My parents just added on a second story to our house... and we need a new tv

Currently we are using a 26" old TV with MAJORLY distorted picture... the people look like coneheads
Someone gave my dad a tv saying it worked, we plugged it in, it was all distorted, but we left it

Anyway, While discussing what HDTV to get it was either

DLP rear projection 52"
or
DLP front projection

DLP front projection bulb life kinda sucks, and it is expensive, so until today, DLP rear projection looked our choice

Came across article on hackaday, and saw the $60 bulb cost and 20,000 life span and it seemed good

Heres the problem... My parents dont want to hang a big box on our ceiling because they say it ruins the room, however I plan on changing there mind

So here are my questions

1. Does video need to go through a computer?
2. If hung on a ceiling, wouldnt the picture look like / \ - pyramid?
3. I am 16 years old, and have some woodworking/electrical experience (built trebuchet/mod xboxes)... Would I be able to build a projecter of good quality, and How many man hours would it take?
4. What about Focusing and zooming, what controls this?
5. Most of the pictures I see are of people with 100+ inch screens... our TV room is 14 feet long, and we would like the tv to be 50-60 ( 70 would be nice ) inches... would this projecter still be suitable for us

THats it for now, I downloaded the plans of bittorrent, but if I plan to build it, I will definitly join this forum

Welcome! Browse around some of the PLOGs and galleries. Ultimately, the aestetics of the box are up to you. Whether you can please your parents or not is anybody's guess. But I can give you a few quick answers:

1) You don't have to use a computer. While an HTPC can give you an incredible picture, you can opt for an LCD-TV or a standalone video processor (like an Avermedia TvBox or a Nextvision N6). Either of these will allow you to hook up your cable, DVD player or game console without a computer.

2) You would have to do a little keystoning to get a perfectly square picture with the box hung from the ceiling (involves tilting the lenses and/or tilting the screen), but you can avoid the pyramid/trapezoid problem.

3) I'm guessing here, but it sounds like you could handle the project. Build times vary, but I'd allow at least a couple of weeks to build the basic box, strip the LCD, and do the initial wiring. Depends on how fancy you want to get. Keep in mind, no matter how good/careful you are, you will want to go back and do some tweaking/upgrading over time. It's a seductive hobby

4) Focusing is simply a function of moving the front lens in and out. Most people just manually slide it, though it is possible to build a motor-controlled focus mechanism. If by "zoom" you mean making the picture bigger or smaller, the only way to currently do this is to place the projector closer or farther from the screen (our lenses are meant for a single-distance throw).

5) Actually, you'd get better results with a 60-70" screen (smaller size = brighter). With the standard lens, your projector would have to be five to six feet away from the screen. With the pro lens, you could place the projector eight to ten feet away. The pro lens is considerably more expensive, but would give you a brighter, more evenly focused image.

Do a little research here on the boards. It can be a little daunting at first, but it's a lot of fun.

The Pro Lenses would give you the throw you need.

1. No, though this will produce the best image. There are boxes meant to take alternate inputs and convert them to a VGA or DVI monitor.

2. Not necessarily. There are several keystone solutions which have been implemented by various users.

3. Yes, if you can build a box with correct right angles, and accurate measures, you can build a good projector. Man-hours will vary depending on how you do things. Anywhere from about 20 and up. Possibly less with a complete shop full of power tools.

4. Focus can be adjustable, though you can make a fixed focus, as I currently have. This is done by positioning the lens relative to the LCD. There's entire threads on different focus mechanisms and solutions. Zoom is defined by the distance from the projector to the screen. The lenses are single-focus only.

5. Most people like going BIG. Currently I'm projecting an 80" image. I have a bit more space, I could go as high as 105" but that would involve me changing up the projector. This was as far back as I could move the projector at the time I (re)built it.A 70-80" image is a nice size overall, though I still tend to like it to the larger of that range.

The Pro lenses are the more likely to give you the screensize that you want. That's what I'm using.

I keep forgetting that little detail. I used a jigsaw and a battery powered dremel that died every 20 minutes. Took me bloody forever...

My dad would help me do it because its for the family room and he wouldn't want me fu****g anthing up with his money, and I have a garage full of tools, so I think i could do it.

The main problem is the big box hanging on the ceiling...
We want High Definition 1080i, so I am assuming it has to go through a computer?

We had the whole house networked when we added on(ethernet ports in all rooms), so a computer in the family room could be networked with all our computers, and play media off any one of them, we were thinking about that even without a projector

On this computer i would guess it would have to have High Definition output on the video card?

Anyway, thanks for answering my questions, hopefully soon we will finally have high definition, and finally have cable again (lost satilite TV when workers threw dish off roof) and I have been watching standard TV with a few extra channels since then

EDIT: Ah also I have a DELL 15" lcd monitor, its fairly old 1024X768 max resolution, and the screen is damaged, still works fine, but theres a scratch in it, and it is just sitting in my basement collecting dust

I guess i could use this to make a projector, maybe not a really great one, but how good would it be? and how much would it cost to make with monitor already available?
If we don't use one in my family room, I will make one for myself in my own room

You guys seem like you have money to spare (networked rooms etc), why not use a good LCD? You could buy a projector, or you could build something very nice that would have permanence...

Actually right now we kinda have no money... living on the edge, because we just finished adding on the second story... last year, well more than a second story, they ripped out the whole first floor too, and part of my basement, so pretty much a new house, 1 month after we moved in we had a fire in our family room, and firefighters basically flooded the whole room, and tore out the walls and ceiling, and throughout my house the same thing, wholes everywhere... now thats all fixed, insurance took a while, and i think we came out ahead moneywise due to the fire... got a new couch, got the old one cleaned and put it in my room, new woodburning stove... but anyway we are still a little short on cash, which is why my parents keep saying to wait a year to get a tv

What I was saying with the cheap LCD monitor i have, 15 inch dell, If my parents dont want a TV yet, or wind up not wanting a projector, I would take this and put it in my room, and buy all the parts, make it my own tv... personally i dont care if there is a box infront of my tv, I would put it on a cart, and move it out of the way when not watching, thats better than a tv...
http://photobucket.com/albums/v611/rastetter/FIRE/

Well, that is the beauty of DIY. You can build cheaply your first time around and then upgrade from there. You might want to build a box big enough to hold a 17" LCD (even if you use the 15"). Other than that, your choice of lenses will be the other big cost factor.

My parents don't really like the idea of a front projector, they don't want a wire or 2 running up to the ceiling, to a big box... its not completly out of the question yet

But i might build a cheap one for my room... What would be required to make a 1080i Hi-Def projector?

well you might look at the LLRPTV thread...they're building a rear projection tv....

Nah if we get a rear projection tv, it would be store bought

Another question haha

Looking through the forums, there are different sized projectors, most of them are big, some are only a little bigger than store bought projectors, others are doubled

also, it looks like alot of these projecters have alot of empty space like

[img]http://studentwebs.winona.edu/btoconno8639/page1/files/page1_5.jpg
[/img]

I dunno alot about LCD's, actually I know nothing, but i guess a 19" monitor would require a 19" box, at the point where the LC goes?... and i guess the empty space is because it is easier to make a box than to make it smaller?

The empty space is required. The light has to be a set distance from the first fresnel and the Lcd , which in turn have to be a set distance from the triplet.

no not that empty space

http://studentwebs.winona.edu/btoconno8639...les/page1_5.jpg

the black half of the box... is that needed?


EDit: Ohh I see, i was looking at it backwards i guess Got it now