Laser Projector Hacking...

[David Lyon]

Has anyone hacked anything like this yet?

 - http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/457458232-Free-Shipping-Mini-LED-LCD-Projection-Clock-Digital-Keychain-Clock-wholesalers.html

I know "why bother?" but I'm thinking maybe they could be a cheap
way of getting the nights tv programs beamed onto the wall..

[Rebecca]

Only if your tv programs can be displayed using a typical 3.5 digit segment type LCD display.

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[Jeremy Apthorp]

And if you can fit in the 10cm between the lasers and the wall.

j

[Jason Ball]

Matrix intro ?    low res version ?

On Fri, Jul 1, 2011 at 10:49 AM, Rebecca <r3b...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[David Lyon]

hmm...

It says 1-2m projecting distance..

full characters can be displayed on a 7 segment display, but
the multiplexing is a pain.

I actually bought some of these to do the job:

 - http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/391604779-1pc-free-shipping-large-character-lcd-1601-wholesalers.html

problem is the arduino only seems to write to the left 8 characters.. not
the full 16..

I don't know what's going on. The 'duino library is only using 4 data
lines. maybe it needs 8 data lines...

I'm stumped...

[Rebecca]

Those character type LCDs will not work for your projection application.**

It might be worthwhile learning how a conventional LCD projector works as this is the type of setup you will be replicating.

** unless you are confident you can remove the backing PCB and electroluminescent light source without interfering in the operation of the LCD component.

[Rebecca]

I notice the LCD module you purchased is LED illuminated so rather than an electroluminescent film you will need to contend with a reflecting backing which may be bonded to the LCD glass.

Either way, it's not something I would attempt.

[David Lyon]

Hi Rebecca,

I know that - I wasn't trying to do that.

But I was just wondering if anybody had tried low cost projection lasers.

David

On Fri, Jul 1, 2011 at 11:10 AM, Rebecca <r3b...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Wilson Cletus]

Someone here at MHV pulled apart an old Nokia phone display and got it working in an old slide projector. I'll see if I can get him to write it up once he gets back from o/s.

For projection, you are probably looking at a bright LED with some optics rather than a laser (at least, that's how the unit you linked to works). It is not going to be easy to transplant anything in that, the components are probably all tiny (I'm guessing an LED, fresnel lens, and tiny LCD). However if you can find your own lens, and take apart a suitable LCD, and mount everything right, it's feasible to do this yourself.

As for the character LCD - are you using the LiquidCrystal Arduino library? The display may have a non-standard controller. Perhaps try driving it as an 8x2 rather than 16x1 (as 8x2 is a more common size for these things, I think).

[David Lyon]

hmm.. that's an idea..

I'm using the standard arduino library. Datasheet says it is a KS0066.

I checked the internet and it seems that there are some old LCD libraries
for arduino that may work with that so I might have to try those.

if only Gav's light sabre could be hacked to show what's on tv.. lol

[Wilson Cletus]

if only Gav's light sabre could be hacked to show what's on tv.. lol

There exist metronome-looking things that flick a bar full of leds back and forth really fast, giving an illusion of an image floating in midair. All the ones I've seen use red LEDs and display scrolling text or the time, but it would be pretty nifty to do one with rgb.

 

On Fri, Jul 1, 2011 at 11:29 AM, Wilson Cletus <wil5on...@gmail.com> wrote:

Someone here at MHV pulled apart an old Nokia phone display and got it working in an old slide projector. I'll see if I can get him to write it up once he gets back from o/s.

For projection, you are probably looking at a bright LED with some optics rather than a laser (at least, that's how the unit you linked to works). It is not going to be easy to transplant anything in that, the components are probably all tiny (I'm guessing an LED, fresnel lens, and tiny LCD). However if you can find your own lens, and take apart a suitable LCD, and mount everything right, it's feasible to do this yourself.

As for the character LCD - are you using the LiquidCrystal Arduino library? The display may have a non-standard controller. Perhaps try driving it as an 8x2 rather than 16x1 (as 8x2 is a more common size for these things, I think).

[Rebecca]

Gav's light sabre is designed for displaying arbitrary text so it could easily show program guide informaion.. caveat being you will need to view the light sabre output on a long exposure image capture which somewhat decreases the convenience factor.

[Jason Ball]

I just had a vision of a V8 powered POV clock ;)

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[Jake Anderson]

Geez so unaustralian.
use a locally produced I6 engine ;->
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Barra_engine

<- ford man ;->

[Jason Ball]

Meh -- ford!

[Benjamin Johnson]

meh - piston engines - use a REAL engine - a gas turbine ;) (hope that should stop the brand fighting).

or better yet some galvos and a laser - but then you start to get into expensive territory :P Galvo's tend to slow down though the longer the words get, causing flicker :P

VK2FRO Ham radio callsign
PH: 0411134358

[Jason Ball]

Well... I did build the CNC mill to make engines...

[David Lyon]

Seriously?

That's cool... What type?

[Mike]

I have an LED powered projector from one of those cheap eye-clops
things. It's not very bright, but you can project the TV onto the wall
through composite cables.
I took it apart, I can bring the bits into the space if you want to
play with it.
I was hoping to somehow get a component signal in there but don't know
enough about the circuitry. I probably have to convert component to
RGB somehow.

These things used to cost $150 but I found it in the toy bin at target
for $39...

[David Lyon]

Something like this perhaps...

http://littlebirdelectronics.com/products/video-experimenter-shield

[Jason Ball]

easy to turn RGB into composit, the reverse is considerably more difficult.    I have a circuit for the former here somewhere - simply using  a quad nand to merge the signals to turn a VGA output into a composit signal.

J.

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[David Lyon]

an update...

I found the basic chip is just $4.81 at farnell...

http://au.element14.com/national-semiconductor/lm1881n/video-sync-separator-1881-dip8/dp/9488413

[Mike]

I'm pretty sure the LCD inside the projector is RGB, but it only has
composite in, so the colours are all washed out and horrible.
If there was a way to get a higher quality signal into it then it
might not look so bad, but then again it is a toy projector...

[Jason Ball]

I have one at home I bought on a whim... still haven't opened the box :/

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[cooltim]

As soon as I bought it I accidentally bought 10.

Stupid on-line shopping...

Stupid work...

[Angus Gratton]

On Fri, Jul 01, 2011 at 11:29:23AM +1000, Wilson Cletus wrote:
> Someone here at MHV pulled apart an old Nokia phone display and got it
> working in an old slide projector. I'll see if I can get him to write it up
> once he gets back from o/s.

FWIW, here are some photos of the hacked Nokia slide projector (I
didn't build it, just took the photos.) It's not full-motion video
capable, but it looks very cool... Matt is demoing its potential as a
"dynamic hairstyle simulator" in the first photo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/angusgr/tags/hackedprojector/

You can just see the projector itself in the first photo as well. It
is a thing of beauty.

- Angus

[David Lyon]

FWIW - it's worth a lot because it's cool and shows how 1950's tech can
be cojoined to 00's lcd's..