Show off your Projector setup.

N

neokeelo

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Sep 9, 2002
Messages
1,649
I have not seen a thread for just projectors so let's use this one. I am looking for setup ideas for the one I am getting in a few months.

Please list the Projector Make and model. Specify LCD, DLP, or CRT if it is not obvious.

Let's see those screens! :)
 
I only have a shitty picture of mine. I'll post it with specs later this afternoon.
 
I made a projector from a 250W metal Halide lamp, an OHP and a 15" XGA LCD.
Its wonderful and gives almost a 3 metre picture.
The projection screen used matters a lot, I'm now on a glass beaded one as it isnt bright enough at this size with other types I have tried.

If you want to see more, check out the thread on its progress.
It changed a lot since the start so be sure to check out the end results.
The thread hasnt seen any action for about 3 weeks as I havent felt very well and am having a break.
http://www.aoaforums.com/forum/grap...er-peripherals/28248-home-made-projector.html
 
This was from years ago... Man those were the days.

quake_thumb.jpg
 
prolightoff.jpg

q42.jpg

q4.jpg

themachine.jpg




heres mine its lcd. benq pb7110 about 89 inches "wish my room was bigger"
 
My setup is pretty small and simple since I'm in an apartment.

SpeakerShot.jpg


Panasonic PT-AE900
Oppo OPDV971H
Logitech Z5500

Projector.jpg


96" Carada Brilliant White Screen

Screen.jpg


And a couple of shots of The Fifth Element (Superbit) and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

5thElement1.jpg

5thElement2.jpg

Tiger.jpg
 
Very nice. I am in an apartment also so it is going to be tricky implementing one.
I want to get a screen about 87 inchs.
 
Fifth Element pictures are paused, CTHD is playing. Canon Powershot SD450 and a bit of luck cause I suck at taking pictures.
 
mine is even simpliest than yours as I'm in my bedroom (Still live with my parent, only 19years old give me a break :eek: ) Though I'm thinking moving into the half-basement to take the whole space for myself and maybe buy a sofa or two.

Sorry I don't have a camera yet, but I'll post pics as soon as get my hands on one!

Epson 76C 1024 native LCD
60' x 60' screen (it's the only one that was able to fit where I wanted to place it)
Z-5500

It does the job pretty well and I spent my entire summer re-watching all 24 / stargate seasons on this with about an hundred movies and a lot of stuff I can't even remember :D (Didn't even had time to play at all !!!)
 
The only thing that makes me not want to get a projector is the lamp replacement cost.
 
Well I first though it was very epensive too, but it is around 375$CDN shipped (mine).

Consider this:
my lamp has 3,000 hours. If watch one movie each day for a year (let's say 2h/movie I'm generous)
2 hours x 365 days/year = 730 hours / 3,000 of lamp life per year
Wich is more than 4 years of use wich will cost you less than 75$US / year

Ok let's say you wanna play on it and you're a serious gamer and that you play games 4hours / days 28h / weeks x 52 weeks / year = 1460 hours / 3,000 of lamp life per year
So you can hold 2 entire year wich will cost you less than 150$US/year to game on a 75" or more screen, isn't it amazing ?

the beauty in all this is that you won't need the latest GPU in SLI in order to play your game in 2560 res :cool:
 
The one I am looking at is the Sanyo Z1 for $499 New. Its lamp life is not that long. Some people have clamed it goes out after a few hundred hours. Thats what I am worried about. The normal life of the bulb is around 1400 hours I think and they are around $300 each.
 
The home made projector uses bulbs which last between 6,000 and 20,000 hours.
The best bit is they only cost around UK £30. I think you have them cheaper in the US.

Assuming a total power consumption of 350W for the bulb, transformer, fans and the LCD, the running cost is
£0.67 per day ($1.25 approx), running for 16 hours a day.

The bulb type I use is an HQI-TS 250W/D - colour temp of 5100K, CRI>90. 20,000 lumens
33 Euros from here
http://www.firstlight.nl/index.html?lang=nl&target=d277.html

My first bulb was a 6,000 hour and was used on average around 18 hours per day.
It lasted 1.3 years and was still working but a little dimmer than I would like which is why it was replaced.
 
Chernobyl1 said:
My first bulb was a 6,000 hour and was used on average around 18 hours per day.
It lasted 1.3 years and was still working but a little dimmer than I would like which is why it was replaced.
Click to expand...
18hrs a day??? u just leave it on or somthing? wow.
 
hehe yeah, I fall asleep while watching films/telly a lot.
Its quite often on for days at a time.
Its so cheap to run I dont care :)
 
Yeha it's dam complicated to create and the initial LCD panel is also pretty expensive + box, mirors, fans, etc...

it takes places too. Big investment for a quality not as good as commercial one. Maybe when I'll have more money I could try building a DIY projector but i never build anything of my own hands so I'm a little afraid it just wouldn't work after so many investment :rolleyes: . Will stick with the DIY computer for now :).

And do you have any useful link to DIY projector ? :D (Could help someone else)
 
po134 said:
Well I first though it was very epensive too, but it is around 375$CDN shipped (mine).

Consider this:
my lamp has 3,000 hours. If watch one movie each day for a year (let's say 2h/movie I'm generous)
2 hours x 365 days/year = 730 hours / 3,000 of lamp life per year
Wich is more than 4 years of use wich will cost you less than 75$US / year

Ok let's say you wanna play on it and you're a serious gamer and that you play games 4hours / days 28h / weeks x 52 weeks / year = 1460 hours / 3,000 of lamp life per year
So you can hold 2 entire year wich will cost you less than 150$US/year to game on a 75" or more screen, isn't it amazing ?

the beauty in all this is that you won't need the latest GPU in SLI in order to play your game in 2560 res :cool:
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean by "2560 res" but you will need the latest GPU to play at that resolution no matter what display you are using. The screen size doesn't matter. My projector's native resolution is 1280 X 720 so that will not need the latest. Neither will your XGA projector. And FWIW, 2560 resolution projectors do not exist in the normal market. 1920 X 1080 and 1600 X 1200 are about the highest you find in widescreen and standard, respectively. My lamp life is also 3000 hours but realize that they will get dimmer over time before they burn out. That is not always acceptable with more than average ambient light.


Chernobyl1 said:
The home made projector uses bulbs which last between 6,000 and 20,000 hours.
The best bit is they only cost around UK £30. I think you have them cheaper in the US.

Assuming a total power consumption of 350W for the bulb, transformer, fans and the LCD, the running cost is
£0.67 per day ($1.25 approx), running for 16 hours a day.

The bulb type I use is an HQI-TS 250W/D - colour temp of 5100K, CRI>90. 20,000 lumens
33 Euros from here
http://www.firstlight.nl/index.html?lang=nl&target=d277.html

My first bulb was a 6,000 hour and was used on average around 18 hours per day.
It lasted 1.3 years and was still working but a little dimmer than I would like which is why it was replaced.
Click to expand...

I made a homemade projector for engineering day at the University a couple of years ago. Fun experiment but certainly not practical for an apartment, lol. LED projectors (Samsung, for one) are on the horizon though so lamp replacement cost will become a non-issue.
 
po134 said:
mine is even simpliest than yours as I'm in my bedroom (Still live with my parent, only 19years old give me a break :eek: ) Though I'm thinking moving into the half-basement to take the whole space for myself and maybe buy a sofa or two.

Sorry I don't have a camera yet, but I'll post pics as soon as get my hands on one!

Epson 76C 1024 native LCD
60' x 60' screen (it's the only one that was able to fit where I wanted to place it)
Z-5500

It does the job pretty well and I spent my entire summer re-watching all 24 / stargate seasons on this with about an hundred movies and a lot of stuff I can't even remember :D (Didn't even had time to play at all !!!)
Click to expand...


You mean 60" x 60" right not 60 feet by 60 feet lol?
 
po134 said:
Yeha it's dam complicated to create and the initial LCD panel is also pretty expensive + box, mirors, fans, etc...

it takes places too. Big investment for a quality not as good as commercial one. Maybe when I'll have more money I could try building a DIY projector but i never build anything of my own hands so I'm a little afraid it just wouldn't work after so many investment :rolleyes: . Will stick with the DIY computer for now :).

And do you have any useful link to DIY projector ? :D (Could help someone else)
Click to expand...

If you want to make one from an OHP you can follow the progress of my project.
Other people joined in and I helped them build their own as much as they helped me build mine.
http://www.aoaforums.com/forum/grap...er-peripherals/28248-home-made-projector.html

You can see the pitfalls and where you need to choose parts wisely.
It is a big read and isnt a tutorial of any form, simply my experiences as it progressed which show what problems occured and how they were solved.
The whole project is a prototype for the next projector I am going to build so it doesnt look professional.
To be honest, I really like the raw look of it as its something that can be seen working when friends and visitors come round.

A lot of changes and sub topics were at least partially covered throughout the project, in no particular order:
Choosing a good LCD
Disassembling the LCD
How to kill your LCD
How not to kill your LCD
Modifying the OHP to get a bigger picture
Choosing a new light source
Changing the light source to the cheap Metal Halide
Improving brightness in the corners
Splitting one of the plastic lenses (fresnel lense) to improve brightness and picture clarity
Cooling and how to deal with Heat and Ultra Violet light
The different lenses and what they do
How to perform Keystone correction non digitally
Projection distance
Software to help shrink the screen and improve the projected image
Different types of screen - this can make a big difference
....

And lots of pictures, of mine and everyone else progress.

As it isnt an easy read, so before Christmas I plan on making a guide to building a cheap and useable projector.
I'm researching the parts needed to make a 1080p projector as cheaply as possible and hope to have the new HD Projector finished by Christmas too.

ps
we all loved Fearless Joe, honest :D
 
You have to be careful when buying any projector. Lot's of them list as 'HD-Ready' when they are in reality only SVGA (800x600) res capable, which is less than HD resolution, they just have the circuits to downscale an HD signal to the projectors native resolution, and for widescreen content you are getting even less than 600 lines horizontal. It is better than standard TV, but it isn't true HD.

Native HD projectors are a lot more, and most are still 4:3 for some reason. I might seriously consider one when I can find one that does at least 720p native in widescreen and when I get a place where the living room is decently light controlled (my current apartment has a huge window and sliding doors to the balcony in the living room, and while they both have blinds, it would still be too much light leakage to do a front projection system).
 
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