This is my first post and my first attempt at building a projector. So please be gentle . I used a screen that was made for the Gamecube, which is identical to the PSOne screen. I am using a 100 Watt flood light to test things out until my ballast comes in, so the screen shots are a little dark. Here's the completed projector. The box is made from shelves from the Home Depot. The focus tube is from a heavy cardboard shipping tube.

The interior.

Another interior shot.

And a screen shot. I'll post an update when I install the proper lighting.
The first one is from The Day After Tomorrow, and the Second is Boots from Dora the Explorer.

Boots

Thats not bad at all! I'm surprised actually.

I think you have the image size too big though, I can see the pixels even in the picture.

-- jaydillyo

Impressive!!

thats because he is using a 5 inch PS1 lcd

Hell, I'm impressed with the lamp. Nice work.

Ballast?.... He don't need no stinking ballast.

What wattage/type lamp do you intend to upgrade to? It's pretty impressive already.

I plan on using a 250 watt bulb. Yeah, the pixels do show but if you sit back a little you dont really notice them. This project was just a primer to building the larger one. I have to admit, I'm happy with the results so far.

Looks great for a primer . I did the same (inadvertently) with my first projector. Now, I'm building a new one, a better one, but using most of the same parts from the last.

Can't believe you are getting that amount of end lumens out of a 100 watt flood. That's amazing.

What size image (measured diagonally) is that? I'm curious as to what size image you can get with that panel.

The image is about 4 feet diagonal which is probably the biggest I can go. I was surprised as well with the brightness, It could be due to the smaller screen. But it is still very dim compaired to other PJ's I've seen here. I cant wait to see what it looks like with the MH bulb and reflector. I'll post comparison shots when the new bulb is installed.

Very impressive stuff, considering the lcd. And nicely laid out interior. I'm looking forward to those comparison shots with new bulb. Keep us posted.

nice my oldest loved seeing boots, guess ya kids like the pooh books as well!

How's the contrast on those PSOne/Gamecube LCDs? It's difficult to tell from the photos.

The Contrast isn't bad, not great, but not bad. I finally got the ballast and am in the process of installing it. Man that thing is heavy. I'll post an update within the next few days.

Here's the new lamp. A Sylvania metalarc 175 watt from the local supply house. The 250 watt was too big to fit into the box and get properly centered. I was unable to find a suitable mixing bowl for the reflector, so I bought a work light and used the reflector from that.

Close up view.

Let there be light.

New Screen shots. Since Finding Nemo seems to be popular, heres a couple more.
You can even see the pixels. These are being projected on a very light blue wall. The spot in the upper middle is a picture hangar.

Another.

The same picture from The Day After Tomorrow with the new lamp.

This just looked good

Hell dave, to be your first try this start kicks ass! I wonder what would happen if you get your hands on a 15", 17" or 19" with the new pro lens kit! Keep up the great work man!;)

Damn, now that's an improvement. Thanks for posting the updated pictures so quickly! And glad to see things worked out with the ballast.

how are you connecting to the lcd?
are you using composite, or did you vga-hack the controller?
Looks good so far - great results from such a low res screen

Dave1

I see you have a fresnel lens before the LCD panel did you also cut
one to size after it too or was this not needed do to the size of the LCD

Thanks

Im just using the standard inputs on the panel for now. Since this was just a starter projector with plans to go to the 15" soon, I just left it standard. If you stand close to the projected image, you can really get the screen door effect, but sitting at a comfortable distance, you really don't notice it.

For the fresnels, I mounted them together with the grooved sides facing each other. With the light on, I moved them back and forth in the box until I got the smallest spot at the lens and left them there.

There's lots of room for improvement, but it works great.

Dave,

Looks great! Say, what type of ballast are you using and where did you get it? I was at the local Home Depot today and saw the 175 MH bulbs, but looking at the ballasts they offer, I couldn't see anything that looked like it would work and as usual, there was no one in shouting distance to ask if they even carry such ballasts

good job... have you considered using a norpro for your reflector? I think you would get better results with the norpro than with that thing you are currently using.

why not just buy the ballast and bulb from lumenlab?

sorry! I checked the store and saw the bulb but not the ballast I'll look again, thanks!

The only ballasts Home Depot and Lowes carry are flourescent lighting ballasts. Sort of irritating since they have the bulbs, but not the ballasts, huh? I got mine from a local lighting supply warehouse, but since I was not a contractor, it cost me almost $95. Had I been a bulk order contractor, the price would drop to $70 (for a MH 400W ballast).

Another funny thing happened... apparently people use these lamps to grow pot too, and since the guy didn't believe that anyone could "make" a projector, he was very hesitant to let me take one. I told him about Lumenlab, and finally convinced him that I was on the level. Honestly, I don't think pot and high voltage would mix very well... but beer... .now that's a DIY'ers pick-me-up!

Awesome case Dave!

Yeah lighting guy's are all on to the pot growing thing, they probably don't want the gov't. breathing down their necks and this is probably the reason that Home Depot doesn't sell ballasts along with the lamps.

I had the same reaction a few years ago when I was looking into buying a MH lamp to build a screen exposing system. They were very suspicious and asked me all kinds of questions. They probably have guys coming in every day trying to buy grow lamps.

To get back on topic: Any new results with your projector after tweaking and living with it for a while? Is there any progress with the 15" box? I am sure your new PJ will be great also.

Sorry for the Delay in replying. I bought the bulb and ballast from Standard Electric near where I work. The balast was $29.00 and the bulb was $24.00.
I got the company discount. So far I am happy with the PJ as is. We use it almost daily. But the thought of a brighter bulb and reflector keep popping up.

The 15" is on hold for the moment until the addition to the house get's started.
Then I will incorporate it into the new family/Home theater room.

ok someone help me understand this. how in the world did he get decent results from that floodlight.

ive been trying to understand but I just cant

Hah, someone I talked to that came over and saw my projector that knew all about MH ballasts and bulbs, he was using a 1000W high pressure sodium bulb for "disclosed purposes" haha, bet that thing could melt through a lcd in a few seconds

The main reason is the smaller LCD. The images are watchable although very difficult on the darker scenes. Also, the flood light concentrates the light forward, so you get a little less light loss. This arrangement cannot be used for the larger LCD's because you will get dark corners because of the narrow beam spread.
I only used the flood for testing and would not recommend this bulb for regular use. The MH is much better.

did the LCD get hot when you were first testing with the 100W flood lamp?

or did your cooling setup handle it?

great little setup you got there!

that floodlight doesnt get that hot. especially with a ir filter.

but it doesnt look like dave has one so i am wondering the same thing dr bev.

the ir on the bulb is kinda hot

Hi Dave! I am also a newbie here at Lumenlab. Been lurking around for two months now at I'd like to try my hand first with the PSOne lcd panel. However, getting that panel here in the Philippines is kind of hard. Anyway, I'll still try to look for one. BTW, what are the dimensions of your box? Would you mind posting a layou of it including the distances between parts?

Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!

I'm also building a PSone screen setup and am probably going to use the 250w ballast setup, but i purchased the 400w for now so i can just step up to a bigger setup later.

Just curious if anyone reading this has used lexan instaed of glass to keep the weight down in these smaller setups?

NICE WORK BTW!!!

Also, anyone build one of these and ease the process with a FFc cable extension? Know where to get one at a good price?

thanks agaon!

Yeah, the LL store - Brain has all you need

was wondering how about if someone were to use a 250 watt floodlight just wondering I know the MH is better just have to cover all potentioals

Flood lights generally use halogen bulbs, so not only are they not white enough (they're very yellow), but they also get much hotter than metal halide. And the flood light assembly will give uneven distribution of light, so you'd probably end up with a hotspot on your screen. Basically, they're totally unusable for projection.

Still unless you give it a shot you will never know. So just try it , if it doesnt work out then you just replace the light.

This topic is over 2 years old. There is a reason no one on this site is using a halogen flood light for their PJ. It does not work and the colors are terrible, but by all means go ahead and try it if you feel you need to see it for yourself...