Hi there,

I'm becoming more and more eager to start building my projector but before I do I think it would be wise to ask a few questions.

Is it possible to get the same quality with a 7" LCD as with a 15 or 17"? Are the Lilliput screens I hear about so much 1024x768 (i.e. XGA)?

What sort of bulb should I go for on a 7"? 250 or 400W? The ballasts sold by LumenLab look huge. Can't you get smaller ones?

If I go for a 7", can I get the Pro Lenses or will I only be able to use the small projectors varifocal triplet for use with 10" and smaller LCDs? Will this influence the projection quality greatly?

My main concern is size vs quality of projection image. I need something small enough no to cramp my small living room too much and to be able to take it away to my parents house on weekends.

Thank you all,

razorfish99

Building a projector smaller than 15" is a waste of time and money.......
Best result is 17"

Jazzcool,
Im a fan of your work,
But I have to disagree. Times they are a changin'.

7"XGA and 10.6"WXGA panels are here, and better ones will come. Form factor is important to some people. You can build a small PJ on the cheap too, which is also somthing making it worth the time.

Razorfish, if you were to use a 7" panel, you wouldnt need the pro lense. The standard triplet will work like the prolens does on a 17" panel.

Well thats not true. There are wxga 10.6 and 7.1" panels available now which is better than a 15" and basically equal to a 17". Not everyone wants a huge ass box in their room and small projectors with lower resolution will create a nice image at smaller projection sizes. small LCDs with high resolution are the best of both worlds. If youre only watching DVDs, larger resolution is basically useless unless you upscale and filter.

Lilliput isnt 1028x768, it can only accept this resolution as an input but will scale down to its native resolution. lower wattage bulbs, such as 250w ceramic MH, work very well for smaller projectors. You can get 'smaller' magnetic ballasts but they also come with a large capacitor, and they are very heavy & a little noisy.

Cool, thanks guys. Do you know of any 7.1" wxga LCDs?

While I agree with the rest of your statement, this isnt exactly true. DVD resolution is DVD resolution, but on a higher resolution panel you will see less "screen-door" due to smaller pixel size on the screen.

yea thats true

Visit www.allinbox.com and you will find a gazillion people who will disagree with you. Some of the best PJ ever made are on that site.

But I already build 2.5", 7", 15" , 17" and working with 19"ws, compare the result side by side, thats my personal opinion. If you try to build smaller than 15" , just buy the EVO. It will save you time.

Some of the best PJ ever made are on that site "www.allinbox.com " <-- This Before LUMEMLAB, Not Now!!!

The only reason your small PJs were porr quality is because the LCDs you used were low resolution. There are several small panels available now with equal resolution to a standard 17" monitor. Size no longer matters.

The highest resolution I need out of my TV is 720x480 for the Wii. I would be QUITE happy with a 7" LCD that size with component inputs. It's all about what you need and what you can afford.

Its depend is how big is your screen, 8' x 12' screen small panel is not good, you can see the pixel on the screen, but if you used it on 3' x '4 screen maybe it will look good.

Unless you have a really good scaler, displaying 720x480 on a 1440x960 panel on a big screen is going to look just as pixellated as just using a 720x480 panel in the first place.