Ok, here are some pic of my projector.

Description:
Brimax 17" 500:1 8ms LCD
220/330 Fresnels
345 triplet
150W Metal Halide Lamp + Magnetic balast
Electronic Digital Thermostat
Built in Speakers

Here goes, hope you like it:

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Thermostat

Desktop (The images in real life are more blue

HD material

More HD
It was daytime when I took these pictures, I had the window covered but still some light was getting in the room, I shall take more at night.

DVD Material (taken in total darkness)

That's all for now!

Oh, and don't mind the mess, I'm preparing that room for home theater (hence the dark blue walls) I'm going to put it up on a wall mount. The room is messy now, but I just couldn't wait to try it out.

To do list: Clean it all up including lens and lcd,
Replace speaker screws with black and more discreet ones.
Perhaps later get a reflector for the lamp to see if light output improves a bit.

Great, how bright is it and what size? Are you using any special light engine configuration ?

Well I have no way to give numbers on the amount of light, it could be brighter though, maybe I'll upgrade with a 400W lamp in the future, but before that I must try a reflector to see if the light increases a bit, I tried the bottom of a spray can that was spherical and almost mirror like but it gave me a huge hotspot in the center. Right now the light configuration is as simple as it can get. I only added an aluminum plate to protect the MDF from the heat behind the lamp. Screen size is about 2,5 meters (98") diagonal.

My friend reflector apparently increases the brightness twofold to the perception of our eyes however the fig may look different.Do try that and the precondenser before moving to the 400w lamp.

Thanks for the tip, I do prefer if I could manage with this lamp than the 400W for many reasons, less power consumption, less heat, less expensive to replace. I hope a reflector will give me a nice increase in brightness but I'm not expecting miracles though...

More screenshots:

Big Screen Sonic YAY!!!

The Wild

Pics of the inside

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more projection shots

Ok so I went shopping today and I found this nice item in the kitchen section, and I thought it might do a very nice reflector, it spherecal and very mirror like shiny, take a look at the photos and tell me what you think:

another

Nice find, what size diameter is it and what brand?

it's 90mm diameter and 40mm deep, the brand in a national portuguese brand, which is not very known... I polished it and it's even shinier now I forgot to mention it's stainless steel.

I'm really really excited!!!! I installed the reflector and what a difference!!!! I knew it would make a difference but not this substancial! The image is brighter, more contrast even the colour look better! See for yourself! The camera has the exact same settings so there would be no cheating. Here they are. I'm so happy!!!!

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And here's the reflector doing its work:

Hi again, since everybody is using this test screen to display their pj screen I decided to give it a shot so here goes all photos were taken with an exposure of 1/4th of a sec. except for the last one which is 1/10th, screen size at the time of these photos are 2,80m diagonal (aprox. 110"@1280x1024)

This photo shows the test screen of 1024x768 resolution so if I were to limit my display area to 1024x768 on my 17" with the standard lenses as some suggest this is what it would look like:

Here is the same test screen but this time it's resampled to 1280x1024 in other words it fills the whole display panel:

Here is the same test screen but this time it's resampled to 1280x1024 in other words it fills the whole display panel:

And finally, here's a photo of the test screen again at 1024x768 but with a 60W incandescent light turned on.
That's all for now, sorry for the constant uploading of photos but I'm really excited about the projector as each time I'm getting happier and happier with it.

And finally, here's a photo of the test screen again at 1024x768 but with a 60W incandescent light turned on.
That's all for now, sorry for the constant uploading of photos but I'm really excited about the projector as each time I'm getting happier and happier with it.

My very first HD movie on my projector, I was so amazed I just had to share a photo

Awesome results What a difference a reflector makes huh Seeing that last pic really makes me want to get my new built going so I can get in on this whole HD thing. Looks great.

Thanks alot!!! I really appreciate the feedback

Good work, now add a precon and watch what happens

Looking at your ladle with the lamp it appears you notched it. Was it notch enough to encompass half the arc inside the lamp?
Click to view attachment

Also.........hate to suggest this since your enjoying the brightness as is..but..see if you can adjust your lamps position in a vertical manner (up/down) I think this will provide more of an even light spread.

All suggetions are welcome I'm not sure if I can put it vertically, I know some lamps can be only horizontal, but there was no indication on the lamp's box about the ideal position of the lamp, as for the notch yes it is half in the sphere, though it doesn't look like it in that photo, if I look at the reflector sideways I can only see half the lamp.

Here's an update, so even though I wasn't unhappy with my results I coudn't get out my mind that it could be better, so I ended up in putting in a stronger lamp, I've upgraded to a 400W system, I had to put a bigger fan and open bigger air intake slots, because the smaller fan couldn't cope with the heat, the lamp is a no brand one so I can't give you guys any details about it, but it's white enough and I'm happy, I'll soon post pictures with the new results.

Ok, here are the new results, so here goes:

First the new lamp, as I said, I have no idea what colour temperature it is but it seems to reproduce the colour quite satisfactory

Girl with flowers 1024x768 original

girl with flowers rescaled to 1280x1024 (full screen)

DVD content first 2, 3rd is divx

Gaming (I now, they're old games but I still enjoy them )

HD content

Last pic for now HD

My projector is now finally complete, I hope to enjoy many hours of it. I just want to thank Lumenlab and all it's members who helped me and the members who shared their ideas, I have a nice decent projector and I owe it to you all. A friend of mine bought a low end commercial projector, and he said mine has much better quality at the same price. it gave me a sense of self achievement and I'm very proud of my pj, this is my first, I know it doesn't look nothing special compared to the excelent projectors that other members have done, but the amazement of the people who watch it makes me feel very proud.

So once again THANK YOU Lumenlab!!!

You made me do something that I wanted for so long, and most important, it made me feel very happy!

good job, looks great.