I originally built my PJ in a horizontal box to put up in a dropped ceiling in the family room...but then got divorced and of course the PJ came with me (hey the ex never liked technology so..... rofl)
Anyway I moved in to this house and had absolutely no place to put the projector. Then it dawned on me... I remember this resturaunt where they had several projection screens setup and everyone was in booth seating... having two kids the only time my self (an my ex) ever really had a quiet meal was at this resturaunt when we had the kids with us. So... since I wasnt exactly going to have people over for big formal thanks giving dinners I decided to make my dining room a little different. This really got set in to motion when I needed a table and had limited money at the time.... and stumbled across a poker table on clearance for $50
lol The table has a regular top to it that can be taken off for game night. So... some comfy chairs and etc and viola... although I reeeeeally want to replace the carpet in the whole house still lol. But that will come later (along with many other things). Anyway on with the show....Let me say this... I am a very impatient person when it comes to projects like this.. waiting for paint or glue to dry drives me absolutely batty!!! I like instant gradification, but at the same time like to make stuff and when someone asks about it say yep I built that
I have very limited tools, and very little skill. I am not a wood worker, I'm just your average joe
My advice...find someone you know who does have a table saw to help you cut your box. Lowes and home depot will not cut it... literally. The saw they have there is primarily for cutting for construction so accuracy is not thier priority. You will not get a good box if you have them cut it! I couldnt even fake a box together wit the crap that they cut!!!
Projector:
Build is obviously a vertical build based off of joe2000chevys design...but, it is 13 3/8 deep and squared on top. The e-ballast sits right behind the mirror. The box is made from 3/4" MDF (took two 2'x4' sheets from home depot @ 6.99 each)
All the inner workings were stolen from my horizontal build, with the exception of the mirror. The mirror is a 10" x 8 3/8" fs mirror from surplus shed. It has some areas that the mirror coating is missing (most noteably in the upper left hand portion of the projected image). It mainly shows up as a darker blob but nothing too anooying, and since I mainly play movies on here it isnt a big deal at all. Also during games I am usually not focusing on that part so no biggie. My advice though for anyone building something similar to this (same height and etc) go with a bigger mirror.... it took me forever to get the mirror lined up exactly where it needed to be.
The fresnel lenses are the standard one from the LL store. And are a mess... full of scratches and crap I cant seem to clean off... I plan to replace them eventually.
The bulb is a venture 400 W MH bulb.... cant remember the specifics on it other than that. Using the Older black LL e-ballast. Ikea napkin ring reflector.
The LCD is a 15" HP L1506. Antiglare was on both sides and was incredibly easy to remove. No FFC issues.
Cooling I used two 92mm fans and things seem to keep pretty cool. I took a piece of aluminum round duct I had and fastened it to the bottom of the inside of the box to kinda arc around the bulb, one to act as a slight heat shield and two to help block light from the fans.
I will take pics of the inside and post them once I open up the PJ again.
The room, The PJ sits under the table
Little table setup to hold keyboard, mouse remotes and etc
Screen:
Projected image is right about 85" 4:3 ( would love to go bigger of course, but dont have that much room
I tested it in my sons room on his white wall and the results were good @ 8' high screen but his walls are that original el-cheapo white and in need of a good cleaning)The screen is a sheetrock wall I built with some 2x4s I had laying around, red fabric from walmart and obviously paint. At first this was a el-cheapo flat white wall which was not as bright as what I have now..... but what I ended up with was kinda odd.... I decided to play around some since I wanted to paint my wall a brighter flat white. Keep in mind this is all rolled on paint, and I am sure a crappy job at that.... I got some of the Rustoleum Aluminum pain (#7715) and painted the wall..... Wow, that was a cool experiment lol. The viewing cone was horrible and hot spotting was bad but in the viewingcone was amazing lol. outside of it though....bad, really really dark. for example the mouse cursor was extremely bright white in the middle....but then to either side was dingy grey. Also I could never really get a good focus on screen....
Then came one coat of Kilz Bright White Semi-Gloss over top of the rustoleum aluminum.... A great image on screen pretty even lighting but hot spotting
Finally I got Kilz Bright White Flat, one coat rolled on over top of the last coat above and viola! The end result was well worth it compared to my el-cheapo no frills flat white I had before. Granted none of this is expensive paint or high tech or etc...but it does the job incredibly well. I dont know if any of the coats underneath are enhanceing my imgae or not.... I dont know... all I know is I am happy
Granted I would looooooooove to get a Black Flame screen but ATM I am broke lol.This pic shows the screen. The flash is on and you can still see an image
Again flash on and still you see the image....
Ambient lighting (for these pics)
In the room there is one light that has a 40W bulb that I put foil on one side of to block light from hitting directly on the screen. The kitchen has a 60W bulb and the room behind me has 4 40W bulbs. The light is bright enough to do anythign you need to, but not extremely bright or white.
The pictures with the lights on dont really do the results justice. In the angled pictures the pictures came out grainy and yellow tinged. I tried to adjust the colors to the blueish wall and red cloth to come closer to the colors that I see. Also in the angled pictures the brightness seems to be exagerated and the picture looks washed out, but thats why I also took straigh on pictures to try to show from different angles and etc. The straigh on pics though dont show the ambient lighting well and look a little washed out compared to what it really looks like....
I have a sony DSC-W5 5mp camera...so any advice that can be lent is appreciated
Ambient lighting example.... though the colors and lighting look waaay off...
