DIY Projector - Completed!

Radon199 · Post by **Radon199** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 7:39 pm

I actualy had the camera too close to the screen when I took these pics. Most people set up their chairs between 10 and 15 ft of the screen, any closer than 10 ft and you start to see the screen door effect (basicly you can see the individual pixles but they call it the screen door effect because it looks like the mesh out of a screen door... to be as blunt as posible).

The best part is ive managed to make the image look even better since ive taken those pics O.o

Edit: and yes I am useing the laptop screen for now, its running in 640x480 rez but it still looks amazing (putting it in 640x480 because thats what the projection pannel im gonna get runs in). Projection panels are way cheaper than LCD screens of the same size bit still look great... plus I don't have to open it at all just put it in the box... and also it has a composit in and S-video in, so I don't need a converter.

sam fisher · Post by **sam fisher** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 4:55 am

i thought the picture looked a bit crap but its only 740*480.. imagine at 1024*768 with a better screen

:O

Radon199 · Post by **Radon199** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 7:56 am

Ya, I'm gonna be building a actual screen out of blackout cloth as soon as I get a chance to go to Fabricland (stupid stores closed on sunday...) and as I said before I was taking the picture way too close and takeing pics of the screen sucks, they always turn out worse than you want them too.

xxxeagle · Post by **xxxeagle** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 10:04 am

Nice thx for the pics I really should start mine soon I have some mdf in the garage I'm looking for a good tutorial for a psone screen right now, anyone know of any?

Radon199 · Post by **Radon199** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 1:01 pm

Go to the diyAudio and do a search for PSOne projector and you should be able find a lot of finished projectors. I didn't use a guide I basicly found out all I could find and did it my way ^.^

xxxeagle · Post by **xxxeagle** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 1:03 pm

Thx radon I dont know too much about projectors so I'll probably look at a few guides to get some basics down and then design my own.

Radon199 · Post by **Radon199** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 2:02 pm

hehehe....he... well my LCD panel just died, well I think its dead, all it dose is sit there and buzz, nothing shows up...

Oh well, time to get a new screen (I was planing to anyways >.>;)

Edit: Woot, fixed it

(I'll still use it as an excuse to get a new LCD tho >.>;)

SNESguy · Post by **SNESguy** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 11:22 pm

Yeah I know this thread is a little old, but it is what inspired me to make a projector.

Here is a pic:

[img][img]http://img491.imageshack.us/img491/2153 ... 2aj.th.jpg[/img][/img]

SNESguy · Post by **SNESguy** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 11:30 pm

Double post time!

Here's what it is:

Buhl 112 overhead projector (around 6000 lumens)
15" Viewsonic flatpanel LCD (I dissected the hell out of it though, right down the essential components!)

The LCD element is sandwhiched in between thick plexiglass sheets, and the driver boards are housed off the side:

The module is removable for transport, and it locks onto metal pins when on the projector. I have just a little more to go, but it already works awesome.

There's still more to come, but it's late right now and must get some sleep for a 8:00am class tomorrow.

FDSMAN · Post by **FDSMAN** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:58 pm

ah, I didn't know you were going to use one o then ol' over head's, looks like you have a graphics card on there

Radon199 · Post by **Radon199** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 3:00 pm

Well Since this thread just randomly came back from the grave I gess ill post some pics of my projector working. I'll go take some.

EDIT: Scratch that, the camera is discharging (stupid batterys with memory, means every time I want to charge the bloody camera I need to let it use all it's battery (witch takes about 2 hrs in discharge mode) and then charge it for another 4 hours....

SNESguy · Post by **SNESguy** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 5:27 pm

Yep, I used an old school overhead projector to cut down the time needed to build the project. Plus, it will be a lot more compact for the application I will be using. (A big honkin' television for the dorm suite!)

If I decided to make the whole thing from scratch, the unit would be too long for the small living room we have.
The only thing I don't like is the color rendering of the halogen bulb.

The box hanging off the side is the attached driver circuitboards. I managed to rearrange them in a compact form without desoldering the ribbon cables. The VGA and other inputs as well as power are connected to this part as well.

Also, Radon, did you ever get yours working with the new screen?
This topic seemed to have slipped by the time you got it repaired.

Radon199 · Post by **Radon199** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 9:54 pm

I just finished mine today to speak of the devil. It still needs to be mounted to the celing but that will only take like 15 mins. Shes about 2 ft long and a throw of 88 inches and a screen size of 90". I could prolly max it out around 250" but it would get really pixilated and crap, plus 90" is the max I can make it

. The MH bulb im using puts out a wapping 36,000 lumens (

). This results in a very bright image. Ill have some images tommorow night.

SNESguy · Post by **SNESguy** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 10:13 pm

Where did you get your Metal Halide bulb? Those things have an awesome color temperature- basically a natural white light, just like white LEDs.

BTW, here is my LCD module by itself in earlier stages of construction:

This unit is removeable when the projector gets transported, and will have its own carrying case.

If I choose to make a projector from scratch, I simply will just place this unit in the new setup.

Radon199 · Post by **Radon199** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:35 am

I got it at a local store for around $110 CAD total, so around $90 US or so (conversion off the top of my head). It's made by Sylvania and comes with a Coil Balast, Cap, mogul and bulb. The bulbs freaking huge but no bigger than my Panel.

It most likly wouldn't fit in your box but it will give you a significantly brighter image.

If you want some tips about taking pics of the actual projection, first get a tripod, set your camera on night mode and make sure the DVD is paused. This will give you the best picture you can get.

EDIT: I was looking over your PJ and I want to say that you might want to add some spacers between the LCD and your OHPs frensle and add a fan. Your LCD can only stand up to about 105 degres F and without proper air circulation you are getting very close to that mark.