Home made projector!

[Chernobyl]

Some piccies at last!
The USB card reader came today, what a relief. Its real quick too!

The first picture is using the last bulb. Its the only picture I have of it and it was the brightest bulb so far. The camera actually makes it look darker so you can imagine it was pretty bright!
ps the telly is 38", the screen is about 5ft.

the next are modding the OHP lid, removing plastic which is blocking light between the fresnel lense and the LCD. This liberated most of the screen that was missing.

I had to go over the cuts twice to remove the plastic. I then filed the edges flat. Well nearly, one edge isnt quite straight, oops! I'll fix it later

[Chernobyl]

A couple more...

[Chernobyl]

Some R4 goodness

[fearless joe]

nice, and the thoses
cesium, if you or amy one else does decide to mod or there ohp or build a projector from scratch(as manny iv seen on random forums are) then my reaserch would sugest that the best lights to use are metal halide bulbs with the right balast, http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...sPageName=WDVW
this is a good example as its cheap, but its only 250 watt, metal halide is suposedly like the jump from normal bulbs to hallogen, but even brighter, i think its what they use in floodlighting in warehouses, and the bulb life is good too.

[fearless joe]

hum, please dont pay attention to the first bit, duno what that was suposed to say lol

[Cesium]

fearless joe, those lights are massive!

I found out the problem is that i cant keep the arm centered correctly so that the light goes in directly from the fresnel lens, its always slightly off center

i got one of those dazian fabrics ones, good price/size and it has to be better than my yellow wall
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...742067692&rd=1

If i can find a good deal, i think that i'll get either a Dukane 28A670, 3m 9800,9700,9550, Elmo HPA305
something that has more lumens and a nice triplet lens anyways

[Chernobyl]

Originally Posted by Cesium

fearless joe, those lights are massive!

I found out the problem is that i cant keep the arm centered correctly so that the light goes in directly from the fresnel lens, its always slightly off center

i got one of those dazian fabrics ones, good price/size and it has to be better than my yellow wall
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...742067692&rd=1

If i can find a good deal, i think that i'll get either a Dukane 28A670, 3m 9800,9700,9550, Elmo HPA305
something that has more lumens and a nice triplet lens anyways

Bargain screen!

The Dukane, Elmo and 3M 9800 OHPs are top class (6000+ Lumens). I seriously hope you get one.
The Dukane and Elmo both use Metal Halide bulbs which Joe has attested to. These OHPs may be specified as good for LCDs but I havent found any information suggesting they have UV protection. Its no big problem, you can get a UV filter cheaply. Without UV protection, your LCDs colour pigment will degrade, turning brown.
I may have to fit a UV filter to mine too, its on my list of things to look at.


The new bulb blew today and was only a few days old! It wasnt running very brightly so must have been faulty. My final bulb has gone walkabout so I'm projectorless for a while. Lesson learnt, get more bulbs in!

I also noticed that not all bulbs are made equal. The bulb filament was set higher in my previous bulb which was pretty bright. Checking inside the OHP and seeing exactly where the bulb located, I could clearly see that neither filament sat exactly in the centre of the back parabolic mirror. Some adjustment here may help brightness uniformity across the screen. I have noticed that the top of the screen is darker than the bottom, perhaps this is the reason why. The effect is mild and only a minor distraction luckily

[Chernobyl]

2 more pretty pictures (backdrops ) before the bulb went

[Daniel ~]

Really nice work!

[fearless joe]

err just found this, it doesnt go in to any depth, but it says that a place in the us is making dual lcd screens, as in 2 lcds laying on each other to give a kind of 3d effect, interesting
http://www.jasonbradbury.com/jason_b...om_v.html#more

[Chernobyl]

Originally Posted by fearless joe

err just found this, it doesnt go in to any depth, but it says that a place in the us is making dual lcd screens, as in 2 lcds laying on each other to give a kind of 3d effect, interesting
http://www.jasonbradbury.com/jason_b...om_v.html#more

Cheers Daniel

Joe, interesting find.
It gives 2 layers of depth, the deepest for the video, the top layer for the on screen menus. Must've looked good, the guy really liked it.

[Chernobyl]

I just found the screen I have for sale on Ebay. It could be going on 40 years old!!!
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...865584900&rd=1

I wonder if other new screens are even better?
Its really good with this ancient one

[Cesium]

got my screen up on the wall slight wrinkle in the upper right, but its only noticable with the flash

[Chernobyl]

Originally Posted by Cesium

got my screen up on the wall slight wrinkle in the upper right, but its only noticable with the flash

wadya reckon to it?
Gwarn let it rip

[Daniel ~]

I'm amazed at the results you guys are getting! Is this going to be of real practical value to you?

That's not in any way a jab, I'm just curious as to weather you feel this is an option for the technically savvy over buying a ready made?

[Chernobyl]

Originally Posted by Daniel ~

I'm amazed at the results you guys are getting! Is this going to be of real practical value to you?

That's not in any way a jab, I'm just curious as to weather you feel this is an option for the technically savvy over buying a ready made?

Hi Daniel
I just found my last bulb so can give you an honest appraisal as I sit here watching TV on it

Firstly the slight downers...
Some bulbs are brighter than others. Its a shame they aren't all as good as the best one, the second one I had was truly phenomenal. On the not so bright bulbs, white is slightly yellow, blue suffers a little having a mild cyan tint to it
The whole LCD screen doesnt quite fit, but after modding the OHP unit its nearly all there.
Its a little bulky. Make sure you have the space to have at least a 5ft screen and 5ft between it and the projector.
You need to choose your parts wisely. I will be posting a guide soon thanks to AOA, to help make informed choices.

The reasons why you should do it...
The end result is very good by anyones reckoning, I believe in doing things well and its a glowing success.
The screen is huge and very detailed, colours are rich and its easily bright enough on a 5ft, 40 year old screen! Playing Games, Movies, Visual Effects and using Windows is magic.
The price is unmatched, period. This is an amazingly versatile projector, if anything goes wrong, its quick and easy to replace parts and much cheaper than repairing a bought projector.
Bulbs are around £5 to £7 each and last 200+ hours (2 to 4 weeks. Choose your OHP well though as some bulbs dont last long at all!). Amazing running costs.
If you want to improve any part of the projector its also really simple to change the one part.
It has wow factor

I use the home made projector whenever I can. It has replaced my TV and computer monitor for over 90% of the time. It is so easy on the eyes for using Windows too.

Practicality
How practical it is for you depends on the space you have. A very bright room may need a better screen too. My Screen is on the floor in front of the TV with the OHP sat back 5ft from it.
Its ace.

[Cesium]

all i can say is that once i get a better overhead that is brighter and allows me to keep my aspect ratio back to 4:3 (right now a square on screen is 15cm x 16cm), im not going to buy that 20.1" viewsonic vp201b that i had previously been drooling over
i really doubt i will ever go back to a traditionally sized monitor if i can get quality to where i want it, otherwise this will eventually be for movies, but for now its my no doubt choice for primary monitor over my 19" samsung 955df

[Daniel ~]

I know what you mean as far as size goes, I bought a 60" Sony rear projector, while not so crisp as a smaller monitor, it beat hell out of the 32", 36" and 40" ers at that time.

Size does matter! at 11 to 13 feet from the screen it's really quite remarkable for a nearly 10 year old set!

Had a local guy re-solder a year ago, best buy I ever made! Screens for it ARE expensive, but the standard screen has served quite well.

It cracks me up that you've been able to pull this off so well!!

Just wish I had the resolution for monitor use!

[Chernobyl]

Originally Posted by Daniel ~

I know what you mean as far as size goes, I bought a 60" Sony rear projector, while not so crisp as a smaller monitor, it beat hell out of the 32", 36" and 40" ers at that time.

Size does matter! at 11 to 13 feet from the screen it's really quite remarkable for a nearly 10 year old set!

Had a local guy re-solder a year ago, best buy I ever made! Screens for it ARE expensive, but the standard screen has served quite well.

It cracks me up that you've been able to pull this off so well!!

Just wish I had the resolution for monitor use!

Hehe glad it tickles you too
Why dont you give it a go Daniel?

I now have someone interested in building a projector for him! Hope he has more spare cash than me, I'll be trying some more upmarket/newer parts depending on his needs I've yet to meet him.
Lots more useful stuff coming if he goes ahead.

[Daniel ~]

AOA keeps me dead broke! ":O}