Hi guys,

Yesterday I got the first better picture from my projector which I was building only during weekend times (for past 8 months!)

It was a slow progress, but I felt satisfactory when the first picture came up on the wall !!

Design is straight one (did not attempt a folded one since I dont know where to buy front surface mirror in India Pondicherry)

Design :
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Dimensions:
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First projection pictures and other details in next update

Water Soaking and removal of back reflective layers on the LCD panel.

Used water soaking method .,used simple paper towel and distilled water (use distilled water to avoid any marks left on the LCD panel due to hard water).

Follow Gecko's method - He has documented it excellent already step by step.

Do a google search as below to find the process

Gecko Studios 10.6" No-htpc Projector, MST board installed. Panel in. Pictures to come site:lumenlab.com

I had :

1. Soaked for 3 hours each layer
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2. Peeled of carefully the first layer
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3. Peeled of carefully the second layer
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4.Now you can find the panel is shiny on the back side.
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Turned on my projector with above told setup but found the picture was
very dull and not satisfactory.

Then I had added a precondensor and kitchen vessel reflector
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I got Wow a good picture
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My son 4.1/2 feet tall standing in front of projection of 90inches diagonal projection screen.
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My favorite video - a french girl singing on a french TV ( Any way I dont know french )
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But I dont like certain things in my projector :

1. The Lamp color is not truly "white" it is a crompton greaves make bulb, But it has a slight yellowish color in the light

Does anybody know to buy a 250 watts (tested for a true 6500K white color bulb) single ended equivalent bulb in India ,

I can replace the existing.

2. I really doubt does the large vessel reflector is really reflecting or the precondensor is what created a brightness difference ?
I am going to conduct some more experiments to prove/disprove it later this week end.

Rajesh
Where have you bought your LCD screen from and for how much?Good to see an INDIAN .As for bulbs you can buy an OSRAM POWERSTAR 250w w/d bulb which has a color temp of 5300k which is quite white though not as white a s a tubelight or a cfl.We donot want that white light either as has been prooved by John .If you pocket allows than you can go for a POWERBALL bulb.

Hi Umesh,

I have bought from carpow from China Shenzen http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread/t-98715.html
I think he is the cheapest for this controller board+panel I paid 220US$ for both
(but I was fortunate enough to have friend who visited china for official purpose and also helped me to hand carry back to me)

Thanks for the compliment.

What is the difference between a OSRAM POWERSTAR & POWERBALL.

Are those both available in INDIA ? If yes Where Can I approach.

Hi guys.

I did work last week end on this and improved the brightness to my satisfaction :

1. I have found during construction the lamp arc has not been placed in the center and it had missed to match the the "optical center line" of the whole projector assembly.
After making small alignment (to make the lamp arc come in line " the brightness has improved a lot. I can even view the projection pictue fine even when a 12W CFL lamp is lighting up on the top front.

That is my son in front of projection with lights on. (Little bit frowned as I asked him to stand still for the photo)
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2. I found out that how much I was ignoring the projection screen so far, I was always projecting on to a dull wall ,
then I found out a white poster vinyl material (but it was a small peice lying at home which came as a poster ) can improve the screen projection in terms of bringing out the vivid color and brightness tremendously !! rightnow I have only a small peice (marked in the photo) which gives a diffrence in color & brightness, I am going to buy a bigger one
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I found this material can be ordered (cheap also square feet costs just Rs6/- equal to 0.14US$) in local "digital printing" shop which supplies instant digital printing (that is they print huge posters instantly with big ink jet type of printers on this vinyl canvas and deliver the posters in hours) They call it " flex canvas".

3. I also found out the glass (expensive) reflector which I was having earlier had also (after I over came point 1) helped to bring the brightness level still better. So I dropped the Idea of making a soup ladle type reflector with vessel.

Now I can stop myself watching my DVD and HD movie collections once again through this new projector as it givesd a different feeling again !!

Any Way i am planning to make my documentation and straight and better in coming few weeks time. And also already started a work on making a small 3 channel PIC16F877 based LCD electronic thermostat to monitor and control the LCD panel's temperature which is a precious one in the whole system !.

See you soon.

Rajesh Could you please post some larger pics.I mean images from indian movies with diagonal over 100".That would help us getter a better idea of the quality of the image.

Sure,

I am just waiting for the 6x4 feet White Vinyl sheet (which I had explained in my earlier post) I have ordered.

Unfortunately I think I cannot have 100" diagonal screen , simply because short of space for projection in our (rented) home.

After calculations & real projection I think I can get a 72" diagonal max (due to room size shortage ! ) But I think this is enough as brightness also better in this size also gives a "big screen" effect without moving your head/neck side-to-side too much to watch a movie , as we have to be very near the screen because of the room size shortage in the house.

Anyway I will take some photos (Indian mostly Tamil movies) in this week for posts after getting the Vinyl sheet.

Rajesh i would like to listen to your thoughts on the screendor as the panel supposedly has half as much pitch as the regular 15" LCDs.I mean it has a pixel pitch of 0.1mm as against 0.295mm for a 15" one.

Dear Umesh,

Sorry last week for very tough and tight in my work place ,
I could not put my time properly in taking photos , I will try this week.

And on the screen-door effect, I could not see much of its effect on the projection screen , The screen appears smooth from a 8 feet distance , I will also get a closeup snapshot later during this week end,

But since I have not seen a 15" LCD projection I dont know what could be the screen door effect on a 15" LCD projection , So I will not be able to give a proper comparision.

I got the vinyl sheet but yet to streach it up to make a proper flat screen.

Some progress made on the PIC16F877 microcontroller based LCD Panel temperature measurement and fan controller - I will also post the Ckt diagram & HEX code soon for the interested forum members to use it ( I am wondering is this a correct forum topic to have Cicuit diagram and code to be posted - Moderators can help commenting on this )

Hi All,

Last saturday & Sunday I was able to spend some time to make myself a Vinyl sheet based projection screen.

It gave a better picture , but it has a texture all over it which slightly interferes viewing pleasure , as I could NOT find a better material (I cant find Blackout cloth at all in POndicherry Still !!) I did not have more choice than to use it.

I like to share some pictures of projection projected on to my Vinyl Screen.

1. Vinyl screen getting made by me & my Son !
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2. Inside view of the projector , you can see two PVC pipes streaming the cold fresh air from outside on the LCD panel to cool it which is sucked by the 80mm DC fans fitted on the sides.
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3.Side of the projector (actually it has lots of places where paint job is still pending -
I will do it later, As I Could not concentrate on painting it anymore as I am totally into watching movies
with my new projector )
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4.Another side view , you can see the LCD controller on the side box with fan also, and a 12V - 3Amps DC power supply box on the front which supplies power to LCD controller and also the fans.
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5. My bedroom with projection screen , I(we - with my family) have lie down adn watch the movies, as the room size is small.

The width of projection is 72" wide - diagnol.
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6.I have taken another snap ofthe same room, but I forgot to switch off the flash that is why it has white patchs on the screen.
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6.Some Tamil movie clips from my Projector for Indian Fans.From the block buster movie " Shivaji - The boss"
Tamil super star Rajinikanth's Movie.
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photos from another block buster tamil movie Pokkri projected from my projector - In which Vijay stars.

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Columbia Pictures Logo through my projector , you know it gives a upcoming movie enjoyment feeling when this logo starts on the screen ........ Be prepared with a popcorn or hot samosa in hand !!!!!!!

Thanks LumenLab forum members to enable us to get this enjoyment right to our bedrooms !!.
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Hoodwinked snapshot.
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Hi, I am sorry I have not finished the 3 channel Microcontroller PIC16F877 based LCD electronic thermostat controller yet, As I have spent all my last week end time watching all the movies once again through the projector.

I will try to complete the thermostat by this weekend.

Looking good!

You're children must be thrilled to be watching such a large screen - as well as you and your wife. I'm still using my cardboard mock-up box as my projector while I finish up my enclosure and I watch one or two movies a night.

If you find that the light that's leaking through on the side of your LCD becomes bothersome, you can always place something like electrical tape around the triplet side of the LCD to prevent that light from reaching the screen.

Ho ! Thanks QM for the encourgament, Thanks very much for pointing the light leakage issue , Yes we also saw it but you know we (means my family) not bothered much as of now on it, as all are enjoying the BIG SCREEN CINEMA and started seeing all the movies from our DVD/CD/DOWNLOADED HD DOCUMENTARIES/MOVIES collection once again
on BIG screen every night, and I will try to mask the light leakage as you said with a tape this weekend.

Thanks folks for all the support I got all the way from the LL forum, LL forum rocks !

Hope you also get some time in finishing your projector enclosure with proper box - I think MDF type plywood is easy to work, for me I got it precut from the store itself (who sold me the plywood) who was kind enough to follow my paper drawing dimensions and got me the precut sheets(without any extra cost which I got into my home and used drilling machine to drill holes for screws and fastened the box together and tada! the basic box was ready fast.

DIY projector really gives a new view of yourself to your family , when you watch movies with them in your home (my wife was thrilled on what I can do (finally !) and boasts herself to neighbours on this new (relatively cheap) BIG screen of our own !)

Hi rajesh

some help from you will be appreciated


1. please specify with 10.6 panel which is the controller you are using it HDMI ???

2. and can you please share wiring diagram of your pj ??

3. do we need powe supply for lcd kit to work was it bundled with kit ???

Thanks

Hi Javed,

1. Panel used is : SamSung LT106W2-L01 a 10.6" Wide Panel

2. Controller board used is : from Toptech using genesis controller Chip, it has onboard VGA,S-Video,RCA composite Video And A TV tuner (PAL) also. But unfortunately I did not got the remote control for it. (but no HDMI)

3. I am using normal VGA connector to connect the projector to my Laptop which uses ATI based discrete graphics.
I am not using HDMI.

4.Wiring drawing is simple only , As I have used the Crompton Greaves set of lamp,Ballast,Ignitor the complete wiring details have been given over the ballast,Ignitor itself for the user to follow.
However I will prepare the wiring I had done later this week end and post it for you.

5. Yes the power supply was bundled with the Kit ,but You know it "poofed" (smoked !) off in few hours of usage -
I was lucky nothing happened to my panel & controller . Then I made myself a 3AMP 12V simple DC power supply to power the controller and Panel.

my Mail: drajkumard@yahoo.co.in
my Skype: draj1968

I liked to have a link to my useage of "DIY PROJECTOR AS OHP" (a ironical useage) in my Plog (just for plogging sake) .

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25964

what lamp do you use at the moment ?

Hi ,

I use A Crompton Greaves make of 250Watts MetalHalide Lamp.

Model: Tubular Lamp 250 Watt MBI S/T

Details at : http://www.cglonline.com/cg/avs/home/light...e/light-single/

But I am not much happy with the color clarity at the moment with Crompton Greaves,

I am looking for OSram powerBall 250Watts to replace as I saw in this forum people praising this
OSRAM powerball too much !

But hard to source still in South part of India.

As I was saying earlier I had almost finished my DIY projector - Microcontroller based FAN & LAMP controller.

May be helpfull in giving peace of mind , by monitoring any hotspots getting developed and helping to stop some
catastrophic situation of FAN failure , overheat etc...

My collegue helped me in writing the required code. Code tested in the PROTEUS Simulator - yet to test in reality.

MICROCONTROLLER BASED LAMP & FAN CONTROLLER:

USES SINGLE CHIP SOLUTION USING PIC 16F877A Microchip's microcontroller.

1. Has a sensor (sensor1) (in the form of LM35 placed near or on the lcd PANEL) connected to the PIC16F877 which will monitor the LCD panel temperature and accordingy switch on/off the power to the 12V DC fan using the mosfet - Mosfet is selected to avoid annoying relay switching sound during operation.

2. Has a sensor (sensor2) (in the form of LM35 placed near or on the hot component of the lcd Control board) connected to the PIC16F877 which will monitor the LCD Controller hot component temperature and accordingy switch on/off the power to the 12V DC fan using the mosfet - Mosfet is selected to avoid annoying relay switching sound during operation.
Thsi fan has to be positioned on the top of the hot component identified after running the LCD controller for sometime.

3.Warn Buzzer and Warn LED will beep and flash (alarm) of any of the temperature of LCD panel or the LCD controller (the hot component) will go beyond set limit -this a second limit assuming the cooling system
fails.

4. And also after some time out period if the alarm continues ,the LAMP relay will switch offthe power (and also stop
counting lamp hours until power cycled).

5. Will show all the sensor temperature , lamp hours , setting menu etc..
on a 16x2 LCD module.

6.Has inbuilt "Lamp hours" time counter,counts and keeps the number of hours the lamp was on (wire this circuit parrallel to

the LAMP, so when ever this circuit is powered on the 'lamp hours' counter accumulates.
Thsi data is stored in the internal EEPROM hence non-volatile.

7. Has a LDR (Light dependent Resistor) circuit which will monitor the light output (will not measure)and because of the

voltage dip the lamp switches off then it will cut the lamp power and waiting for a cooling time before it switches on the

lamp again. As I understand hot-re-strickeing is bad for lamp.

8. Has onboard ICSP (in circuit serial programmer header ) for handling firmware changes.

9. Has 4 navigation buttons for setting the parameters.

10.All the required external connections like lamp relay, switches, buzzer, LEDs,sensors etc.. are
connected using SIL/DIL connectors - this will be flexible for people to utilize this design
for their own needs.

11. Has HEARTBEAT LED blinking to show the controller is watching the temperature status of the sensor
- gives peace of mind from a distance.

3D rendering of my FAN & LAMP controller PCB - size is 93mm x 80mm small size
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Now I have finished the PCB routing , and going to give it to PCB house for making this 2 sided PCB.

Expected to get the PCB in 3~4 days time , then I will stuffit and make it up and see does the code runs properly.
I am sure it might need fine tuning a lot.
Lets see once the PCB comes and I assemble........

Here goes the Schematic.Click to view attachment

Here goes my PCB 2D imageClick to view attachment

Waiting for the PCB from PCB house .. wait for another 1 week....

PCB house , whom I had given for making the double sided PCB is just killing me , there is again a
delay from thier side in delivering the PCB , still waiting ---

ha at last got the PCB today

I have to prepare getting all components and start assembly by this week end.

Bare PCB Solder Side Photo :
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[quote name='Rajesh2007' post='289871' date='Jul 10 2008, 05:23 PM']ha at last got the PCB today

I have to prepare getting all components and start assembly by this week end.

Bare PCB Component Side Photo :
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Great work Rajesh!! Is the PIC 16F877A Microchip's microcontroller available in Indian local Electronic market or do you have to order it??
Waiting for the final results of this hot spot hot shot detector and controller.....So get out your iron and start soldering the components in place
Cheers!! And Good Luck!!

Thanks !
Yes PIC 16F877A is available in chennai electronic market, but I am sure it must be easily available from mumbai electronic market also,

But this requires a coding to be done for which I am relying on my friend who knows how to code.

I am dumb in that !!

For electronics assembly I am just waiting the sunday to come, to start my work at home.

But I think it may require a long way to go until a working solution is arrived including fine tuning the code.