Coolest. Gaming Set-up. Evar.

[Steel_Wind]

My only concern would be burning out the projector since it would be on for very prolonged periods of time. I could be wrong, but I don't think they're meant to be on for 6-8 hours at a time (at least not the economical ones).

Our projector is on for about 6 hours or so a session. It depends on the environment the players are in, of course. It's sometimes less - sometimes more I suppose.

6-8 hours would often be about right.

There is no problem with leaving a DLP on this long. It does consume the overall hours available on your bulb of course - but it does not "break" the projector. Some older LCD models could develop a black spot on the centre of the TFT from heat build-up, but this is not a problem with DLPs (or newer LCDs, for that matter).

 

[JDragon]

Well along with most everyone else I have to say that this is a great set up.

I had thought of doing this several years before the article you mentioned from Dragon, but have not been in the right place to do it, and had issues convincing the wife it was worth the money. (I'll be showing her your set up as soon as she gets home from her trip tonight )

I had always guessed it work, but its great to see it in action.

The information you have provided in this thread will be invaulable to trying to get this set up for my games.

Please keep the info and pics coming.

 

[Boredflak]

My only concern would be burning out the projector since it would be on for very prolonged periods of time. I could be wrong, but I don't think they're meant to be on for 6-8 hours at a time (at least not the economical ones).

I've been using my old 'n busted projector (InFocus LP425z) for about three years of game sessions. One session per week, for about 8-10 hours each (we're kind of marathon gamers). I haven't burned out a bulb yet. We have a backup bulb I bought for a song on ebay, but it's still in it's box.

We used my company's Infocus LP425 for a couple of years before that. It was still working fine when I quit the company. I don't know if I've just been lucky, or if the gaming gods are lookin' out for me, but so far so good...

 

[Steel_Wind]

Hey, Thanks for sharing the pics. Quick question:

Do you have to darken the room to be able to see the details in the projection? If so, does this hinder anything else, like reading, writing, etc.?

Just a follow up on this as a result of our session this evening.

We switched from our usual brownish/beige battle mat to a white blind as a projection surface this evening.

I am not as much a fan of this surface only because I prefer the grid to be on the projection surface (and our white surface does not have a grid on it) - but the white vs. brown is a massive spike in the resulting brightness factor.

The difference in the lighting from our 1600 ANSI Lumens projector was pretty significant. We did not dim any of the lights nor did we need to. We had all 5 of them on and didn't dim a single light. The picture was still very clear.

 

[ecliptic]

*pictures a flat screen HDTV built into a table*

One day.

Just a follow up on this as a result of our session this evening.

We switched from our usual brownish/beige battle mat to a white blind as a projection surface this evening.

I am not as much a fan of this surface only because I prefer the grid to be on the projection surface (and our white surface does not have a grid on it) - but the white vs. brown is a massive spike in the resulting brightness factor.

The difference in the lighting from our 1600 ANSI Lumens projector was pretty significant. We did not dim any of the lights nor did we need to. We had all 5 of them on and didn't dim a single light. The picture was still very clear.

You need to take the white mat to Kinkos and have them put a grid on it.

I also recommend you get some kinda fantasy theme for Windows. So the Start button isn't so obtrusive.

 

[Will]

Thanks for link to Neveredit... maybe I'll finally buy NWN now!

(I was looking forward to it for years. When I heard no Mac toolset... I passed on buying it.)

 

[Frostmarrow]

Does the room get hot?

Can you supply more pictures? I like it!

 

[Steel_Wind]

No the room does not get hot at all.

I am working on a Complete Guide to Digital Map Projection. It may take me a week or two to finish it up, but when its ready you should have all you need to know about the technology, the software, the options, the cost of the various options and hot to get started for your own group.

I'll include new pictures at that time.

Thanks for the interest

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Cool. I guess burning it out isn't an issue. One less thing to worry about

 

[jodyjohnson]

I've been researching projectors all weekend and it's not that easy finding a projector that will work.

1. Minimum throw distance. Many projectors have a minimum throw distance of 5' or farther (it won't focus closer than 5'). Clearing 5' from table to lens is the best we can do in our basement.

2. Brightness. Most of the newer projectors are almost too bright at 5' or less since they are designed for comfortable viewing at closer to 10-20 feet of throw distance.

3. Image/Throw distance. It's tough to find a wide angle projector. Several projectors with 5' minimum throw only give you a 36" image. Ideally you want more of a 48"-60" image at 5'.

I can definately see why projection from underneath is rough since the gaming table isn't usually 5' off the floor.