Finally finished my first PJ. Decided on the Haas style for sheer elegance of the design.

Parts List

Westinghouse LCM-15v5.
Standard lens & fresnels.
Lumenlab pro reflector.
Lumenlab ballast and lamp.
2 fans pulled from old macs.

Took me about 2 full months to complete the entire project. Studied a lot of other people's posts to arrive at my destination.

A few people suggested mounting the monitor's control panel on the outside of the box, so I took it one step further and cut the bezel at a 45 degree angle and mounted entire thing, speakers and all to the underside of my PJ. The 45 degree angle makes it a little easier to see controls and the speakers actually work. They're not much use, but they work.

A couple of more shots of the outside of the box.

Inside I made both the light and reflector adjustable during operation so that I could tweak the machine in real time instaed of having to shut down, tweak, restart, etc.

I also added a light box of sorts. During operation there is a cover on top of this assembly which completes the enclosure completely surrounding the lamp. I do not know if this really makes any difference as I do not have anything to compare my results to. However I must say I am very happy I stumbled across the Lumelab site and decided to build a PJ.

Very nice. How is your reflector secured in that jar lid, and how is that secured to the box? Can you add a couple close ups? I've been wondering how I'll mount my reflector, and I think yours is a great idea....

My camera is down so I will have to get those closeups next week.

To answer your question about the reflector. I bent a coat hanger into an octogonal shape just the right size that when compressed would fit snugly into the jar lid. Once released it expanded into the threads of the jar lid holding the reflector tightly in the lid. I then attached a length of coathanger to the jar lid with a little nut and bolt. The coathanger then goes through a little block of wood with a hole and groove in it. (See diagram.)

This allows you to slide assembly back-and-forth and also rotate around its axis. Once reflector is positioned lock the coathanger down with screw on top. This way I can adjust the reflecto completely all while PJ is running.

A couple of result shots fro The Fifth Element.

Now my Lilu (LeeLoo)?

I have been taking my screen shots from an angle as because you can see in the images above I am getting a rather noticable hot spot on my screen. I think I have the problem solved and will post some screen shots from my sons Xbox next week.

Shots are from an 8 foot wide screen. I am extremely pleased with the focus and contrast I am getting from this machine.

Wow, screen shots look great. What are you using for a screen?

It's a material I got at Home Depot. It comes in 4x8 sheets for about $11. I believe it's called tileboard or something or other. I can let you know tomorrow when I have a chance to check it out.

It has an extremely glossy finish which is causing the hotspot I described above. However last night I puchased a can of Krylon matte finish and gave the screen a quick coat. This seems to have cured the hotspot without affecting the reflective properties of the tileboard. Just have to experiment some more but so far I am extremely pleased with the results.

I watch TV on the PJ through my Dell with 2-60 watt light bulbs on in the room and I can honestly say the PJ is just as bright as my good old trusty 25" RCA. Watched the Rams/Bears game the other night on ESPN and It bought a whole new way to watch a game.

Great work kdvail! I really like the "light box" you added in the rear compartment. Its a very simple and straightforward way to collect all those stray light paths towards the LCD. If you don't mind I might have to add something similar into my hass-style enclosure. The craftmanship on the projector is also top-notch.

I hope my screen shots are half as good as those appear. Congrats again on a job very well done and I hope its working out really well for ya.

One question though: What is the material used to make the "light box" ? It appears to be flashing of some sorts, but the printing on the reveerse side is throwing me off

I work for a newspaper and the box is actually made of aluminum printing plates. The ones I used were plates which had been exposed and processed but then rejected for whatever reason. The aluminum itself is not much thicker than a good heavy sheet of paper and as such is very easy to manipulate. Got to make sure you get the folds right the first time because it won't take much flexing before it rips apart.

Like I said before I'm not sure if it helps because I have nothing to compare it to, but I know my PJ has extremely even lighting from corner to corner and is very bright.

Thanks for the quick response.
Oh, thats pretty cool. I would have figured in this day-and-age everything had moved to digital including the printing process. Thats a great find and nice ingenuity
I'm sure the added panels do add a great deal of help in keeping the screen bright and evenly lit.
I think I might try to use galvanized metal flashing that I used a little already.

Another note, I am also going to try and build a stand for my enclosure as a final touch. I'm curious on how you mounted the stand to the actual enclosure and is it easily adjustable? I would do something very similar to yours if I could, but I have my controls mounted in an external case on the side that gets in the way. Would you mind showing some details about your stand?

Great craftmanship on the stand as well.

Thanks for your parise. I put a lot of time into my project and I think my patience and attention to detail is paying off.

Basically on the stand I just copied other people's solutions. This link to wireman24's PLOG perhaps shows and explains it clearer than I could.

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?s...st&p=123752

Very nice job. screen shots look good! is that a Haas_man focus mech?

Actually the focusing mechanism is something I came up out of neccessity because I couldn't find the parts I needed.

What I did was take a section of 3" pvc pipe and attach it inside the enclosure. Next I took a 4" to 3" reducer and carefully sanded off the threads then wrapped them with the fuzzy part of velcro so that it fit very snugly into the 3" section attached to the enclosure. This not only allows me to move the lens in and out for focus but also slightly adjust the angle of the lens in relation to the lcd panel. I figured this way if my lens and lcd were not aligned perfectly parallel, I could adjust the lens to accomodate my misalignment.

Seems to work pretty good so far.

very nice.......this is a job WELL done.....lets see some more screens

hello,

great results..did you remove the AG from your panel or is is just stripped and set in place? I've built my sled and so far everything is working properly, I'm just scared to go ripping on it if I can get decent results with it still on...and your results look fantastic!

Yes I did remove the AG. It was very easy I just used the wet paper towel method. Soaked AG for about eight hours and it lifted right up with no problems.

I was going to post some more screen shots once my camera gets fixed. Needed repairs.

Been watching football full screen. Can't wait to see the Patriots win the Super Bowl on an 8'x6' screen. (fingers crossed)

Finally got the camera back. Attached is a screen shot from A Bug's Life.

Spraying my screen material with the Krylon matte spray did eliminate the hot spots I was having.

Will post some more screen shots this weekend.

Forgot to mention Bug's Life screen shots are from the full-screen version at 8'x6'.

If the Dell you're speaking of is a Desktop you can buy an OTA HD card for it for about $50, this way you can watch the SuperBowl in HD!

I bought one a few months ago and I can't wait to get my projector together so I can see what It looks like on the wall!

After much reading through the AG removal thread I think I'm going to do it tonight!

Dude,Man that thing rocks!!! I want to build mine this way.It looks crystal clear.

Will this take a 17" screen?

I used the plans provided in the forums for a standard 15" Haas. The plans for a 17" version are here;

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14987

What I did was lurk around the forums for weks gathering and bookmarking topics so that I could use the best ideas from those who had boldly gone before.

Good luck, you won't regret it, I can guarantee that.

Cool Deal,Thanks

Where did you get the lenses?

Lumenlab online store. Fresnels too.

How much was the overall cost?

Less than $500. But I'm not really sure of the exact cost as I didn't keep a very accurate accounting of my expenses.

Hi Kdvail

At first congratulations with your beautiful projector. From the first minute I saw it I was very enthusiastic about it.

I red in your post that you used the HAAS-projector idea and mixed this with others. I wanted to ask you if you could tell me some more about it, because I want to build a similar PJ.

First I would like to know wich UV/IR filter you are using and where you got it. Is it just a big as the lenses and the tft-panel so you blocked the hot air from the lamp?

Talking about this lamp: how exactly do you cool it. Are you using one cooler at the back wich sucks the (hot) air away? Isn't it necessary to use a second whole where air can freely flow in due to the vacuum?

My third question is where you get your signal from. From a PC/laptop using VGA?

At last I am curious about your exact measurements and if they are available in centimeters (I live in europe/netherlands).

Well I hope it's not to much to ask. Have fun watching!

I used the standard Haas style projector using the plans posted here;

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3981

I printed out the lifesize copies of the designs on a large format printer so that I could make sure my parts were exact.

As for cooling I have 2 fans which I pulled from old PC's. The fans pull air through holes cut in the bottom of the projector. These holes are in between a sheet of Lexan and the rear fresnel. The air flows up and over the Lexan and back through the light chamber and out the back.

As far as the signal, I use a PC DVD player for movies. I also bought a TV capture card for the PC so I could watch television. My sons also have their Xbox 360 running through it. All signals and inputs are VGA.

As I stated in my PLog I scanned the forums for weeks before I started my build. When I found information that I thought would be useful I bookmarked the topics so I could refer to them later.

When I was finally ready to take the plunge I used all the information I had gleaned from the forums, added a few ideas of my own and then really took my time putting it all together.

I must say it has been one of the most satisfying projects I have ever undertaken. Movies are completely different on an 8 foot wide screen as opposed to a 25" TV. And my kids just love it.

I like your style. My approach will be the same. I know enough for now, thanks. I've bookmarked this topic also of course .
If I'm ready it probably will be the end of summer. I have a diary in dutch, somewhere at a dutch forum. When I'm totally ready I will send you some pictures .
I can't really make an image of the cooling system. That may also be due to my poor english.. Is this a personal system?

I was thinking of using a uv/ir filter big enough to split the light part from the panel part.

The real fun part will begin when the preperations are done and the real build can begin . For this build I'm also planning a lot of time to make it real good

This plog is where I got a lot of good ideas;

Tmproff's Hassman PJ, Beautiful design, Beautiful results

Link here;

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4925&

The following link takes you to the page where he has a picture which shows how the holes in the bottom for his cooling system which is how I did mine. The holes are cut in the bottom of the enclosure between the Lexan (ir/uv filter) and the rear fresnel.

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?s...4925&st=100

I understand the cooling system now . Thanks.

Kdvail, is your lexan plate also a good UV/IR filter?

It seems there is no space left next to the lexan. It seems no air can flow there, you intended to suck it away outside of the PJ with your holes between the lexan and F1 right (using the cooler behind your lamp creating vacuum..?).

The frame holding the lexan does not fit snugly to the top of the enclosure. By leaving a quarter to half inch gap at the top, the air comes in the bottom and flows upward and over the top of the lexan through the light chamber and out the back. This keeps the front of the enclosure where your LCD is located relatively cool.

The lexan is basically a heat shield. From what I understood while perusing the forums is that the outer glass of the bulb itself acts as a uv filter so that no other uv filter is required. I may be wrong but I do remember raeding somwhere that the bulbs being sold through the Lumenlab store present no uv hazard.

If so, this all would be perfect.

There is still one thing I have not perfectly clear. How exactly do you hold your tft screen in place without losing or damaging the cornerpixels. I asume pixel to wood would not be good.

The imaging area of the lcd is not completely edge-to-edge. There is enough space around the edge of the panel to mount in a frame without cutting any of the image off.

Ok, maybe I'll understand exactly if I see it in real time.

kdvail love what you did here,my i ask on your lcd did it have a prob with ffc.

Absolutely no ffc problems and the Antiglare stripping worked like a dream.

The picture really?

KD ,I want to build a box like yours but would like it to be HD.I am going to only go to about 8 to 10 feet wide on screen size.Your pictures of your screen is incredible and that is what I am looking for.What I was wondering is should I go with a 15 " monitor or a 17".Any help would be great as I want to start getting my parts together.

I'll be completely honest about the HD part. I am still not really sure what resolutions constitute HD and which don't. I have read in the forums that a 1024x768 panel such as the one I used is considered low-end HD. But I would have to encourage you scan the forums to gather more info on HD specs.

I used the panel I did as I wanted to keep my project as low-cost as possible while keeping the actual enclosure as small as possible. The 15" inch panel I used met my requirements at the time. Had I known there were 15" panels that had 1240 resolution I would have tried to find one of them. I have my screen size set for 8 feet across and even though I am extremely pleased with the image quality I am getting some screendoor effect and a 1240 panel would have reduced the effect while letting me keep my enclosure the same size.

Saying that, even with the screendoor effect visible, the image is as sharp as a tack and nobody even seems to notice it except for me. Guess I am being a little too much of a perfectionist.

1024x768 is not HD.

The lowest form of HD is 1280x720. 720p or 720i, means progressive or interlaced. Progressive is better. I would go into more detail, but I dont want to hand out wrong info.

The next form of HD is 1920x1080, 1080p or 1080i. Again, progressive is better, but I think it is still hard to find a real 1080p video source. 1080 is the highest common resolution available. By common, I mean there are higher res monitors, but they are rediculous. Like $6000, and not even that amazing specs other than resolution.

1024x768 is good enough for many people for a projection under 120" I would say. Heck, even I'm ok with mine. But it still leaves something to be desired IMO. I built this projector because I love BIG screens, and in order to get the right effect, the screen needs to be big, and you have to be close at the same time. So yeah, I'm going for a 1280x768 next, because really the only time I notice the screen door is in movies, and since I only watch widescreen movies, 1280x768 will give me the most benefit, and my projector will be smaller at the same time, since I am using a 10.6" panel!

Hope I was able to explain that a bit, and added some personal opinion in there too!

PS, nice build! Looks fancy.

there is aways 480p thee very lowest form HD.

If I do it I want to do it right the first time.Between this post and the yellow treasure they are the best I have seen yet. No disrespect to the others.

Nope, 480p is "Enhanced Definition" or ED , not HD

After reading the post above about benchun's "Yellow Treasure" I decided to check out his project again. I was especially taken by his results using ffdshow.

So I went to freecodecs.com and downloaded the XP (all-in-one) Codec pack and installed it on my system.

MAN WAS I BLOWN AWAY. I thought my projecter was tack sharp before but now it's 10 orders sharper. I checked out Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith and then Finding Nemo. The opening space battle in Star Wars looked just as good if not better than at the theater and in Finding Nemo I could see detail that I never even knew was there.

I am going to try and get some screen shots but I'm not sure my camera will be able to capture the true visual effect. The difference is literally like night and day.

Now a question for the experts out there. I am using WinFast which came with my LeadTek TV capture card. Is there any way to use ffdshow to process the TV images?

I really want to thank "benchun" for his finished project log for all the valuable information and links.