More than 5 months of hard work has finally paid off. Presenting to you my first ever projector, codename REDBOX (duh...). It's not the most fancy of projectors, but it works great (at least to my expectations)! Anyways, I am really thankful for all the help I received from fellow DIY buddies. This forum and brainchild rock!

BTW, this is a continuation from:


http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3266&st=0" target="_blank">early work


I will start off with pictures of the REDBOX...

Exterior... Not XBOX, but REDBOX...

Note my 15min spring wound shutdown timer

Other view...

I have two handles that allow me to adjust the tilt and focus of the projection lens. My "rail system" allows me to fine tune my box by sliding the "frames". The positions of the fresnels, LCD, tempered glass, and projection lens may be adjusted. I can do keystone too!

I have a detachable cover using velcro. This allows me to reposition the slot when I shift the LCD around in the box.

Looking into my "tweak zone". My top lid was split into 2 to isolate the ultra bright lamp section from the "dark section". At least I would not get blinded while doing adjustments....

Interior view... Notice the "rail" (aka a metal rod) by the side.

Lamp section... I'm currently using wiring nuts to hold my wires together, but the connections are not very good. My next revision, will be terminal slots like what most builders have been using.

Back view... I have an 8A circuit breaker instead of a fuse and an auxiliary power output.

My A/V console...

1. Viewsonic N6
2. Philips DVP 642 (plays DVIX)
3. EV SonicXS 2.1 multimedia speakers
4. Classic arcade game...
5. Hopefully XBOX, PS2, etc. in the future

Since my rented room is kinda small, my screen has a width of approx 2 yards. I am using the budget blackout cloth from Joanne's. Image width is roughly 65", which is just nice (not too big, that I get dissy).

The blackout cloth is attached to the wall using heavy duty velcro strips (so I can do some fine adjust).

Released specs:

Under the hood:
1. Liquid Video 15" LCD
2. Toyo 100cfm fan (I get average temp of only 30 degrees celsius)
3. E Ballast
4. Ushio lamp
5. Lumenlab kit and projection lens
6. UV filter (hopefully I won't get cataract from all the UV radiation...)
7. Norpro reflector
8. Intermatic 15min spring wound timer

Total cost is probably close to $1000 (made countless trips to Lowe's and Home Depot)... Component inputs from the DVP 642 to N6 works great! NO visible jaggies!

Some images from Monster's Inc, Terminal, and cable TV... Looks better in real life though. I am using the Panasonic FZ2 2.1MP digital camera with tripod.

3D animated films really showcase the projector....

Oops, forgot the resize the previous image....

Hot!

Please don't run over me....

I'm going to NY!

That image noise is still present for channels 2-6. Help!

The guy behind the REDBOX...

Without hot chicks, no one will be watching reality TV shows...

Darma and Greg...

Great looking results yhlim, nice colours, Bright and sharp images.
Keep up the good work

nice results and the color of the box man...

Nice sharp picture.. Good job...

I found that the numerous trips to the hardware store jack the price up. You need one screw but you must buy a box of 100!!!!! Looks good, how did you mount your circuit board under the panel?

Thanks guys!
My LCD is mounted on 1/4" plywood, with wood pegs on 4 corners. It is held by tape on the other side which allows me to take out the LCD panel. The control panel is held by tape and the LCD is held together by the original frame (a suggestion from a fellow builder) which fits very nicely.

Very clean box, nice work.

Lookin fantastic. That red is sweet.

I notice in this picture you have the whole front panel tilted to match the angle of the wall you're projecting on.


I have keystoning set up in mine, but when I focus the center, the edges get blurry.

Does having the triplet parallel to the wall screen help?
If you wanna see the pic of what I'm talking about:
My plog

PS. What are you goign to hang on your side hooks?

I tried focusing the box and yes the lens needs to be tilted in order for the whole frame to be focused when keystoning is done. I guess the reason is that light has to travel the same distance to the lens and if the LCD and condensor fresnel are tilted, while the projection lens remains fixed, only part of the frame will be in focus as light has to travel a longer distance to the opposite edge. Try it out, you'll see what I mean...

Yes projection lens should be parrallel to screen as well as field lens

I fixed the noise problem!

Using an array of RF chokes and beads...

No more dots!

Noise Fixed

The inside fix...

Click link above for more details!

This is the solution I was looking for. Could you please tell me about rf chokes and feeds and how to get them, what to look for and how much they cost . Because My projector interferes with my vhf channels through out the house . Thank you

Sweet looking box dude! Can you give some more details on the "rail" system and show some more pictures of how it runs through the lcd and lenses? Thanks for the pix and ideas!

Mind sharing how you watch regular television with your projector? Maybe a pic of the setup. Can't quite figure that one out.


Thanks.

this redbox pj with the adjustable fresnel tracking guide is really underrated. good idea if you mess up the alignment. atleast you can fix it quickly with minimal tweaking.

In one of his pictures he has the N6 box ( which converts regular inputs like s-video, coax, etc into vga signals.). So I would imagine that he has the t.v. signal hooked into the N6 box which is then converted and sent out to the LCD, which is also hooked into the N6.