Build your own home cinema projector
24 Comments By Ilan Neisse on August 29th, 2007 in DIY (Do It Yourself)A few years ago, I used to spend a lot of time on eBay trying to spot attractive bargains for LCD screens and video projectors. Auctioning sites are an excellent place to find out about price levels and market demand but they also provide impostors and swindlers with a stage. In the eBay offerings you’ll often find DIY and step by step books that will tell you how easy it is to make a video projector yourself using only a cardboard box and an old LCD screen. Out of curiosity I decided to invest the $39.99 to purchase such an online book but, to my great disappointment, I never received it. Not only was I upset about losing my money but I was frustrated I wouldn’t get a chance at building the projector.
All this time, I thought the whole “build your own projector” was a scam and that it was technologically impossible to realize until I found this cool video on Youtube where you can see how to do it yourself. In fact, using an LCD monitor, an overhead projector, a cooling fan and a little of your time you can actually create your own home cinema projector.
You don’t need to spend a foolish 40 bucks, just check out the video to find out.
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Related Tags: build a projector, build projector, cinema projector, home cinema projector, how to build projector
September 2nd, 2007 at 12:38 am
Neat video. If you want to get into building projectors with HD picture for cheap theres whole communities that can help you out with tips and plans. Heres one http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/
September 4th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
We also thought it was a great video. We are glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for the comment and link. Hopefully other readers will also take a look at it, and gain value from it. If you have other suggested links, please feel free to share them with us.
September 7th, 2007 at 12:23 am
Thanks a lot for the info !
I´ll try it at home and see the results =)
September 7th, 2007 at 12:41 am
Hi Natokun. Happy the info helps. Please let us know how it went.
September 8th, 2007 at 7:19 am
So how do you get a DVD player or other media player hooked up to it?
September 10th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Hi Chase. Thank you for your inquiry. For all the detailed information you may want to check out this site, where you can find a step by step explanation of the video above.
http://www.geardigest.com/2004/11/13/supersize_your_tv_for_/
We sincerely hope you’ll be able to connect that DVD very soon. If not, please let us know.
September 11th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Thats cool, but if you realize that not every one has an overhead projector and an extra lcd screen just lying around, then it is actually pretty lame. And to buy those two items would cost about the same as a actual projector.
September 11th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Hi Steve, thank you for the good question. At first, I also thought the cost would equal that of an actual LCD projector but actually you could find a 15″ or 16″ lcd screen at ebay for around a $150 and a used overhead projector for as low as $50. I would estimate the total cost of the DIY at around $300, depending on the materials you use. The great benefit though, is the savings you make on the light bulbs which last longer and are significantly cheaper for an overhead than for a regular LCD projector. We hope this helped you get closer to building your own projector.
September 12th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Build your own screen. (Mine gets raves and I spent under $100. It is 98″)
I built my own screen somewhat like this. I covered the sides with black suedecloth and stretched the blackout cloth using directions for stretching artists canvas.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/29/how-to-make-a-custom-projector-screen/
September 13th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Hi Jim. Thank you for the valuable insight and the link. The screen is an essential part of the home cinema experience and we will probably post an article about a DIY screen very soon. I hope the above post has helped you. If you want to contribute to our content just send us a mail via the contact us tab. We surely will give the credit for it. Take care
September 26th, 2007 at 7:24 am
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October 11th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Just built my own proctor and here is the breakdown.
OHP = $0. Traded an old IMAC for one on Craigslist. Would have gotten like $30 for the IMAC
Screen = $0 Used white wall of basement family room (great idea as low light down there)
LCD Screen = $0 Used old 7″ screen from a broken portable dvd player (if you dont have a broken one, and you want to buy a portable, put in the extra $40 and buy one with 2 screens, each screen has its own A/V inputs and use the second screen for your project). Actually used everything except the dvd player itself. Detached the screen from the base and left the base unit intact. It has A/V Ins and Outs so made for really easy hook up from DVD player, VCR, PS2 and PC (with tuner card). After stripping the screen, made a wood frame to hold the screen in place and black out all none essential light from projecting. Attached the base unit to the frame. Works Great.
October 12th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Can anyone attest to the visual quality of these things? sure, you’re building a projector, which in itself is awesome, but does it focus? can you focus it to the point where you can see the pixels like in a regular projector? how vibrant are the colors? What is you overall impression of the picture quality?
Just curious,
thanks!
October 12th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Hello Rafael and Ian, thank you for your comments.
@Rafael: Thank you for sharing your experience. If you have other previous DIY projects you have done, we would love to hear about them.
@Ian: We are not sure as to the visual quality. It is a DIY project, so it may not have the features you are referring to. Perhaps one of our readers, who has done it before, would be able to share more light on the project for you.
November 7th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
The quality I got is damn good. Ofcourse its not to the quality of a actual lcd projection system with color tuning but still a great image. Just need to be sure to have a dark room for briliant image quaility. If you are using an overhead projector, the lense at the top has a focus …. switch.. toggle… whatever you call it, so you can refine the image. Also with the adjustable mirror at the top, you really have some room to play with the angle of image instead of angling the entire unit.
The color is great(again, in all dark rooms) Just like a movie theater. when they turn the lights on, its hard to see the screen.
Overall, compared to an actual LCD Projector, I would compare it at an 8. I have a great time playing GTA on it and watching Christy Canyon on it… well, lets just say, “man they look huge”. lol. This will prob end up in my garage (aka Man-Cave) when I build nice enclosure for it. The 100 hrs of life from the bulb does suck, but the bulbs are cheap. So its not an every day use thing. But then again, not many things I wanna watch on a 100 inch screen, except for Football, some movies and a few games. Gonna be awesome watching the NFL on it. Cant wait till it gets darker out and watch a Sunday Night Football game up on the Garage while cooking out with the neighbors.
November 9th, 2007 at 12:12 am
Hello Rafael, thank you so much for your comment.
Wow, your information is amazing, thank you for sharing it with all of us.
January 1st, 2008 at 2:31 am
[...] Build Your Own Home Cinema Projector - A Do It Yourself project with video. [...]
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:23 am
Nice Video.
April 6th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Freat info.
Thanks a lot.
August 29th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
awesome tutorial… thnx alot.
September 10th, 2008 at 12:03 am
Interesting stuff here and fun to read.
Actually I am searching for more information on the difference in quality and use off LCD and DLP technology in projectors, anyone here got experience based preference on that subject?
October 9th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
i am eletromics hobbist in Ghana. i want to make my own projector, but do’t get LCD screen.can any help me? and my soul will bless him.
December 25th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Great video !!
first sorry for my english
I would like to know how big can be the projection taking in account the lcd size.
I have a 22″ lcd with some dead pixels to use for doing this.
There is a measure to know how big can you go without loosing image quality?
I dont want an image with dark corners.
thanks
March 25th, 2009 at 3:59 am
It is interesting knowing about how you can can use your LCD to build a projector.
Well ,supposing you don’t have an LCD,but you have a television which is 14” and above then you can email me and i will show you how you can build a quality projector image 150” large right in your home.
The beauty of it is that any image or device that you connect to your television can be viewed like a real cinema,all your materials can obtained from the house.
email: excelbeyondlimit@yahoo.com