Anybody have any thoughts or experiences with the projector plans from each of these two companies, lumenlabs or diyprojectioncompany?
I have heard awsome stuff about lumenlab.com on their forum from people who have bought it and made projectors using them. I found that I used diyprojectioncompany more for there theory then their plans.
I prefer the diyprojector company. No need to pay to learn. An Alllan Staples is one of nicest guys around.
Always ready to help without anything in return.
Plans will depend a lot on the parts that you used so Its going to be hard to compare which plan is better. I think both guys are both very capable.
Always ready to help without anything in return.
Plans will depend a lot on the parts that you used so Its going to be hard to compare which plan is better. I think both guys are both very capable.
There both good - lumenlab has a lot of pics from its projector, in
use, in its forums
DIY Projector Company - has free plans - and I like the focus
assembly better - I made one out of metal - worked very good
and DIY Projector Company will sell you a kit
I also wanted to be able to take the projector with me and
DIY Projector Companys projector is a little easy-er to carry
with you
how about a combo focus assembly - wood on rails with a
threaded blot to move it
use, in its forums
DIY Projector Company - has free plans - and I like the focus
assembly better - I made one out of metal - worked very good
and DIY Projector Company will sell you a kit
I also wanted to be able to take the projector with me and
DIY Projector Companys projector is a little easy-er to carry
with you
how about a combo focus assembly - wood on rails with a
threaded blot to move it
not impressed with diyprojector co. at the moment!
Have any of you ordered from diyprojector company? I ordered a blackout screen Monday and my order status says "pending". I've contacted them (Alan?) via their web interface and heard nothing... getting worried since I need the screen here Sunday for the Superbowl! It's looking like I might need to find something decent around town to project onto since diyprojector co. has dropped off the face of the earth.
Have any of you ordered from diyprojector company? I ordered a blackout screen Monday and my order status says "pending". I've contacted them (Alan?) via their web interface and heard nothing... getting worried since I need the screen here Sunday for the Superbowl! It's looking like I might need to find something decent around town to project onto since diyprojector co. has dropped off the face of the earth.
I have to agree about diyprojectorcompany, from both views. Alan is definitely very nice. But as with most DIY companies not much is kept in stock. For example I bought a couple fresnels from Alan on Friday, and on Monday I got a email saying they weren't supposed to be in stock for 1-2 weeks. Would have been better if that was stated on his site. But no complaints, DIY takes time, specially for good parts.
Re: not impressed with diyprojector co. at the moment!
You can get simple blackout cloth at most fabric stores - you probably have at least one within driving distance, I got a 9 foot x 4.5 foot length for $18. Ideally, you should have it properly tensioned, and possibly painted, but on short notice, simple hung BO cloth or a plain clean white wall at the appropriate height would do.
rth said:Have any of you ordered from diyprojector company? I ordered a blackout screen Monday and my order status says "pending". I've contacted them (Alan?) via their web interface and heard nothing... getting worried since I need the screen here Sunday for the Superbowl! It's looking like I might need to find something decent around town to project onto since diyprojector co. has dropped off the face of the earth.
You can get simple blackout cloth at most fabric stores - you probably have at least one within driving distance, I got a 9 foot x 4.5 foot length for $18. Ideally, you should have it properly tensioned, and possibly painted, but on short notice, simple hung BO cloth or a plain clean white wall at the appropriate height would do.
Hmm, I'll look in the yellow pages and see if we have something like that around here. I noticed lots of people get their clotch at Joanne's, but I've never seen one of those. I'm stripping my monitor right now while my EYE bulb burns in... I"m getting there 
I don't understand how those company operate. They are just kind of resellers for the parts, they should order a lot from manufactors instead of ordering seperately when an order is placed. How is the delay?
I'm mostly done constructing the projector and it looks good and I'm able to focus it very sharply, but the image is HUGE. I have a 6 ft. wide projection at only 6 ft distance from the projection lens to the wall. Does that sound huge for that distance? I think I may have my fresnels switched... sound reasonable? Otherwise, the picture looks pretty dang good for a first test run! 
I'm using one fresnel in front of the LCD and one behind it to collect the light, so the "bubbles" in the lenses should point away from the LCD and toward the light/triplet, correct?
Still no word on the blackout screen....
I'm using one fresnel in front of the LCD and one behind it to collect the light, so the "bubbles" in the lenses should point away from the LCD and toward the light/triplet, correct?
Still no word on the blackout screen....
I think it is safe to say there is no way you will have the BO cloth by tomorrow. Just in case you go looking for a store, it is JoAnn Fabrics (sometimes listed as Jo-Ann). They do have many stores in the US. Hpoefully there is one near you you just didn't know about. JoAnn's sends out sales flyers to people that sign up on the list in the store. Look for oned of these flyers laying around when you go to the store or tell the people at the register you forgot yours at home. There is a 40% off a single item coupon on the back to save you some $$$ on your cloth.
fresnel orientation
Your fresnel's ridges always need to face the other fresnel's ridges. (Split design or combined design.) I predict a much brighter image whae you get it right!
But the huge image is really a product of your LCD size, your projection lens focal length, and your throw distance. This relationship is the first thing you should explore BEFORE you build a particular projector design. If you want to change to a long-throw design now, you will have to change to a longer focal length projection lens and a longer field fresnel to match it.
There are many advantages to a long-throw design:
Projector runs at the back of the room, so you don't have to look around it. Fan noise is less noticable behind you. Easier to make the projector placement centered, so you don't need any keystone correction. Less barrel or pincushion distortion in the image. Lens performance requirements are much lower, so you can get a very nice image with a duplet insyead of a more expensive lens. Smaller images are brighter than larger images from the same projector, by the square of the diagonal size.
Your fresnel's ridges always need to face the other fresnel's ridges. (Split design or combined design.) I predict a much brighter image whae you get it right!
But the huge image is really a product of your LCD size, your projection lens focal length, and your throw distance. This relationship is the first thing you should explore BEFORE you build a particular projector design. If you want to change to a long-throw design now, you will have to change to a longer focal length projection lens and a longer field fresnel to match it.
There are many advantages to a long-throw design:
Projector runs at the back of the room, so you don't have to look around it. Fan noise is less noticable behind you. Easier to make the projector placement centered, so you don't need any keystone correction. Less barrel or pincushion distortion in the image. Lens performance requirements are much lower, so you can get a very nice image with a duplet insyead of a more expensive lens. Smaller images are brighter than larger images from the same projector, by the square of the diagonal size.
OK, it sounds like I have the fresnels in the right orientation, and I guess the front and rear are not swapped because if they were then I'd have a 220mm focal length up front and there's no way I could focus the triplet to that with my current focus box setup. I ran the equations found here and it would seem that I'd have approx 7.3 ft between the projector and screen for the 7.5 ft diag that I'm seeing, which is fairly close to what I observed. I do like the idea of a long-throw design but I can probably make this work reasonably well.
Thanks for the tips, I'll do some fine-tuning today and post some pics tonight 😎
Thanks for the tips, I'll do some fine-tuning today and post some pics tonight 😎
I think these guys get a bum rap because they set up a company.
The point of a company is to provide something with value for less than you could do it yourself. Usually due to expertise and efficiencies. Otherwise they get no business and go bankrupt.
The standard commercial projector companies are raking in big margins and not focusing on the consumer market (until recently). Big screen TVs are inferior.
They dont provide what we need- Cheap, big screen theatre for the home. This is due to lack of competition in this sector. I would like to see a co-op company where its not about getting filthy rich but about skilled people pooling their particular talent to save all member/owners money. Ocean Spray is a succesful example of a co-op and i dont think anyone can label cranberry farmers as filthy rich. They get by because they are big enough to gain efficiencies of scale. If this results in us able to buy parts that are tuned to our needs cheaper it is a good thing. If it gives consumers a high quality big screen for $600 they should be happy. Sink those $5,000 TV companies.
If you think you can get a better deal elsewhere, dont buy. There is no need for complaing and whining because these guys try to provide a service.
ps. I do wish Alan had better bulbs
The point of a company is to provide something with value for less than you could do it yourself. Usually due to expertise and efficiencies. Otherwise they get no business and go bankrupt.
The standard commercial projector companies are raking in big margins and not focusing on the consumer market (until recently). Big screen TVs are inferior.
They dont provide what we need- Cheap, big screen theatre for the home. This is due to lack of competition in this sector. I would like to see a co-op company where its not about getting filthy rich but about skilled people pooling their particular talent to save all member/owners money. Ocean Spray is a succesful example of a co-op and i dont think anyone can label cranberry farmers as filthy rich. They get by because they are big enough to gain efficiencies of scale. If this results in us able to buy parts that are tuned to our needs cheaper it is a good thing. If it gives consumers a high quality big screen for $600 they should be happy. Sink those $5,000 TV companies.
If you think you can get a better deal elsewhere, dont buy. There is no need for complaing and whining because these guys try to provide a service.
ps. I do wish Alan had better bulbs
Whats wrong the bulbs that allan currently supplies? very small arc, and quite a small bulb, nice electronic ballast.
The temp. If he got a 5500K i would consider it. If he managed to get VIP at a good price i would definately buy. Its a matter of the level of specialty for the company's product. He needs good reflectors too!
Sorry dude if your reading this but i think you should have moved on from soup ladels long ago. I relise you want to stock low cost parts, but there should be a real reflector there too!
Sorry dude if your reading this but i think you should have moved on from soup ladels long ago. I relise you want to stock low cost parts, but there should be a real reflector there too!
Low colour temp and no built in UV protection. Small arc? I wouldnt say 25mm+ is a small arc.
Trev🙂
I don't believe lumenlabs $20 membership fee is cost-prohibitive (imho). The learning curve is far shorter there and the stickies + forums are organized well. Time=Money in my book 😉. Heck a person can easily waste $20 by buying the wrong parts.
I wanted a proven straight-shooter design without wasting months in weeding out old/inferior ideas.
my 2c
I wanted a proven straight-shooter design without wasting months in weeding out old/inferior ideas.
my 2c
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