DIY projector really works!

[Spudd]

Originally posted by: DBL

Originally posted by: Spudd

Originally posted by: Crazymofo
That is dirt cheap for that large of a screen.. now all you need is a sound setup for movies...

Yeah, that's why I gave it my best shot. The idea that the bulbs on the commerical projectors can cost hundreds of dollars and only last a few thousand or hundred hours was the decision maker. The bulb I'm using is 400Watts, gives out 33,000 lumens (of course only a fraction makes it to the triplet after hitting your LCD) and lasts 20,000 hours--and only costs $37 to replace.

I assume you could do this with a 1600x1200 lcd if it wre easy enough to strip? That would be quite a deal considering the cost of a projector that supports that type of resolution.

Yes, I don't see a problem. As long as the width and height of the LCD are below that of your fresnels, and you can strip the monitor. The biggest problem with stripping them is the ffc cables--they break very easily. Delicate touch is necessary, but since this is a tech community, I'm positive most of you are more than capable of stripping the lcd.

 

[no0b]

How does the lumenlab guide work?

Is the guide specific to certain products (mainly the LCD)

I have a laptop and I wouldn't mind making it into a projector.

 

[Spudd]

Originally posted by: Crazymofo
That is dirt cheap for that large of a screen.. now all you need is a sound setup for movies...

Right now I've got my little 300 Watt surround sound HTIB going--I'm in a 3 bedroom apartment, so cranking up the noise is not feasible right now. But the surround sound, plus the huge screen = football heaven. Can't wait to get my reflector, screen, and an HDTV card before the super bowl. Party time! lol

 

[spidey07]

nice work. big screen on the cheap.

i love it.

 

[Spudd]

Originally posted by: no0b
How does the lumenlab guide work?

Is the guide specific to certain products (mainly the LCD)

I have a laptop and I wouldn't mind making it into a projector.

The guide is about to be updated to reflect what the community over there has come up with to improve on the basic design. The guide is very detailed, and is not geared towards a specific lcd. I'm looking at the guide right now, and it's 27 pages long. It's very well put together. I too was scared this was BS, but I'm thankful I was wrong. It's legit. And there are a ton of members too who are very helpful when you get stuck.

 

[iamme]

question: how long did the project take you from start to finish?

 

[Francodman]

Did you enclose that setup? Any problems with heat? Would using a more powerful lightbulb increase the brightness? Cuz it still doesn't look that bright enough for me.

 

[Spudd]

Originally posted by: iamme
question: how long did the project take you from start to finish?

Actual time from building enclosure to stripping lcd took a weekend--but learning what the hell I was doing and researching what worked and didn't took 3 months (I'm in law school so I don't have too much free time during the week. As a matter of fact, I should be reading right now....heheh)

 

[FrustratedUser]

Way cool!

Instructions?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Spudd

Originally posted by: no0b
How does the lumenlab guide work?

Is the guide specific to certain products (mainly the LCD)

I have a laptop and I wouldn't mind making it into a projector.

The guide is about to be updated to reflect what the community over there has come up with to improve on the basic design. The guide is very detailed, and is not geared towards a specific lcd. I'm looking at the guide right now, and it's 27 pages long. It's very well put together. I too was scared this was BS, but I'm thankful I was wrong. It's legit. And there are a ton of members too who are very helpful when you get stuck.

As a serious videophile I've looked into that approach.

There are many problems with it (as with any display), but IMHO if you want serious bang for the buck it is an awesome project and I highly recommend it. The only thing I see wrong is contrast and overall color saturation - things we spend big bucks for.

For under a grand? Most should be all over it if they have the room.

 

[Spudd]

Originally posted by: Francodman
Did you enclose that setup? Any problems with heat? Would using a more powerful lightbulb increase the brightness? Cuz it still doesn't look that bright enough for me.

I haven't got 2 key things to help the brightness-- a reflector (which increases the brightness a lot) and a screen (probably using blackout cloth). But please remember, I've got a camera that doesn't do night shots well. I can use the projector during the day (as long as the sun light doesn't shine directly on the wall of course). That should give you an idea of how bright it actually is. Wish I had a better digi cam right now.

 

[Goosemaster]

Fanfvkingtastic.

 

[Spudd]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Spudd

Originally posted by: no0b
How does the lumenlab guide work?

Is the guide specific to certain products (mainly the LCD)

I have a laptop and I wouldn't mind making it into a projector.

The guide is about to be updated to reflect what the community over there has come up with to improve on the basic design. The guide is very detailed, and is not geared towards a specific lcd. I'm looking at the guide right now, and it's 27 pages long. It's very well put together. I too was scared this was BS, but I'm thankful I was wrong. It's legit. And there are a ton of members too who are very helpful when you get stuck.

As a serious videophile I've looked into that approach.

There are many problems with it (as with any display), but IMHO if you want serious bang for the buck it is an awesome project and I highly recommend it. The only thing I see wrong is contrast and overall color saturation - things we spend big bucks for.

For under a grand? Most should be all over it if they have the room.

Yep. If you have the cash to spend on the real deal, then by all means buy that. But you simply can't match the bang for the buck factor with this basic design. And the screen's freaking huge!! lol The better your lcd monitor, lamp, and screen are, the better your color will be. The Ushio is supposed to be one of the best that they've found so far, with a CRI of 85+ and 33,000 lumens. I suppose you could use more than a 400 Watt bulb, but the heat would become a real problem I think.

As it is, with the slit top and 120mm fan in the back, my lcd is cool to the touch and the enclosure on the lamp side is only about 30 degrees above room temp. This was my first try. After you get it working, you can get really crazy and creative with the design. I'm just sticking with the big box design (about 28" long, 15" wide, and 15" tall) and covering it with black speaker carpet to match my black leather furniture. It all looks like it belongs there.


Oh, and to give people some help figuring out room sizes and stuff: I'm projecting from about 10 feet away. The closer you get to the wall, the brighter the image but you'll probably need a lot of room for the focusing box to move. Right now, my focusing box is just the box in a box design, with about 5 or 6 inches play in either directions. If I had access to some serious tools, there are some freaking awesome designs people have come up with for focusing.

 

[Literati]

That is great. Congradulations and enjoy!

 

[Spudd]

Thanks again folks. I just wanted you guys who were interested in the Toms Hardware guide to know there was something DIY that was better and works. I'm just a noob on this project--many of the veteran builders over there have truly awe inspiring setups. But for me, this is more than enough.

 

[Spudd]

Here's a shot of the enclosure. As you can see, I'm not done with it, but you get the idea. I'll be sealing the back to block light with the grill and louvre later. Sorry again for the pics. Doh.

 

[aircooled]

I wish LumenLab took paypal.

Do you know if a laptop LCD works?

 

[DrPizza]

HolyFVckingSh!t! That's awesome!

<---- I know what I'm gonna do after finishing this master's degree (and have more time)

I love that idea... I didn't even know of DIY projectors!

 

[TitanDiddly]

Whoa. How?

 

[Spudd]

Originally posted by: aircooled
I wish LumenLab took paypal.

Do you know if a laptop LCD works?

I don't think anyone has pulled it off yet. Apparently, there are 2 major problems that make it not worthwhile:

1. The ffc cables are extremely short, so once stripped you will either snap the connections OR they will be too high up in the enclosure for you to mount the lcd properly. You'd have to come up with some funky mounting.

2. The control boards for the lcd are not only very difficult to find, they are very expensive on their own. By the time you bust your butt finding and paying for all this stuff, you'd have been better off buying a new or used strippable lcd monitor.

From what I've gathered, only a laptop with a very high resolution and widescreen is worth the trouble, but it can be expensive. Not sure if you want that added headache. A lot of things can go wrong, and you will most likely have to have the ffc cables extended anyway.

 

[gutharius]

Originally posted by: Spudd

Originally posted by: Crazymofo
That is dirt cheap for that large of a screen.. now all you need is a sound setup for movies...

Yeah, that's why I gave it my best shot. The idea that the bulbs on the commerical projectors can cost hundreds of dollars and only last a few thousand or hundred hours was the decision maker. The bulb I'm using is 400Watts, gives out 33,000 lumens (of course only a fraction makes it to the triplet after hitting your LCD) and lasts 20,000 hours--and only costs $37 to replace.

But at 400watts that will add about $4 to my monthly electric bill for just 25 hours of use a week. Granted $4 is not much so it may not matter much to you the reader. But 400 watts seems like alot. Is this bulb a flourscent one? Perhaps you can get he same lumens with a more energy efficient bulb?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: gutharius

Originally posted by: Spudd

Originally posted by: Crazymofo
That is dirt cheap for that large of a screen.. now all you need is a sound setup for movies...

Yeah, that's why I gave it my best shot. The idea that the bulbs on the commerical projectors can cost hundreds of dollars and only last a few thousand or hundred hours was the decision maker. The bulb I'm using is 400Watts, gives out 33,000 lumens (of course only a fraction makes it to the triplet after hitting your LCD) and lasts 20,000 hours--and only costs $37 to replace.

But at 400watts that will add about $4 to my monthly electric bill for just 25 hours of use a week. Granted $4 is not much so it may not matter much to you the reader. But 400 watts seems like alot. Is this bulb a flourscent one? Perhaps you can get he same lumens with a more energy efficient bulb?

you can't break newton when it comes to physics/energy. It takes so much energy to light up that much space.

 

[Spudd]

Originally posted by: gutharius

Originally posted by: Spudd

Originally posted by: Crazymofo
That is dirt cheap for that large of a screen.. now all you need is a sound setup for movies...

Yeah, that's why I gave it my best shot. The idea that the bulbs on the commerical projectors can cost hundreds of dollars and only last a few thousand or hundred hours was the decision maker. The bulb I'm using is 400Watts, gives out 33,000 lumens (of course only a fraction makes it to the triplet after hitting your LCD) and lasts 20,000 hours--and only costs $37 to replace.

But at 400watts that will add about $4 to my monthly electric bill for just 25 hours of use a week. Granted $4 is not much so it may not matter much to you the reader. But 400 watts seems like alot. Is this bulb a flourscent one? Perhaps you can get he same lumens with a more energy efficient bulb?

Well, for me, $4 is not a problem. The major utility in my house is the damn AC. That thing costs me about $125 of the bill every month (I live in S. Florida). Anyway, the bulb is a metal halide bulb. You can go for more lumens by using a halogen bulb, but you run into a bunch of problems:

1. You need a true white light.
2. Halogens are extremely hot. As in fire hazard hot.
3. Size of bulb and orientation so you maximize how your light path goes through the fresnels and comes out and hits the back side of the triplet.

This bulb in particular is the best of both worlds. There are 3 others I know of that also work: the Ushio EYE bulb, T15 Pulse Strike Ushio, and the 400 Watt HQI bulb on diylabs.org. The EYE and Pulse Strike were superceded by the Ushio S400DD from the community's testing. It also has a higher color rating index than those bulbs, so if you have everything setup right, you get better color.

 

[poopygood]

nice job, i'm jealous!

 

[edfcmc]

whats wrong with the free plans available at www.diylabs.org where you bought some of your parts?

How are the $20 plans better?