Some photos of my recently finished PJ. I began working on this a while ago. I have been playing around with the design and I was shooting for something that was not a box. I needed something that could be left in the living room without the wife saying it was ugly.
I finally settled on this:



The wooden sections are component holders and the black sections are actually basic metal covered in black velvet. Its tough to get the details with it. Black velvet just sucks up light. The insides are lined with it too.

and a Shot from the side...



This is a shot of the PJ during the build. Its easier to see the shape before its covered with black velvet...



This is a shot of our famous Leeloo being projected onto a 9x12 screen, with me as a height reference. I am 6 feet tall...



and another...



Overall I am thrilled with the success of the projector. Its amazing to me that we can do this. I can whole heartedly say that this has been one of the best projects that I have done. There is just nothing like the thrill of putting a big picture on the wall that is cleaner than TV and knowing that you built it yourself.

The measurements for the screen I am using is actually 9 feet x 12 feet. Watching a 4:3 movie gives me 180 inches diagonal and watching a 16:9 movie gives me around 156. The picture is good and the wife really likes the design of the PJ. Surprisingly it uses less wood than most PJ's and it weighs less than 30 pounds. The only difficult cuts in the rig are the circles for the inserts and those could be straightened out very easily.
Right now the PJ has about 125 hours on it and its doing very well. Its very quiet and the kids think its the coolest thing since sliced bread. My daughter wants to cancel her birthday party at the local movie theater and have a slumber party instead..with a movie of course!

SamuraiJack

Nice Job. I just finished your plog Wenesday. Lengthy,informative, and funny all at the same time

Beautiful results and nice design

Well, I'm glad YOU finished IT because IT finished ME! Good lord...soooo...many..pagessss......so many words...so much eyestrain and sleep deprivation. I'm surprised I still have the desire to come back and read more. Seriously though, SJ you have an extremely great talent for this stuff. I can only hope my PJ turns out to be half as good as this one. Nice job, Samurai!

Thanks! I was looking to give a feel for the project through the whole thing. I got kinda tired of the "Im starting...BAM!...Im done!" Plus I feel it helps to have a few pictures to reference at work...

Here's a little shot of Sharon Stone...
Camera is 15.5 feet from the screen. PJ is 12 feet from lens to screen. Night mode. No flash. I wish my camera could do my pj justice...



This is a film transfer so it looks a little grainy, but sometimes thats not a bad thing. "Predator" looks pretty funky though...

That box is just sooooooooo pretty. Can you say projector envy?

Thank You Durachko!
The wife acceptance factor of this PJ is amazing! ( its been on the coffee table for 2 weeks now and all she does is shoo the kids way from it!)

If I had this to do over again, I would have used saphire blue on the outside, but still...I really do love this design. I hope you all do too!

SamuraiJack

PS. Seriously guys, this is not that difficult once someone has figured the pattern out ( that would most likely be me...)

I think this one will be for the record books as a design people will want to duplicate, looks kinda simple when finished (but the design was the hard part), Any pictures from all agles when projector is on?

Joe

wow..the cost of a birthday party for your daughter at the movie theater probably already paid for the projector . This is fantastic...i'd love to see the diagrams of this beauty..so 15" lcd with standard lens and triplet i assume....

Thanks Greymalkin!
Yes its a standard 15 setup from LL. No odd fresnels or anything.
The birthday thing is something our theaters do. Its not too expensive. Its a matinee /full snack and then a cake afterwards. Saves the parents the trouble of cleaning the house...

joe2000chevy:

Thank you for the compliment. Your designs have always earned much respect. I will try to get some photos of the rig from a few different angles.

SJ

The difficult part for me is getting enough time away from the wife and son PLUS getting enough sack time to function at work and still make projector progress!

That you have done this AMAZES me! You da man!

I actually got to lay out my fresnel frames last night. WOW!! . . . errrr . . . I guess.

So how about some more shots of the unit in action?

As per your request joe2000chevy...
I did a little photo shoot this PM...

Time for "Serenity" to "Show you Love, Baby!"

First a shot down the side...



and now a shot of it on the coffee table. Like I said before, it goes out of its way NOT to look like a box...



A shot of the front as its warming up...
( A little clue in there as well. I will show it later...)

A shot from the starboard side...Trailing cables and all...



This is a shot of the PJ in action in the lighting conditions we normally watch by. No serious light leaks so to speak...



And this.....This is my favorite. I discovered this one by accident. Check out the arc image inside the lense...



Im loving this PJ and so is the wife. This thing is like a Newfoundland; Everywhere it goes it makes friends and good impressions.

SJ.

Just a few new pics. I did some adjusting and came out even better than before. Turns out I had a piece out of alignment. Colors are better and the focus is like a razor...

The first leeloo picture...


and after the adjustments....My camera still doesnt do these justice, but you get the idea.



and a cheesy sci-fi shot...



Lovin this PJ!

That thing is slick looking. I like how it "tries not to be a box"

Thanks Erock!
It LOOKS complicated but its really not. Since everything was modular you can mix and match as you see fit.

SJ

Good job looks great!

Can't wait to get the parts so I can get started

Looks great! congratulations!
What Lamp watt, reflactor, condenser lens, others... are used?
400 w perhaps or more?
would you put detailed specifications?

Thanks, if you want to watch it in 3D call me.

This is all classic parts. The 15 inch mega kit would give you all the parts I used except for the pro reflector. The rest is just goofing around and tweaking. 400w MH SSD4400 bulb, eballast, and one piece of IR/UV filter glass.
Really glad that you like it. I think my next model will be a pro.

SamuraiJack

I may be just living under a rock or something..but I'm suspecting that "boxes" shaped like yours and the HAAS build are more efficient at both their light trasnmission and cooling..giving a brighter image and a cooler box..is this true? Does the extra volume inside the "dog coffin" cause more light to be lost or does it all really all depend solely on how well you place your lenses/lamp..etc.?

This is the thread I ALWAYS go to when I want to show someone how these projectors can turn out. Because of your HUGE images as well as your box design.

Thanks Greymalkin,
I dont THINK the enclosures shape has much to do with cooling. I actually dont even vent the front part of the pj, or the LCD. The light transmission MAY be partially helped in terms of contrast due to the cutoff of stray light, but I think thats mostly a product of the gate itself. If I was going to bet anything on why the contrast was so good, I would say it was the black velvet and the lightgate. Thats what I was shooting for anyway.

But well aligned optics is always a good base to start from.

SJ

Dear Samuraijack: your art deco version=coooooooooolllllllllll. But how does a newbie copy such ?? have your plans - thanks million times, but beyond that-scientfic work on my own? or have I misread the blogs??
please let me know.
Newbie

Thanks!
Its really not that hard. The reason it looks so complicated is because I often use my PLOG as a kind of mental notepad. There is a lot of clutter in my logs. If you need any help, PM me, or post in my plog, and I will do my best to answer your questions. I'm working on a solid side design that should be easier to make. Not ready yet, but maybe by Spring.

SJ

I've decided I want to use your design with my second PJ build although I'm going to "cheat" on the rails by just cutting 2 slots out of a 1" x 4" (all of the peices will be 1x4 actually except for whatever I use to join them together). I'm going to use one of those 10.6" wxga panels and use the rails to slide the 3 parts back and forth until it's perfect..then tack them to the rails and THEN make the peices that join the 3 segments together. The only additional adjustment I'll need then is the focus mech.


You said you aren't cooling your lcd...do you just have a slot after the lcd/fresnels? I feel like I'm restricted by the small gap between the lcd/rear fresnel and that I could get much better airflow if I could widen the intake slot and put it behind the rear fresnel...I mean if it keeps the light chamber cool enough there's really no reason to have air come up between the lcd/rear fresnel.

Just love your design. Do the lens assembly and light assembly shift back and forth?

Gremalkin,
I actually pull air in from the back of the Lightgate and then wash it down and over the heat sink, then right out the back. My LCD is protected by a small IR/UV blocking glass square. Other than that, the unit has no cooling at all...

Thanks ashembers!
Yes, both the lens and the Lightgate move back and forth. The lightgate is held in place by my unlimate high tech solution:
Velcro!

samurai,
love the look so much i had to take the liberty of copying it. i hope you dont mind. i have all my components finished but still in the aligning, tweaking the gate, and lens spacing stage. are you still using the basic measurements for spacing. (220mm from light to lens & 317mm last lens to triplet). are you measuring from bulb itself or front of gate? Also how big did you end up making your iris flaps? i read thru your entire plog and love it.



love the lite machine
watching big movies is fun
not always a box

thanks
woo hoo my first post

You read the ENTIRE plog? Are you alright?
Thanks for the compliments harleyworker! I used standard spacing fro all the components. The measurements for the rear is from the bulb itself. I think the Iris flaps were about 4 inches deep. I dont actually use them much.

Post some pics. I would love to see it!

SJ

Yea i read the ENTIRE plog, my mind is a little skewed, maybe thats why i enjoyed it. i test fired mine and i dont think i'm gonna need the flaps either. i'm almost done except for the side boards to hold all the components together. i'm running a 1000w bulb, and a Dell 17" widescreen( w1700). so far so good. and no heat problems yet. i haven't put the connector pieces in between the boxes yet either. i will post some pics if i can figure out how, and if i can remember to grab the camera.



Got my first picture
Love the detail already
Now must finish it


thanks again samuari

you know they used to sell this thing to were i takes a normal 2d signal and converts it to a 3d signal (the whole red blue and green effect) and you could buy the glasses too. that would be AMAZING on your pj. good job though. its defintly cool....its almost like a ship kinduf...cool cool

SJ - this is brilliant! I first saw your plog like 2 years back, and followed it for a couple of months; I think till page 30. Around that time, a baby and a new house happened and I lost all available time Now I come back to watching the progress and I find this completed - you are truely an inspiration! I have been studying your lightgate design and hope start my build as soon as our Customs gods permit (I am in India)!

Regards,
Neel

Thanks for the compliments. Keep me posted and if you have any questions just ask!

SJ

good job, looks great.