Home made projector!

[Chernobyl]

Time for bed I think, I read that 5 times and each time it said something different lol.

Yeah thats probably the best solution for getting the big bulb in.
Perhaps make a flip down cover so it doesnt flood the room with light.

I'm off now, gnight.

[Daniel ~]

spanielgita, this is a TOTAL Bummer! I to was looking forward to your parts arriving. Glad you found a good use for the time.

[spanielgita]

god yeh,

tell me about it!!! what an amount of time to take as holiday also, when you are running a business! i was telling everyone how soon it was going to be finished, then this happens!! ah well, as long as those parts come in september. it also means that i will be forced to spend more time on the less important parts, so the whole thing will be better i guess

Dan

[Daniel ~]

Attention to detail.":O}

[spanielgita]

more on the remote project!!

i was thinking to myself - how cool would it be if i could have a specific button on my remote that would allow me to do voice commands! After a little bit of research it seems like this option is entirely possible.

imagine being able to control what was onscreen without having to move from the sofa AND doing so with your voice.

basically it will be a combination of the xbox remote control kit(hardware), xbox driver prog(soft), autohotkey(soft) and a voice recognition program called shoot(soft)(originally for gaming but can be used for hotkeys in windows). heres how it works;

-buttons on xbox remote setup to trigger hotkeys(done using driver software for xbox remote) VERY easy to setup. button = hotkey (done by gui)

- shoot voice detection setup to trigger hotkeys when certain phrases are read aloud and detected by the mic. EASY to setup (done in notepad)

- when triggered (either by xbox driver or shoot) hotkeys are detected by autohotkey, which in turn triggers the corresponding script made for that hotkey combination. ie {shift-s} = shutdown comp or {shift-t} turn off screen. the possibilities are endless in aht generally very simple to setup after reading initial tutorial but complex scripts can be written.

- the clever bit, one button on the remote will trigger a hotkey that will in turn trigger the "push to talk" feature of shoot. "push to talk" means that you hold the button down when you want to input a command phrase.

- an endless amount of commands can be easily written in shoot, say for example - phrase = "shutdown computer" // hotkey = SHIFT+S . so by saying "shutdown computer" into the mic, this triggers the shift-s, now ahk will detect this hotkey input and run the corresponding script to shutdown the computer.

one thing to note is that shoot uses xp's voice recognition software. It is infact extremely accurate(i have found) after training it for 5 mins!! well worth it i think. it can even pick out my phrases over loud music. All the software used is actually free and simple to use.

i have been doing this all night lol so i think i will go sleep now. i have included a diagram to help you understand

[Chernobyl]

Its a great idea but I dont think the voice recognition software is ready for the job.
We have tried using voice recognition as it has evolved and ended up going back to the old ways of doing things as its not reliable enough yet.

The voice recognition software has to cope with a lot of problems some of which are background noise, frequency content variations (see description below), voice pitch, voice speed, loudness, different peoples voices (if applicable) etc etc.

Frequency Content variation:
when you say a word around a certain pitch, the sound will contain more harmonics than the frequency around the single pitch. Depending on if you have a cold, a bad throat, if you are not facing the microphone and much more, will affect the frequencies picked up by the software, even if you say it in exactly the same way.

For best results, the computer needs you to try and say the words in the same way you did while you were training the software.
Many types of variation are correctly filtered by the software but many others are not.
Depending on your mood, how excited/sad you are, how tired you are, if you have been drinking, after excercise etc, your words will come out differently in pitch, speed, loudness and your pronunciation will vary too.


If the commands you want to use arent mission critical then it might work well (if you say the same thing a few times).
If you need a guaranteed result it could be hard work.
Beware you may start talking to your friends like you do the computer

edit:
ps if you do get it working successfully let us know

[Gizmo]

Spanielgita, I think this would be a GREAT research project, but you might want to consider starting a new thread for it; that way we can follow your progress more easily.

[spanielgita]

yes i am aware of these problems, but after a little bit of training you would be amazed at how accurate it really is! i was singing the commands today and they were working everytime!!! its really awesome.

i will start a new thread for this project as it is somewhat offtopic!

Dan

[Chernobyl]

cool!
I'm very interested to see if its good enough for long term use.
Can you post the new thread link here?
cheers

[spanielgita]

New thread setup, i'll keep it updated so keep your eyes peeled!

control you pc using xbox remote and voice

[Chernobyl]

Hi Guys
Sorry to disappear for so long, I havent been feeling very good so took a break.

Its been a good thing to sit back for a while and gather more information for the 1080p project.
The upshot is I have discovered a UK distributor for the SVH-1920 controller that I really like!

Today I spoke to them and it looks like we will be doing business!
The pricing so far looks good but wont publish it until the details are finalised.
The controller is undergoing some changes and the interface to it will need new cables.
They will be confirming the cost of these and whether they can connect to the 15.4" panels I wish to use.

I have to say the guy I spoke to was very pleasant and does want the business so I am hopeful good things will come of this.



ps I voted every day!
Vote for AOA !!!

[dsio]

This is going to be mad dude. Massive 1080i awesomeness may just force me to take a crack at this.

[spanielgita]

finally got my parts from the german shop today! he managed to deliver them to the wrong address but i got them, thankfully. i dont yet have the internet though so it will be difficult for me to make posts about my progress... i will put stuff up though at some point!

Dan

[Chernobyl]

hey sweet, good coincidence posting today
please do keep us up to date.

DSIO:
great!
A first for AOA staff
I'm looking forward to it.

[Daniel ~]

Glad your felling more yourself again Chernobyl, as always we benefit from your endeavors!

[ibanBCN86]

Hi! I'm Iban and I've bought an IIyama prolite and a nobo quantum 2511, here are the characteristics of the OHP:

****! I cannot post url! xD well, you'll find it easily on google

what do u think about this combination with a correct refrigeration (subsystem of course)?

Could I someway replace the 250W by a 400W?? Is it really difficult? Any advices? thank u!!

[Chernobyl]

Cheers Daniel, always happy to help

Hi Iban, welcome to the project

Can you be more specific which Iiyama monitor you have? There are quite a few Iiyama Pro LCDs.
I cant find much in the way of specs for the Nobo 2511 OHP other than it uses a single lamp and is 250W. It does look like a neat little OHP.
One page said that it produces 2500 Lumens.

Depending on the size of screen you are using, the type of screen and how dark the room is, the light level you need will vary.
The acknowledged minimum from an OHP is regarded to be around 4000 Lumens.
If you use a 1.5 metre screen I'm sure it will look great.

The OHP looks tall enough to take a Metal Halide 250W or 400W bulb.
I highly recommend the HQI bulbs as they are much smaller and easier to fit than the other Metal Halide bulbs.
I am using a 250W HQI-TS D MH Bulb which runs cooler than the original 400W and is a bit brighter too.
With the temps from a 250W MH bulb, I suffer what I previously called burnin, but have been told it is really called Image Sticking. Its not permanent and goes away over time and goes away even faster if the LCD is turned off while leaving the light on.

Image Sticking can be avoided by using better cooling than I have across/under the LCD panel.
Mine is a prototype so havent gone much further with the cooling, I am also interested to see what does happen to the LCD under prolonged exposure to excess heat.
Please note my OHP was designed to cool the original 400W bulb so yours may have less cooling capacity.

What I am getting to is if you use a 400W bulb you will need to shift a lot more heat. If you feel up to doing the mods for this then it is a consideration. If not, go for the 250W MH bulb.
You will be able to get somewhere between a 2 to 3m screen with the 250W MH, depending on the screen type you use and how dark your room is.
You are likely to need a new rear reflector as OHP ones arent usually the optimal.

If your Bulb doesnt have a fat glass lense sat just above the bulb, I would recommend you get one.
It is called the Condensor lense and helps grab more light and directs it toward the LCD.
It changes the effective light source point from the bulb to the lense so the bulb will need to be further away from the LCD.

Replacing the bulb is a different challenge for every OHP.
It comes down to how adventurous you are and if you have mechanical skills on tap.
I dont rate it as very difficult but setting it up optimally once the bulb is in can be more troublesome if you dont have a way to easily adjust the height of the bulb.
Some websites mention your OHP optimises the brown and blue which I can only assume is matching the corner colours to the centre of the screen.
This is the function that raising/lowering the bulb has so you could well have a bulb height adjusting mechanism.

Be sure to get a bulb with a rating of D for Daylight.
Beware of ratings such as ND for near Daylight. They dont reproduce blue as well.

[ibanBCN86]

Hello! thanks for all that info! The model of my IIYAMA is the Prolite E380-S. I've also attached a photo of the TFT panel, I've done a metacrilate chassis and I can also regulate the distance between the TFT and the OHP with 4 screws.

The refrigeration system consists of two blowers that blow air between the OHP and the TFT, I've tried them without the OHP and I think that the amount of air is enought and the noise level really low. What do u think about this solution?

The OHP hasn't arrived yet because of some problems with the dealer but everything is ok now, it should arrive in 2 o 3 days, I'll post more photos with my first tries with the whole system.

Thanks for your help!

Iban

[Chernobyl]

Hi Iban
you have the same LCD as me

Your solution doesnt look bad and is one type of cooling I am likely to use when I build a proper box for the new projector.

You may want to block light getting into the metacrilate, it may look cool but will likely distract you.
Does the screw height adjuster leave a gap air can get in/out?
If so, I found that sealing the air gaps helps give a clearer picture by keeping the room darker.

Whether the cooling is enough wont be known until you try it.
If you do need more, the top of the LCD has no cooling so you should easily be able to improve it by blowing air down onto that side of the LCD.

Looking good though.

ps If you can get hold of some sheet metal or sticky foil, coating the other side (the bottom) of the metacrilate will prevent static jumping through the metacrilate to the exposed electronics on the underside when you pick it up etc.

[dsio]

You think you could do an "ideal components" list and edit it into your first post?