hi i would like to build my own projector with a tft monitor screen but they are too expensive plus the result will be a huge projector.
i already tried one of those fresnel lens in a box infront of a t.v. a couple of years ago the result : it did project a pretty decent image in total darkness but could have been a bit sharper.
anyway wanted to use the cheapest method for lcd which is psone screen, i don't really want to mess with it and take it apart so i would like to try this one(see picture below).
will this work? and do i use a fresnel as a lens or magnifing lens?
or will it be much better to take out the lcd screen and project the light through, but i hear you don't get pure blacks that way?
also it it really hard to take apart an lcd screen without accidently breaking any wires, ribbons,mainboard etc..?
please reply.
i already tried one of those fresnel lens in a box infront of a t.v. a couple of years ago the result : it did project a pretty decent image in total darkness but could have been a bit sharper.
anyway wanted to use the cheapest method for lcd which is psone screen, i don't really want to mess with it and take it apart so i would like to try this one(see picture below).
will this work? and do i use a fresnel as a lens or magnifing lens?
or will it be much better to take out the lcd screen and project the light through, but i hear you don't get pure blacks that way?
also it it really hard to take apart an lcd screen without accidently breaking any wires, ribbons,mainboard etc..?
please reply.
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that design will never work. do some searching before posting questions that have been answered 1000 times.
it wont work. you have to take the lcd apart and shine a light through it. and a ps1 lcd will not give you a decent image what so ever. thats why everyone is using 15" screens, for better resolution and contrast. read read read....
ap0
it wont work. you have to take the lcd apart and shine a light through it. and a ps1 lcd will not give you a decent image what so ever. thats why everyone is using 15" screens, for better resolution and contrast. read read read....
ap0
yes i have read, hell of a lot of posts, but then what is the point risking all this money when you can buy a quality second hand projector off ebay for a couple of hundred $,£.....
and then just alter the light source from that you will have a longlife light source, and an excellent image and it ain't cost you even the price of the monitor itself.
i don't really want a huge box sitting behind the couch also if i use a tft screen i need a vga box then.
will it be really worth it to build my own, and how hard is it do dissmantle a tft monitor?
and then just alter the light source from that you will have a longlife light source, and an excellent image and it ain't cost you even the price of the monitor itself.
i don't really want a huge box sitting behind the couch also if i use a tft screen i need a vga box then.
will it be really worth it to build my own, and how hard is it do dissmantle a tft monitor?
Hay I've seen that design on the internet. I wonder if it's supposed to work like a opaque projector. Anyway the color spectrum would be way yellow with a couple of incandescent bulbs and the image would be pretty dark, thats if you get an image at all.
Might search for opaque projectors here.
Might search for opaque projectors here.
opening a tft and scratching all the needed parts together ist the easiest part. mounting the lcd on the ohp or projector case is a different story. but for that you have this forum, and the guys who found out which tft is best suited for this project. viewsonic and benq seem to be favourites here, i am getting a vg150 next week myself. it's supposed to be easy to move the electronics out of the way. my older tft had short cabels and would only let me hold the whole electronic card setup in a 90° angle. that was quit a bitch, but i managed to mount it on my custom case, ofcourse i forgot to take care of the ******* ribbon cabels, which were bthered to much...thats the reason for the viewsonic next week...
if you try out your luck and get an untested tft you could end up with a very unflexible setup. i've seen one before in this forum. the only sollution to this would be longer ribbon cables wich very few accomplished by now...
about the prices...i don't think it's cheaper to buy and old beamer. the lights are to exoensive AND you can't just build your own lighting. from what i know, those lights are expensive for two reasons: special purpose-> small market, very bright while beeing very small.
mabe i am talking crazy but there's not much of a chance you can find a simillar lightsource but only cheaper. and using those bigass HQI, MH whatever lamps is not an option because of the small optics. i've read in this forums that the lightsource has to fit in the objective lens. giving the fact that those HQI lights may be even bigger than the 2" lcd from that beamer.
it pays off if you know about that stuff, so read the forums. otherwise you might pay ti much...
if you try out your luck and get an untested tft you could end up with a very unflexible setup. i've seen one before in this forum. the only sollution to this would be longer ribbon cables wich very few accomplished by now...
about the prices...i don't think it's cheaper to buy and old beamer. the lights are to exoensive AND you can't just build your own lighting. from what i know, those lights are expensive for two reasons: special purpose-> small market, very bright while beeing very small.
mabe i am talking crazy but there's not much of a chance you can find a simillar lightsource but only cheaper. and using those bigass HQI, MH whatever lamps is not an option because of the small optics. i've read in this forums that the lightsource has to fit in the objective lens. giving the fact that those HQI lights may be even bigger than the 2" lcd from that beamer.
it pays off if you know about that stuff, so read the forums. otherwise you might pay ti much...
if u want to go the ps one screen route im selling plans for that sized screen for 25us$ all u need to know is how to cut wood lol and its smaller than an infocus lp220, in the plans package there are a total of about 20 plans! they are not quite finnished yet but will be by the end of the week
Trev
Trev
if you are handy with tools, comfortable with electronics and have alot of curiousity then you shouldnt have a problem dismanteling anything. tft arent any different. just work slow and smart.
by the time you buy a lcd panel 15" and all the optics, light source, power supply, reflector and other compnents it would probably cost the same to buy an older projector off ebay.
a decent projector on ebay will run for $350-$500, this projector will be along the lines of 500 lumen and 100-300 contrast.
i bought an epson 7500 xga 800 lumen 300 contrast projector for 400 bucks. it works PERFECTLY. low hours on lamp and i got a spare lamp for $50.00 new.
so maybe you would be better off with an oem rather than a diy, or... you can build it and have the satisfaction of telling everyone you created a working projector for a few hundred dollars. its all upto you, your budget and skills.
ap0
by the time you buy a lcd panel 15" and all the optics, light source, power supply, reflector and other compnents it would probably cost the same to buy an older projector off ebay.
a decent projector on ebay will run for $350-$500, this projector will be along the lines of 500 lumen and 100-300 contrast.
i bought an epson 7500 xga 800 lumen 300 contrast projector for 400 bucks. it works PERFECTLY. low hours on lamp and i got a spare lamp for $50.00 new.
so maybe you would be better off with an oem rather than a diy, or... you can build it and have the satisfaction of telling everyone you created a working projector for a few hundred dollars. its all upto you, your budget and skills.
ap0
hey "ace" so you reckon i will get a decent image from a ps1 screen or portable lcd screen ?
cause "ap0the0sis" says i will not get a decent image at all.
i don't know what to think now.
i have looked at a few screens on ebay with about 200000 or so pixels is this good enough or just crap!
also how many pixels does a 15" tft have?
i was looking at an old laptop about 5-6 year old and using the screen from that it claims it is active matrix lcd, is this possible?
how do i get an s-video to plug into that then, will the vga boxes that work with tft screens work, surely it should but not sure.
also "ace" you say you have a few plans for a small ps1 screen, have you made one ? what kind of results did you get ?
throw, picture quality, brightness, pixellation etc...?
thanks to both for previous replies.
cause "ap0the0sis" says i will not get a decent image at all.
i don't know what to think now.
i have looked at a few screens on ebay with about 200000 or so pixels is this good enough or just crap!
also how many pixels does a 15" tft have?
i was looking at an old laptop about 5-6 year old and using the screen from that it claims it is active matrix lcd, is this possible?
how do i get an s-video to plug into that then, will the vga boxes that work with tft screens work, surely it should but not sure.
also "ace" you say you have a few plans for a small ps1 screen, have you made one ? what kind of results did you get ?
throw, picture quality, brightness, pixellation etc...?
thanks to both for previous replies.
okee lets do some math...
640x480=307200
800x600=480000
1024x768=786432
so 200000 could only be 512x388 or something like that...
if you wanna watch dvd, you need 800x600. for most divx movies 640x480 could do but there are some with only the black bars cropped so the width is still the original dvd 720 pixels.
and nope you won't want to do that notebook lcd thingie. it's just not worth it. besides paying 300$ and more for a controller(that is if you find the matching one for your tft), you will eventually have to work around the worst case scenario with the electronics in the back of the display...i don't know from anyone, or heard form in these forums, who made a projector with a notebook lcd. there is a thread somewhere, but its kinda long...
640x480=307200
800x600=480000
1024x768=786432
so 200000 could only be 512x388 or something like that...
if you wanna watch dvd, you need 800x600. for most divx movies 640x480 could do but there are some with only the black bars cropped so the width is still the original dvd 720 pixels.
and nope you won't want to do that notebook lcd thingie. it's just not worth it. besides paying 300$ and more for a controller(that is if you find the matching one for your tft), you will eventually have to work around the worst case scenario with the electronics in the back of the display...i don't know from anyone, or heard form in these forums, who made a projector with a notebook lcd. there is a thread somewhere, but its kinda long...
sqdvd
ok well my lcd looks good its like a rear projection tv at 100" most say that the ps1 screen looks crap, to be honest im not sure maybe the pixels are bigger than the one ive got who knows lol, anyway the typical use for these small screens is for tv and ps use u can use dvd but make sure it is used through a dvd player not a dvd player in your pc via a tv out function for the best resaults use the standard dvd palyer, now the picture isnt bad, sure it could be better its clearer than a normal tv so it is usable, it is just a cheap alternative to getting into lcd projection and i think most should realy have one to fool with to understand how projection realy works.
The projector plans i have are of the one that i made and posted a while ago now in the diy projector II thread, it works perfect with no faults, im actually putting a higher reso screen in mine in a couple of weeks it is 800x600native with compressed 1024x768 200:1 contrast, the new screen is out of a infocus lp220 i got for $60, so in tern the cost of me building my projector about $60 for the box $60 for a decent lcd and a mh kit say $100 it will be a total of $220 for a comercial quality projector with a long lasting bulb of 10000hrs.
The brightness i get out of my projector at the moment is about 250-300lm ansi and that is just with my test bulb wich is just a $4 halogen that just puts out 2550lm at the bulb, ofcourse this can be and will be upgraded aswell to a 150w or 250w mh double ended hqi bulb.
One thing i like about my projector is that u can always upgrade with a lcd, xenarc has an lcd that is 800x480 native , it is a wide screen and is very sutible for dvd they do come in different flavours one has vga in and another has tv in ect just to metion a couple.
anyway good luck
Trev
ok well my lcd looks good its like a rear projection tv at 100" most say that the ps1 screen looks crap, to be honest im not sure maybe the pixels are bigger than the one ive got who knows lol, anyway the typical use for these small screens is for tv and ps use u can use dvd but make sure it is used through a dvd player not a dvd player in your pc via a tv out function for the best resaults use the standard dvd palyer, now the picture isnt bad, sure it could be better its clearer than a normal tv so it is usable, it is just a cheap alternative to getting into lcd projection and i think most should realy have one to fool with to understand how projection realy works.
The projector plans i have are of the one that i made and posted a while ago now in the diy projector II thread, it works perfect with no faults, im actually putting a higher reso screen in mine in a couple of weeks it is 800x600native with compressed 1024x768 200:1 contrast, the new screen is out of a infocus lp220 i got for $60, so in tern the cost of me building my projector about $60 for the box $60 for a decent lcd and a mh kit say $100 it will be a total of $220 for a comercial quality projector with a long lasting bulb of 10000hrs.
The brightness i get out of my projector at the moment is about 250-300lm ansi and that is just with my test bulb wich is just a $4 halogen that just puts out 2550lm at the bulb, ofcourse this can be and will be upgraded aswell to a 150w or 250w mh double ended hqi bulb.
One thing i like about my projector is that u can always upgrade with a lcd, xenarc has an lcd that is 800x480 native , it is a wide screen and is very sutible for dvd they do come in different flavours one has vga in and another has tv in ect just to metion a couple.
anyway good luck
Trev
Since this is a will it work thread I will post my proposal. Probally won't work but... The design is fairly simple use flourescent light source in the rear chamber and use 3 fresnels to focus on to one. I can use as much flourescent light as I want. The picture shows the fresnels far apart but they would be closer with the lights to the sides, this should prevent hot spots.
A question about fresnels, you can pick them up off of ebay cheap, are they any good and with a 3x lens, does it make something bigger and smaller by 3x each foot? The threads that talk about such things are 3000 posts or so and I don't have the time to go back through them.
Thanks 🙂
A question about fresnels, you can pick them up off of ebay cheap, are they any good and with a 3x lens, does it make something bigger and smaller by 3x each foot? The threads that talk about such things are 3000 posts or so and I don't have the time to go back through them.
Thanks 🙂
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man im tired of peaple saying ... whats the point y not just buy a lcd projector for couple hundred $$ well .... sure u can buy one for a couple hundred .... but the bulb is also gunna be that much every time also ..... and thats just stupid so u spend 300 on building a projector ... sure its bigger ... but i dont plan on taking mine to my friends house....... and when the bulb dies ... its not gunna cost $300-$450 for a stupid bulb each time and if size is really a issue... use a 7 inch screen wooppeee
I dont really understand that reply..
Hi Jimbo,
When I first started I had the idea of using compact flourescents. I thought these twisting molecules in the LCD would somehow align the light so you just had to blast light at it. I imagined these molecules like tiny optic fibers that would transport light wherever they point. Not true. The good people here got me straight. Each little pixel acts like colored glass. It filters but doesnt change the direction of the light.
The same thing goes for fresnels in that it will change the angle of light by a set amount - like a prism - which is what it is. A wide angle of light going in will not be focused. It will be a wide angle coming out.
When you have a large light source the light hits each pixel from various angles in a kind of funnel shape in and funnel shape out. If the funnel angle out misses your objective lens it is wasted. If it is at an angle your lens cant refocus, it is destructive! It will hit your screen as background light and wash out your image.
The angle of light must be controled and that is easiest with a small source. Its near impossible with a big one.
Hi Jimbo,
When I first started I had the idea of using compact flourescents. I thought these twisting molecules in the LCD would somehow align the light so you just had to blast light at it. I imagined these molecules like tiny optic fibers that would transport light wherever they point. Not true. The good people here got me straight. Each little pixel acts like colored glass. It filters but doesnt change the direction of the light.
The same thing goes for fresnels in that it will change the angle of light by a set amount - like a prism - which is what it is. A wide angle of light going in will not be focused. It will be a wide angle coming out.
When you have a large light source the light hits each pixel from various angles in a kind of funnel shape in and funnel shape out. If the funnel angle out misses your objective lens it is wasted. If it is at an angle your lens cant refocus, it is destructive! It will hit your screen as background light and wash out your image.
The angle of light must be controled and that is easiest with a small source. Its near impossible with a big one.
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