Widescreen Projector, update: DEC 12 - 2006

Thx to all of you for your thoughts and ideas.

I'm actually going to need 2 different types of power symbols. The small cirkle ("rec") symbol is for the on/off and selecting video input on the TFT. But then I also need a power symbol for the larger 12mm button. This one will be the main on/off switch ,powering up the lamp,fans and TFT. On that main power switch I was thinking of using the one that kbates666 showed.

I hope its not to complex to create...

I'm afraid I will ruin the black painted plexi and I probably only have one chance to make it right so I dont want to screw the front of the plexi.. But.... it would be cool to have the symbols etched in the back of the plexi with some white or some other color led behind them, to make them show only when the power is on. I have to try this out. But I am afraid the symbols will look very blury as there is 3-4mm of frosted plexi infront of them. But we'll see.

The buttons can be fixed from rotating with a small amount of glue, as the in-out movement isn't probably more than 0,5mm

Hi.. well you could basically just buy a cheap overhead projector and use those parts and build it inside a box. But I recomend you replace the old lamp kit with a MH (metal halide) lamp kit. Most Overhead projectors use a halogen lamp with a burning time of around 100h and cost around 30-50$. The MH lamp I am using has a burning time of around 12 000h and cost 60$
Take a look at lumenlab.com and allinbox.com (french but there is alot of pics).

Now I'm of to experiment with my buttons

/GNU

 

what software did you design it in? If you don't mind do you think you could send me the designs you have in the format that you designed them in.

Thanks alot.

did you just get a LCD monitor and use an overhead for the parts and add in the good bulb

 

Oh..sorry forgot to answer that in your last post. I made them using 3D Studio Max. Yes i can send them to you if you have 3Dstudio max.

I use a small 7" LCD monitor and lenses and lampkit from exclusiv-online.com. But If you gonna use a larg 15" LCD monitor you need bigger optics that fit the size of the screen. And a 15" projector will obviously end up much larger than mine. You can buy the Lenses separatly from a DIY projector shop or you could use a overhead projector, because they contain the same type of lenses. Here you can see people who have used 15" monitors with a overhead projector.

/GNU

 

thanks I might sell my monitor and go for an even large 17" to get even better quality

 

No update yet...
There has been a lot "non.project" stuff to do lately. I have moved to a new town to start university studies, and unfortunately, the workshop is still at the old house. Its a 2 hour drive and I only have a few hours at the weekends to work with it. There is not much left to do , but a few hours on the weekends is simply not enough.

At the moment the whole projector is disassembled and the internal parts have been painted black. There is only some minor fabrication left of the top plate and some wiering to be done, before I can start putting it all together again. And with every piece I put inside there will be a new foto, so there will be a step by step series of photos that will hopefully make it a little bit easier to understand the whole structure.

take care..

/GNU

 

Good luck at UNI. First year is a bitch to get used to but once you do you will laugh at the workload. Remember alcohol and coffee are your friends.

 

thx for the tips... since i don't like coffe I think I might just stick with option #1

/GNU

 

Firstly,
Awesome work, your perseverance, and the way you strive for perfection is admirable.

Lastly,
What did you do about the buttons? I think the sandblasted look is very nice. looks very crafted and .. nice.
However, what about usage at night? you wont be able to see the logos on the buttons. Personally i dont like the really really bright leds some electronic equipment uses because its very distracting. So if you decide to somehow use leds in it in order to light up the logos, i'd suggest having them just bright enough to be visible, and not so bright that they are distracting.

Post-lastly,
wow, where do you have access to all this equipment? and sandblaster!?! wow.

FIRST POST

 

impressive work

the buttons looks like pro

 

Verry nice to get you first post muaddib. Actually, the way I strive for perfection is a bit anoying. Because it takes too long to finish the fabrication of the parts. But I guess it pays of in the end when it's all finished.
The buttons will be sandblasted but I havent done that yet. Actually..I think it will be possible to see the buttons in the dark because it won't be pitch black when the projector is turned on. The only leds I will use are 2 power leds. (mainpower and tftpower) They will be blue and red, but not very bright.

hm...all this equipment I have used is nothing but cheap stuff you can buy att your local hardware shop. These are the main parts.
mini-drillpress 80$
aircompressor 110$
sandblaster ad-on 40$
dremel 100$

Combine these tools with your hands and brain and you can do a lot.

/GNU

 

Okay.. time for a new update. Been a while since the last one but I don't have much time to work on this project at the moment as I have moved to a new town to sudy. But on the weekends I usually take a trip home to work on it, and this is the work so far. I took some more pictures this week but I forgot the memorystick with all the pics . But I guess this will be enough for so long.

This is how the buttons turned out. The power button has not been mounted on the picture yet, but it is fabricated. The original "power" (1/0) symbol was to hard to do. I tried different symbols but the non of them loocked any good. So the power button will be totaly clean without any symbol. Also the "menu" symbol was changed to a ( - ) sign.
(tft power / left / right / menu)

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Blury shoot but you get a felleing of how the symbols look

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The whole projector is dissasembled because it needs to be painted black.
You might wonder why I didn't do that at the early beginning..well I started this project almost 2 years ago and didn't want to start messing with the paint until all parts were fabricated.

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the side mounted L-profiles that will help support the whole case structure

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Excuse the huge amount of masking tape...but the front is somewhere underneath. I promisse


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This is the front surface mirror. If you don't know what a front surface mirror is. Take a look at the pictures below.

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This is a normal mirror, it has the reflecting mirror surface on the backside of the glass. This creates multiple "ghost" images because the light also reflects on the surface of the glass.

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The front surface mirror have the reflecting surface on the front an therefore there is no glass infront to reflect "ghost" images. This is the same type of mirror that's used in OH-projectors. Fron surface mirrors are also very sensitive for scrathes...I tried to clean mine with one of those ultra soft cleaning towels for glasses. But even that created very small scrathes.

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Time to create some order in the Lamp ballast cabling

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The smaller white square thingy behind the mirror is the ignitor for the lamp

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TFT holder is painted black. And Fresnel lenses installed. The black thing to the left will act as an airblock to prevent the air from the fan to escape away from the TFT display.

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TFT and 80mm lamp fan added

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The button electronics needed a makower to fit my design. I don't think I need to say witch one is the "new". The black little thing in the middle is the IR-sensor with holder.

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my soldering pen isn't the best, but atleast it works.

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The triplet lens spacers are painted black on the inside and top to prevent light from escaping. If I hade painted them black on the ouside the paint would probably have pealed of when zooming because its a very tight fit against the hole in the front.

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Thats it for today. Will make a trip home this weekend to finish the projector. And will probably have some result pics next week. If everything works as it is suposed to...I seriously hope I havent damaged the TFT or any other expensive stuff without knowing it.
Well will see.

/GNU

 

Looking amazing. I really hope this works out in the end

 

This is turning out great. Excellent workmanship.

 

Wow! How jealous am I!! Beautiful work, I salut you

 

I have been working on finishing the projector this weekend. Been working all days long only stopping for food and sleep. Today I was actually running back and forth between the projector and the workshop with parts, because me and the projector had a train to catch. I was afraid it wouldnt make the trip in one piece but it looks like it maid it. Will fire it upp tomorrow and post the finishing pics.


But to be honest I have already tested it, I just had to try it out yesterday once all the wiering was done. And I actually got a cap of it.....
Here it is, a quick little TEASER

/GNU


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OH MY GOD.....

I cant wait for the next update.

 

Thats very nice work there, you should be proud, you even made it onto the Mods page. Well done..

Jimob

 

Very nice work indeeeeed! Ive been wanting to do this for so long, but was put off by how messy it might look, you have proved that it can look amazing! Some of the cleanest looking work ive seen on Bit-Tech.. very nice and carry on with the great work

 

how good is the lamp really?

If the lamp you are using is brighter, cheaper, and lasts so 3 times longer, what are the downsides? Also, if these lamps are so great why aren't projector manufacturers using them?

 

WOW now that is pure brilliance

been following this from the start and i have to say it is one of the most inspiring mods on this site, well done!