Ok,

Finally decided it's time to put up some pics. Shows progress to date. Hope to have some better results pics up very soon!

In typical posting fashion, parts are:

Benq 567s v1
anywhere between 400:1 to 500:1 contrast depending on which site you check!
16 ms response.

Osram HQI W/D400 lamp
>90 CRI
36000 Lumen
Sodium Ballast/Cap/Ignitor (gear).

18mm MDF
Draw sliders
Lumenlabs lens kit.

Various bits of aluminium channel, wire, screws etc etc.

Comments welcome.

-Arkay.

The box, front on.

Fresnels Framed (sides only with aluminium channel to retain the full FOV of the lens)

Box with focus mech.

Shot of the front after 1st coat of paint. Obviously needs many more.

Lamp Kit.

Stripped lcd (45 mins total strip time).

Lamp running (Cool!)

Wiring (Need to move my thermo, does nothing where it is! DOH).

Norpro and lamp mounted. (May need adjustment yet).

Nice shot of the triplet alignment.

First screen shot. Taken with camera on auto (apologies for the quality), lcd circuit boards also in the shot. Should also mention that this is with everything thrown in, no measurement, no alignment and not even focused (due to being too close to the wall), is on a beige wall too. Image is about 4 feet wide. Vey hard to tell what final brightness levels will be like on a good screen.

Arkey lookin real good, nice 1st image, what was your reaction when yhou saw it for the 1st time?

Have done (since these were taken):

1. Moved my thermo switch (still need to test).
2. Permanently mounted rear fresnel.

To do:

1. Frame the lcd and make it air tight for the cooling circuit.
2. Mount all lcd electronics and controls.
3. Finalise my keystone (although my PJ will be permanently mounted so I might just pin it in place with push-pins or screws.
3. Tweak alignment.
4. Add hinges etc to lid and paint final coats.
5. Get a screen.
6. Open beer, watch movies.

Cheers,
Arkay.

Awesome!!!! Much jumping around followed by a "Bruce Willis" style "Jig".. singing

My PJ is work-in
My PJ is work-in
Daa da da da da dah dah
My Pj is a work-in.............



-Arkay.

Hey Arkay
Its amazing to think that even with everthing not mounted and measured that the results are still impressive. When I get towards the end of my projector I am going to line up a list of movies to watch on the big screen. Speaking of that, When I go to the theaters to watch movies I find myself facinated with the huge screen and thinking about How when I am done I will have the same thing in my own home. Is Also maybe it's just me. When I am in the theater I'm looking up at the booth to see if I can get a glims of what Equipment the are running.

Anyway great job, I love the image of the triplet lens with the image projecting through.

Arkay looking pretty good,

Did you source the lighting gear from taipan? or somewhere else?

Well arkay, it's certainly more stylish than mine.

I should have framed my optics too, I'm losing a few mm each side of the LCD.

No, I bought the gear through a wholesaler.

Cheers,
Arkay.

It's never too late. The framing and mounting of the lcd and lenses has (and still is), the hardest part of the entire project for me. Someone should be making and selling 12"*10" frames for the project. Then you can just buy 12"*10" glass and drop it in the frame and mount it. I even looked for 12*10 picture frames at Bunnings but they didn't have any in the exact size.

At any rate, you can still make some frames and remount the stuff, see if you can get the full view of you lcd through the lenses. I'm pretty sure it's possible with the benq panels. Mine is a V1 though, I noticed you used a V2. Not sure if there's any real difference though.

I'm hoping to get the panel controls and boards mounted tonight, then I need to make a wooden frame for the lcd to sit in (whilst still in it's metal frame). If I can get that done then I might be able to tweak and final mount over the weekend.

There's always more to do.....

Cheers,
Arkay.

Whohoo! Just made "guru" status... but I don't feel like one

Scott,

Here's a shot of the aluminium channel with the weather strip in it to hold/protect the glass. I put a dob of silicon on each corner of the lense to stick it to the glass, when that was set I ran a bunch of silicon into the channel/weather strip and threw them on the side of the glass. Alignment was done purely by eye, you can't slide things around after you drop the lense onto the glass with silicon on it. Seems to hold it all together pretty well. I'm going to use black electrical tape on the forward fresnel top and bottom and sides to square off the light output stop any reflection and to also prevent dust from getting into the grooves.

arkay how much the lighting cost you ?

Over $200. Taipan can do better.

Looks sweet Arkay, nice work.

Thats a good idea, never thought to use weatherstripping in the channel. Nice idea.

Update 26/06.

Worked all day today. Fixed my thermo, attempted to mount the lcd and the front fresnel with some semblance of airflow through them. Didn't get very far.

Mounted my controls and circuit boards, everything looking really great.

Plug her in, turn her on and nothing. Zip nada zilch. Found out I had no power to the lcd.

Plugged the cord directly into the lcd and whala, it powered up. Next I plug my laptop in and I get no picture on the screen, but the menus from the controls (volume contrast etc) are visible. Wierd. So now I have two problems to sort out and very very low spirits.

1. No power to the lcd plug, should be an easy fix when I have the time.
2. No input from the vga cable, Dunno about that one.

and I still don't have anything mounted well enough to seal it and keep it cool.

Starting to wish I lived in the States so I could take it over to Brainchilds and ask him to make it work!

-Arkay.

did you reset the monitor to defaults with menu?

Joe,

Will try that when I permanently fix the power problem. Though I didn't get any "out of range" errors. Unless I didn't notice, I was just looking with a torch as I was using the power cord from the projector just to power the lcd so the lamp was off...

Will face the beast again when I have the patients and the will

Cheers,
Arkay.

arkay,

I know I am stating the obvious for laptop users, but did you use the Fn LCD\CRT button on the numbers at the top? Most laptops require you to actually force it through the VGA... ie: Fn button then LCD\CRT or a button that looks like two monitors on the number keys.

Good luck bro,
Lee

Norlander,

Good point and I didn't try that at the time. My laptop is normally configured for a dual display across 2 monitors so I haven't had to worry about this in the past. I will check it next time I put the lcd back in.

I was stressing out at the time as my power to the lcd has always worked. When it stopped I freaked and probably wasn't thinking very logically so called it a night instead

Cheers,
Arkay.

Problems fixed, turned out to be a broken earth wire. Phew.

More screen shots, better quality this time, taken in daylight with alot of ambient light in the room, can see the furniture around the projector. gives a good indication of what I was seeing. This is on a white bed sheet hung over a curtain. Image was 6'8" diagonal.

Detail is fantastic, even my wife commented how good it looked and got a bit excited

Can also see the temp probe in the pics
It's still running way too hot, can only play for about 10 mins before powering off.

I'm having problems with the dimensions of my box and glass etc with regard to cooling. I think I know how to fix it so I'll go away and make some semi serious modifications.

Pity, cause the pic is fantastic as it is, contrast control on the panel was at around mid way (50).

Might not see any pics for a while but next time they will hopefully be from the finished product

I must say Arkay, results so far are a blowing me away. Iam almost there. just need to buy a new circuit board for my lcd sreen. Can you give me any suggestion what type of wood or where to go to get material to make frames for the lenses and glass.

Great pics so far, hope you get to finish.

Great pics,

Did you check to see if you are getting enough air flow ? just an Idea

Ok. Heat (airflow) problem rectification is still in progress but I had to post this one as it gives a good indication of the color and quality that the 400W/D is providing, plus it's a groovy shot. Of course, being there is soooo much better than what a camera can capture. Screen is two slide projector screens side by side (thanks' Elken2004), much better than a bed sheet

The lumenlab projector is an absolute Marvel! If you're still thinking about building one then stop, JUST DO IT! This thing is easily comparible to a $10,000 Australian Commercial projector.

elken2004's son starring in the shot!

wow.. nice pics... those are some nice bright images.

looking good

Great results Arkay.
Next time I'm in Melbourne we'll have to do beer and a movie at your place

Definately!

Love that shot arkay,

I'm coming over too.

Hmm. Better hire a hall Or convert my 9 Square garage to a cinema and park in the street.... Sooo tempting.

-Arkay.

Make that 3!

If that doesn't convince everyone, nothing will.

I'm down for it all, i'd bring the KFC then.

Arkay, I love those shots, they look really sharp, especially the last one. It must feel really good to see a picture after all those hours spent on the project.
Keep up the good work.

Certainly does. It's a fantastic and rewarding project. I can't wait to have it completed so I can start on the screen and turning the Rumpus into a dual purpose Home Theatre so I can sit and watch some shows.

Cheers,
Arkay.

Are you going to make a permanent screen like mine, or a roll-up one, and how big?

Scott,

Not sure yet. I think a permanent mount will be a problem as my TV and hi-fi gear are currently in the projection spot. Will probably go the pull down in front of existing gear.
Not sure if I'll make it or buy it yet either. I can get commercial screens pretty cheap.
Probably go for about 9 feet diag.

What I'd really like to do is custom build a false wall to house all my gear, dvd's and TV and have an electric screen that comes down in front of it all.

This is the area I have to work with, it's about 14 foot wide. It's pretty much perfect (almost a shadow box to begin with), and I could make some guards to put on the front of the down lights so no light from them hits the screen, that way you could have them on and still get a perfectly nice image!

Would love to do something similar to this. But a little nicer if possible and I'd never put the speakers in the wall. Kills the sound. With an electric screen that comes down to just above the height of the center speaker (which would be under the TV, not above as in the shot).

Arkay there are special flash mount wall speakers, I was down at Retravision, having a listen to a JAMO set playing the Eagles Till Hell Freezes over DVD, and it was beautiful.

I got the same DVD here, and the sound quality blew away mine. Mind you I got a good amp, hooked to cheap speakers, till I decide. But don't discount flush mount wall speakers.

The set I was looking at was with a Centre, left + right and rears and that was like $1400 or so, roughly the same price I was lookingat spending for the JBL's I want. Minus the sub.

Arkay, I'm going to copy your front box design with the triplet lens panel on drawer sliders.
Did you put the monitor cct boards underneath the box? I'm still using the metal frame and it's inside the box, which may get in the way of the sliders. Luckily I made an oversize box (748mm long), so the 300mm sliders fit ok.