   Digital Projector Results (Post your results/progress/etc)
  Hey guys, I couldn't resist starting a new thread for this, but I think it might work out better. It took forever but the digital projector is finally built (and hasn't broken yet ). I put together a webpage with the results here: http://www.particlefield.com/html/projector.html Beware though, there's ~9MB of pics on there caus I went a little crazy with the camera. Cheers,--Ben[edited by - atreyu on June 30, 2003 10:20:15 AM]
  That rocks  You might want to find a better sceen though - just paint an entire wall white or something, no-one will mind ;  The best part is how high your resolution is.   ;  I''m really glad I went with the VG150 instead of buying that prefab panel that was manufactured for OHP''s in the late 90''s. Thanks for all the help guys. A lot of the stuff we discussed helped narrow the choices down. I was actually pretty close to buying that prefab model until you guys mentioned the contrast ratio and refresh rate being so bad. The actual flat panel monitors have much better specs, and you can really notice the difference. Plus like you said, the 1024x768 res is really nice.;  wow! that's sweet. If I had an extra $500, thats where I'd put it. er wait, no, I'd save up for this but heh, whatever.Some suggestions for a better screen:Build a wood frame or something and staple a shower curtian to it. Shower curtians make good screens.EDIT: progress on.. er.. mine:Currently, I've got a small LCD panel from an old laptop. I have no idea how to interface this with anything and I may have damaged it while connecting a 9v battery to random leads and solder lugs.[edited by - Xtremehobo on June 30, 2003 1:03:20 PM];  wow! that’s really neat man  its really an achievement that you could assemble something so cool like this.. I wish I had the time and energy to build one myself. ;  Thanks guys. I appreciate all the good comments. Xtremehobo:Good luck with that one. The LCD you have actually looks pretty good. The VG150 I had didn't have any frame like that and if I had stood it up I think the PCB board along the bottom would have popped right off. If you can find a driver board you should be in good shape (hopefully). The nice thing with the VG150 is I had all the electronics I needed already, so I just had to find a way to mount it w/o breaking anything. If you could find that same monitor on ebay (cheap with a busted LCD or something) then you could probly just take the driver board out and hook it up.   Oops, I didn't catch the "from an old laptop" part. Any chance that same LCD is used in a flat panel monitor so you could find the driver board info?  [edited by - atreyu on June 30, 2003 1:18:05 PM];  Hiya,Did u have any trouble getting the lcd out of the case? I am thinking of doing the same thing but i''ve heard that some people have broken some of the cables taking it out as they are quite fragile and don''t bend well...Thanx- David ;quote:Original post by DangerousDave  Hiya,Did u have any trouble getting the lcd out of the case? I am thinking of doing the same thing but i''ve heard that some people have broken some of the cables taking it out as they are quite fragile and don''t bend well...The VG150 was so-so. As long as you''re careful and work slowly you should be fine. You just have to pay attention to where everything is connected and try not to stress the components too much. Also, the biggest cable disconnects easily from the PCB board it''s attached to so that makes life a bit easier. It was kind of scary though considering one little slip would cost $250;  Hey,I also just recently finsished making mine.  No pics yet...I don''t have a camera.  I used an NEC 1545 monitor.. 1024*768 max res , 15", something like 350:1 contrast ratio...  I used a 250w Metal Hallide, HQI lamp.. VERY bright....  Split fresnels.Atreyu, I noticed that your fresnel wasn''t split.  You might or might not be happy to find out that you can get a much better picture by splitting the fresnel in half and putting on below and one above the LCD.  this way the light entering the LCD is parallel..  There is also no bright spot in the middle as found in most non-split fresnel setups.  I am working on improving the light shroud so my room is even darker while this 45,000 lumen lamp is on.... Also, it seems some of my optics are off a little bit... I think that my lower fresnels isn''t in the exactly correct height from the bulb...I have found that my biggest problem is that my picture is too big.  It takes up my wall plus a little bit of the cieling/other walls/floor.  I wish there as a good way to implement a zoom lens. or maybe I should just get a new projection lens...well enough rambling, I''ll hopefully get back tonight ro tommarow with some pics...oh, BTW, the screen I am using is one of my white walls.Dwiel   