A Practical Guide to DIY LCD Projectors 217
Compu486 writes "Inventgeek.com has a new article entitled
"A
practical guide to DIY Home Projection". The guide covers the basic theory
behind projection and provides a step by step guide for a "Practical"
DIY LCD Projector. Although this topic has been covered before, the perspective
they offer is refreshing."
I'd rather (Score:4, Informative)
Go with LumenLab [lumenlab.com]'s plan, if I was to do this at all.
And they have real pictures too, instead of faked images on thier site.
Hmm? (Score:5, Informative)
Interesting tidbit from the article (Score:3, Informative)
When commenting on lenses, it says:
"Many lenses are coated to improve the optics of the lens. Products like Windex will severely damage these coatings resulting in pilling, fogging, or even etching of the actually glass. FYI, most CRT monitors are subject to the same conditions. Don't ever clean your CRT with Windex or similar products. Of course you would know this if you read the manual."
Didn't know that! :) It's nice to get immediately useful info from an article about something you don't have time for.
Re:Light passes through? (Score:2, Informative)
Low light v. High light (Score:3, Informative)
Projectors look really good in low light and no light situations, on a sheet or a wall, or on your little brother. The test of a screen is how it does in situations with higher amounts of ambiant light.
Re:Paint your own screen (Score:5, Informative)
As far as receivers, I can give you my analysis and feedback as a regular consumer (I wouldn't even call myself a "prosumer") of home theatre electronics. You definitely would do well in investing in a good receiver with as many inputs as possible, and don't get them from Circuit City / Best Buy / Fry's as they are usually $100 more than what you can find online. In reality, you will probably not need more than 3 or 4 component inputs (DVD + HDTV + Console + Other). Depending on the # of inputs on your TV/projector, this should put you in the $300-$500 range for receivers. Look for wattage ratings and buy from a well-known company (say, Harman-Kardon, Denon, Onkyo, Sony, Yamaha).
Once everything is set up, get a calibration DVD like Digital Video Essentials [amazon.com] or Avia [amazon.com] to tweak your settings. It can make a noticeable difference.
You don't need Monster Cables. If you have a friend at a store who can get you the discount (retailer markup is at least 100%), then they're fine. But you don't need to spend $300 on cables. Spend that money on better equipment.
Just do your research. It's possible that over the next few months older models will be discontinued and be heavily discounted. That can always save you some cash.
Re:Not a good field for DIY (Score:3, Informative)
Last time I looked into it green lasers were prohibitively expensive and blue lasers were completely untenably expensive.
Seconded! (Score:3, Informative)
Bulb life in a projector is typically 2000 hours (4000 in mine) and cost about £250 for the bulb.
So using 2000 hours as an example:
Projector cost £599 will last 2000 hours so total cost for first 200 hours is £599.
Self made projector will cost about £200-300, for 2000 hours of use you'll need 40 bulbs at £30 a go which works out at £1200 for bulbs and £200-300 so grand total of £1400-1500 (for which you can get a good DLP).
You also end up with a big ugly box which you can't place anywhere easily, a projector with no analog inputs, no warranty, no adjustments to compensate for placement etc etc.
Just buy a projector, it'll be safer too, something you can leave for 30 minutes and know you aren't going to come back to a fire.
Proxima 944+? Unobtanium. (Score:4, Informative)
None are listed on eBay.
Finished auctions on eBay list at about 300. [ebay.com] That's fine, but try to find one!
Kind of eliminates the ability to do this project, doesn't it?
I don't understand why all of these DIY projects have to use some amount of unobtainium. Why not price out some NEW parts, ones that are currently on the market? Leave it as an exercise for the reader to find used or discounted products.
Only then can you make a fair assessment of whether or not one of these projects is "do-able."
I would love to see some names / brands of recommended overhead projection panels - but unfortunately, THAT is left up to the reader. I thought making these recommendations was a key part of a DIY article. After all, look at Woodworking magazine or any other DIY magazine - they all list the parts, the specs of the parts, and typically, a price or two with each.
Why Would You Bother? (Score:3, Informative)
I recently purchased a very lovely DLP projector for business purposes. NEC, 1024x768, 5lbs. Composite, RGB, Component, S-Video inputs, a remote, etc. all for about $1,000CDN ($815USD). Similarly, you can get units like this from major retailers for $750-$1500 with spare bulbs, cables, etc. This project has a cost of "$200-800", but realistically, you're in the higher range if you want a decent LCD panel with good resolution, inputs, etc. and a bright enough projector.
So yes- this has the geek factor to it and all your friends will find it amusing that you were able to make a projector to fill your wall. These projects are intended to SAVE tons of money in DIY projects as well as add to the geek factor.
Instead, we have a big clunking machine, built on parts with low bulb life, not intended to go for hours on end, poor cooling, and far from optimal quality (usually splotchy projection comes from the overhead projectors).
Don't bother with this project. If you're going to spend this much, go out and buy a real projector. It'll be great for computers, home theatre, presentations, etc. and you'll be able to drag it over to a friend's house to have movies on a king sized bed sheet draped over his/her garage.
The costs of real projectors have come down! FOur to five years ago, a good portable projector was $3000-$5000. Nowdays it's $750-$1500- cheaper than most backlit projection TVs. Go buy a real projector.
-M
Re:Not a good field for DIY (Score:2, Informative)
Laser projection is just getting started out at the very high end of the market (theater projection).
Sony is currently demoing their Laser Theatre Dream Display at the World Expo in Aichi, Japan. What they are showing is actually three displays with a slight overlap (which actually works reasonably well except for blacks). Each display consists of many red diode lasers, blue diode lasers, and green lasers piped through fiber through a 1-dimensional MEMS light shutter which is scanned across the display. The current vertical resolution is 1k, but by keeping the shutter 1-dimensional, it's easy to see how the resolution can quickly be pumped up. Horizontal resolution is controlled by the light gate speed and scanning speed. The displays are absolutely gorgeous - they blow current digital theatre projectors away. Color gamut is outstanding, no visible scanlines, no visible flicker, even when looking off to the side. I can't wait to be able to start watching movies this way - it'll be the thing that finally gets me back into theatres regularly.
Of course, it will be a while before you can have something like this in your house, much less as a DIY project. Maybe by then someone will have figured out how to get a solid state green laser going.