Hi Everyone,
I have been kind of quiet lately on this board. After considering the valuable advice of some of the members of this thread (can I call you all friends?) I decided to do the Computer DVD thing.
As some of you may recall, I tested the HTPC (I assume that stands for Home Theatre Personal Computer) DVD with my son's computer, and found that the picture was much improved. So I embarked on a mission to upgrade my spare computer to become my HTPC.
Typical of me, I anxiously went to CompUSA and bought a Maddog DVD drive and a Maddog Predator 5.1 sound card. The sound card came in a package deal that included a 6 channel Altec Lansing speaker system.
Then all hell broke loose. Please remember, I am no computer genius...(I'm not an idiot either! : ) )
First I couldn't get the sound card driver installed. My Windows 98SE kept telling me that I was missing files. Lucky me, I didn't have the installation disks for Win98SE. I messed around for like a whole day or two trying to download files from the internet into my HTPC. Well, that didn't work so to make a long story short, it took me a good 4 days and a lot of expensive phone calls to get it working.
During DVD testing, it worked for day then my computer crashed. I didn't do anything to change my configuration. It just wouldn't start up anymore. 3 days and more phone calls later, I was told to reinstall the Windows 98SE. It seemed to work.
While testing again, I found out that there were certain disks that just would not play on my Maddog DVD drive. I tested the same DVD on my main computer and it wouldn't play either. It gave me this message:
"Key exchange for DVD copy protector failed".
So I have come to the conclusion that some DVD's can't be played on certain DVD drives. Has anyone found this to be true?
Also the images when I play a DVD appear to be skinnier. Anyone know how to adjust an NVIEW Z215 to make the image fatter?
Kind of disappointing. Anyways, I mostly watch videos.
I recently built this shroud to keep some of the extra light from bouncing around the room and dimming my picture. It seems to work and my picture seems brighter and the colors seem better.
I watched Eraser last night (Videotape) and I was very pleased. Too bad I couldn't get the full surround sound effect from my sound card like I could from using a DVD, but it was fine. I had to hook it up as 2 channel instead of 6 channel.
I had my system on for about 2 hours, so far so good.
I haven't updated my website, but if I could ever get a hold of a digital camera, I will definitely update it.
I have been kind of quiet lately on this board. After considering the valuable advice of some of the members of this thread (can I call you all friends?) I decided to do the Computer DVD thing.
As some of you may recall, I tested the HTPC (I assume that stands for Home Theatre Personal Computer) DVD with my son's computer, and found that the picture was much improved. So I embarked on a mission to upgrade my spare computer to become my HTPC.
Typical of me, I anxiously went to CompUSA and bought a Maddog DVD drive and a Maddog Predator 5.1 sound card. The sound card came in a package deal that included a 6 channel Altec Lansing speaker system.
Then all hell broke loose. Please remember, I am no computer genius...(I'm not an idiot either! : ) )
First I couldn't get the sound card driver installed. My Windows 98SE kept telling me that I was missing files. Lucky me, I didn't have the installation disks for Win98SE. I messed around for like a whole day or two trying to download files from the internet into my HTPC. Well, that didn't work so to make a long story short, it took me a good 4 days and a lot of expensive phone calls to get it working.
During DVD testing, it worked for day then my computer crashed. I didn't do anything to change my configuration. It just wouldn't start up anymore. 3 days and more phone calls later, I was told to reinstall the Windows 98SE. It seemed to work.
While testing again, I found out that there were certain disks that just would not play on my Maddog DVD drive. I tested the same DVD on my main computer and it wouldn't play either. It gave me this message:
"Key exchange for DVD copy protector failed".
So I have come to the conclusion that some DVD's can't be played on certain DVD drives. Has anyone found this to be true?
Also the images when I play a DVD appear to be skinnier. Anyone know how to adjust an NVIEW Z215 to make the image fatter?
Kind of disappointing. Anyways, I mostly watch videos.
I recently built this shroud to keep some of the extra light from bouncing around the room and dimming my picture. It seems to work and my picture seems brighter and the colors seem better.
I watched Eraser last night (Videotape) and I was very pleased. Too bad I couldn't get the full surround sound effect from my sound card like I could from using a DVD, but it was fine. I had to hook it up as 2 channel instead of 6 channel.
I had my system on for about 2 hours, so far so good.
I haven't updated my website, but if I could ever get a hold of a digital camera, I will definitely update it.
Attachments
Great idea.. thats kinda looks like the box in the 100" project. You should try painting the box a dark color to improve contast ratio,or a light color to improve brightness. i did this wiht my 100"tv and it helped.
Hey can you post a link to your website again?
Jimmy
Hey can you post a link to your website again?
Jimmy
I thought of painting the inside black. Thanks for reminding me. This one was a prototype. I don't know what material to make the real one with. I'll try painting it next. Is the theory behind it that the black color will absorb more light?
Here's the link to my website. I have a lot of updates planned, but I was hoping I could get hold of a digital camera for some better screen shots.
http://www.geocities.com/parksplanet2002/Home_Theatre_Project.html
Here's the link to my website. I have a lot of updates planned, but I was hoping I could get hold of a digital camera for some better screen shots.
http://www.geocities.com/parksplanet2002/Home_Theatre_Project.html
in theory black does absorb light but it **SHOULD** help contrast ratio and it will make it sharper. I know this becuase i tried it in my 100"tv, i re-sprayed my box metalic silver and its WAY brighter than before a bit too bright,keep in mind i did this with my 100"tv but the principles are the same.
BTW geat site
the pix r great u dont need a dig cam :IMHO:
keep up the good work 🙂
Good Luck
Jimmy
BTW geat site
the pix r great u dont need a dig cam :IMHO:keep up the good work 🙂
Good Luck
Jimmy
Thanks for your compliments.
So, would silver be better than black? What if I made a shroud out of very shiny reflective mirror like material instead of black?
Park
So, would silver be better than black? What if I made a shroud out of very shiny reflective mirror like material instead of black?
Park
sorry thats a typo i used metalic GRAY for the box, yes it got birght at the expense of whites, the whites looks washed out..this MIGHT be different with yours becuase you have a different setup.
I dont know about that reflective shroud idea, but i think the light be bouncing all over the box. You said your image was better after you installed the box maybe you shouldnt paint it at all. But if your were to paint i say go matte black. **IMHO** try to get people opinions before you paint.
Jimmy
I dont know about that reflective shroud idea, but i think the light be bouncing all over the box. You said your image was better after you installed the box maybe you shouldnt paint it at all. But if your were to paint i say go matte black. **IMHO** try to get people opinions before you paint.
Jimmy
more updates and 2nd thoughts...
Well I painted the inside of the shroud black today. Then I tested it. During a late morning viewing of Star Wars Episode 1, I could see that the picture is much better than my ORIGINAL setup. The shroud definitely helps and I am sure the black paint helps too. Too bad there is no way to quantitatively compare as I make each subtle improvement.
As I checked out my set up, I could see there were still significant sources of light leakage. I will be making some cardboard skirts to cover some of these leaks. Obviously I have to be carefull to make sure there is enough air flow for cooling.
While watching the movie, and marveling how great this project is turning out, I came to the realization that I made my screen too small. I made it 72" diagonal. I have room to make it possibly 84" or a little more. Also I thought maybe I shouldn't have painted it with that VERY SLIGHT tint of grey. Maybe I should have made the screen white. I don't know if darker blacks at the expense of my colors is worth the trade off. I did read that the drawback of a grey screen is a shift in the colors.
My cuz-in-law tried a screen made of Plastex. I'll have to check his out to see if that's what I should do eventually.
Also a note to myself and anyone else, I tested my system watching a VIDEO tape rather than a DVD. I would expect, obviously that the DVD would be even better. I just don't have many.
This also brought to my attention the limitations of my NVIEW Z215 LCD panel. My resolution is 640 x 480. If I could get an LCD panel with higher resolution like 1024 x whatever, it could be even nicer. I will keep my eyes open for one at a resonable price.
Does anyone know of popular brands that are 1024 x ? and that have composite (RCA) inputs for my VCR and TV?
I highly recommend this DIY project....it rocks!
I just wish I could find another place for that foozball table so I can let more people share my movies.
http://www.geocities.com/parksplanet2002/Home_Theatre_Project.html
Notice that hunking foozball table!
Well I painted the inside of the shroud black today. Then I tested it. During a late morning viewing of Star Wars Episode 1, I could see that the picture is much better than my ORIGINAL setup. The shroud definitely helps and I am sure the black paint helps too. Too bad there is no way to quantitatively compare as I make each subtle improvement.
As I checked out my set up, I could see there were still significant sources of light leakage. I will be making some cardboard skirts to cover some of these leaks. Obviously I have to be carefull to make sure there is enough air flow for cooling.
While watching the movie, and marveling how great this project is turning out, I came to the realization that I made my screen too small. I made it 72" diagonal. I have room to make it possibly 84" or a little more. Also I thought maybe I shouldn't have painted it with that VERY SLIGHT tint of grey. Maybe I should have made the screen white. I don't know if darker blacks at the expense of my colors is worth the trade off. I did read that the drawback of a grey screen is a shift in the colors.
My cuz-in-law tried a screen made of Plastex. I'll have to check his out to see if that's what I should do eventually.
Also a note to myself and anyone else, I tested my system watching a VIDEO tape rather than a DVD. I would expect, obviously that the DVD would be even better. I just don't have many.
This also brought to my attention the limitations of my NVIEW Z215 LCD panel. My resolution is 640 x 480. If I could get an LCD panel with higher resolution like 1024 x whatever, it could be even nicer. I will keep my eyes open for one at a resonable price.
Does anyone know of popular brands that are 1024 x ? and that have composite (RCA) inputs for my VCR and TV?
I highly recommend this DIY project....it rocks!
I just wish I could find another place for that foozball table so I can let more people share my movies.
http://www.geocities.com/parksplanet2002/Home_Theatre_Project.html
Notice that hunking foozball table!
I think on my next screen, I'll make it like 84" to 96" diagonal and white. Maybe I'll get some screen goo. Anyone have any comments about the Goo? How would a screen goo covered screen compare with a Plastex screen?
Last nite for my superbowl party, i used two sheets of plastex on the matte side. so total screen was about 8'x8'. i used a very similar setup with a z350 through tv-3000 so i was only at the same vga resolution as your z250. i didnt know they made the xga tv-4000 when i ordered the vga tv-3000. my ohp is a 3m 9550 which has the same bulb choices. personally, i think that the plastex just plain rocks! it is 13.00 a sheet at lowes and easy to use. just cut to size and mount. even without the shroud you used, which i will try out, the results of the platex were great. im not sure if i should be using the shiny side or the matte side, but i didnt have time to get the stickers off the shiny side last nite so i used the matte side.
anyone have a correct answer for which side to use.
as far as the set up you have, i would reccomend the tv-3000 to use with your panel. with it, you can just hook up right to the input, use the line doulbler, and get aroung the issues ok the dvd drive not playing the disks. they are only 100 bux new or find a used one. i want to upgrade to the 4000 so i can get the best from my panel. good luck.
anyone have a correct answer for which side to use.
as far as the set up you have, i would reccomend the tv-3000 to use with your panel. with it, you can just hook up right to the input, use the line doulbler, and get aroung the issues ok the dvd drive not playing the disks. they are only 100 bux new or find a used one. i want to upgrade to the 4000 so i can get the best from my panel. good luck.
Some more updates...
Hi everyone,
It never ceases to amaze me how much of an impact that light leakage has on your picture.
I made another piece of my LCD/OHP's "armor" to cover more of the light that was leaking onto my screen. The picture quality was even better than before. Colors are brighter and the picture seems sharper. There is still one more piece I need that will cover up the last bit of light leaking out. I'll post pictures after I make it. There is also a significant amount of light that leaks out through the fan. Maybe I can redirect that light without blocking air flow.
In my preliminary design, I covered up my OHP's on/off switch and my LCD panel's controls, but that will be easy to fix. The LCD panel and my OHP is connected to a power strip so I can turn everything on with one switch.
I really am thinking of building a larger screen. I was thinking of going all the way to 100" diagonal. Can anyone tell me from experience if my image will be significantly dimmer as I go from 72" to 100"?
I was thinking of building a Plastex screen out of a 5 x 8 sheet, but I was reading about how some people were worried about the sheet's translucence. Is that really a problem? How have people solved that. I was thinking of tacking the panel directly to the wall (drywall) and attaching a black border frame around it.
Any opinions of whether the white plastex is better than a light grey painted surface? I would be more interested in brighter colors than darker blacks.
As some of you may know from my previous posts, I mostly watch videos. I think if I do make a larger screen, I'll probably look into a TV-3000 or TV-4000 line doubler as I am sure I will lose some sharpness as I enlarge the picture.
Hi everyone,
It never ceases to amaze me how much of an impact that light leakage has on your picture.
I made another piece of my LCD/OHP's "armor" to cover more of the light that was leaking onto my screen. The picture quality was even better than before. Colors are brighter and the picture seems sharper. There is still one more piece I need that will cover up the last bit of light leaking out. I'll post pictures after I make it. There is also a significant amount of light that leaks out through the fan. Maybe I can redirect that light without blocking air flow.
In my preliminary design, I covered up my OHP's on/off switch and my LCD panel's controls, but that will be easy to fix. The LCD panel and my OHP is connected to a power strip so I can turn everything on with one switch.
I really am thinking of building a larger screen. I was thinking of going all the way to 100" diagonal. Can anyone tell me from experience if my image will be significantly dimmer as I go from 72" to 100"?
I was thinking of building a Plastex screen out of a 5 x 8 sheet, but I was reading about how some people were worried about the sheet's translucence. Is that really a problem? How have people solved that. I was thinking of tacking the panel directly to the wall (drywall) and attaching a black border frame around it.
Any opinions of whether the white plastex is better than a light grey painted surface? I would be more interested in brighter colors than darker blacks.
As some of you may know from my previous posts, I mostly watch videos. I think if I do make a larger screen, I'll probably look into a TV-3000 or TV-4000 line doubler as I am sure I will lose some sharpness as I enlarge the picture.
Attachments
I plan on doing what your doing except I was going to use blackout cloth instead of cardboard. Tell me, do you have problems w/ heat getting trapped in there?
Hi,
So far I haven't detected any heat problems. The cone part of the shroud only covers the glass display part of the LCD and there is room at the top where it meets the lense assembly for any heat to escape.
The boxy part of the "armor" doesn't cover the fan area. So there seems to be enough ventilation. It definitely has improved my picture, I might even say significantly. Remember to paint the inside of the cone black, that helped too.
I really would like to find out what effect a white screen will have compared to my grey screen (eggshell white).
I think I will eventually make a cover out of wood and maybe metal. I'm not really into metal working though.
Cardboard was easy to get hold of and easy to work with for a prototype. If there is any heat build up I could poke a few holes in it.
So far I haven't detected any heat problems. The cone part of the shroud only covers the glass display part of the LCD and there is room at the top where it meets the lense assembly for any heat to escape.
The boxy part of the "armor" doesn't cover the fan area. So there seems to be enough ventilation. It definitely has improved my picture, I might even say significantly. Remember to paint the inside of the cone black, that helped too.
I really would like to find out what effect a white screen will have compared to my grey screen (eggshell white).
I think I will eventually make a cover out of wood and maybe metal. I'm not really into metal working though.
Cardboard was easy to get hold of and easy to work with for a prototype. If there is any heat build up I could poke a few holes in it.
Re: Some more updates...
i dont think the plas-tex is translucent at all, i put a piece over the stage and nothing comes though. i cant imagine anything getting through at 10' away either. i mount my sheets directly to the drywall like you plan on doing, and will build the black felt covered frame you are describing. i think it is best to pick the final posistion of your projector and then pencil the size on the wall WITH BOTH ASPECT RATIOS so both dvd and tv will fit. then you can just mask the panel with a cardboard piece to really get great blacks on the unused part of the final screen projection when you watch dvd's.
if your panel is vga, then the tv-4000 wont be the best choice since it is an xga piece, ie. you can use a tv-3000 with a vga, svga, or xga panel, but i dont think you can use a tv-4000 with any panel that wont do vga. (the only way would be if it can compress the image to fit and i dont think that would be any good. if you are interested maybe 75.00 plus shipping?, i would sell my tv-3000 i have had for a week for less than new. i have everything and the boxes it came in from avsource. just an idea. i have no use for both the 3000 and the 4000 i plan to buy.
i really dont want to build my final screen untill i have the 4000 or make up my mind about just buying a projector.
rydad said:
i dont think the plas-tex is translucent at all, i put a piece over the stage and nothing comes though. i cant imagine anything getting through at 10' away either. i mount my sheets directly to the drywall like you plan on doing, and will build the black felt covered frame you are describing. i think it is best to pick the final posistion of your projector and then pencil the size on the wall WITH BOTH ASPECT RATIOS so both dvd and tv will fit. then you can just mask the panel with a cardboard piece to really get great blacks on the unused part of the final screen projection when you watch dvd's.
if your panel is vga, then the tv-4000 wont be the best choice since it is an xga piece, ie. you can use a tv-3000 with a vga, svga, or xga panel, but i dont think you can use a tv-4000 with any panel that wont do vga. (the only way would be if it can compress the image to fit and i dont think that would be any good. if you are interested maybe 75.00 plus shipping?, i would sell my tv-3000 i have had for a week for less than new. i have everything and the boxes it came in from avsource. just an idea. i have no use for both the 3000 and the 4000 i plan to buy.
i really dont want to build my final screen untill i have the 4000 or make up my mind about just buying a projector.
Hi qwkbird,
Thanks for your input.
You know, I almost moved to Houston. Or maybe I should say I could have gone. I enjoyed visiting your area a few times a year when I had to support the Space Shuttle launches. I think it is a beautiful place, a little hot, but still beautiful. My division relocated to Houston (Clear Lake area near JSC) but my family decided to stay put in L.A. We could have been neighbors and compared notes and systems.
I am currently "in transition" right now, otherwise I definitely would be interested in your TV-3000. I'll still think about it but if you get a good offer, grab it. Thanks.
How big is your screen? Is there a link that will tell me what your components are? What kind of LCD panel do you have or do you use one of those disassembled LCD screens?
Thanks for your input.
You know, I almost moved to Houston. Or maybe I should say I could have gone. I enjoyed visiting your area a few times a year when I had to support the Space Shuttle launches. I think it is a beautiful place, a little hot, but still beautiful. My division relocated to Houston (Clear Lake area near JSC) but my family decided to stay put in L.A. We could have been neighbors and compared notes and systems.
I am currently "in transition" right now, otherwise I definitely would be interested in your TV-3000. I'll still think about it but if you get a good offer, grab it. Thanks.
How big is your screen? Is there a link that will tell me what your components are? What kind of LCD panel do you have or do you use one of those disassembled LCD screens?
well rydad, im using a z350 panel, 3m9550 overhead, tv-3000 and the plastex. im projecting from 10' and getting about 84 inches diagonal in vga.
Updates to my Website
Hi Everyone,
I have just updated my website. I added some pictures of the shrouds and covers and some comparative screen shots.
http://www.geocities.com/parksplanet2002/Home_Theatre_Project.html
Check it out.
Park
Hi Everyone,
I have just updated my website. I added some pictures of the shrouds and covers and some comparative screen shots.
http://www.geocities.com/parksplanet2002/Home_Theatre_Project.html
Check it out.
Park
wow! thats great man 🙂 i can see a difference.I already have boxes ready...i plan to do the same thing but im going to use metalic gray (since a already have some gray painted boxes from 100' tv) and if the gray doesnt workin im gonna try black.
heres a thought..since you are using a camera can u make a tape of it in action 😀
Good Luck
Jimmy
heres a thought..since you are using a camera can u make a tape of it in action 😀
Good Luck
Jimmy
I can make a video mpeg, of my projector's images, but how would I get them to you or anyone? The files are usually too long to email (must be< 1.5 meg). Unless you belong to Kazaa.com.
What would you like me to do?
What would you like me to do?
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