First effect is that the monitor will look much bigger than it really is
Second effect is that your eyes focus at a much further distance, nearer to infinity, than the 20" or so when you are sat in front of a monitor
Both huge benefits.
I have been lucky enough to clock up 100's of hours on real full motion flight sims while working as a developer for a flight sim company. They use curved mirrors to similar effect and the difference between looking at the image "projected" than on a screen is huge.
Never use a fresnel though but at $28us its very tempting to give it a try
Lol let me get this right.. All the mod is is a thin plastic sheet (Fresnel lens) and something to hold it in front of the monitor? Sounds too bloody easy but will give it a go
As I plan to buy a 19" TFT screen quite soon, I would just like to ask if the added weight could flip the monitor. If not, I might aswell try to find such a lense
Wow I was seriously considering making a home made LCD projector, but having seen this I've changed my mind for US$28.50 I think its definately worth a try.. and how about a setup like this with dual screens
Notice how the site does'nt give you a photo of the image the lens produces.
This thing cant be good for your eyes, (try looking through a pair of binoculars for half an hour), i would guess a packet of headache tablets would also be a wise investment to include in the build costs.
id say the exact opposite ... at least if the first link is right the picture is a lot further from your eyes than your monitor which is always a good thing for your eyes
As mentioned in an earlier reply to you, you're looking into the lens. However, given a different focal length the same setup will function as a crude projector. The room will have to be VERY dark and it'll be rather fuzzy since the monitor isn't bright enough and the lens is relatively low quality, but it'll work.
A better option for a cheap projhector might be to find an old overhead transparency projector, steal the lens armature off of it, and use that. Brightness will still be an issue but the image quality will be higher.
I've used them for pc based flight simulators. Words don't do it justice. What it does for depth perception is just amazing. I've used both the small ones and one I took from a big screen tv with my projector shining on it. It also is really cool if you hold it under the sun, melted a hole into the pavement with the big screen lens.
Nah, bit of sticky backed plastic and your laughing !
I'm no optometrist, but these are the kind of things my Granny used to read the newspaper with, and it was fine to use for short periods, but, dunno bout you, sometimes hours fly past when i'm racing, and i can only guess at the eye strain ?
I wear spec's and contact's, and the focal length is really important to give you correct vision, so i guess i'm just a bit concerned for your young eye's
Anyway if anyone does try it i'd be interested to know the results.
I've been toying with the idea of the disasembled TFT screen over an OHP, but getting them cheap aint too easy.