DIY 1080p LCD monitor HD Projector: Come on you know you want to do it Patrick!

[primeone]

With summer coming up I will have loads more time. One project I have been putting on my back burner for a long time is making a home made DIY LCD monitor based 1080p Projector for movies and computer screen.

Here are links for examples ....

http://www.diyprojectorkits.com/welcome/

http://www.lumenlab.com/diy

Engadget has a 7 part how to on how to do this too that is from 2006 so prices have changed for the cheaper.

DIY 1080p Projector Part 1 (http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/17/how-to-build-your-own-hd-projector-part-1/)
DIY 1080p Projector Part 2 (http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/30/how-to-build-your-own-hd-projector-part-2/)
DIY 1080p Projector Part 3 (http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/01/how-to-build-your-own-hd-projector-part-3/)
DIY 1080p Projector Part 4 (http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/13/how-to-build-your-own-hd-projector-part-4/)
DIY 1080p Projector Part 5 (http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/21/how-to-build-your-own-hd-projector-part-5/)
DIY 1080p Projector Part 6 (http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/06/how-to-build-your-own-hd-projector-part-6/)
DIY 1080p Projector Part 7 (http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/13/how-to-hd-projector-wrap-up-and-review-aka-part-7/)

Engadget's Part list back in 2006 for brand new parts cost them only $748.

The lamp in this one costs 50 dollars to replace and lasts 10,000 hours unlike most consumer projectors who's lamps cost 350 dollar and last 3000 hours.

You would have a screen with a much better image quality, resolution, and with just as many inputs as a HDTV depending on the LCD monitor you choose. You could easily extended the cables too with cat 6 cable. I have actually used cat 6 to make VGA, RCA, and Component extension cable up to 50 feet with no lose in the signal quality since cat 6 is extra twisted and has EM shielding.

For Pete sakes even i could make the back light out an array of white LEDs on a breadboard which would be super easy to slide in and out if any single one of the LEDS would need to be replaced. Kinda like sliding in an out a Honey Bee honey comb in a bee keeps box. All you would need is a simple frosted Defuser to mux the light of all the LEDS into one bright source.

for the VGA and Component/RCA extension cables i just point to this ...

VGA to Cat 5e (http://www.elephantstaircase.com/wiki/index.php?title=VGAtoRJ45conversion)

RCA to cat 5e (http://www.elephantstaircase.com/wiki/index.php?title=RCA_toCAT5conversion)

[scienceking]

The contrast ratio, color quality, and black levels on these DIY projectors always come out horrifyingly bad. Basically, without getting to much into the nerd stuff behind it, you cannot use a large panel or a panel with domains like these higher res panels to use such a lamp effectively. Sure its fun for the geek-factor, but you are always better off getting a projector that actually pumps out a decent, if lower resolution, image. Also, at my school(an engineering school), kids make these all the time and about 1 in 4 seem to die in an incident that involves fire, so look out for that too.

[primeone]

and episodes about versalazars or silly string shooters are oh so much more elegant. I have seen my friend who made one and he has RF remote setup to control the colors brightness and contrast. It looks beautiful to me and they even have of compensating and setting in software how to get the proper black correction via the software settings for the video card on mac, windows, and linux.

[thezach]

and episodes about versalazars or silly string shooters are oh so much more elegant. I have seen my friend who made one and he has RF remote setup to control the colors brightness and contrast. It looks beautiful to me and they even have of compensating and setting in software how to get the proper black correction via the software settings for the video card on mac, windows, and linux.

You must be blind or stupid, maybe a combination of both. Whats the point of a DIY project if it looks like crap. Yes high resolution projects cost money, but I would rather pay to show quality rather then brag about some hunk of junk that looks awful and catches on fire frequently.

[melta]

You must be blind or stupid

Or maybe your a douche!

There is diffrent way's of seeing things, although I don't respect your way of expressing it, I respect the opinion that you don't want to build something that isnt as good as the real thing.

DIY is for many a way of getting something very close to something they can't afford, but more than that is to enjoy the project itself, while you are building it.

I love this idea, and I wouldn't compare it to the "real" thing. I think that's missing the point.

This project might not result in a great projector to your standards, but it's light years in cash spent for a good projector from a store. Some of us actually enjoy the process of making something, to use parts of things other people throw away because they where broken etc.

[primeone]

You must be blind or stupid, maybe a combination of both. Whats the point of a DIY project if it looks like crap. Yes high resolution projects cost money, but I would rather pay to show quality rather then brag about some hunk of junk that looks awful and catches on fire frequently.

And maybe your a flipping dick who doesn't have a clue about the basic components of modern Projectors and how they work. Most of the projectors cost under 300 dollars for the materials and man labor hours. Unless they are using the triple LCoS systems those can be more. Making one your self proves to be on par with the 10,000 dollar projectors you seem to cherish buying your self so much. And as long as your screen your projecting on has sufficient ability in reflecting back the received lumens your image will look stunning. I know I have seen a few that were better than the 2000 dollar end home consumer projectors.

[brakk]

I think a DIY projector is a great show idea!

I have a couple of 17" LCDs with burnt out back lights that I've been saving for that very reason.

And, TheZach, maybe Systm is the wrong show for you.

[beezn]

if it works reasonably well and you build it yourself - even with the risk of catching stuff on fire, it feels a whole hell of a lot better to build it your self than to just buy something and plug it in.

[leftler]

I vote for this project. im reading the atached links and it looks fun.

[haku]

I built a projector from the basic lumenlab designs a few years ago, it was a fun project but because I rushed it and didn't have access to good enough tools to make sure everything was perfectly measured down to the mm it meant the picture wasn't 100% in focus over the entire picture.

Now I have access to good tools and someone who could help on the more tricky side of getting things perfectly accurate I'd like to re-do it all but with a widescreen TFT.

The best designs are the folded ones involving a mirror (or two) because they're physically smaller, the one I built looks like a small coffin because of the size (it has to incorporate a 15" TFT screen), vertically standing ones don't take up so much room and are often asthetically better.


If you build one then when you get to the stage where you can switch the light+TFT on and the optics are in place, you get that "cor, I did that? yeah, I did that!" moment when an image is projected across the room onto your wall (or screen if you've bought/made one). It's a wonderful moment.

[primeone]

looks like the Revision 3 crew finally got my subtle hints for a new project :D