These are what i hope , with the help of the community, we can source

My View is the following specs would make for the perfect LCD:

17" - For SXGA res below
1280x1024 - For 720p
16ms response or less - For fast action gaming
400:1 Contrast Ratio or more - Better Image
Antiglare Rag Strippable - Better Whites
Letterbox or 1:1 center resolution -Negates use of n5-2 or n6 transcoder on 720p . This is a BIG feature most often overlooked. Some people do watch HDTV , and need this for ESPNHD (no OTA signal, so no go on ATI HDTuner).
Cost under 250-300$ -I enjoy the enthusiasm with the 15.4" 1080p crowd (and they do look great), but i dont want the cost of my PJ to approach a z3/z4/700u/900u as i will feel as though i will have wasted my money.


If anyone knows, or can help find something like this, we will all benefit.

Thanks

Westinghouse (1280 X 768) at bestbuy has all but the 720p. If you buy a PC/HDTV converter it would take care of the 720p My converter is theCP-251F.

isnt that scaler over 150$, and arnt those westinghouse's 1280x720p more square inches then a normal 17" LCD.

I would hardly call 720p perfect, but then again the only 1080p LCDs that will work are expensive, and you need to buy a controller for/

I think I got my scaler for around $130. It is the only one I could find that would change formats. I got my westinghouse for $180 (open box at Bestbuy). The antiglare layer removes easily with a 3 hour wait and a cloth wet with water.

As for the size, it is 17" with the 16:9 format. The best wat to see the difference between it and a normal 17" is to draw a 17" circle and put a 4:3 and 16:9 format boxes inside the circle.

I'd have said the 'ultimate' LCD would be the 1920x1080 15.4" widescreen that Minoten was selling along with the controller. Pricy, but worth it if you can afford it.

I would agree that the 1920x1080 resolution (WUXGA) surpasses SXGA because of a smaller "screen door" effect. In addition, the UXGA and WUXGA panels have the "true color" pallette employing 8-bit (vs 6-bit) panels. Specs often show this as 16.7mm colors and 16.2mm colors, respectively.

Does the higher resolution and color depth render that much better an image? All I have seen is in pictures and plogs and I have been very impressed. It stand to reason that the new ProLens setup may take full advantage of these higher resolutions. And perhaps, with the larger fresnels and triplet, a 17" UXGA or WUXGA panel may be slightly better than a 15.4" panel (if it's even possible to improve on 'excellent').

I think ive addressed all major complaints.

Im not paying more for an inferior product, i do enjoy building do not get me wrong, but im rational about expenditures. With the lenses, LCD+Controller, wood, and time i could have had a much better product (read: smaller, better focus, quieter, uniform+higher brightness). If 300$ bulbs are a deal breaker, i understand your point.

720p is the highest currently broadcast non interlaced HD spec, so unless you have had good luck with deinterlacers (which i havnt, i have a 24" widescreen dell in my house) you too would seek to avoid them. Its obviosly not the best , but its in the "reasonable savings" category of DIY projection.

The Minoten 15.4" is a 6 bit panel.

Anyway, there should be a panel to suit your needs. Try www.tigerdirect.com they sell a lot of monitors at pretty good prices. I don't really know how to test the letterboxing unless you buy an LCD TV. The downside of those is that most of the time the response time isn't that great, or it is a 6 bit panel.

Anyone come across any promising leads?

I just got my LL Pro lens and fresnels!!! Man, what I big heavy chunk of glass! So, now I'm wondering what LCD to design my box around. I'd like the box to be as small as possible, but with the specs I want it sounds like I'll have to use a 17" LCD. What would be a good one.. easy to strip, no ffc issue, high-resolution, good response time, good price, etc.?????

Anyone know if this LCD (15", 1280x768) has the ffc issue?...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16824138030

I would stay away from this panel. Its native resoltion is 1024x768. Which means the 1280 will likely look poor.

I was going to order the Samsung 740B, but then I read it's only 6-bit. Does anyone know of any 17" true-color (8-bit) LCD with no ffc issue?