OK,

So now that the 7.2" panel appears to be ready for DIY projection I have seriously considered dusting off the Infocus LitePro 550 I have sitting in my closet and making a sweet portable 720p projector from it. Here's what I think about the Infocus as is

LCD - 8.4" (4:3 aspect ratio) VGA resolution..going in the trash if replaced by 7.2" widescreen 720p model. controller board would also be gutted out. I am hoping the newer lcd is also more transmissive than the old one.

Light Engine - uses a 400w halogen bulb with about a 19mm diameter envelope. Puts out about 14,000 lumens but optics are efficient enough it was brighter than my diy MH400w setup. The halogen bulb is just crazy hot. I need to replace this, preferably with a MH that is small enough to fit between the precon/reflector (24mm diameter envelope or less). Ideally it would be considerably cooler than the existing halogen and brighter than 14,000 lumens. So the existing bulb/ballast needs to be ripped out and a new MH solution integrated into the projector casing.

Optics - This is really the saving grace for this projector. The optics seem to be very efficient and I don't want to mess with the precise alignment that is there. I know exactly where the bulb should go, where the lcd should go..etc. Also since the reflector/precon have stood up to the brutal heat of the 400w halogen, I can feel safe putting a cooler/brighter MH in it's place.

Cooling - The existing cooling is pretty pitiful..there are two fans in the back and a squirrel cage type fan in the front but neither move much air, making me even more impressed with the optics still being in one peice. I will replace these with some quiet fans that can move more air.


another member began thinking about changing the light engine in their 550 HERE but it hasn't been actively pursued for a good while.

So the big question is...is there a small enough package that will give me more brightness (greater than 14,000 lumens) in the 150-250w range? And how expensive will it be? I'm not concerned with top of the line, my 400w home depot football bulb was what I used in my standard projector and it seemed just fine to me..I just would have liked some more brightness and I think the efficient optics in this 550 will help me get there.

#EDIT# - Oh boy..I just went and saw the price on this thing...yikes! I was thinking it would be somewhere close to the price of the other small panels, but there's quite a premium for this one....I'll still entertain the idea of a new light engine, but paying $600+ for a homemade projector is getting nutsy!

Have you thought about the xenon HID for cars those bulbs sure are small (I finally have a bulb but no ballast) they are only 35 watt but suppose to be 3X as bright, and you can get them in the 6000k range thats just my .02

+ small
+ white
+ 2000 hrs
+ $20-$30 replace

If you really want to go low cost for now, you could simply get a lower wattage halogen bulb of the same type, overvolt it 20% and get roughly the same brightness, beter color at the expense of 90% bulb life... might tide you over until you can afford what you want. would be cooler for the same peformance too... really only draw back is drastically shorter bulb life, could be a show-stopper if they are already rated at less than 100hrs. do you know the rating on the stock lamp?

well I don't want to go too cheap . I know I want to swap it out for a metal halide setup (I want it white and I want it cool..relatively speaking)..I just want to make sure I get the right one and I'm not looking for anything too elaborate..I should go ahead and get the right "framework" so I guess I'm stuck with at least a $100-150 setup for the lighting. I don't mind spending $50 for a good bulb..it's the cost of the ballast that irks me.

so I guess some ideal specs would be in order

Bulb life: greater than 5k hours
CRI: 90+ (may go for 80+ if price is that much better)
lumen output (avg.) = 18,000+
bulb diameter = 23mm or less
wattage = 250W or less (will probably need 250W to get to the lumens I need)
Color Temp: 4200k to 6500k
Ballast Type: compact (want to integrate into 550 housing
Base Type: don't care..just need the bulb arc/diameter to be able to fit in the existing lightbox.
Cost: preferably around $100 for the whole light kit.

so is this just some holy grail light source that isn't available yet (or available in the 100-150 range?)

without looking into it too much, i think most metal halides are larger than this, and the ones that aren't are lower power (150w ceramic), shorter life (HMI), arc too long, or insanely expensive (that little grain of rice-sized light that is well over 100 lumens/w)... I have a sneaking feeling you may be asking for something that doesn't exist. I'd say pick which one you are willing to sacrifice and then start looking (I chose to sacrifice bulb life, as I will only be watching movies on it... so I went HMI).

a boy can dream..i see them in obscure catalogs but when I google the product numbers I don't see any place to buy them...I would actually prefer the cooler temps and lower power consumption of a 150w...I'm just afraid of ending up with something dimmer than what the projector already has...one one hand I'm thinking the new LCD will be more transmissive than the ancient VGA one, but I've also heard that the higher the contrast ratio, the LESS transmissive the panel...so the 100:1 ratio panel in there may be letting more through than that 600:1 or so one I would replace it with...

getting at least the same or brighter image is a pretty big concern to me..and halogen is just too hot for my liking. the 3rd constraint being the small area I can stick a bulb/arc to be able to use the existing reflector/precon.

I'm going 575 watts. Using this ballast: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...rksid=p3907.m29
(less then 3 hrs left to get one) arizonavideo says it should work

Im going to keep the ballast external from the rest of my projector (which I plan to make really small)

575w is 49000 lumens

only 750 hrs (if i use it for only 2hrs a day it will last over a yr)

$50

and short arc

so I will be watching this thread since I just recieved my infocus 550 (I havent even finished my 15.4) I like how all your gears are spinning to figure out what to do to this thing. 2 questions

1. How did you open it up??

2. Does it only work if you have the remote?? ( I mean I can turn mine on and it shows the main logo but what to do after that)

sdubb,

I actually never had the remote..but since my intention was to gut it anyways it wasn't a big deal. I would just have whatever video source I wanted plugged in, then turn it on..I guess it sort of scans it's inputs for a signal when it comes on. Anyways..the existing screen is awful.

Taking it apart was a bit of a mystery for me as well. There are a couple screws you can undo when you open the back hatch and maybe a couple more (or maybe not!) elsewhere...after that you just remove the rubber ring around the lens on the front and just start prying/prodding/pulling the top/bottom apart until it starts to "unsnap". It's mostly just plastic clips holding it together if I remember correctly.

The main reason I don't want to go 400w or 575w is because I probably won't be able to find a bulb small enough and most importantly I don't want it heating up the room. Again, if 14,000lm gave it adequate brightness (albeit a yellow halogen sort of brightness) then I think I would be thrilled with brilliant white 20,000 lm glory. If I could get a 250w ballast and "overclock" a 150 to get close to the 20,000lm range with a sacrifice in bulb life I could look into that as well...

I see you've already looked at victor-eyed's moviemate thread, but for more litepro inspiration you can go here:

phuttons Journey of a Convoluted Mind

hmmmm...after looking over phuttons again it looks like the existing light engine is 12,000 lumens... I believe I could match that and even exceed it if I could overdrive a 150w with a 250w ballast...I wonder if overdriving a 150w with a 175w ballast would give me any noticeable difference in brightness...things that make you go hmmmmm....and it looks like the original arc length was 10mm so I would also have to try to stay close to 10mm arc or perhaps smaller with a smaller panel than what was originally installed.

Thanks for all the information. I think I will end up using Xenon HID for cars in mine. I just like that they are not really hot at all and pretty much instant on plus its cheap. Keep up the good work. I will be checking in often.

Well I watched a little football on it last night with my HD tuner box via VGA (it looked best at 1080i) and heck I thought it looked pretty good at 60" I was impressed til it shut off and I thought I had blew the bulb. The problem was that I had it jammed up against the wall so there was no place for the heat to go so the bulb shut off. I say for 45 bucks this is a nice little KID TOY projector (but yes the short life and heat have got to go)

yeah, the guy I bought it from had it close to the wall with a heat shield on the wall to keep it from scorching the sheet rock...serious heat coming out of this little thing. The good news is if the reflector/condenser/etc. can hold up to that abuse, it should be great for the much cooler mh bulbs.

Hmmm have you seen this...

http://specialtybulb.thomasnet.com/item/al...22?&seo=110

I vote we try this bulb

CMS 150w /T6/942/G12
I actually already have a 175 coil ballast but I dont know enough to "try" things out.

this bulb is calling my name

looks nice...here's another one that looks good at a good price:

Satco CDM150/T6/942

I don't even have a ballast yet..the 175 should be fine but you need to keep in mind it will lower the color temp...there is a color filter sheet in the 550 though that "compensates" for the warmer color of the original bulb.

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23372