hi,

i've seen some wicked cockpits after doing a bit of research, some of which have incorporated projectors. i'd like to hear some comments from those who have some experience with that and maybe tips about what to look out for when buying one. seems to me it makes more sense to buy a 500 dollar projector rather than a +1500 dollar wheel/pedal set, or am i totally mistaken? and the missus might be more agreeable as well...

thanks a lot,

roland

You can't get a projector with 500 bucks. Proper ones start from $1400-1600 and over. What do you mean with a $1500+ wheel/pedal set? I'd say that you'd be fine with a DFP, homebuilt clutch from another wheel and a Act Labs Shifter to finish it off. That kind of set would cost you MAX $350 (shifters can be a pain in the butt to find since they aren't built anymore)

I'm building a cockpit at the moment and I'll be using a 32 or 38 inch TV with it, can't afford a proper projector.

You can get a chaep projector providing low resolution (up to 800*600). You have to decide if that's enough for you. Currently Sanyo sells a very good one (PLV-Z4) with high res.


edit:

Cheaper projectors will be LCD types with lower image quality than DLP or other. However new LCD models are actually on par with DLP (black is worse, but sharpness and colours are better with LCD).

I am not a friend of projectors, as the "lightbulbs" usually don't last very long, at least compared to a common monitor (like 3.000 hours lifetime compared to 300.000 hours). Also, they are really expensive to replace (sometimes up to half the price of a new projector).

So a large monitor, or a fresnel-lens would be the better solution, at leats to me

Maybe wait another 18 months for the big format LCD screens to really tumble in price: it will not be long before the new OLED technology starts to kick in, Samsung have already scaled up a 40" prototype, which has far simpler pixel-cell architecture than an LCD monitor. Once they get them into production, they will be much cheaper and more power-conservative, and LCD's will have to fall considerably in price or go the way of Betamax tape.

800 x 600 projection will look awful.

thanks guys, that's been very helpful.

matrixi, can you post any links, maybe? just found some manufacturers linked on the rsc site, and that's all pricey stuff.

regards,

roland

I have a sanyo z3 projector (LCD) and I dont notice any ghosting at all on LFS

you can create your own projector for about 300$ thats just as good if not better then alot of the 1-1200$ ones

http://www.lumenlab.com/

I followed the plans and cost me a total of 345$ and it works AMAZINGLY well.

Quote from m374llic4 :

you can create your own projector for about 300$ thats just as good if not better then alot of the 1-1200$ ones

http://www.lumenlab.com/

I followed the plans and cost me a total of 345$ and it works AMAZINGLY well.

Hmm intresting.

I always like to be doing something and this could be a nice little side project.

Just a question though, how good is the quality (say using average parts) and did it take long to build.

Andy.

I use the litle Toshiba TDP-P5 Projector with 1280x960+ 6xAA+AAA/16xHQAF (X1900XTX/2GB G-SKill PC500/AMD64 4400+) and the Feeling to drive with this great Picture is indescribably! I would not like to again do without it. One 55"+ LCD for the moment still too expensively

Quote from GrandSurf :

I use the litle Toshiba TDP-P5 Projector with 1280x960+ 6xAA+AAA/16xHQAF (X1900XTX/2GB G-SKill PC500/AMD64 4400+) and the Feeling to drive with this great Picture is indescribably! I would not like to again do without it. One 55"+ LCD for the moment still too expensively

Your links are not working.

Quote from neilmichaelcasey :

:wow: that looks awesome. Do you know how good the projector is that you are using? Spec, Price?

I use my Sanyo PLV-Z4 and it works perfectly
The projector was about 1300Euros.
I mostly use him in my movie(theatre)room and the quality compared to the price is awesome!! for specs look it up on the internet
The Z5 is availble too (if something would happen to my projector i will get another Sanyo, thats for sure)

this is mine :
PANASONIC PT-AE900E
Image's quality is really astonishing!But it's hard to show it in an pic
native resolution >> 1280x720 HDTV

Quote from anttt69 :

:wow: that looks awesome. Do you know how good the projector is that you are using? Spec, Price?

Hi - Yes - Its only 800x600 native BUT i run it at 1280 x 768 (12x8 foot)

Better resolution would be nicer but tbo you get used to it & the distance from screen helps alot. Cost about £450 - Bulb lasted 18 months, just got new 1 for £125 delivered.

OK, I know this isn't small, but if you can get your hands on an old Overhead Projector and an old TFT, you can make a pretty decent projector. I haven't tried this as I don't have the room to project an image that big though would love to try some day.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ ... r-tv-for,review-1112.html

I was thinking of getting picture as close as dashboard is in real car and set view so that I should see as much as I do see in real car, so picture should be something like 2m wide, I believe.

However I'm now thinking if that is bit too close, projector dot matrix could be quite visible and also everything could be bit of lego shaped, even I'm planning of getting Full HD capable projector.

Has anyone tried such setup?