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Q: Hi, I’m a long time lurker, first time constructive questioner. OK, so, I’m planning on building a basic box style projector for my friends and I so we can watch movies on my best friend’s wonderful deck. It’s amazing up there. However, we live in Chicago, on the northside, and I recently discovered that there are many competing light sources. We are lucky enough not to have a streetlight right outside the house, but, I must ask frankly, what would you guys suggest to help boost the light in the projector while still keeping the cost/temperature down?
A: This is one of the most common issues with at DIY projector, and frankly, there is no easy answer.
A good build will be able to put out a fair number of lumens, but will not match what a commercial projector can produce. If you can find a smaller LCD panel, and appropriate short FL collimator fresnel and precondenser, then you can increase the light output quite a bit. The problem is that these parts tend to be pricey (small, high res LCD) and hard to find (Short FL, high quality fresnel)
If you can shade the screen from direct competing light sources, however, a DIY projector can manage reasonably well.
Also, pay attention to throw/screen size. An 80″ screen will be about twice as bright as a 110″ screen., which will be twice as bright as a 160″ screen. A 55″ screen will be twice as bright as the 80″ screen, so if you can decrease the throw, you will get a brighter, but smaller image.
There have been builds done with brighter lamps, 1200W lamps put out a lot of light. They’ll require particular attention being paid to cooling, but will produce a very bright picture.
