Home made projector!

[Chaz]

Thanks for the heads up Chernobyl, but I think it's worth waiting for the 400w kit. Unless you dont think there would be much visible difference?

Cyrax, does the 9700 have a cooling stage? If it does than I dont think you need to have it lifted off the glass panel at all. My OHP (9550) has a cooling stage and I just have the LCD lying on the glass, with an 80mm fan pointed at the LCD for good measure.
My fan is mounted onto the OHP using sticky velcro pads, one stuck to the bottom of the fan, another to the OHP. It makes removing it nice and easy, although once I build a shroud I'll just have it built into that.
Most video cards have dual output, mine outputs one DVI and one VGA. My normal monitor takes the VGA slot, but unfortunatly the IIyama E380s also requires a VGA slot, so I just bought an adaptor and everything works fine.
As for the VGA cable, my PC is right next to my projector so it isnt really a problem. I doubt an extension cable would drop the image quality, would it?

[Chernobyl]

Originally Posted by cyrax83

ok guys my LCD will be arriving in a day or 2 (i got a CMV 15", good ocntrast and cd/m^2 with 16 ms and i've heard its strippable).

i've got a couple of questions.

1) how many mm should i have the lcd off the top of the projection panel and what do you recommend to do the job ? 4 little pieces of foam or something ?

2) its a brand new 15" and i dont want to stuff it up when stripping =/ i've heard this monitor has no FFC issues so that should be ok, and i will do Chernovyls trick of aluminium foil on cardboard grounded, but i've had no experiece in dismantling an lcd. i've seen a number of pics but not too sure which boards i need and which cables to remove but i'll give it a go

3) i really want to cool this thing so i might use 2 80mm fans, 60mm if i can get away with it. i want this thing to be a bit quiet so i'll have to find some more quiet fans from somewhere. anyway i've seen your guide on how you used the meshing + nelon for the fans, very cool, but how did you actually mount the fans onto the projector ? And did you use a fan controller on your computer to turn the fans on/off or are they on all the time when ur comp is on ?

4) i notice all you guys have your projecter on as well as your computer screen for comparison. Are you guys using a split cable on the single video card or do you guys have 2 video cards in your comp or something ?

5) do you guys have a long vga cable from ur computer to the lcd ? my comp is a bit far from my computer, so i would probably need a cable extension, the minimum i've seen is a 5m extension, combine that with the current length of the cable, would there be any video quality loss ? I dont want to have a good projector loosing quality from the long vga cable

and one more request, chernobyl coudl i please get some pictures of the outside of your projector on the 4 sides ?

sorry about all the questions and being a pain in the ass
thanks

wow theres a few !

1) Get the LCD as close to the glass as possible, preferably right on top.
This isnt possible if it gets too hot. I checked out your OHP and it doesnt seem to have a cooling layer so this may not be possible if you need to blow air under the LCD
Putting the LCD closer to the glass improves brightness, contrast and colours. Theres a bonus side effect to as more of the LCD appears on the big screen.

If you have to raise the LCD for airflow, light will escape into the room and you need to make sure enough air can flow under it. You may need to make some kind of air guide if you want a small gap.
To raise it, use a long object the width of the screen at the front and the back, this will block light going out the front and rear (I used mains wire for a bit). Stick the fan(s) on one side and let the air blow under and over the LCD screen.


2) I'm not sure what FFC means If you get stuck on anything, post a picture/ask and I'll guide you through it

3)In general, the smaller the fan, the higher the speed they run which means more noise. Go for low rpm fans, ie 2000rpm or less and slow them down further by voltmodding them. Slow fans does mean less air flow, so maybe you will need a minimum of 1x120mm or 2x80mm fans.

My fans are dangled by a single piece of Green garden wire from the top of the OHP's focus arm. Hehe.
The fans are powered by a PC power supply but I should really just stick them on one of those little mains adapters where you can adjust the Volts out.

4) My gfx card has DVI and VGA out. The DVI port has a VGA adapter so 2 monitors is no problem.
I havent used a second screen for maybe 5 months now. My Iiyama monitor is in the bedroom gathering dust. The projector is everything I need and more!

5) I have 2 smaller VGA extension cables connected to the LCDs own cable. The PC end is also plugged into an X2VGA xbox VGA adapter switch box.
The distance between my PC and the projector is about 2.5meters.
There are no ill effects from this length VGA cable.

Yeah I'll get you some pictures of the Projector in the day. If I havent done it by 24 hrs msg here and I'll get a reminder

[Chernobyl]

Originally Posted by Chaz

Thanks for the heads up Chernobyl, but I think it's worth waiting for the 400w kit. Unless you dont think there would be much visible difference?

Cyrax, does the 9700 have a cooling stage? If it does than I dont think you need to have it lifted off the glass panel at all. My OHP (9550) has a cooling stage and I just have the LCD lying on the glass, with an 80mm fan pointed at the LCD for good measure.
My fan is mounted onto the OHP using sticky velcro pads, one stuck to the bottom of the fan, another to the OHP. It makes removing it nice and easy, although once I build a shroud I'll just have it built into that.
Most video cards have dual output, mine outputs one DVI and one VGA. My normal monitor takes the VGA slot, but unfortunatly the IIyama E380s also requires a VGA slot, so I just bought an adaptor and everything works fine.
As for the VGA cable, my PC is right next to my projector so it isnt really a problem. I doubt an extension cable would drop the image quality, would it?

Its such a rare event for him to have stock of bulbs I decided to mention it
A 250W bulb wouldnt be powerful enough with your cooling layer sadly.
Cyrax might like one tho

[cyrax83]

i doubt i'll get one atm, need to get this thing up and running first (next day or 2)

anyway whats the difference between replacing my current bulb with a new one that u listed ?

thanks, sorry bit noob to different bulb/bulb types etc.

[Chernobyl]

The bulb you are running is quite yellow as it doesnt push out the top part of the Blue spectrum much.
White will never look white. I found some Blues had a cyan tint and some looked quite grey.

The bulb I mentioned is the exact one I have. It will last up around 6000hrs (3/4 year continuous use). I've been running mine for 4 months now, its magic.

This bulb will give you much better colours, should be a little brighter once its burned in, its much cheaper to replace the bulb (comparing how many normal bulbs you need to match the hours this gives) and being 250W, it runs cooler and is cheaper to run too!

Convinced?

[cyrax83]

ur 24 hours is up chernobyl, pics !

[Chernobyl]

lol, thanks for the reminder!

Here they are.
I make no apologies for the dirty fan filter, it does its job well

[Chernobyl]

and theres more...

[cyrax83]

man this fricken store is screwing me around. Ordered the LCD on thursday, said it'd arrive on monday. ring up monday and it hasnt arrived and they said it should hopefully be here on tuesday.

ring up on tuesday, they tell me it hasnt arrived and the warehouse shipped it to the melbourne store accidently (like wtf !?). They go it'll be here tomorrow (wednesday) as they have overnight couriered it. IF it isnt here tomorrow i'm going to be pissed

[Chernobyl]

Its a similar story with some suppliers in the UK.
I sympathise.

[cyrax83]

chernobyl you on ? quick help me i've removed all 4 screws on the back but the back casing is very hard to get off
what do you suggest ?

[Chernobyl]

Hi, just nodding off then!

Fold the stand for the base back and you will find another screw underneath it.

[cyrax83]

hold on i'll show u a pic

[cyrax83]

first pic shows how the base, i've removed 4 screws on the base but it still doesnt come off. the base has a screw on each corner

http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?i...5t800035ea.jpg

second pic shows the whole top the monitor is a cmv 529a. i've removed the 4 screws on the corners, but yeah still nothing, i cant see anymore screws

http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?i...5t800044dw.jpg

not sure what else to do !

sorry about bad quality, pics from my phone

[cyrax83]

ok nevermind, i got the base off, had to use a screwdriver to remove the top of the base to reveal the screws. now i just need to remove the back panel case ....

[Chernobyl]

whoops different monitor. Knew I should have slept

Check under all the labels for hidden screws. They love doing that.
By running your finger over the labels pressing a bit, you can feel if there is another hole unerneath it.

If there are no more screws, its a matter of prising the 2 case halves apart.
To do this, I use 2 or 3 little flat head screwdrivers, inching them up one side from the corner. Once you have gone as far as it seems to allow, leave the screwdriver in place and do the same on the next corner moving towards your first screwdriver. Again you will get to a point where it seems stuck. Lever the 2 screwdrivers, carefully avoid damaging anything inside the case. The case should pop apart a bit more.
Repeat the process all the way around.

If it seems ridiculously hard still there is another screw somewhere

[cyrax83]

chernobyl this is the exact monitor i have and i'm following this guide

http://www.gmeel.com/lcdproject/

i'm up to the bit of removing the back silver casing over the huge component board ... hmmm =/

[cyrax83]

got no clue how to remove that big silver backing on the big component board, theres only one screw on the silver backing, and 3 on the long silver backing behind it, i've removed them all

[Chernobyl]

That cover slides off towards you (looking at the picture).
the sliders are locked in place by a little stump of metal on the monitors back usually. You need to lift the sliding bits of metal over the little stumps to get the cover to move.

The locking mechansim could be a little different, its hard to tell.

[cyrax83]

do i need to lift these things up ?

http://img226.exs.cx/img226/3207/55t900055nc.jpg

kinda hard to do ? =/