Reader [Jan] came across a website all about building your own video projector. We’ve linked to five of the best projects for 2010 but there’s a ton more information if you dig a little deeper. Our favorite so far is the GohtanBox v3 and it’s giant LED panel that serves as the projection light.
If you want to read some great ones in English go to lumenlab.com . There is a large forum, although it has died down somewhat with the economy…
I’ll second lumenlab, they have been one of the major homes for DIY projectors for a long time. I built one with a 15″ and later 17″ LCD many years ago. With the cost drops though, they are much cheaper and since then I have owned two non-DIY PJ’s.
Also the ones at Lumenlabs are often much more professional looking than the ones pictured above.
Sweet, foreign but a language I speak!
The one with the big LED panel does look the best by far, though those Osram bulbs are SEVERELY bright so you could probably get more power out of them.
Did it look like a big blue boat propeller he used for a fan in one of those to anyone else?
SP: its.
@googfan
I’ll have none of this comment numbering bullshit on my hackaday. Grow up.
Lumenlabs used to be all about diy then they sold one for a while but now theyre into cnc kits.
Intruiging (did I spell that right?). This would be a great place to put a microcontroller.
DIY projectors that use large 400 watt metal halide bulbs are great in winter because they warm up the room nicely, but in summer you feel like you’re in a sauna by the end of the movie…
Those 50watt & higher single package LED arrays look like the ideal solution to heat problems, unless you like watching movies in a sauna or you run some heat exhaust tubes out your window.
or you could by one off of ebay and replace the bulb
its, not it’s…
The apostrophe is used to denote the contaraction of “it is”. The possesive pronoun “its” does not require an apotrophe, although most other possesive pronouns do. Again, did I spell “intruiging” right? If not, ignore my first sentence. I still like Hack a Day and never miss a post. The comments are always interesting.
what i have been curious to see and if someone has a link that would be great is has anyone tried using cree’s for the light source for a projector yet? I would think an array of those little suckers might just do the trick.
I love the homemade LED beamers, great! :D
@Mike D – Sorry , it’s intriguing
They have recently moved to pay-for forums, but still a good place to buy your parts since Lumenlabs has stopped selling:
http://diyprojectorkits.com/
Especially their deal with Lifi (using plasma for a light source which is much more efficient than standard 400W metal halide. Cheaper in the long run but sticker shock doesn’t help.)
Total Initial Lumens – 18300
Efficient – 120 lumens/watt @ 250watts
Long Life – 30,000 hours
Color Rendering up to 95 CRI
Compact Emitting Area (1/4” x 1/4”)
Forward Directional Output
Dimmable to 20%
Rapid Start and Re-strike
Operates in All Orientations
With the cost of pico projectors, is is viable to build pico projectors?
Not only did I misspell (did I spell that right?) but I also incorrectly stated that possesive pronouns usually contain an apostrophe. You can “believe” me but don’t “trust” me. Sorry. Back to projectors. PS:nice projects.
so….
who plans to buy a pico projector(or hell, a eyeclops projector, they are ~50 on ebay) and stick a 30/50/100 watt led module in it?
hm…
how bout the ultimate useless device..
eyeclops NIGHT VISION SCOPE
with a built in projector
What in the world was it that googfan did that warranted the apparent removal of his comment? I see a complaint about googfan, but not a comment from him. While hacking may be a cost effective way of obtaining a product, but often it’s a hobby. As a hobby there are no hacks that aren’t viable or useless.
Hi all
If you just want to repair your old projector try this one
My fav is http://www.allinbox.com/pcdrose/pcdrose.htm
any way the reason for building well just for the heck of it
enjoy
Flying is the art of falling without hitting the ground
“it’s” means “it is”, I learned that in grade 3. Yes it does matter.
Luminlab doesn’t even sell the diy projector kits anymore….it’s a sad day….
Thank you hack-a-day for keeping this dream alive just alittle while longer.
LOL, I remember these heavy elephants from my DIY build from ages ago and mines was meant to be a small one! I also used the PS One screen. Boy the resolution was crap and it wasn’t economical due to having going through 3 LCD screens. The heat inside these are so intense and cooling as to be very good. However, too many cooling fans leaks out too much light. The problem with the PS One screen is you cannot collect all the light to the small screen. It’s just cheaper to repair or mod a used commercial projector thes days. Bulbs are available cheaply these days from http://www.lumenarc.co.uk so you don’t have to buy the whole lamp. LumenArc holds a lot of projector surplus such as reflectors and ballasts which maybe useful to commercial projector owners and compact DIY projector builders. Nevertheless, it’s all fun. I’ve still got my 250W NDL HQI-TS lamp and ballast kit from my DIY build growing dust.
I’m so glad I visited this link. Hey thanks for the link Gizzy. Didn’t think it was possible to buy just the bulb on it’s own. Placed my order for a 200W DC bulb. Delivery a bit slow but don’t care as long as I recieve it so I could revive my lovely HP VP6121.
diy audio forums have the most inclusive thread its closed now but the thread has over 2k posts and has collaborators from many countries
does it work like an LCD projector? If it does, then, that would be so cool!
Does anyone know where to get a kit like luminlab used to sell?
I have seen two absolutely brilliant examples of DIY Full HD (1920x1080p) projectors that were capable of throwing stunning 8ft x 4ft 6in (2440mm x 1363mm) images. The secret is in using modern lamps, the correct fresnel lenses and large aperture, well corrected projection lenses capable of covering the full LCD panel. These lenses are best recovered from epidiscopes or epidiascopes which have a large aperture and the coverage due to being used to project images reflected from non-transparent media, i.e. usually paper of A4 or slightly bigger format.
These lenses where produced by many past makers such as Aldis in the UK (18″ FL @ f1:4.5 or F1:4)
and Beseler in the US (450mm or 18″ again around F1:4). See also Leitz among others.
I have two Beselers that I purchased with the idea of building my own projectors but never used them because I just do not have the room to use such large projectors and find 42″ tv’s adequate.
These lenses are also suitable for lower power “richest field” telescopes using high quality, wide field, ex-military surplus eyepieces (Rank Precision Industries Fighting Vehicle sighting systems (Chieftain/Challenger Tanks)).
If anyone is interested these Beseler lenses are surplus to my requirements.
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why must all the good links be in another language…