I use the composite out on my DVD player. Hmmm. Maybe I'll try the s-video. Has anyone else had this problem? The brightness fades in and out sporadically.
I hope to build a nice enclosure and upgrade the lighting in the near future. Does anyone have a suggestion on enclosure materials (maybe from audio projects 😉 ? I would like to stay away from wood--maybe steel sheets or aluminum.
Also, has anyone else seen the $20 MH bulbs at Home Depot? They are Philips 175w and 400w, but I'm having a hard time getting more info. Add that to a $44 ballast from elights and a socket, and that should be a nice, cheap MH setup.
The polarizing stuff is very interesting...keep us posted.
Good luck to everyone,
f4
I am using the nView Spectra C panel with an LOA 65watt Fluorex light and plano-convex (PCX) lens from www.surplusshed.com (it is 4.5" in diameter with a focal length of 12.5", item #L1593, thanks Gunawan for informing me about it). With just three parts, I can get a surprisingly clear, although fairly dim, image. I will make measurements of the produced image and possibly pics (if they turn out) as soon as possible. Without using a point-source light with a fresnel, I am probably losing a good bit of light as it is scattered to places other than the PCX lens. The apparent brightness should increase when I build an enclosure to house and contain the lighting. Right now, I am only holding the lens in front of the projector by hand (not very practical!).
I was surprised to find that the PCX lens alone could produce an image, because I intended to use it to gather the large image source to send to a Fujinon lens assembly. But after some thought, it made some sense. The image is clear, but the coloring is not optimised yet, because I think the "Macrovision" copy-protection is kicking in when I use the composite out on my DVD player. Hmmm. Maybe I'll try the s-video. Has anyone else had this problem? The brightness fades in and out sporadically.
I hope to build a nice enclosure and upgrade the lighting in the near future. Does anyone have a suggestion on enclosure materials (maybe from audio projects 😉 ? I would like to stay away from wood--maybe steel sheets or aluminum.
Also, has anyone else seen the $20 MH bulbs at Home Depot? They are Philips 175w and 400w, but I'm having a hard time getting more info. Add that to a $44 ballast from elights and a socket, and that should be a nice, cheap MH setup.
The polarizing stuff is very interesting...keep us posted.
Good luck to everyone,
f4
macrovision
I mentioned this a while back, could somebody back me up or knock me down about this?
I'm fairly certain that if you use RGB outputs instead of composite, you won't be bothered by the Macrovision copy protection. I'm not sure why you're having a problem in your setup though. The macrovision data isn't output in RGB, only composite.
Mind you, I only own a PS2 as far as DVD players are concerned, and that gives out RGB but I don't know if many other things do.
Hope this helps,
I mentioned this a while back, could somebody back me up or knock me down about this?
I'm fairly certain that if you use RGB outputs instead of composite, you won't be bothered by the Macrovision copy protection. I'm not sure why you're having a problem in your setup though. The macrovision data isn't output in RGB, only composite.
Mind you, I only own a PS2 as far as DVD players are concerned, and that gives out RGB but I don't know if many other things do.
Hope this helps,
Scot_lad,
When I get the Macrovision effects, I am using the component signal. I am buying an S-video cable today, so hopefully that will take care of it. With this DVD player, I experienced the same problem when using the composite signal fed into a VCR, so I am assuming it is the same thing.
-f4
When I get the Macrovision effects, I am using the component signal. I am buying an S-video cable today, so hopefully that will take care of it. With this DVD player, I experienced the same problem when using the composite signal fed into a VCR, so I am assuming it is the same thing.
-f4
convex+convex or fresnel+convex? delta?
Another n00b here.
Took me 3 days to read all 87 pages of this monster, but I am pretty stoaked about the possibilities of having a small theater in my room.
Around page 30ish, I had in my mind the idea of:
LOA->Fresnel->LCD->Fresnel->Delta/fujinon->screen.
Now I am starting to learn a little more, and I am seeing the major drawbacks of the LOA lamps (no need to mention as they have been run into the ground pretty well) -- and now there is talk of the convex lenses instead of using whatever is in the fuji/delta lenses. Anyhow -- getting to the point:
Instead of using a convex lense after the LCD to 'gather' the image -- Could you use a fresnel? Im not sure what the impact of quality is -- but it might be a little more easier to work with.
It has been a few years since I had my last physics course concerning optics, and I didnt really pay much attention to that portion of the class because I was never to interested in it until now. A little help if you guys could!
Looks like this thread is really starting to mature and get into the technical aspects of what is being attempted.
Sorry if my post ran alover the place -- if anyone is confused please tell me and I will clarify.
Another n00b here.
Took me 3 days to read all 87 pages of this monster, but I am pretty stoaked about the possibilities of having a small theater in my room.
Around page 30ish, I had in my mind the idea of:
LOA->Fresnel->LCD->Fresnel->Delta/fujinon->screen.
Now I am starting to learn a little more, and I am seeing the major drawbacks of the LOA lamps (no need to mention as they have been run into the ground pretty well) -- and now there is talk of the convex lenses instead of using whatever is in the fuji/delta lenses. Anyhow -- getting to the point:
Instead of using a convex lense after the LCD to 'gather' the image -- Could you use a fresnel? Im not sure what the impact of quality is -- but it might be a little more easier to work with.
It has been a few years since I had my last physics course concerning optics, and I didnt really pay much attention to that portion of the class because I was never to interested in it until now. A little help if you guys could!
Looks like this thread is really starting to mature and get into the technical aspects of what is being attempted.
Sorry if my post ran alover the place -- if anyone is confused please tell me and I will clarify.
Re: lcd and overhead
Mike
P.S: If my idea makes absolutely no sense and wouldn't work (i'm a newbie with this stuff) could you point me in the right direction? Thanks again.
Hmm, I like the way your setup sounds. I have been looking for the absolutely simplest setup I could make. I am not looking for the most amazing quality ever, but I do want it pretty good (better than the 100 inch tv thing 😉) I was wondering, could I get an lcd panel, pop off the back, sit it on an OHP, and I would get something? I would think it would be a cheap, relatively effective solution. I hope someone would clarify if that is possible. Thanks.snoogans said:
Mike
P.S: If my idea makes absolutely no sense and wouldn't work (i'm a newbie with this stuff) could you point me in the right direction? Thanks again.
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