Ive got a question to anyone who has completed a LCD projector using a nice quality 17" LCD. How does the quality compare to that of a 15" lcd, im trying to decide now what size lcd to use which in turn decides lenses for me, im trying to keep costs relatively low, but have found some good deals on 17" lcds so im not worried about cost too much. I plan to use this projector to play console games, watch dvds, and play games using my pc (im building a new one thats pretty high end, so it should be able to handle high res fine). I basically just want to know if the extra money for a 17" is worth it for those applications, a screen size of 10-12' (standard 15" lcd screen i think) would be find for me but bigger is always better, but mostly im just wondering about the difference in quality when using the type of inputs that im using

also, i would be playing the dvds using PC as well if that will affect it at all.

I'd say go for the higher resolution because 'we can'.

haha, k. Im trying out the freeflatpanels thing, need a few more referals and hopefully its legit and all and ill get the nice samsung 17", 600:1 contrast and 12 ms response, should be nice for a projector project, especially cause its free (well mostly at least, a few $ for the offer). Brain, do you have any shots of your 17" in action, havent heard a whole lot about your new projector and how its working, and what panel are you using in the pj?

im assuming just from the specs of 17" vs 15" that from farther away (im assuming about 25-50% farther away, the resolution will result in the same quality image with a 4 foot or so larger screen, and obviously better quality and slightly larger from the same distance, i dont know a whole lot about optics, just assumption im making due to the panel size and if you were to use the same lens on both panels.

also, can i get wood for the construction of the enclosure (im thinking of doing wood other than MDF as im looking for a nice smooth, clean construction, probably will sand corners round if possible) at regular hardware stores or will i need to go to a carpenter, and what wood looks nice and dosent cost too much, i believe i saw someone using pine/ butcher block (i think it was the projector with the curved top and bottom to allow easy adjustment and portability) that looked very nice.

and im assuming i can get all the electrical hardware at a regular hardware store like lowes or home depot as well.

edit: one more noob question for you, ive been looking around at lightingsolutions and the store here and havent seen any of the electronic ballast or chinese ballast people are talking about, is the more expensive ballast on lightingsolutions site either one of those or is it just a higher quality one than the $30 one

I'm using the Dell 1702FP with 892:1 contrast. I haven't shown results because I'm not yet finished with that projector. You can get most everything you'd need from the hardware.

ahh, k, gotya, is it minor perfection things youre fixing or are you a long ways off? kinda interested to know some results with a 17" using the new optics before i start using them myself

should i just use starsmiley's design thats pinned here when using new optics and a 17" panel?

btw the panel im planning on using is a 710N samsung, only problem im worried about is since no one has done this yet, problems with stripping and using the panel with no one to use for help thats done the same

I'm still in the design phase. I have my panel stripped, my lamp and mirrors but I'm still working on one of the mirror placements which is holding up the case building. Sometime I feel like going with a straighforward design so I'd be done with it but I need to bear out this idea a little more.

Ahh, k, gotya, do you know of anyone that has built a 17" so far and gotten images working? cant really search for it since search dosent take strings below 4 characters, hehe. Only one i could find so far was someone that had a panel and was working on stripping it. Main reason is im trying to get an idea of how well the optics work and what size image i might get with it, just a bit more hesitant with something that hasnt been done or done much before myself.

I thought i heard somewhere that there was a group buy earlier for the pro lens kit, any projectors that have been made with a larger panel using those so far?

Cruser has built several but not with the new optics. He order several sets of pro lenses from us though. Keep in mind the pro lenses are designed specifically for the 17" and up panel sizes. The focal calc will give you all the screen size info you want:

http://lumenlab.com/focal_calc.php

ya, i was messing around with that a few minutes ago, is the focal length the 450-500mm of the lens or the 790mm, seems that the 450-500 should be right as that gave me normal looking values

values i was using:

object : 17 inch
distance: 144 inches
FL: 17.7 inches (450mm)

this yeilded 121 inch screen

this would probably be the optimal size as my wall is about 9' high

at 450mm, how far back could i move the projector away from the screen while retaining image clarity and brightness at a reasonable level

disregard, ended up deciding on doing a 15" project (at least first )