Hello folks,

So here we go, I've been lurking for some time and have decided to pop up and start a project over the summer.

As the name implies, budget is the name of the game (the ball and chain is still on maternity leave until November, and I go back to school in September) so of course it's a perfect time to start building another toy!

The idea is a vertical 15" running independantly (no HTPC), and using a long throw to accomodate a 12' (approx) throw distance, and (stupid as it may sound), not make the image too huge, thereby hopefully concentrating the lumens somewhat and maintaining a brighter picture.

To date, I have bought used: 220/650 fresnels and LX-10 from Gep, an EYE bulb/ballast/mogul and reflector from Shivers20, a TVBox 9 (eBay), a 22" FL opaque projector triplet (eBay), a couple 15" LCD's with blown backlights (eBay again), and FS car side mirror (garage sale) .

The Punisher box is my inspiration, but I think the length of the pro 650 will make this more of a 2001-style monolith. Hmmm, well anyways it's worth a shot.

I've got tons of wood and other assorted goodies (I'm a world-class packrat), so I guess the next thing will be to go through my pile of fans and see if I can pick out some quiet ones, and dig up some assorted fuse holders and terminal strips.... Then I'll need some type of attic-type thermostat and metal flashing.

A good start, hopefully. My posting will be sporadic, but I know you are all very patient

If all goes well, I may even have some interesting screenies for all you 50's horror/sci-fi buffs.

GENE

Well sir, may the projector gods shine their MH light upon you. Which makes me wonder, could such gods build a projector so bright that they themselves would be blinded by it's image?? Hmmmm....

This is my 3rd questionable post in the last 20 minutes, I think I'll call it a day.

Nice intro!
It sounds like you have all the less available parts and only need the ones you can get at the local computer or hardware store.

I actually considered modeling mine after the monolith, but with the proper 1x4x9 proportions, it would end up dominating the living room.

Plus you'd have all these stupid gorillas jumping around when you're just trying to relax and watch the game.

GENE

So...I disassembled my LCD panel a couple weeks back (sorry, no pics, ball and chain had the camera) and discovered an FFC problem...but hi-ho and LumenLab to the rescue, my 20 pin FFC extension arrived in the mail today from the good ol' USA.

The LCD monitor was some cheapo brand (SuperSonic or something equally ambiguous), but the panel itself is a Hyundai HT15X13-200, Korean made. Stripped pretty easily. Not the greatest specs (350:1 contrast and <25ms response according to the poorly translated book), but hey, what do you want for 40 bucks.

Fired up my EYE bulb last week...about 5 min from 0 to 60 with a Sola ballast. The ballast was really quiet too, no humming or buzzing, which is nice. Neighbours must have wondered what the heck was going on in my garage...BRIGHT!!!

If I get a chance I will try my hand at the FFC extension tonight.

GENE

Hello folks,

So the FFC extended quite nicely (a couple extra inches would have been nice, but we'll make do), and I removed the anti-glare from the HT15x13 last night. I did the towel-soak method, and it peeled off in one fell swoop after an hour and a half. Facile, non?

One thing I did notice is that it left behind a very faint glue residue. This seemed to come off with no problems when I used a 25% alcohol and 75% distilled water combo (which I normally use to clean records, and which worked wonders on my filthy fresnels too) on a 100% cotton pad.

Quite a difference...it is now transparent and the visuals are much sharper. I've been playing with the co-relationship between the brightness/contrast adjustments on the TvBox 9 and the brightness/contrast adjustments on the LCD panel. I'm not sure what the relation is exactly, but I've got an image I'm quite happy with now (when viewed with a standard Ikea halogen light and the 220 fresnel behind the screen). I think the TvBox will prove essential in fine-tuning the image, but we'll see what happens when the MH lamp comes into play.

I'm still toying with the idea of upgrading to a 17" panel to get the higher-rez if I can get one cheap enough.

But for now, on to the next step...framing!

Everybody have a great upcoming holiday, be it North or South of the 49th parallel!

GENE

Alright folks, we have a basic skeleton built with framed fresnels and threaded rods.

Nothing is closed in so there is light spillage all over the place, but it's good for testing distances and dimensions. Nothing's out of whack, so... so far so good. The 22" opaque lens is on a speaker stand. The mirror is a FS truck replacement mirror from Canadian Tire.

Et voila - l'image s'apparait!

The standard Gladiator shot - projected on a couple of different materials. The main backdrop is a dollar store shower curtain. On the left, we have a 23x35 sheet of ReichPaper's Shine "Pearl" 107# cover. On the right is "Pewter". These are kind of a pearlescent sheet; the "Pearl" is pretty white, the "Pewter" is silvery grey. Neither work very well (narrow viewing cone).

I think I'm starting to see the limitations of the LCD panel - it could be much brighter, but at the expense of the darks. Deepening the contrast helps the shadows, but burns out the highlights. I think I will need to find a higher-contrast panel.

A shot from King Kong - shower curtain on the left, ReichPaper "Pearl" on the right.
A freezer in the foreground.

Same set-up with lights on. The pearlescence of the sheet really helps.

Now we're getting interesting - the sheet on the left is a sheet of pearlescent Chromalux, picked up from a local art store. Narrow viewing cone again, but is sure shines in comparison to anything else. Definitely an avenue that must be explored - (like the Behr "silver screen" / pearlescent clear coat combo that MississippiMan used).

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11776

But I guess I'm dead in the water for a while until I can get a better panel. So much for the "cheapskate" angle!

StratCat,

How about "Black Out" cloth sold at Joann Fabrics. This is the same material used on the back of curtains. The rubbery side is nice and white and gives a good reflectance. To stay cheap, you might want to see if you can buy some curtains at a resale shop, and take the Black Out cloth off the back side of them to make your screen. Of course the material at Joann Fabrics is quite cheap too.

Fulcrum

Hi Fulcrum,

Yep, that's on the list of things to try. I was curious to see how those papers actually performed, seeing as I have a printing shop and these are readily accessible. And I have a bit better idea now of different screen issues to look for.

Calm, methodical assembly is not my style - I'm usually working frantically on a bunch of different things at once (which aggravates my clutter-resistive wife to no end, but maybe that's the point).

I've taken a look at some Blackout cloth at Fabricland (local Canadian fabric retailer), but I never noticed the rubberized side - I think both sides were cotton or polyester, but I'll have to take a closer look next time. I think Fabricland only carried a 54" width, which would be too small anyways.

This stuff also looks interesting; price is right:

http://cgi.ebay.com/HOME-THEATER-MOVIE-PRO...1QQcmdZViewItem

I'll try to put some sides up on the Project-o-matic this weekend and see what eliminating the light leakage does to the contrast level of the projected image. Then maybe I can make a decision about my panel.

I'm actually pretty impressed by 480p resolution. I guess a 16" SVGA panel (like the Sharp LL-T1620) would be the best compromise of size vs. resolution, but it's only listed at 400:1 (still better than the 300:1 of the Hyundai that I have now, but maybe not enough).

I'm starting to fantasize about a Dell 1703FP. Guess I better sell some more stuff on eBay to raise funds.

GENE