I thought I would post some pictures about my Projector that I use in my home theater. I made my own projector about 5 months ago, I really like the way it turned out (considering I made it myself), but it was using a 17" lcd computer monitor and was only capable of 720p. A few months later I decided to go ahead and get a WUXGA lcd (1920x1200 pixels) so that I could have a full 1080p projector. I really like the projector. The only downsides to making your own projector are darker edges and corners, and some corner focus issues (can be solved with diferent projection lenses). I got all of my parts for my projector online (I didnt post the website, because I wasnt sure if that is allowed, let me know if I can) I spent around $2000 making my projector (normally its alot cheaper, but I made alot of mistakes along the way), you can also buy premade Diy 1080p projector for around $1500. The reason I chose to make one, is that I like making stuff, the bulbs only cost around $35 to replace, and you dont have to send it to someone to be fixed(everything is replacable). Alright, now for some pictures....
Here is my projector...alot bigger than commercial projectors, but it works great
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo314/Rskater3/SN850617.jpg
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo314/Rskater3/SN850618.jpg
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo314/Rskater3/SN850619.jpg
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo314/Rskater3/SN850620.jpg
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo314/Rskater3/SN850622.jpg
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo314/Rskater3/SN850624.jpg
Screenshots(these are from the trailers and not the actual movies)
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo314/Rskater3/SN850696.jpg
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo314/Rskater3/SN850701.jpg
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo314/Rskater3/SN850700.jpg
closeup
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo314/Rskater3/SN850708.jpg
This image shows the dark edges(looks better in real life)
http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo314/Rskater3/SN850695.jpg
Making your own projector is alot cheaper than buying a 1080p Projector new, and in the long run, but you have to sacrafice size, and perfect corner to corner lighting. I dont mind answering questions if anyone has any. Let me know if I need to remove anything.

You can get better image from Infocus X10 dlp 1080p at 1299(Save $701).
Spending 2k... not good!!!

Lol, i agree with steel.
However, from a tweaker standpoint myself, i can see doing this as a project for fun... Though for $2000, you might as well buy a manufactured projector. If someone were to consider the diy route i'd suggest going the cheaper route and doing 720p and scavenging for used parts.
However, two problems result from the most common diy methods.
1.) Color accuracy generally suffers.
2.) Contrast ratios are never very good due to cheap optics and light bleed.
3.) Due to the lcd size generally being large, you have trouble with uniform focus. One reason why lcd projectors use small panels.

Though, i am curious, what type of lamp are you using?

From a self-satisfaction standpoint, it's probably a lot of fun but I'd rather have a high quality commercially produced PJ.

I mean when you can get this with a $780 720p PJ and a $1,000 1080p is coming soon this year... thanks for the post but no thanks!

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q139/johnsbin/HD70/100_0538.jpg

Ok, it's cool that you built this and I hate to be negative since it's creative and DIY is cool and fun, but may I ask why you would spend $2,000 for a DIY projector when much better quality can be had for far less? For even $500 you can have a projector that would be on another level in every area except resolution.

This is a 16 foot wide image from a projector that I've seen go for $400 (on my wall):

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/8859/pitchblackonmy16widescr.jpg


Honestly, I have wanted to try doing a DIY projector. It looks like fun and it's cool that you built it even though it is pretty ugly even for DIY. lol. I have actually seen some very nice looking smallish DIY projectors though. I think it's just the price tag/quality ratio of that thing that throws me for a loops, not to mention how it looks. You could get a 1080p CRT that would annihilate it or a 1080p digital....or even a 720p digital.

DIY is cool and fun, but I always thought the point of DIY used to be to save money and because high quality commercial projection used to not be very affordable. For instance, my DT-500 used to cost nearly $3,000 about 2 years or so ago. Heck, I remember when the NEC HT1100 I desperately wanted cost like $3,500 and the Optoma H79 720p with DarkChip3 cost $4,500 (I've seen it hit $500 on Ebay now). That is no longer the case now, so I don't see why build a projector that cost so much if it's inferior in every way except lamp price..

I guess eventually you'll save money on lamps, but it will be awhile and by then some good 1080p projectors will be under a grand.

Good job though on the project! Not meaning to bash, but just wondering why not just get a commercial projector if it costs that much to make a DIY projector?

$2000 is a lot. Usually these DIY projectors are made for maybe $500! With more work, scavanging and buying just a panel you can get a lot more out of a $500 dollar budget.

Yes, $2000 is alot, but with that, I have changed alot from my first projector. My original projector that was 720p only cost me around $450-500, but since then I have pretty much changed everything, but the enclosure. I guess you could say, I built 2 projectors for $2000 (one being alot better than my first one). I use a 400w Metal Halide bulb, that has a lifetime of about 18,000 hours and it only costs $35 to replace. Another thing I should mention, is that I didnt have that full $2000 dollars at one time, if I did I probabbly would of gone with a commercial projector, a commercial projector just wasnt anywhere near my price range at the time.I also had to replace the lcd in the projector 4 times, which is another reason it cost so much. That $2000 dollar price range is just the total after everything I have done to it (mistakes and everything). I am going to eventually get a better enclosure, and some new optics, so that I can hang it from the ceiling (the enclosure will be smaller) and hopefully I will have very good corner focus. I would personally love a 1080p DLP projector, but I would really hate to spend a few hundred dollars on a new bulb every two years (if not sooner). Even if the image quality is so much better, I am pretty pleased with my projector. Hopefully in the future they will get better bulbs in those commercial projectors (there is a new type of bulb for DIY projectors now, that has a lifetime of 30,000 hours).

I would personally love a 1080p DLP projector, but I would really hate to spend a few hundred dollars on a new bulb every two years (if not sooner). Even if the image quality is so much better, I am pretty pleased with my projector. Hopefully in the future they will get better bulbs in those commercial projectors (there is a new type of bulb for DIY projectors now, that has a lifetime of 30,000 hours).

1. You would rather replace the LCD in your DIY every few years due to heat damage but not a lamp in a production PJ?

2. Long before 30,000 hours you will be tweaking and changing your DIY to try to get better focus, color, reduced aberrations,...

3. A $100 Mack lamp warranty will cover you for multiple lamp replacements.


Glad you are enjoying the fruit of your labor! DIY has that kind of rewarding quality you can't get elsewhere.

Good job Rsakter3. I can appreciate the DIY.

1. You would rather replace the LCD in your DIY every few years due to heat damage but not a lamp in a production PJ?

2. Long before 30,000 hours you will be tweaking and changing your DIY to try to get better focus, color, reduced aberrations,...

3. A $100 Mack lamp warranty will cover you for multiple lamp replacements.


Glad you are enjoying the fruit of your labor! DIY has that kind of rewarding quality you can't get elsewhere.

Actually I shouldnt need to replace the Lcd again, I pretty much have the heat problems under control, so it wont get damaged by the heat.I have never heard of someones lcd breaking, because of years of damage from the heat (they will last a long time if you take care of them(just the ocasional dusting) The only reason I can think of for replacing the lcd, is if the lcd cracks (which wont happen unless you are really ruff on it), or if the ffc tears.

I use a 400w Metal Halide bulb, that has a lifetime of about 18,000 hours and it only costs $35 to replace.

Thats what i was thinking when i saw it. One serious thing you should do is to make sure you've built the projector with proper UV light filtering. Metal Halide's produce a very large amount of UV radiation and should be properly filtered to avoid too much exposure.

Nice job on the DIY. 2000 is extremely steep for something that has worse picture quality than my cheapy Sanyo Z4. But I couldn't stand a blurry image.

Nice job on the DIY. 2000 is extremely steep for something that has worse picture quality than my cheapy Sanyo Z4. But I couldn't stand a blurry image.Its not blurry at all, and $2000 is pretty steep, but in my opinion it was worth it.I have never seen screenshots of the Sanyo Z4, but the picture quality of mine is pretty impressive (pictures dont do it justice). The picture quality is just amazing, and bluray looks fantastic on it. Even though it is still not as good as commercial projectors, I am still pleased considering I put it together in 2 days.

Thats what i was thinking when i saw it. One serious thing you should do is to make sure you've built the projector with proper UV light filtering. Metal Halide's produce a very large amount of UV radiation and should be properly filtered to avoid too much exposure.Yes, I use some lexan to block the UV from getting to the lcd.

Check out the Optoma HD20 or HD200X for true DLP 1080p for under $1K.

Check out the Optoma HD20 or HD200X for true DLP 1080p for under $1K.Hey, thanks Huey for that tip. They look like really nice projectors. The contrast ratio isnt the greatest, but I am sure it is better than my DIY projectors contrast ratio. I also like the long life of the bulb. I was looking at the Benq W5000, but it is a little bit out of my price range.

Check out the Optoma HD20 or HD200X for true DLP 1080p for under $1K.

The specs for the HD20 are pretty bad. But I guess you sacrific better components when you try to make a sub 1k projector that does 1080p.

And OP to bad those bulbs couldn't work in the mass produced projectors. Even though I think they could but they control the market.

Congratulations for a great job. You may have spent more than commercial PJ, but the satisfaction of a successful DIY job can never be measured in $$$. I bet you get that feeling when you watch anything in your PJ.

Please think about a detailed guide.

Yeah. I mean honestly nice job with the effort, honestly!! I don't mean to be sarcastic.
But I would not want that for $2,000 dollars = /

The specs for the HD20 are pretty bad. But I guess you sacrific better components when you try to make a sub 1k projector that does 1080p.

And OP to bad those bulbs couldn't work in the mass produced projectors. Even though I think they could but they control the market.

Not sure what specs you are talking about but the specs on the HD20 are typical of PJs at this price range and will most likely perform quite well.

Congratulations for a great job. You may have spent more than commercial PJ, but the satisfaction of a successful DIY job can never be measured in $$$. I bet you get that feeling when you watch anything in your PJ.

Please think about a detailed guide.Yes, I am very pleased with how good the image looks, and thinking that I built this from scratch. Unfortunately there arent any real guides on how to build these. I just spent months at looking at what other people did with their projectors, and learning how the optics, lighting, and lcd work to put it together. There are a few places that you can get somewhat of a general idea on how it works, and how to put one together. I got all of my parts from here http://diyprojectorkits.com/ and that is also where I learned how to make my projector.

Yeah. I mean honestly nice job with the effort, honestly!! I don't mean to be sarcastic.
But I would not want that for $2,000 dollars = / Ya, it is pretty ugly on the outside, but my original projector only cost $500 and it was 720p. I just wanted 1080p which is why it cost so much (plus a few mistakes). The image quality of my projector is actually pretty good, the only thing I dont like about it is the darker corners, but they dont look anywhere near as bad in real life then they do in the pictures I posted. I actually adjusted the bulb a little bit the other day, and the screen is alot more evenly lit then it was when I took those pictures.

I'm proud of you man.

I could never do what you've done, and it sounds like you learned a lot and had a good time.

Not sure what specs you are talking about but the specs on the HD20 are typical of PJs at this price range and will most likely perform quite well.

Exactly.

Nice post and great effort. You seem to take the "less nice" posts in stride. I'm a hard core DIY myself and understand the great satisfaction of the entire process, from initial idea, researching and learning, being creative in getting/making parts, putting it together, use it, tweak it, think of better ways and start over.

For most, DIY does have the "it's cheaper" as an outcome but I think it is wonderful you still receive so much personal satisfaction from your work without it being cheaper. Try to add getting good parts for free/dirt cheap next round, it will make you even happier!

Yes, I am very pleased with how good the image looks, and thinking that I built this from scratch. Unfortunately there arent any real guides on how to build these.

That is why you should try to write a detailed guide .. it may take some of your time.. but I am sure in the end it will give you immense satisfaction and may encourage others (especially if you also include guide for $500 720p unit).

Nice post and great effort. You seem to take the "less nice" posts in stride. I'm a hard core DIY myself and understand the great satisfaction of the entire process, from initial idea, researching and learning, being creative in getting/making parts, putting it together, use it, tweak it, think of better ways and start over.

For most, DIY does have the "it's cheaper" as an outcome but I think it is wonderful you still receive so much personal satisfaction from your work without it being cheaper. Try to add getting good parts for free/dirt cheap next round, it will make you even happier! Thanks

1. You would rather replace the LCD in your DIY every few years due to heat damage but not a lamp in a production PJ?


There isn't need to replace LCDs due to heat damage when built properly. This is an uneducated assumption. No offense to the poster as I also do DIY things his journey was very inefficient money wise.


2. Long before 30,000 hours you will be tweaking and changing your DIY to try to get better focus, color, reduced aberrations,...

The fact that DIYers like to tweak it anyways nullifies this point entirely.


3. A $100 Mack lamp warranty will cover you for multiple lamp replacements.


I have heard some bad things and some good things. Looks like a valuable option.


Glad you are enjoying the fruit of your labor! DIY has that kind of rewarding quality you can't get elsewhere.

Definitely does.

Nice job on the DIY. 2000 is extremely steep for something that has worse picture quality than my cheapy Sanyo Z4. But I couldn't stand a blurry image.

I wouldn't call it blurry at all and yes I have seen them in person and yes I have commerical PJs and mod them also.

Quite creative. Congrats.

Making a 1080p projector from scrach.That is amasing.Bravo.

There isn't need to replace LCDs due to heat damage when built properly. This is an uneducated assumption. No offense to the poster as I also do DIY things his journey was very inefficient money wise.



The fact that DIYers like to tweak it anyways nullifies this point entirely.



I have heard some bad things and some good things. Looks like a valuable option.



Definitely does.



I wouldn't call it blurry at all and yes I have seen them in person and yes I have commerical PJs and mod them also. Thanks for clearing those things up :) By the way, I like your projector lamp mods that you post on LL, really nice job, and good luck :)