I have been gathering parts from various places, and I am almost ready to begin building my very own projector. I am very appreciative of the wealth of knowledge that is available on this forum. My main driving goal is to keep the cost as low as possible. Therefore, many of my purchase decision are based on price alone. So far I have the following:

1. POLAROID FLM-1511 15" LCD TV HD MONITOR TELEVISION
   I chose this panel because I wanted HD support, but I could not go larger than 15".
   • 1080i/720p/480p/480i digital compatibility
     
   • 3D Comb Filter (for lower quality analog sources like my ps2 via RCA jacks)
     
   • 400:1 contrast ratio
     
   • 30ms or better response time (see below)
     
   • dot pitch = ???
2. HQI-DE-150/NDX Metal Halide Lamp
   • 14,000 Lumens
   • Double Ended Tubular
   • 150 Watt
   • 4200K
   • 93 CRI
3. Pulse start M102 ballast
   
4. 15" frensels and lense triplet from LL
   
5. (2) 12v 120mm fans
   • 78CFM
   • 21 dB (really are wisper quiet)
   • 20,000 rpm
6. (2) R7S sockets for the lamp
   
7. Aluminum flashing
   
8. High temp spray paint
   
9. Attic Fan thermostat (to turn the fans on with temp threshold)
   
10. 120v to 12v adapter 1000ma to run the two fans
    
11. Furnace filter from 3M to keep dust out of the fans. (only .59 cents!)

What I still need:

• Wiring/switches/fuse
• Lexan XL-10 UV and heat shield for LCD
• Material for the box (wood/felt/wood glue/screws)
• Black out cloth for a screen or one of the new screen that LL will be selling.
• Reflector (Parabolic or spherical)

So far I have spent roughly $340 or so on this pj. The LCD was $125.00 ebay - $160ish shipped, and the lenses were $64.98 + shipping. The lamp was $35.99 + shipping, and the ballast was only a $15.00 ebay steal...I mean auction.

Only one place I have found so far has stated the response time for this panel 30ms - bottom corner of the retail box. The manual, official webite, and retail stores all do not state the response time in the specs for the display. At first I was afraid that this panel would perform very well at this high of a response time. I played DDR on the panel to test ghosting. On the fastest songs with arrows scrolling by from the very botton to the very top faster than 200beats per minute created no visible ghosting. I have an older 7" LCD TV and DDR is extremely difficult to play on my 7" LCD because the ghosting is so bad. So I am guessing that it is more like 16ms and the manufacturer outsourced a better LCD without bothering to update its box's specs.

So far I am very unimpressed about this LCD's VGA support. It seems this panel does a poor job of detecting the incomming signal. To get it to work in windows I had to install a generic CRT 1024x768 driver. Plus, I cannot have the LCD "On" when windows boots. Once windows is done booting I can turn the LCD on and it will work fine as long as I don't change the resolution. If a game or anything changes the resolution then the monitor gets finicy. To get Warcraft III to run above 800x600 on this LCD I had to edit the registery setting for that directly. This way the game came up in 1024x768 without having to switch from 800x600.

I tested the scaling the LCD does for HD signals to see how good the quality looks. I sent every type of HD signal to the LCD from my HD cable box via the component plugs. I compared the results by looking at the same image on my 27" Samsung HDTV (picture always looks outstanding on this TV). At 480i and 480p I did not notice much difference between the two TVs. The picture looked fine on both. At 780p the picture did look a lot better on my 27" TV than it did on the LCD. The 780p picture on the LCD looked fine by itself, but it was not as sharp or crisp as my other TV displayed it. The HD channels I was testing were not taking full advantage of 1080i so it looked about the same as the 720p picture results. I still plan on doing more testing.

The 93 CRI color index on the lamp was the highest I could find. On most forums I read that people thought 4200k is acceptable enough without noticing too much yellow. Some said they noticed a big difference between 4000k and 4200k so I wanted at minimum of 4200k on my lamp. I will try the 150W lamp for now, but if I don't think it is bright enough I will probably go with a 400W MH bulb. Since I plan on turning all lights off in the room when I watch a movie (more enveloping movie experience IMO) 14,000 lumens might just be enough for me.

The aluminum flashing I purchased seems to have some kind of coating on it. It does not feel like raw metal when I rub my hand on it. I also do not know how much heat a thin sheet of aluminum will stand up against. I figure if I coat all the metal with the high temp paint that will provide enough of a barrier from the heat. The conductive properties of the aluminum should spread out the heat evenly.

I am thinking about making a vaccuum cleaner looking head to go on either fan. One end will fit on the square fan and it will slowly slope to the other end that is long (length of the LCD) and skinny. This "head" will even spread out the moving air over the entire length of the LCD rather than hitting it all in one spot. on the other side of the LCD I plan on having the exact opposite. The fan will be pulling air from the same "head". I hope to run smoke or steam through my box to see exactly what the air will be doing.

Since I plan on using this a LOT it will probably collect a lot of dust (I am human and made out of dust after all). When I was in the hardware store I walked by the furnace filters from 3M. They are dirt cheap and might meet my dust prevention needs perfectly. If they don't work I think i'll try A/C cloth next. Either way I plan on making a cardboard housing to keep the cloth scretched. I will build a wooded sleave (maybe metal) that this cardboard frame can slide into. This way when the filter becomes clogged I can simply slide it out and either clean or replace it.

I plan on putting the thermostat at the controlling switch for the AC adapter. When the temp in the box rises above say 70 degrees ferenheight it will give power to the AC adapter. The AC adapter will in turn power the fans to keep the temp down. I am thinking about using metal or wood "blinds" to keep the light from leaving the box through the fans. With the blinds pointing down at 45 degree angles no direct light should be able to leave the box, yet the fan should not be hindered much.

With this much work into the project I want to be able to adjust my projector. I am thinking of making a telescoping front which would allow me to adjust the lense triplet. I would be able to put the projector at different distances from the screen and focus the image. To achieve this I am going to cut concentric rings in a board. The board must be thick enough to allow proper overlap so the rings don't fall out. I am thinking about wrapping felt on the inside of each ring to make up for the gap the saw blade will create and also to allow the rings to slide yet stay in a stationary position when desired. I will glue stiff cardboard circles on each ring that has a slightly larger diameter. This will keep the rings from sliding out to far, and it will also keep them from falling inside the projector. This should keep the projector size even smaller when not in use.


This was a good as I could do with google sketch at the moment.

I also would like a little keystone correction. I am thinking about putting the front frensel in a wooden frame. This frame will be secured in the box with wooden pegs that stick out of the box through a side slit. A knob will tighten them down to secure them into a stationary position. To correct keystoning I will leave either the top or bottom vertical and swing the opposite side out in its track. According to the forums here I should be able to get away with up to 15 degrees of correction before the image starts to be effected to much.


from: Here

I have to mention Buzz0515's Ramblin' Wreckin' Projector, 1st attempt at making the dream happen... PLOG. He is using mostly the same setup. So you should check his out too. Appearantly our LCD has an AG (Anti-glare) coating. I think i'll wait to see how well the strip goes for him before I attempt it.

Please, Let me know if so far I have anything totally wrong, if you have any advice for me, or if you like what I am doing so far.

Welcom to the forums I'm interested in seeing that lcd tv of yours are you sure it's compatible though?

DM

I'm not quite sure what you mean by compatible. Thanks for the welcome!

Be warned: I purchased an earlier model of this LCD TV. Yours appears to be the same LCD with upgraded electronics.

C:\Documents and Settings\FWG\My Documents\DIY Projector\FLM-1507 15 HD-Ready LCD Stereo TV @ Polaroid_com.htm

Mine requires a 10 path .5mm pitch FFC extension to get the circuit boards out of the light path. This is what DarkMeat is referring to. Compatible LCDs will not have FFC issues like mine. FFCs are extremely fragile, making them a bit of a pain in the ass. I accidantally tore mine with very little force applied. I ended up repairing the FFC by soldering it under a 40X binocular microscope (this was extremely tedious) and reinforcing it with hot glue.

When your panel is off, can you see your reflection in the front surface? If not, you have an anti-glare layer over the top of the glass. This layer is designed to improve viewing angle and prevent distracting reflections. It is the bane of projector builders because it diffuses light passing through it. This produces a much darker projected image because so much of the light misses the triplet. The anti-glare on my panel was particularly diffusive and impossible to remove with the normal methods. I ended up destroying my polarizers and having to go with a full replacement. (Projector not yet complete.)

There is a great deal of information on the forum about removing anti-glare to improve projection quality. I suggest trying to find an LCD that someone has already had success in removing the anti-glare.

A much better option is to find an LCD with anti-reflective coatings rather than anti-glare. A monitor or television with this type of coating appears to be glassy smooth and will generally produce muted off-color reflections of you and your surroundings. They don't diffuse the light as it comes through and make for much brighter, cleaner projected images. Have a look around in the extreme mods section for more info.

Welcome and Good luck.

Thanks for the info. It does have AG and it does have an FFC issue concerning the length of that cable. I have already purchased a 20-pin flat cable and all I need to do is cut it down the center. This way I will have the 10-pin extension cable I need plus an extra.

I have not put the LCD in a state where I can't re-sell it on ebay yet. I am waiting as long as I can while investigating this panel to see if I am going to keep it. What scares me right now is the Anti-Glare coating. I am afraid I will mess with the polarizing layer and ruin the panel. I am also afraid that the AG will cut too much light to be as bright enough if I leave it alone. Time will tell.

Great job so far flashnolan. It's really good to see someone taking the time to fully research everything before getting started. You've done a great job of planning and trust me (from my experience) it really pays off. I'm liking the design too. The Half-Haas has turned out very well for me and I bet it will for you.

Good luck with your panel. I'm with you on the AG strip. I'm kinda worried about trying it on mine after getting my custom ffc extension to work, I don't want to mess anything up on it and everything be for nothing. But from doing extensive reading through the PLOG's here and everyone's testimonies, it seems that if you are careful and take your time, it can be done and is worth it.

Plus, where's your sense of adventure...

Keep up the great work