CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[cmjohnson]

Maybe this should be in the buy/sell forum, but as it's such a digital-specific item, I figured I'd better ask here.


Maybe someone here has a dead SXGA resolution digital projector lying around that uses the .9 inch SXGA (1280x1024) TI DMD device.


If so, let me know. I have a bad DMD in one of my Barco 3-chip DLP machines and if I can replace the DMD then it shoul be perfectly good again.


Of course there are some different versions of the SXGA DMD. I need the .9 inch diagonal version, NON-DarkChip,
with no heatsink block built into the chip's body.


Let me know if you might have one in a dead digital projector, please.


If you're not sure about the DMD type, let me know anyway and I can look up the DMD specs by the projector's brand name and model number.


Thanks.

CJ

[macgyver655]

Thats definitely an 800X600 chip?

[cmjohnson]

My typo...SXGA. 1280x1024.


CJ

[macgyver655]

[cmjohnson]

I can provide pictures this evening. But the appropriate chip will be marked .9 SXGA right on the back of it.


CJ

[macgyver655]

[cmjohnson]

Here's two DMDs for comparison. It's the SMALLER one of the two that I need. .9 inch, SXGA 1280x1024 resolution, non-Darkchip type
but if there's a drop-in replacement Darkchip type available, I'd take it.

The larger one is also SXGA but it's the full size 1" version.

You can actually see the failure on the smaller DMD. It has thousands of stuck pixels in a "globular cluster" configuration, more or less. The failures aren't evenly distributed, neither are they in a clearly defined pattern.



CJ

[macgyver655]

Call this number and tell them what you need. (512) 682-4855 They are showing a 0.9 SXGA+ available but I know they had the regular SXGA before. Let me know how that works out. If to expensive I can still try other options.

[cmjohnson]

Oh yeah, it won't hurt to include this information.

The DMD is from a Barco SLM R6 projector, blue channel to be precise. Other than the stuck pixels, the blue channel was still functional
and thus I believe that the formatter board (where the DMD is mounted) is still good BUT it wouldn't hurt to have a tested spare just in
case a formatter glitch is what damaged the DMD.

While I'm on that same subject, of my two PJs, I only have one lens between the pair. I would LIKE to get a second lens, and ideally
it would be identical. The type is a Barco TLD series lens, throw ratio 0.8:1, part number R9840900. If I can't get a perfect match
for this lens, I would certainly consider a matched pair of any OTHER TLD series lenses if I could get them cheaply enough.

Both machines have Cinergix soft edge blending and what I'd do if I had them both running as a matched pair is do a blend at 1080p
on a stupidly large screen...actually a big wall. With a total pixel area of 2560x1024, it'd give a nice blend and just miss a handful of horizontal rows.

Actually one thing I have them for is that I'm doing some experiments with LED illumination retrofits. I'm literally a block away from
a major LED lighting manufacturer and am working with them on exploring the concept. They say they can give me 7000 lumens of
6500K white light for a power budget of 65 watts. Considering that these PJs use 1200 watt lamps and have a rated output of 6000
lumens, I think this is worth looking into. Very long lifespan, low power consumption, lots of stable light output....what could be better?

Of course, this would require substantial power supply modifications...like ripping it out and replacing it with a much smaller one. But
I'll worry about that later. I can get engineering help with that when the time comes.

First things first...get the second unit back up and running.

Thanks for your assistance. It's really appreciated.

CJ

[cmjohnson]

[macgyver655]

[garyfritz]

If it's that easy to provide mega-lumens of 6500K light from LEDs, I wonder why more DLP projectors aren't using it? Even if you stuck with the color wheel, it's still a big improvement over the bulb. Maybe if you're going to re-engineer it anyway, it's not that much harder to go with pulsed R/G/B LEDs and lose the color wheel.

[cmjohnson]

Who's going to rewrite the DMD driver software to sync up the RGB DMDs to the strobe timing? Not me!

It's not going to be THAT easy to get 7K lumens via LEDs into the light engine, but it's also not that big a challenge
when you have very capable help from some of the best LED lighting engineers in the world, barely a block away from you,
which is my situation.


CJ

[garyfritz]

No, I'm talking about basic consumer DLP pj's that currently use a white bulb and a color wheel. You could replace the white bulb with white LEDs (a lot less than 7k lumens I'm sure) and leave the rest of the light engine basically untouched. You wouldn't have to change DMD drivers or anything. It would work the same way except it would draw a lot less power, generate a lot less heat, require much less/quieter cooling fans, not require bulb replacement, not change color/brightness characteristics over time, etc. Seems like a cheap and easy win to me.

[cmjohnson]

Yeah, that could be done. I actually have some plans in that direction as well.

I'm expecting to get a sample of an LED product which is on a board barely over an inch square and will put out 6000 lumens with a current draw of 6 amps at a couple of volts with a color temperature of 6500K pure white. It would easily be adaptable to many projectors BUT some power supply modifications would be required as the start pulse from an unmodified UHP lamp power supply would of course smoke the LED. There are also different voltage requirements but THAT can be handled.

Essentially, the start pulse circuit would have to be disabled and a DC-DC regulated voltage converter integrated into the lamp package.

I think it could retail for under 300 dollars and last a lifetime. Its substantially reduced thermal output would also help increase projector
lifespan by a considerable amount.


With the ability to get 6000 lumens from an LED barely an inch square, even the largest multi-lamp projectors operating in the 20,000-plus lumens category could be reduced to running on just a few watts and with a lifespan measured in decades.


I see phenomenal profit potential here. Maybe I'll even get a piece of it.


I don't mind talking about this because it's hardly a brand new idea. If someone is motivated, they can pursue this, too.


CJ

[macgyver655]

Ok, here's the response I'm getting which is what I figured. Its almost impossible to search their bone pile without a make and model. What we need to do is research DLP projectors and DLP RPTV's and come up with some makes and models of these devices that may have that resolution chip. RPTV's will be more plentiful. They will gladly search their pile with this info. I dont have the time myself as we are gearing up for another trip. Let me know what you want to do.

[cmjohnson]

Funny you should respond at this particular time as I was about to amend my information.

I didn't even realize it until right now, but SXGA+ is a different resolution than SXGA.

Its native resolution is actually 1400x1050.

I'll start digging into the pile of projector types that I can confirm are at least SXGA+ resolution, whether single or 3 chip, but in many
cases I won't be able to verify the SIZE class of the DMDs.


Be aware, I've found an as-yet unexplained anomaly. Though the DMD says SXGA+ as clear as day, as you can see on the photo, Barco lists this particular projector type (SLM R6 Executive) as having a native resolution of 1280x1024, SXGA.

I will be calling Barco to ask for clarification on this anomaly tomorrow.



I'll start making a list of SXGA+ candidate proejctors, starting with BARCO projectors.

SLM R series

SIM 5R

FLM R22+

Galaxy 12 HB+

OV-515
OV-715
OV-815
OV-1015

ID Pro R600+
ID NR-6
ID LR-6

CLM R10+


IQ Pro R500
IQ Pro R350



There are probably more but that's a start. I'll work on finding more and then update the list.

CJ

[macgyver655]

Yes, that definitely has to be clarified. I knew the + was different which is why I said in my post with the phone number. Did you ask them about the + or the regular, cause their site says they have the +? Unless they no longer have stock.

[macgyver655]

Oh, and if your going to spend some time researching we would probably be better off looking at DLP RPTV's first. Much bigger supply available with my contacts.

You just get me make and model and I can pull manuals to check for DMD size for that application. But really, verify that + or not first.

Unless you want to count the mirrors, LOL.

[cmjohnson]

There are so many RPTVs on the market...it would be a daunting task.


Give me at least a few brand names to check out. I'll start with Samsung and LG and Toshiba but beyond that, I'm not even sure what
the major player brands are in the RPTV market.

I'll contact the manufacturers and ask them nicely to provide me with a list of
all models that use the .9 inch SXGA+ chip made by TI. Or as much of that information as they can give me.

Incidentally, for my test purposes it would be a very GOOD idea for me to get my hands on a single chip DLP engine or two and I'm
not going to be too picky about what they are except that they should work well enough for me to test my LED lighting experiments
with them. They do not have to have a good lamp power supply or good lamp. By preference I would of course prefer an HD native
model but really it doesn't matter. I just want to be able to prove the concept in a couple of representative DLP engine types.

CJ