Video Projector Prototype Program

Do you currently use design features from a DPC projector design? Have you ever seen an innovative projector design that you wanted to build for yourself? Do you want better projector performance? Of course! That's why the DIY Projector Company has been building new projector designs for the past 4+ years!

If you enjoy benefits of DIYProjectorCompany.com, we invite you to participate in supporting research and development by contributing funding. Please realize is that even a donation of $10-25 helps greatly to study and try new light source technologies and projection lens designs. But we cannot do this with only a few donations, we need a percentage of the community to help.

Why should you donate? Whenever we are able to test a new light source or other new technology, our report helps you determine whether you actually want to invest in that new technology. In this way, your small donation can help save you money repeatedly in the future. Financial support also helps pay for website hosting fees, though these are truly minimal compared to the burden of testing new technologies and designing new projectors.

Thank you for your $10 donation

To donate, please use the Paypal button below. If you wish to place an order with us also, there is a donation store item that you can add to your shopping cart instead. If you prefer not to use Paypal, please contact us for other arrangements. After you have donated, you will have the option to upgrade your DPC forums rank to "DPC Supporter" if you would like. Thank you for your participation.

Results of DPC Community Sponsorship

• Pico Projector Design: One of the most popular projector designs, the Pico model would not have been created without the financial support of a few DPC community members who wanted to fund the design of a long-throw projection lens. Their donations allowed DPC to purchase the current triplet-135 "long-throw" lens design, which is now the most popular lens among DPC builders.
• New Projector Prototype: As of late February 2006, DPC has been developing new projector prototypes that will be more compact and light weight. We have been able to try three new types of light sources in these prototypes because of member sponsorship, which may results in a new type of light source in DIY projectors - we are always looking for new ways to increase image brightness and electrical efficiency.
• Luxeon LED Light Source: Several members have tested different LED light source possibilities. In the beginning, DPC support allowed us to test 5w Luxeon Star LED's as a potential light source. Though the light source ultimately failed to be a good solution, DPC experiments saved money by preventing multiple members purchasing the technology for themselves.
• Lilliput LCD Panel: A while back, some customers mentioned that they were interested in the Lilliput 7" XGA panel, but they weren't sure how to "strip" it for use in a projector. Several small donations and a couple of weeks later, DPC had purchased one of these LCD's, stripped it, and made a set of online instructions, including photos, for disassembling this LCD for use in DIY projectors. The Lilliput has since become the panel of choice for small-panel projectors.
• Ever-Smaller Projectors: While DPC doesn't have the smallest video projector every built (yet), we do take some pride in having helped to shrink the size of DIY projectors. Before our first website, www.diylabs.org, came on the scene, DIY projectors were typically 4 feet long and weighed nearly 100 pounds. Our very first projector model, the MkI, cut both of those numbers nearly in half! Several model revisions and prototypes later, our smallest projector model is roughly the size of a large shoe box!

© 2006 DIY For Life Inc