Hey all I have been reading about diy lcd projectors for a few months now and I wanted to start a discussion on ultra small projectors.
To start I think that the content of this website is simply awesome and all participants should be commended. That being said I think that there is alot of room for improvement in terms of the design of diy projectors.
The biggest areas of improvement as I see it is in the size and weight of the projector. Alot of these diy projectors are very big but the smallest is about 20" x 20" x 20" boxes that weigh about 20-40lbs when completed. What are some ways we as a community can design smaller, lighter boxes?
I understand that light in side the projector has to travel certain distances to reach its focal points and such. Could we use mirrors inside the boxes to create this length? For example if a projector had a 7" focal point could the light in the projector be reflected off of 2 mirrors 3.5" apart from each other to make 7" or is this thinking wrong? Why and how are the retail versions so much smaller and light weight?
I think lightweight materials such as plastic and foams to build the housing are a good start but how do we shrink the size of the projector housing. Assuming that we use a 17" lcd how can we reduce the overall dimensions of the housing so that it is large enough to fit all the necessary equipment but not so large that it is bulky?
If anyone has any ideas about how to create an ultra small projector please contribute to this post as I will surely enjoy reading your responses.

Best,
Joe

20x20x20.. mine is 40x20x20

people do use mirrors in their projectors when space is size is an issue. there are tons of builds with one mirror, and some with 2 or more mirrors. Weight can be shrunk using light weight building material such as gator foam. One reason most projectors on here are large is due to the lack of high res, small LCD panels. there are 7-9" panels available, but the lack the resolution required to get a very clear picture at a far distance, play video games, or display high def content.

the large panels that it seems we americans use vs. the small ~7 inch panels alot of the other diy projector sites use is why our builds are larger. we want XGA or better like true HD which requires us to use these big panels hence big everything. a commercial projector is nearly compleatly different in operation and design which is why they are so small. we simply cannot DIY easily DLP, LCOS, or micro LCD stuff. a commercial LCD projector is usually 3 LCDs and alot of special complex optics that we cannot duplicate, cheaply. the DIY projector paradigm is to build a custom overhead projector that projects a computer LCD monitor. what we really need is a way to get LCDs like the 12" and 13" wide aspect panels alot of the new laptops use, at a reasonable price. my projector is almost a big as my mini fridge but weighs less than my computer since i dont use MDF.
is it just me or does it seem like the majority of american builds are 12" or larger LCDs where as the foreign builds are 8" or smaller? i know there are plenty of both, maybe it is just because of the website spread between design prefrences.

"Everything is bigger in USA"
Diyprojectorcompany.com was/is stationed in the states, no? There the main focus was on 7" builds. Smaller, and much cheaper. People was also working on a very small LED pj. IIRC 10x10x10inch or something. Very cool idea. (Don't know what happened when LL bought diypj..? But that's off topic here anyway).
Allinbox is a french site with a lot of very nice smaller builds.

I don't think it'll be long till 7" panels with high resolution is available for a reasonable price. Then we can go down in size again.

Have a nice weekend!

Nudel

Do you have a link to the 10x10x10 LED project?

Had to search a bit, here it is: http://diyprojectorcompany.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1940

The other issue not mentioned here yet is the light loss associated with adding extra optics. Even the best mirror will suck up at least 5-8% of the light..usually more. This inhibits designs with lots of mirrors. Now... if a 400W powerball comes out and a better reflector system is perfected... then we can use oodles of mirros ... heh