Here are a few pics of my 3rd PJ. I reall am not going to be able to take any more pics unless I make a specific trip for it. I found the BenQ 567s V2 LCD to be much better than the CMV/Liquidvideo. The pixels are smoother (smaller with smaller gaps between), smooth black edge to edge when screen is blacked out, and more accurate colors. With finally having full size fresnels I finally get the nice professional looking crips edges and coners. Would be perfect if not for the keystone corection slightly blurring the bottom corners and bowing the bottom edge (not noticeable to the layman).

-BenQ 567s V2
-USHIO conversion
-Big Heavy Cheap Ballast (that sits outsite the box where a ballast should)
-Norpro
-Simplified Focusing Mechanism (using strict cutout sizing lined with fabric for a tight grip on the lens no matter what the position - tapered edge of lens has one layer of electric tape)
-Simplied and less effective light box due to huge Norpro


BLUE WHITE TEXTURED WALLS!

Pic showing the keystone problems. Hazy stretched bottom corners and bowed bottom edge.

another pic

another

outside the bakery

daytime showing max image size when on the farthest back track position (REDICULOUS AT OVER 16' WIDE!!)

another

closer view of trak

Constructed out of Bamboo flooring! Man that stuff is rediculously hard! Tensile strength of mild steel from what I read.

Pinch me...............I'm dreaming!

toddb

Geez, man! You're making the rest of us look bad...

Thanks guys

It didn't come free. Because I just had to have a streamlined box I paid the ultimate price. I hacked my thumb in a table saw lost a bit forever!

Saws are not forgiving when it comes to flesh! Believe it or not this was the lightest quickest of nicks. The problem is that that spining saw blade doesn't nick... it explodes it! I lost a bunch of tissue/meat and bone was made into sawdust! I will throw in a early pic too with a pin in it to give a better idea how it looked a month after.

edited out nasty image of thumb

edited out nasty image of thumb

aw man, i'm eating sloppy Joe's right now - no kidding too!!

sorry to hear of the loss, but ya know, it seems to 'everyone else' that it was worth it. Nice PJ for sure, and I love the adjutable track!!!

Joe, you did it again! this time you took it a notch higher - excellent job! and welcome back to the forum, even though you came back to challenge the rest of us by your latest PJ,
Sorry about your thumb, I hope you recover soon - and thanks for the pictures of your thumb - they're the first injury pictures I have seen here - I think they are a welcome sight at the forum because they will be a reminder to everyone using any kind of tools to be extra careful.
What's your next move? I know at one point you hinted doing the SGI 1600SW pj, are you still on it?

Joe, I'm speechless...

thats the best looking PJ ever congrats joe

Joe,
What ballast are you using with the Ushio conversion lamp (UHI-s400DD?) VERY nice looking setup.

-Jim

First of all Joe Sorry about the finger. That is an awesome projector you built. That's an inspiration to me and I'm sure many others. Keep up the great work and happy and safer future builds. Nice Job

Oh' That's some Forensic S@#* here at Lumenlab.

VERY nice results, I love the sliding track idea, as well as the design of the box itself, will definately have to borrow those designs

curious about how high the center of the triplet is off of the floor? the keystoning doesn't appear to be all that much of an issue, at least in the pics, perhaps more noticeable in person? maybe you have a windows desktop (with text) screenshot that would show the problem off more clearly?

sorry to hear about the finger, hopefully you think it was worth it in the end

incredible....

i just wanted to know joe: do you have any plans for placing the pj design online?

because quite frankly, your pj is simply the best i've seen so far!

p.s. sorry about the finger!

Thanks everyone for all the compliments!

I'll try to answer the questions asked..

araczynski-
I agree that the keystone is not much of an issue in the pic because that is about as far as it should be pushed. That PJ was sold to a friend and I wouldn't feel good about any flaws beyond that. If I remember to measure the triplet height the next time I am at the bakery I will, but telling you that the top of the PJ is about aligned with the top of the image should answer your question. Feel free to use any ideas you see in my PJ's. You aren't going to see me trying to copyright some design aspect of DIY PJ's (for you DIY PJ old schooler's ).

kingjamez-
I am using the recommended ballast from atlanta lightbulbs for the USHIO UHI-S400DD. The big heavy block of metal. See http://www.atlantalightbulbs.com/ecart/pg0827/41256.htm

sctele-
I don't have any plans of putting together design plans for sale or anything. It would be time consuming. Anyone can do this design. I would suggest keeping the design as basic as possible. Using a mirror to fold the light path is ridiculous to me. You still end up with about the same size box, but with slightly different dimension and I would rather have something streamlined and ceiling mounted anyway. Adding a mirror adds one more thing to tweak and adjust and one more way your image can be distorted. If you want to shape a box like mine you are going to have to become a bit of a DIY PJ student and learn the internal tweaking before building a shaped box. I set all my stuff up in a rectangle experimental box, tweak everything, then take measurements, and shape a box around it using 1/4” MDF. Make sure to allow enough room in front of your fresnels to allow for circuit board mounting without intruding on the light path. Basically, make a sketch with mm fine measurements of the placement of all your internals and the lightpath then shape the shell however you can around that. I could have taken it further by tapering the sides in as well, but that would have meant more complicated cuts than I wanted to deal with for the result I was looking for. Tapering your box (especially the front bottom) adds to ceiling mounting and keystone correction by allowing you to have your box a little lower because the bottom front won't intrude on your image (also allows for close mounting to ceiling becasue the rear top won't allows more room when tapered)

japlasma-
I am planning on doing the SGI for my personal use in the future with possibly I 1000w light or a high wattage xenon with 5.5-6K color if I can put together something financially feasible. I figure if I am taking that further step to true HD panel then I might as well kick the lighting up a notch to really give the full effect. Anyone know what a high quality, high power, true HD PJ goes for? Talk about DIY bang for your buck! Anyone share the opinion that a streamlined box such as the bakery PJ would look better hanging from a ceiling than a Cruser style SGI box? This is absolutely no bad talk about Cruser, just looking for opinions. It sounds like the SGI panel is about the same height as the BenQ and just a little wider. I think that would be perfect for the bakery style.

You guys want to see a beautiful and inspiring PJ check out the new Sony Qualia 004 at http://www.qualia.sony.us/qualia_main.html

PDF
http://www.qualia.sony.us/QUALIAProjectorFINAL.pdf

42 000$ canadian

whereas our LL PJ's cost less than $1000 US and have similar or better picture quality...

whoa ho ho no. Don't get caught in that trap I used to have the same thoughts. That (and most high end projectors) absolutely kill any DIY in many ways. The performance does come with the rediculous cost. You will set yourself up for dissapointment with that thought process. We CAN do very very cool for low cost, but thats about it.

I am thinking the SGI with some rediculous blasting light power should be pretty damn cool... oh damn I am setting myself up for another couple months in the basement... damnit!

not even close look at the spec and cooling system
pure xenon lamp said powerconsumption of 980w
300 inch diagonal image
6.2megapixel

now thats what i call a light box!

Speaking of xenon lamps
Can't we put the xenon powered headlight bulb from cars that are H.I.D.,(not the fake ones) as a light source, of course provided that the color temperature is correct (most of them are blueish). could significant decrease size if were using a smaller lcd??? Or they are probally too hot running

EDIT: Forget that ideal, they dont even put out enough lumens

I did a little xenon poking around the net the other day, but not much. I don't think an auto xenon is enough power for projection. A lot of people are getting into the more blue to purple xenons these days cause blue is cool these days so blue-purple must be cool... right? Nonetheless, the standard xenon in the 5-6.5K range is the white we are looking for for projection. Theaters use xenons in that range. As I poked I found that they are very expensive for high power applications so I figured I would search when I was more serious about building the next big deal.

I got a question for anyone that knows:
In commercial/consumer LCD and DLP PJ's do they use a rear fresnel or is that bypassed with a perfectly focused efficient light source? Thinking the fresnel is needed to get that light straight for the LCD.

<cough? lightbox <cough> Excuse me, have an Ace, I mean, ache in my throat...

good one

jo@joewerb.com,

I have seen your previous box looks same design but this one you did a good job on finishing so it looks really nice and for that big room box looks small with the design you have , and very good results.

Do you have any pictures of your focus box, I would really like to see how your did that area to keep the box small.

Sorry to hear about your finger after seeing the pictures every one here will take extra care working with power tools.

It weighs 88 lbs ! Mounting it would be somewhat more than DIY. It would necessarily become DIYTWACOMP !!! Do It Yourself Together With A Couple Of More Persons. The .pdf didn't provide an illustration of the ceiling mount, which must be fairly substantial too. Anybody know what the cost of a replacement lamp would be and its longevity ? ( If you have to ask, you can't afford it !)

I'd love to get the plans for this pj. Where are they posted? What kind of piping did you use to suspend from the ceiling?

Looks super, btw.

LOL You got it
Still around eh OKflyboy?

The shell of this box is very similar accept the last one had an all aluminum top (BTW is amazing for heat dissipation), thinner and more flimsy box material (I find 1/4" MDF just perfect), had a totally different and better lightbox because of the smaller reflector, and wasn't tapered on all top and bottom sides or tapered as steep in the front, and the edges are routered adding to the overall smoother look.
Similar basic idea of reducing box size by deducting wasted internal space.

Sorry, but I didn't take pictures of the internals etc. It is pretty easy to understand the focusing mechanism by my describing it. The focusing mechanism is simply the triplet perfectly fitted into the front 1/4" MDF panel. I sized the hole perfect to allow for carefully glued foam backed auto headliner fabric around the inside of the hole which allows for smooth, but firm in and out movement of the triplet. It holds the triplet in place equally well wether it is in or all the way out.

yeah...i know...but still, i take pride that we have hdtv compatible pj's that cost thousands less. can't deny that, now can you jo?

very very nice set up but hey what else could we expect from you. keep up the excellent work your an inspiration to all

Hello Joe, a great looking projector, similar to what I’m doing.
The pictures of your thumb bring back some memories for me. I got my 2nd and 3rd fingers nicked by a docking saw about 15 years ago, I cringe every time I hear the sound of the blade jamming. I can understand what you mean about the blade exploding flesh and the pain to go with it. Hope it still work ok.

DJ

hi,
very professional design!

so we dont get to see any pictures of the inside?
You dont happen to have any pictures or drawings?

See now that's what I'm talking about! What you did makes what I had in mind looks like a joke. Back to the drawing board!

Oh no, our PJ's are awesome. My roomates and I love watching TV and movies on my first PJ. I am just trying to save you from a dissapointment if thats what you are looking for. 1080i or 1080p calls for a 1600x1080, but even a 1080 signal shines on 1024x768 PJ.

However, I gotta say, I just watched a couple movies last night with my PJ calibrated with the "Adobe Gamma" control panel on a low end Shuttle PC using WinDVD with "Cinema Enhancement", sharpness, brightness, contrast, color, and gamma (slight further tweaking than adobe gamma calibration) all tweaked. HOLY CRAP I never knew our PJ's even had that potential! Much less my CMV/Liquidvideo PJ! I didn't have that adjustment available on my Mac laptop and assumed calibration alone got the best picture.

THROW OUT YOUR TV BOXES!!!!!

My N6 will be replaced by an HTPC very soon! There is no substitute for even a cheap HTPC when driving near HD to HD signals to a HQ monitor such as our PJ's. The difference is dramatic. You are doing yourself a big disservice by not processing the signal. HTPC's can substitute very high end external dedicated video processing equiptment costing K's and K's.

I'll take some pics for you guys tonight. I think I am going to the Bakery for a feature presentation.

Oh I forgot!

As for getting 720 or 1080 HDTV signal into your HTPC for processing...
The HOLO3DGRAPH-II mother and daughter card allow for inputing 1080 signals for PC processing and these card alone allow for rediculous tweaking. Hefty price tag, but I have seen the set sold for around $600 on eBay. I guess I would only go that far with a SGI PJ

What are you cookin up for your PJ?

I still have a funny feeling everytime I use my saw. I am sure that will take a long time to get over. I guess I finally have the respect i should have had for the saw.

Yessir! Working on a new design, nothing near as complicated as yours though. I was planning on reusing my LiquidVideo, but your results have me re-thinking that!

Later!

-fly

Any chance of adding those plans to this site for our use?

Beutifull can you post the dimensions that you placed your internals in mm measurements also how did you make your focus box?

FYI, he already answered this: