

DIY 2880x1800 projector - WestCoastJustin
http://forum.allinbox.com/aspectgeek/Projetsencours/18/photon3k-projector-2880x1800-sujet_9774_1.htm

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WestCoastJustin
Make sure you check page #2 too [1]. More build pics, bulb encasing design,
cooling, and thermal images. These guys are pretty good marketers. I want to
attempt this, and I am not even in the market for a projector, I mean you
cannot get better than this for a DIY project [2, 3].

[1]
[http://forum.allinbox.com/aspectgeek/Projetsencours/18/photo...](http://forum.allinbox.com/aspectgeek/Projetsencours/18/photon3k-projector-2880x1800-sujet_9774_2.htm)

[2] [http://i.imgur.com/PoIY7aR.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/PoIY7aR.jpg)

[3] [http://i.imgur.com/SNvdzcr.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/SNvdzcr.jpg)

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Animats
LED off-road auto headlamps, brighter than on-road, are good enough and cheap
enough now that those are an illumination option. You can get a few thousand
lumens now for a hundred dollars or so. Halogens are a pain; they have a short
life, cooling problems, and generate IR which turns into heat at the LCD
panel, so you need fan airflow across the panel. This guy has been struggling
with halogen cooling and power problems. Halogens are on the way out. Even
stage lighting is going LED.

Projectors are getting better, cheaper, and brighter with LED lamps behind
them. Here's a 1000-lumen 1080p projector:
"[http://www.lg.com/us/projectors/lg-PF85U-portable-led-
projec...](http://www.lg.com/us/projectors/lg-PF85U-portable-led-projector").
It's still around $1200, but give it six months.

~~~
rasz_pl
leds dont really produce nice white, its mostly blue led + yellow phosphor
producing bumpy spectrum

~~~
ChuckMcM
As you point out, the color rendering index of the LED is a function of the
phosphors. There are now a number of 'white' LEDs which have better CRI than
projector bulbs. It really is only a matter of time before projector bulbs are
gone.

~~~
JoshTriplett
On a vaguely related note, any recommendations for white-light ( _not_
yellowish-light) LED bulbs for home use that compare favorably with a Reveal
incandescent bulb?

~~~
ChuckMcM
In spite of their marketing name they are just bluer lights (2850K versus
2700K for 'warm' and 3000K for 'warm white' so midway between those)

GE has some equivalent LED bulbs that they market under the 'Reveal' moniker
to indicate they have a 2850K color temperature. A quick search suggests that
Home Depot sells them in the US.

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snippyhollow
Wow that site still exists! :) I did one when I was 17 (I'm 28 now), I first
modelised everything in 1) an optics simulator 2) Solidworks, and then
assembled it with a wooden case:
[http://forum.allinbox.com/aspectgeek/Projetsencours/9/projec...](http://forum.allinbox.com/aspectgeek/Projetsencours/9/project-t800-snippy-
sujet_560_2.htm)

[http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-
pub-5733989050076975%3A...](http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-
pub-5733989050076975%3Alegjrsg9cj6&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=snippy&sa=Rechercher#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=snippy&gsc.page=1)

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amadeusw
This looks spectacular!

I didn't quite get how it works. Is it essentially an LCD panel with an
extreme backlight, and a lens to correctly display the picture?

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valverde
Yes. Much like many consumer projectors.

~~~
userbinator
Most of them are actually DLP these days, with LCD-based ones occupying the
majority of the ultra-low-end (XGA and below).

~~~
jdboyd
Even the ultra-low end are frequently DLP these days, just replacing the
powerful bulb with an under powered LED.

~~~
neindanke
> replacing the powerful bulb with an under powered LED.

I've also seen that Sony and Epson are selling laser illuminated projectors as
opposed to the more common LED/halogen/etc illuminated projectors. Apparently
for high luminosity, laser becomes more efficient and less prone to damage
than both LED, halogen, incandescent, argon/xenon etc.

But it disappoints me that these projectors just use the laser for
illumination. I'm waiting for when we have laser-on-DLP without filters type
projectors.

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frik
Make sure to add some fans, the LCD/TFT panel doesn't like the heat of a high-
power halogen/xenon lamp! OP uses several fans too, to cool down the air
around the xenon lamp:
[http://forum.allinbox.com/aspectgeek/Projetsencours/18/photo...](http://forum.allinbox.com/aspectgeek/Projetsencours/18/photon3k-projector-2880x1800-sujet_9774_2.htm)

A friend converted an overhead projector (and a 1080p LCD panel) into a DIY
projector, some years ago. His panel turned brown and broke because of too
high air temperature.

As even the OP has cooling issues - lesson learned: Better use LED with 1000+
Lumen instead of a halogen/xenon lamp.

~~~
Zeebrommer
It seems OP uses the arc lamp for its almost-point-source qualities. Halfway
down the first page he simulates a led source, it will create a less sharp
focal point.

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sebastianconcpt
This things are what makes me come and check Hacker News

Thanks for sharing

~~~
LeonM
If you like these kind of posts, you should definitely visit the Hack-A-Day
blog every now and then :)

~~~
alan_cx
Add Instructables.com to that.

In fact, I'd respectfully suggest that HN is not even slightly the best place
for this sort of thing.

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terrence_giggy
This brings up some good (and bad) memories from past hobbies. Back in the day
when 1080p was the new rage, I remember getting immersed in one of these DIY
projector projects. For anyone looking into it - this was the site to get
parts from:

[http://diyprojectorkits.com/store/](http://diyprojectorkits.com/store/)

They built a box 100 times better than I would hoped to have. Plus, I believe
I got my lenses from there as well.

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beloch
The videophile in me really wanted to see some test patterns. It's relatively
easy to get some nice, artificially colorful CG shots to look good in
screenshots, but comparatively hard to get uniform focus and illumination with
color fidelity that will make human faces look natural. Using such a large LCD
panel might make focus easier (and the cabinetry bigger), but I bet getting
the illumination anywhere close to uniform is a real PITA!

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stinos
The LCD he got for $200, is that actually the same as what's in the MacBook?
That's not really clear from the first paragraph..

~~~
rasz_pl
yes, but its not optimal, you can get LP129QE1-SPA1 for third of the price

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yehat
The point is what will drive it? There's a driving board for the 15" Mac
retina display.

~~~
rasz_pl
both screens use eDP, you can drive them with ordinary DisplayPort, all of
those those "driving boards" started with Polish Warsaw Hackerspace dude
(Emeryth) publishing his findings concerning ipad screen

[http://emerythacks.blogspot.com/2013/04/connecting-ipad-
reti...](http://emerythacks.blogspot.com/2013/04/connecting-ipad-retina-lcd-
to-pc.html)

