DIY projector project in the works

[quakefiend420]

i would like to build my own hi-def lcd projector, but i need the right lcd to start with

i'm trying to fit this in as small of a space as possible, so the smaller the screensize, the better

basically what i need is an lcd capable of at least 720p, widescreen preferred, with component, composite, and svideo inputs

i've considered trying to use an actual lcd tv, but to get the resolution i want the panel is going to be rather large

anyone know of anything that will fit the bill?

 

[quakefiend420]

bump

 

[dartworth]

link to said project?

 

[thescreensavers]

is this what you want to do??

 

[JMWarren]

Probably a 1280x800 LCD from a 12.1" Laptop is going to be your best bet. How your going to drive it is the questing as most have a large amount of integration with the system board from the laptop.

 

[quakefiend420]

Originally posted by: thescreensavers
is this what you want to do??

pretty much, although i think i'm going to alter the design a bit

 

[quakefiend420]

Originally posted by: JMWarren
Probably a 1280x800 LCD from a 12.1" Laptop is going to be your best bet. How your going to drive it is the questing as most have a large amount of integration with the system board from the laptop.

i had a laptop screen sitting around here, and thought about using it for this, but that was the same problem, it ended up being beyond my capabilities to drive it

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Are you sure you don't just want to buy a real one?

 

[quakefiend420]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Are you sure you don't just want to buy a real one?

well...if i can find a real one that will do 720p with good brightness/contrast for 500-600 bucks or so...sure

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: quakefiend420

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Are you sure you don't just want to buy a real one?

well...if i can find a real one that will do 720p with good brightness/contrast for 500-600 bucks or so...sure

You can do a good ED DLP and screen for that much, but yeah 720p is going to cost a bit more.

 

[quakefiend420]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: quakefiend420

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Are you sure you don't just want to buy a real one?

well...if i can find a real one that will do 720p with good brightness/contrast for 500-600 bucks or so...sure

You can do a good ED DLP and screen for that much, but yeah 720p is going to cost a bit more.

well......what do you recommend?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: quakefiend420

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: quakefiend420

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Are you sure you don't just want to buy a real one?

well...if i can find a real one that will do 720p with good brightness/contrast for 500-600 bucks or so...sure

You can do a good ED DLP and screen for that much, but yeah 720p is going to cost a bit more.

well......what do you recommend?

If you're into projects, then by all means try the DIY route, but the LCD screen on top of an overhead projector doesn't seem like a very good solution to me. Something more like the lumenlabs design seems like the better idea.

What's your source material going to be?

If an ED projector will do, woot.com just had the IN72 + 92" screen for $400 AR last week.

Infocus still has it on their site for $599 AR.
http://store.infocus.com/escalate/store...er&pls5catname=Projectors-Home+Theater

Something along those lines would be my first instinct on this budget. Optoma H31 or the older Infocus 4805 would be other options in this pricerange.

To get up to 720p, The Optoma HD70 is a hot one and right around $1k. Mitsubishi HD1000U is right around $900. Both of these are for the projector only.

 

[quakefiend420]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: quakefiend420

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: quakefiend420

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Are you sure you don't just want to buy a real one?

well...if i can find a real one that will do 720p with good brightness/contrast for 500-600 bucks or so...sure

You can do a good ED DLP and screen for that much, but yeah 720p is going to cost a bit more.

well......what do you recommend?

If you're into projects, then by all means try the DIY route, but the LCD screen on top of an overhead projector doesn't seem like a very good solution to me. Something more like the lumenlabs design seems like the better idea.

What's your source material going to be?

If an ED projector will do, woot.com just had the IN72 + 92" screen for $400 AR last week.

Infocus still has it on their site for $599 AR.
http://store.infocus.com/escalate/store...er&pls5catname=Projectors-Home+Theater

Something along those lines would be my first instinct on this budget. Optoma H31 or the older Infocus 4805 would be other options in this pricerange.

To get up to 720p, The Optoma HD70 is a hot one and right around $1k. Mitsubishi HD1000U is right around $900. Both of these are for the projector only.

this will mostly be used for movies, maybe a bit of television and gaming every great once and a while

i'm just thinking with this large of a screen size, the jump from 480p to 720 is probably going to be substantial..i want to make sure the image looks great, and i'm afraid a 480p image is going to appear a bit pixelated at that size

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: quakefiend420

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: quakefiend420

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: quakefiend420

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Are you sure you don't just want to buy a real one?

well...if i can find a real one that will do 720p with good brightness/contrast for 500-600 bucks or so...sure

You can do a good ED DLP and screen for that much, but yeah 720p is going to cost a bit more.

well......what do you recommend?

If you're into projects, then by all means try the DIY route, but the LCD screen on top of an overhead projector doesn't seem like a very good solution to me. Something more like the lumenlabs design seems like the better idea.

What's your source material going to be?

If an ED projector will do, woot.com just had the IN72 + 92" screen for $400 AR last week.

Infocus still has it on their site for $599 AR.
http://store.infocus.com/escalate/store...er&pls5catname=Projectors-Home+Theater

Something along those lines would be my first instinct on this budget. Optoma H31 or the older Infocus 4805 would be other options in this pricerange.

To get up to 720p, The Optoma HD70 is a hot one and right around $1k. Mitsubishi HD1000U is right around $900. Both of these are for the projector only.

this will mostly be used for movies, maybe a bit of television and gaming every great once and a while

i'm just thinking with this large of a screen size, the jump from 480p to 720 is probably going to be substantial..i want to make sure the image looks great, and i'm afraid a 480p image is going to appear a bit pixelated at that size

If your sources are going to be HD, then that would probably be a good idea. Going from a 480p to a 720p projector with DVDs (480i) being my main source, the difference in pixelation was not very great from one to the other. There were some significant advantages going to the new projector, but as far as pixelation goes, DLP and LCDs with "smoothscreen" or other similar technologies are quite good at having very little gap between actual pixels (as in screen door effect).

I have not seen a DIY overhead projector in person, but I suspect that pixelation might not be your biggest concern with image quality from a setup like that.

Getting even brightness over the whole screen, getting good color reproduction, getting good contrast and black levels, light bleeding into the room from the overhead projector, etc. seem like issues that would get irritating.

 

[zainali]

www.lumenlab.com

you can build a 1080p using some panels but its going to cost around $1000.

also check out engadget. they build a projector for around $1000