Do you know how to make a homemade projector with a mirror to achieve the fantasy of large screen to get rid of the limitation of cell phone and computer, some references are given below, hope it can help you!
Quick Guide：
How To Make A Homemade Projector With A Mirror?
- Step 1: Cut the CardBoard Box.
- Step 2: Cover The Interior Of The Box.
- Step 3: Place The Mirror To The Bottom.
- Step 4: Construct The Phone Holder.
- Step 5: Adjust The Image Position.
- Step 6: Cover The Homemade Project In Cardboard.
- Step 7: Enjoy The Result.
Ok, a simple portable projector is ready, show your friends what you have done!
Still envious of the ease with which others can achieve home theater? And you’re still struggling with time and budget issues? No matter, this guide will teach you how not to spend a penny, at home manually DIY projector, easy to achieve the freedom of the big screen!
First, let’s take you through the three types of projectors commonly used：
- DLP (Digital Light Processing)
- LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
- CRT (Cathode Ray Tube).
CRT projectors were one of the first projectors commonly used. With today’s technology, they are getting obsolete and are less in use than their more advanced counterparts. They use 3 tubes, one for each of three additive primary colors: Red,Green, and Blue. If you want to know more about colors, check the article about mixing colors and learn all about it.
The biggest downside of CRT projectors is their large size, low light output and frequent need of aligning the three tubes so the image is correct. Because of this reason, they are mostly replaced with more friendly LCD and DLP projectors.
LCD projectors use polarized mirrors that reflect and pass trough only certain colors of light. First, the red, green and blue colors are separated and go trough the LCD panel that controls the intensity and saturation of each color. After passing through the LCD panel, the colors re-converge with the help of prism and we get the picture we want.
There are two types of DLP 4k projectors based on the number of chips they contain. There are one-chip and three-chip models. Each chip contains millions of mirrors that reflect light thousands of times per second. One-chip projectors can produce more than 16 million colors while the three-chip projectors can produce more than 35 trillion colors. Impressive indeed! That makes them suitable for the production of more lifelike and natural images.
They are capable of creating a more crisp and fluid image than LCD projectors due to the more dense closeness of each mirror. That also makes pixels closer together and it is almost impossible to see any space between them.
Projector brightness is measured in lumens. The size of the room and the size of the picture we want to project are the biggest factors that determine the lumen rating we need for a clear picture. In small rooms and when we are projecting on a small screen, the lumen rating between 1500 and 3000 will suffice. But in large rooms and on large screens (think of cinema) we need a lumen rating of 10000 to 28000 for a clear picture. Also, the ambient light influences the lumens we need. The higher the ambient light, the more lumens we need to see the clear image.
As with brightness, distance and screen size also play a major role in the lens we need. If the projector is close to the screen, we will need a short-throw lens. If the projector is casting on a large screen and is placed in the back of the room, we will need a long-throw lens. All projectors have a lense that specializes in one of those functions. They all can be adjusted and focused to some extent but can never play a good role in both long and short throwing of an image.
Science Behind Homemade Projector
How come the video on the wall is much bigger than on the smartphone? That’s the whole point of the projector, right? Well, the explanation lies in the lens of the magnifying glass – convex lens.
The convex lens is thicker in the middle than on the edges. The light, coming from your smartphone is going in the straight line. Then, when the light reaches the focal point, it bends and converges.
From the focal point, light disperses in the opposite direction, stopping at the surface where our video is projected. That’s why the video gets bigger the further the projector is from the wall. However, that also makes the video less sharp.
That is also the reason we see our video upside down! The light coming from a focal point is projected in the opposite direction. So that is the reason why we need to turn our smartphone upside down to get a correct image.
Did you know that the human eye works similarly? Images we receive by our eyes are upside down! The lens in our eye is focusing light from the environment on the retina, where a similar process occurs. Our brain then makes the necessary correction so that we perceive the world around us in its regular shape and direction.
How to Make A Homemade Projector with Mirror
DIY material：
- A smartphone
- A mirror (should be able to fit into the box you will be using)
- A magnifying glass
- A rectangular cardboard box (shoebox works great)
- A pair of scissors
- Some glue
- Tape
- Black paper (matte)
- Protractor (optional)
- PenciL
Next, follow these steps:
Make a case for your homemade projector
- Pick up your rectangular cardboard box and cut off a narrow edge and the top of the box. Don’t throw away the cut off pieces, you will need them later.
- The next step is to paint the inside of the box black. If you have black paint, you can paint the inside of the cardboard black. Or, glue black paper around the inside of the cardboard box.
- If you choose to use black paper to darken the inside of the box, make sure it is matte. Glossy paper will produce reflections that will affect the clarity of the image.
- If you paint the inside of the box to make it black, please wait for the paint to dry completely.
Making lens panels
- Pick up the narrow side panel you cut out in step 1. You will use this panel to mount the lens. To mount the lens, you will need to punch a hole in the side panel.
- Place the magnifying glass in the middle of the side panel and trace its outline on the panel. This will ensure that the hole you created for the lens is installed correctly.
- The lens side of the projector is now ready to go.
- Remove the lens from the magnifying glass and insert it into the hole in the side panel. Make sure the curved part of the lens is facing inward and the flat side of the lens is facing outward.
- Now that you have the lens side of your homemade projector, the next step is to reinforce it. You want the lens panel to be able to stand up, so you will reinforce it along both sides.
- Take some of the black paper you used to darken the inside of the cardboard box. Cut out a strip of thick paper. Make sure the strip goes around the edge of the panel where the lens will be mounted.
- Your lens panel is now complete and ready to go into the box. Align the edges of the lens panel with the edges of the rectangular frame
Set up the mirror
1. The next step is to place the mirror inside the cardboard box. You want the mirror on the back of the box to be opposite the panel with the lens.
2. Place the mirror against the back wall of the cardboard box at a 45 degree angle.
A protractor will let you know if the mirror is in the correct position. Or, look down at the mirror. If it is positioned correctly, you should be able to see the lens on the opposite side.
Setting up your smartphone
1. The next step is to punch a hole in the flap of the cardboard box. The hole should be about the size of your smartphone’s screen.
2. Draw the dimensions of your smartphone on the lid of the cardboard box. The smartphone should be located on the back of the cardboard box above the mirror.
3. You can now go ahead and cut the part you are tracing. Make sure the cutout is slightly smaller than the outline of the phone you are tracing.
4. This is to ensure that your phone does not fall into the box when you use it. When the hole is finished, put the lid of the cardboard box back on top of the box.
5．Now your homemade projector is ready to use. Simply find the movie or clip you want to watch on your smartphone. Then place the phone face down on the hole you created in the box lid.
6. You should be able to see the image projected on the wall.
7. You can always adjust the lens as needed to get better clarity and sharper images. Make sure you do not dirty the lens when adjusting it, as this may blur the image.
8．You can now enjoy your movie with your homemade projector.
Making the most of your homemade projector
- To get the correct focus, try using different projection ranges until you get the right picture. Move the projector closer to or away from the wall until you get a clear image.
- Projectors work best in dim lighting, so make sure you use the projector in a dark environment.
- For best results, project onto a white wall in a completely dark room
Conclusion:
Making your own projector is fun and easy and takes less than an hour to create.
While you may not get the same image quality as an actual projector, making your own projector beats watching your favorite movie or video on your phone.
FAQ:
Can you project phone to wall?
All you need is a few household materials and a little time to make your own projector.It was easy and simple and took about 10 minutes to make and then I used the projector to transfer letters and numbers on the wall
Do homemade projectors really work?
Absolutely. With a cardboard box, a smartphone, and a few basic household tools (like tape, a magnifying glass, and some others) you can create a working DIY projector. Do DIY phone projectors actually work? Yes – though of course, the quality will not be as good as a proper store-bought projector.
Can a projector project on a wall?
A projector will work on a wall and for the best viewing experience, pick a special projector screen paint and find the right color. Grey usually works the best as it balances both black and white’s contrast and light absorption qualities.
Can mobile flashlight be used as projector?
With the use of the flashlight feature on your Android device, you can conveniently use it as a projector wherever you are.
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