Are cheap projectors like this a bad idea?

[Hero999]

As everyone else has stated, it's rubbish.

To be of any use, you need 1336 x 768 for watching films on but 1920 x 1080 would be ideal.

 

[crutschow]

I went to the mfrs web site and its LCD is indeed 640*480. Almost as good as standard def TV.

Standard NTSC television is 525 lines but 486 of those are displayed as the visible raster. The rest are hidden during the vertical retrace time. That's pretty close to 480.

 

[crutschow]

As everyone else has stated, it's rubbish.

To be of any use, you need 1336 x 768 for watching films on but 1920 x 1080 would be ideal.

Or the 720p HD standard of 720 x 1280. I watch HD TV on a 720 x 1280 projector and the picture looks quite good when displaying a 90" picture from about 13' away.

 

[Hero999]

NTSC is crap, PAL is 625 lines with 576 actually displayed, 480 is falls quite short of standard TV definition.

You need at least SVGA (800x600) for standard TV definition.

 

[mneary]

Standard NTSC television is 525 lines but 486 of those are displayed as the visible raster. The rest are hidden during the vertical retrace time. That's pretty close to 480.

That's why I wrote almost as good. 480 is almost 486.

 

[crutschow]

That's why I wrote almost as good. 480 is almost 486.

Peace. I thought you might have been referring to 525 versus 480.

 

[Sceadwian]

sconroy the problem with being on a tight budget is there is no way to cheat the system, you get what you pay for plain and simple. If all you want is a simple presentation projector for a dark room, this thing probably fits the bill just fine, but it's brightness and contrast are not going to wow the presentees in the slightest.

 

[Hero999]

Look on ebay.

Do you know that it's also possible to hack a normal LCD display and an overhead projector to make computer protector?

It's not brilliant but it works and a cheap 1024x768 LCD display plus an OHP is bound to be cheaper than what you're proposing and you get a higher resolution too.

 

[Sceadwian]

Yeah Hero, a really bad one that probably takes more time than it would money to buy a cheap one =)

 

[Hero999]

I knew someone who did it with a laptop display. It wasn't that bad, the contrast wasn't great but that's what many modern projectors are anyway; a projector shining through an LCD.

LCD projector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

EDIT:
Here's some stuff I found on Google
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6n6jW0XIV0&feature=player_embedded#!
https://www.engadget.com/2006/10/17/how-to-build-your-own-hd-projector-part-1/
https://www.engadget.com/2006/10/30/how-to-build-your-own-hd-projector-part-2/

 

[crutschow]

I knew someone who did it with a laptop display. It wasn't that bad, the contrast wasn't great but that's what many modern projectors are anyway; a projector shining through an LCD.

True. The better LCD units use three separate B&W type LCDs for higher brightness, with a color filter in front of each for the three primary colors. They are then optically combined to generate one color image. As can be imagined, the optical registration between the three must be very precise so they align pixel perfect.

 

[Hero999]

Yes, it's complicated and expensive.
**broken link removed**

A cheap VGA projector certainly won't be anywhere near as sophisticated. I think a homebrew projector would be much better value for money. You can get 1024x768 LCDs pretty cheaply nowadays and an OHP can be obtained for next to nothing off ebay.

 

[Sceadwian]

I wonder how long those homebrew ones would last, they're not exactly designed to have that much light shining into them.

 

[Hero999]

I wonder how long those homebrew ones would last, they're not exactly designed to have that much light shining into them.

The question is which would fail first: a cheap VGA projector or a homebrew projector made with quality components?

I'd imagine the colours would probably get bleached but if there's a decent UV filter inside the projector, it'd probable take a long time.

 

[Sceadwian]

made with quality components

Not designed for the purpose they're being put to.
You can imagine anything you want, till you test it and know for sure you're just guessing. To postulate on something you haven't tried to test yourself, is... well pointless. You don't know, you've never tried, so don't have an opinion on it! Coming to terms with being able to say "I don't know" is a powerful troll deterrent =) Especially in oneself.

 

[peekin_1]

Digital Galaxy Dream Land DG-737 Projector bought this projector a couple weeks ago and we love it shows great and as for screen just shop the second hand stores we are using a window blind no complaints yet