DIY Multimedia LED Projector (video manual)

In this Instructable, I show you how to make a LCD projector with a LED as the light source. I tried to make videos of everything so it is easier to follow the steps.

Este Instructable esta en versión en Español 

See more cool projects on my blog.

  After making my first LED projector that you can see here , I had lots of questions and people interested in the projector. Some of them went ahead and did something similar like mcastles. 

I felt sorry that I could not give more details of the making of the projector. Also the MP4 player that I used is not longer available so many people could not find an MP4 with composite input like mine.  I decided to make another one, so you could actually SEE how to do it.

This type of projector is very energy efficient. It only consumes about 41W. A normal projector with metal halide lamp will consume about 260W plus a DVD player which can consume between 20w and 45W for a total of about 300w. That is a saving of a lot of money by the end of the year. Although the quality and brightness of a conventional projector will be better, you'll have to pay the price, and the environment as well.

Another good feature of this projector is that the LED should last about 10000 hours of use wile a conventional projector lamp lasts about 2000 hours.

Lets see the result of making this projector.

Step 1: The Principle

 
The principle is very simple. There is a powerful light that is projected through an LCD into a lens so the image is projected.

Some things you want to take into consideration:

 -The better the quality on the LCD, the better the projected image. (I'm using a LCD with 640X480 pixels)

  -The LCD can't take more than 40C, so if you decide to use some other type of light source, pay good attention to the cooling system.

 -Without a good fresnel lens will be really difficult to light the LCD evenly. (I'm using the always faithful fresnel lens from an old OHP)

 -The fresnel from the OHP is really a twin fresnel, the one that faces the light is expanding the light to the full area of the lens, the other one is focusing all the light to one point. If you keep the two of them together (like this projector) it will be a lot easier and less danger of damaging or scratching them. Any big scratch will be reflected in the projected image. The down bit is that you won't be able to do keystoning adjustment. So the projector will have to be placed in a perpendicular position with the screen.

  -The use of mirrors allows you to make the box smaller as if there are no mirrors, you will have to place the LED farther from the fresnel lens, and also the LCD from the main lens.

  -You need to have everything inside some sort of enclosure, or the light will be coming out and it will light the room making the projector a lot less efficient. 

 

Comments

[chiopra]

can u help me ? i am using PSP LCD , the light coming from led just stops when it reaches the LCD screen . what should i do ? help me

[kunalsun]

Hey newtonn2, Thanks for this great instructable. I tried this about a year ago and ran into a lot of trouble with it mainly the light source. But i finally have time to go at it again. One thing the only 30w led like yours i can find on ebay are of 34-36V and the circuit that you have given with all that on there it does not provide that much voltage for the light. Do you know of a way i can get the voltage up to that much? Also i had trouble finding a fresnel lens but i will try to find one this time through a overhead projector. If you could just help with the light source problem that would be great.

Thanks!

[skrumbah]

I've got a couple of questions. When placing the fresnel lens, do you use two of them like in the diagram and sandwich them over the lcd? Also in the condenser lense suppose to focus or spread out the light?

[jolenealphonse]

hey newtonn :) thank you so much for this instructable! Its inspiring and awesome! I kinda have some enquiries regarding my wiring, so really appreciate it if you or somebody could help me!

I have a LED constant current driver for my 20W LED, (the output voltage is around 20V) however I'm thinking about how to wire my 12V LCD and fan to this circuit! I thought of doing something like this, http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-projector/step6/the-circuit/
but I can't figure how to do the regulator part to the mains input. The mains input would prolly be an ac so, is there a way to regulate the voltage to get a 12V dc output?

If not should I be connecting my 12V regulator in series with my 20V output constant current led driver? will this affect the voltage and thus brightness of led? how did you connect your 5V output car charger in here? http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-small-Diy-LED-Projector/step5/Wiring/

Thanks so much and I look forward to your reply :)

[wucke]

Hi newtonn2, thank you for fast answer. I have one more question, and I need to hear what do u mean about this thing. I have a chance to buy this projector very cheap (about $7,8), and of course i need only parts for doing my own projector. What do you think about LCD in this projector and lenses in it?
http://www.hcinema.de/pro/anzeigen.php?angabe=philipslcp5100

[newtonn2]

If you can buy it so cheap, get it! You may be able to use some parts. I'm not 100%, but the LCD may be very small and that's a good thing.
Regards
Newtonn2

[martincisneros]

hey newton! awesome project. ive started it but i am stuck with the schematic of the av connector and usb connector. Do you have a schematic of where these two get wired to? Much thanks!

[wucke]

Update> That "circuit" I need is Logic-Board from original LCD :( So my question is if it is possible to connect this LCD to another logicboard from some other TFT monitors or LCD's??

[newtonn2]

Hi Wucke. Unfortunately I can't help you, I don't know if you could connect it to any other circuit. The best thing would be getting a complete lcd monitor to do the projector.

Regards

[wucke]

Hi newtonn2, first sorry for my bad English :) I am really happy bcs this is the last web site that has active theme about DIY projectors. Your work is great, and again I want to make projector (I have one which is made from an old OHP and LCD 15", but that is too much big and heavy, as you know :). I found one TFT 7", as you can see in picture below, but I have a problem.
http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FLN/IY1N/HEBN9JI6/FLNIY1NHEBN9JI6.THUMB.jpg
Is there any way that I can connect cable, which is number 1 on the picture (sorry I dont know English name of that cable), whit some circuit (bcs I dont have original circuit of that TFT)? And if it would be possible, I need to connect this projector to my computer for playing movies, so i need TV out, or VGA/DVI output. Once more, sorry for my bad English :)

[siemenwauters]

got mine working. but due to this being 330mm fl lenses you have to place it verry far away to get a decent size projection. how did you fix it or how can i ?

[newtonn2]

Hi there! I'm glad your projector is up an running. The best thing to do would be to replace the lens. The lens I used is a varyfocal length.

I hope you can find something suitable.

Regards

[siemenwauters]

i dont have as much luck as you do i guess. the image is real sharp just not verry bigg.

[GeniusDevils]

This DIY projector os very cool You can try a new DIY projector using mobile phone

[tini_1298]

what is that beside the first mirror with the wires coming out

[tini_1298]

how do you connect the projector to pc

[tini_1298]

what can i do to add a hdmi port and a separate audio jack

[tini_1298]

will this one work i want to work on it and i m just 15
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Piece-Senior-Anastigmat-Camera-Lens-F-4-5-75mm-No-3276-/370638746652?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564bca741c

[jj.inc]

look what I found http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5-inch-Color-TFT-LCD-Monitor-EVF-Electronic-View-Finder-HDMI-In-Out-5D-7D-D800-/321057041971?pt=US_Viewfinders_Eyecups&hash=item4ac07dae33
Max. resolution up to1920*1440

[khatmal]

sir please tell me that is there any alternative of the fresnel lens,cause i am not able to find in my city and due to lack of internet banking I cannot order in online
sir please reply soon

[khatmal]

can we use anything else in place of fresnel lenses

[speedfreak007]

does someone has a link to a 3.5" lcd which is 640x480 for sure? I bought a lcd and in the description it said that it was 640x480, but it's actually 320x240 and the image looks like shit with these huge pixels...

[rmoopen]

i have made a film projector recently .... and my next project is to make a LED one....

[dilu]

Dear sir,
My self DILEEP MOHAN
Sir please give me some details of Fresnel lens, Magnifying Glass and source to buy

If possible please mail me at [e-mail]

thanks

[deepwushu]

good work dude

[Vimal24]

Dear sir
My self Vimal Patel Daman,(INDIA), as seen your project i also want to make homemade LCD Projector,
Sir please give me some details of Fresnel lens, Magnifying Glass and LCD (price, size and source)
main thing is how to get LCD screen and which type of required.

If possible please mail me at [e-mail]

thanks

[dada11]

This is so COOL!!. I'm a web developer but I love trying these kind of stuffs. can I use a 7inch lcd from my android tablet?. also, can I use Halogen lamps? thanks I Idolize you.

[JoeyT2008]

Hi there, your project looks brilliant in comparison to any other DIY projector I've seen, and I've decided to build mine your way, but with a 720p LCD. There are 720p 4.3" Mobile Phone LCD's on ebay for ~£15 but there's no way to drive them, so I'm either going to purchase a 10.1" 720p LCD with controller kit or use my 17" TV I already own. With this is mind, would you suggest an alternative power source? Or would a 50W / 100W LED chip be powerful enough to light the entire screen evenly? If not, what about two or four evenly spaced 30W LED's?

Many thanks, Jordan.

[An_War]

Hi newtonn2

can you watch clearly when connected to pc?
because when i connect the car monitor to pc by means of converter the text is not seen clear, so please help.

[goldenshuttle]

Brilliant work...it makes one wonder why OHP's are so expensive...

[bobthebuilder728]

can it play video games

[syed.ali02]

Dear Newton2
Can i use 23watt white light 2energy savers.It will produce more light than LED

[syed.ali02]

Dear newton2
Can i use nly convex lens only for the lcd because LCD was nt big enogh to use fresnel lens.please tell me

[curious youth]

hi great idea great ible i really like it. one question though. any chance for a computer input at all? thanks

[tvmaster]

hi
i am from belgium and i like to build someting like this but i dont now where that i get the parts anybody anny idea?

the loose electroniics ,the box ,the fan and the heatsink are not a problem but the led the lcd and the lenses are the biggets problem

hope somebody can help me

greetings from belgium

[tvmaster]

hi
i have searched the internet and found almost everyting
but not a good projector lens even on ebay they are expensive
but i fond a site where they say you can use a triple lens or something
i found one cheap on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TRIPLET-2-8-78-LENS-PROJECTOR-MMZ-/350462200744?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51992ccba8#ht_2453wt_932

do you think it will work with this?

greetings

[leonelrichie]

please help in placing the lcd is this right from up to down and back to front? advance thank you for the answer

[12rm]

Hi,
Any chance you know what the lumen output is of the projector you made? Or for the example videos you have of your projector?

Thanks

[krioni]

Hi

I wondering if you could send me the links to where you found your stuff. I would like a brighter screen so I will use a brighter LED or bulb but I dont know yet but I know how im going to cool it. What are the demsions of the projected image on the wall?

Thanks

[dmbfilms]

What is the smallest image size you can get from this? Thankyou :)