Build your own LCD projector for Home viewing

[impulzz]

where can we buy the different lenses???

[badsekktor]

interesting project.... parang gusto ko din ng isa

[ghosthunter]

Honestly, LCD and DLP projectors have come down in prices which generally start at P30,000 for entry level digital projectors with a native resolution of between 800x600 and 1000x800 and 2000 lumens brightness rating. And these would have features like keystone correction, remote control, etc. aside from being small and compact enough to bring on a trip.

And if you are even more of scrooge, you can try CDR-King's digital LCD projector which is priced at around P16K if I remember correctly.

[hertzblaster1]

This is an opto-electronic project.
A "Do it yourself project"
This project will not interest you or will never get apprecated if you are not a do it yourself guy.
Probably almost all people, in one time or another, has been able to build something for their home or for themselves. No matter how inferior it could be, you are going to be proud of it because you did it yourself.

I hope somebody out there will give a recommendation on improving this project rather we get involve in a never ending debate on whether this project is worthwhile to do or not. For so many years, It has been debated in so many site worldwide . For me its painful and its very tiring to even think about it. A guy from this site has already visited my project and he was very pleased and the project was well appreciated and I am happy to share my project with him. I found a new acquaintance in the D'banker. He is a professional and a very nice fellow.

A guy named Philip and his wife visited me yesterday and they like what they saw. He works at Quiapo Church. They are using using 2 projectors at Quiapo Church and both are busted after less than 2 years. Repair and bulb replacement cost is very high according to him. We are going to work together now to try this diyprojector at the church. If this thing work in a big venue, then the Church may not spend in buying projectors again as this projector is repairable, customizable, upgradable parts are easily available, bulb is very very cheap and the technical support , i can very well take care of it.

We are not looking at a fantastically bright projector for the Church. The objective is the projected text image is easily readable and understable and the projector will last much longer than the commercial projector.

Hopefully in this site, some guys with technical know how in opto electronic display might be able to give some recommendation.

[hertzblaster1]

I am 95% finish with 7 inch projector.

But because of a new development. This will now be use at Quiapo Church that will project 141 inches digonal at at distance of 207 inches from the screen.

I will need to revise the box again as I will have to use a smaller focal length projection lens from 345mm to 265 mm

the agreement is not to install a fantastically bright projector but one that can easily be read and easily understood during the service even in broad daylight. Its must be able to last longer than commercial.

Hopefully, Flips and I can install it next week.

[DBanker]

I am 95% finish with 7 inch projector.

But because of a new development. This will now be use at Quiapo Church that will project 141 inches digonal at at distance of 207 inches from the screen.

I will need to revise the box again as I will have to use a smaller focal length projection lens from 345mm to 265 mm

the agreement is not to install a fantastically bright projector but one that can easily be read and easily understood during the service even in broad daylight. Its must be able to last longer than commercial.

Hopefully, Flips and I can install it next week.

am pretty sure this will work kasi it will be used to glorify Him... diretso na kay Lord yan!!! Mabuhay kayo!!!

[tiredpiston]

good evening Im a new member I'm very interested with your lcd projector> First of all You really done a good job their. gusto ko sana makita yang lcd projector mo talagang gagawa ako or baka magpagawa ako sayo.

[hertzblaster1]

Yes you can see it. i live near SM San Lazaro and UST. But I cannot build for you as this is a diy project.

Here is the summary for building a projector.

Step by Step guide in buidling your own cheap lcd projector-For movies,gaming,karaoke and outdoor use

Materials Needed.
A> Lenses
1. Projection lens- Magnifies the image of the lcd
2. Fresnel lens
a. Field fresnel - Converged the lighted image of the lcd to the projection lens
b. Collimator fresnel- Focuses on the lamp. Collects the light from the lamp and transmit parallel light rays to the lcd.
3.Front surface mirror-optional
4. 12v dc power supply for fans and lcd-use pc power supply

B>Light Engine
1. Metal halide bulb- 150w -250w: high lumens/ color temperature bulb
2. Ballast- Controls the power delivered to the lamp
3. Capacitor- Power factor corrector. power saver
4. Ignitor- Start up the lamp creating 3.4kv sparks to fire the chemical inside the lamp
5. Reflector- Recovers wasted light from the lamp
6. Condenser lens - Increase light collecting efficiency and divert more light to collimator fresnel
7. IR/UV filter- reduce temperature of lcd created by heat /infrared radiation generated by the lamp. Reduce UV rays to prevent discoloration of lcd.

Others
1. Front surface mirror- bend the light to make the box smaller
2. 2-units blower fans - cool down all the parts inside the projector
3. Fan grill- use for mounting parts of the light engine
4. bolts and nuts of diff sizes



Step 1- Choosing your lcd.

Consideration choosing the right LCD for your need.

A> LCD size

DIY projector normally is bigger , or alot of times, alot bigger than commercial projector. Size normally is the first issue.

1. If size is not an issue, then there are alot of cheap used LCD out there with digonal size of 15 inches with xga resolution, very good enough to project high definition images.

2. If size is a problem, then its gonna take alot of effort to get compatible LCD. But if you have the money to spend, you can easily buy on line. Smaller LCD like 8.4 inch diagonal normally has SVGA resolution, few are xga resolution which are very expensive say around $250 on line.


B> LCD resolution

1. XGA Resolution (1024x768 pixel) A bigger LCD say 15 inches and above has xga resoluiton which are capable enough to display high definition images. Smaller LCD with XGA resolution are expensive.

2. SVGA resolution (800x600 pixels) - DVD disk has a resolution of 720x480 pixels so if you have an lcd with svga resolution, it can display the full resolution of dvd players which can display very good images (xga of course is alot better)

3. VGA resolution (640x480) - If you are really low on budget, some small lcd has vga resolution. this can still project good images though your projected image size will be limited otherwise you will see screendoor effect(pixelated) and washout images.

It is not recommended anymore to use lcd with resolution lower than vga resolution.

C> LCD inputs

1. VGA input - Never buy the lcd without vga input (computer video cable) . VGA input can display progressive output from your sources like pc and component output ( need transcoder to convert to vga) of dvd player .

2. HDMI/DVI (digital input) - Some lcd models have DVI input which is very good because some dvd players have dvi output. Very few lcd have HDMI input. DVI/HDMI peforms better than vga interface because it will bypass the A/D converter from dvd players, pc, and lcd monitor. The lesser electronics used, the better is the image quality.

Composite input/ s-video of dvd players only displays 720x240 pixels so avoid using this as much as possible. Remember VGA interface is the minimum requirements.

D> LCD aspect ratio

1. 4:3 aspect ratio- It has the same aspect ratio of regular TV. In the old days, most of the movies are 4:3 so no problem in displaying the correct image size. But nowadays, most movies are widescreen (1.77:1)or letterbox format ( 2.35:1). So you will see black bars in top and bottom of your image. You will lose up to 60% of lcd resolution when you use widescreen and letterbox movies so image quality will go down.

2. 16:9 aspect ratio- When you play 4:3 aspect ratio movie, you will see black bars at the two sides. But nowadays, widescreen are prevalent and you will use full resolution of your lcd and image quality will be better than when using 4:3 aspect ratio lcd.

E> Contrast Ratio - This is other lcd specification that can make lcd cheap or expensive ( the other one is resolution). Higher contrast say more than 1000 can produce beautiful images than with lcd with lower resoltuion. Contrast is the difference in intensity of white and black.

F> Response time- Lower lcd response time means lcd can display moving images smoothly. try to get lcd with response time not higher than 25ms . The lower, the better

G> Number of colors- Look for lcd with 16.7million colors to give accurate color rendition. colors with 200k is also good but will not be displaying the real color.

E> Compatibility- After learning all of the above, you must be sure that lcd is compatible. Compatibkle lcd has only one circuit board attached to the lcd panel.

Step 2- LCd strippinng and mounting the lcd in the panel

Strippping of lcd differs from on another. Each lcd is unique in construction. Others are very easy to strip and others will give you hard time. To be sure, just follow the lead of other builders.

Mounting the lcd in the frame: Before stripping the lcd monitor, make sure the frame is ready. You need to know the effective display area of the lcd so that you can make the frame. Use 1/4 to 1/2 marine or ordinary plywood for the frame. Aluminum and steel plate is also very good.

"Mounting of the lcd in the frame is the most critical part of the project". Make sure that the lcd is fully secured and hanging wires should be clamp to the back board. Lcd is the most expensive part of the project so dont take a shortcut. This is a very strong warning to all builders. The flat ( orange cable) ribbon cable connecting the lcd to the A/D board is very fragile. If you break this, then your lcd is dead. totally.

Be accurate in making the frame. The frame open area should be about 0.5mm bigger than the lcd effective display area in all sides. Again be accurate or you will regret this later.

In the pics, you will see the finished frame and the lcd with still the backlight. No need for the backlighht in this project. You will need to remove the backlight and just make this as something useful say desktop lighting.


In the pics, you will see the lcd in the frame and the controller board installed in the backboard of the frame. The backboard is so much bigger so in your project just make this big enough to fit the controller baord.


Step 3: Building the Light engine

Additional Materials needed:
Base plate: 1 pc
Fan Grills: size of the ordianry case fan
Assorted bolts and nuts.
4 springs

see pics.
a> mount the 4 -6inches long bolt in the base plate. The position of the bolt coincide with holes of the fan grills.
b> mount the reflector and put the fan grill on top. the fan grill was cut to accomodate the reflectro opening
c>put a spring on top of the 4 nuts to allow expansion of the reflector when heated
d>mount bulb base in the fan grill
e> add another fan grill to accomodate the opening of the condenser lens
f> mount the condenser lens
g> mount another fan grill to hold the condenser lens
h> put the housing or cover
e> install the IR/UV filter

All the light engine parts must be placed very close to each other except the IR/UV filter which is one inch from condenser lens.


Step 4 Buiding your box

The box size depends on your design. The focal length of projection lens and collimator fresenel dictates the length of the box. the width of the box is dictated by the width of your lcd panel

[hertzblaster1]

Sample design:\

projection lens focal length: 345mm
Collimator fresnel: 220m
allowance
collimator fresnel to lcd: 2 inches for air circulation
Bulb to base plate: 2 inches

Most likely length of the box: 14in(345mm)+8.7(220mm)+2+2
;approx 27 inches

This is for the straight thru design. No mirror is used and the projector is in horizontal position. To save spave. a mirror is added on top and the projector will be in vertical position. This saves space.




Pictures of completed projector and all parts mounted. A power supply for fans and lcd using pc power supply is intalled near the projection lens.

Fans are installed at the sides one blowing between lcd and collimator fresenl and the other sucking out the hot air inside the box located down below.


Image quality of this projector is very nice
10.2 inch lcd widescreen
800x480 resolution
response time: 25 ms
colors:262K

Sample image




links:http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...5&pagenumber=1

http://s6.invisionfree.com/diyprojectorphils/

www.lumenlab.com

www.allinbox.com

[DBanker]

*hertzblaster1 - sir, ako, malapit na,,, malapit na akong makahanap ng electrician... will just text you soon.... thanks

[yrralz]

Sir hertzblaster,

saan po sa manila makakabili ng mga parts para sa project na ito?

thaks!

[ghosthunter]

Is it still cheaper/better to build your own LCD projector when you can buy one for as cheap as P12,500?

[hertzblaster1]

Where can you buy 12500 projector?

just finished a new project.


The lcd bezel or aluminum frame will be use in this design.

No mirror straight through design.

Back fresnel focal length 120mm

front fresnel focal length 220mm

Projection lens 265mm

box is smaller and lighter

lesser light leak design

Angled projector that fits my need w/o any tilt adjustment

Lesser keystone problem

[hertzblaster1]

[hertzblaster1]

The projector is turned upside down in normal use.

[hertzblaster1]

All I need now is a good finishing for my box. I am now researching how to make a fiberglass casing so i can make a piano finish for my projector.

Its really very satisfying and fulfilling feeling having it build myself using all my technical/engineering knowledge. Its one of best project I built other than the pc and my home made subwoofer and power amplifier.

Sensya na idol ko si Charice!

Go birit Baby!

[ghosthunter]

Where can you buy 12500 projector?

CDR-KING. I saw it on display at their shop last week.

LINK:
http://www.cdrking.com/local/product...076324-0631514

[hertzblaster1]

The specs is very bad.

1.The color temperature of the bulb is so high

2. uses 150w long arc bulb. Image is less sharper

3. The lcd is only 5 inch 640x480 4:3 aspect ratio. Very bad for widescreen movies

4. CDR-king will only give you 6 mos warranty.

I would rather build.

Good luck in buying!

[hertzblaster1]

Here is the most important information that i can share with you.

It use a 150w HQI bulb where the advertise bulb life is 6000 hours. You can buy it in so many lighting store locally and ang dami sa ongpin for 700 pesos.

The problem with HQI bulb is the chemical deposits formation in the outer envelope of the bulb. It will slowly develop and you will notice a dimming of your projected image in a span of less than a month of constant use.

This is an inherent problem with this bulb.

What is the use of a long life bulb kung malabo na image?

I know because I had use it for 3 years.

This projector is from China and you will do your research you can easily get the FOB price of this projector.

I have done my research about this cheap projector from China and if you still suggest to buy this product, then goodluck!

I still have a spare HQI bulb if anybody is interested.

[ghosthunter]

Anyway, I am still using an Acer 1170 DLP projector which is much better than ones found at CDR-King. Of course, costing nearly four times more, I do expect better performance from it than the CDR-KING projector.

Not everyone has the skill nor patience necessary to build their own projector or others simply prefer a more compact solution than a DIY projector can be.

----------------------

Anyway, just curious. Are your DIY projectors fixed focus or can you rotate the lens for focus adjustment as well as projected image size?

I don't remember if you have mentioned this before.