Projection - Part 1
Over the weekend I started a new project, building a widescreen projector and it's accompanying screen. Hopefully I'll be done with the project in a couple weeks! I've currently got most of the parts on order, and should have them by the end of the week.
Why build a projection system instead of buying one? Well, it's cheaper, by far. As well, the resolution currently available in commercial projectors leaves a bit to be desired. If you want to get an HDTV projector, the cost is astounding, over 20 grand! The flipside is that an HD resolution LCD panel is much more affordable, around 2 grand. So why are they so expensive? Well, the HD res LCD is large, and in order to get the same number of pixels into a projector, it has to be scaled down to fit to make it user friendly. While the parts for the projector are coming in, here's an image of the 92" screen that I fabricated over the weekend.
The screen is close to being done.. All that's left is to put some black framing around it. Right now it looks like a blank canvas on a wall.
I'll be constructing the projector itself out of a couple of fresnel lenses, a 15" LCD panel, and a lense triplet, which focuses and directs the beam of light onto the walls. Currently the 15" LCD that I'm putting into the projector is only 1028x768, so while it's not true HD res, it has a much higher resolution than affordable commercial projectors! The upside to this method is that I'll be able to upgrade the LCD panel in the future to a higher resolution, maybe 1280x1024 or even 1920x1200! For a fraction of the cost of a commercial HD projector. I'm starting small to make sure I can do it cheaply and correctly, and then when I get it down, I'll put a fancier LCD in.
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