I love video projectors, and have used one instead of a traditional TV for almost 6 years now. The only serious drawback, in my experience, is the expense of the bulbs, and I expect that it will not be very long before full-color laser diode projector technology overcomes it. Red, green, and blue laser diodes are already accessible; the trick seems to be in scanning the beams in an economical and reliable way.

German hacker Helmar Dittrich, who built a monochrome version of this rig in 2001 and recently modified it for full color, solves the beam-scanning problem mechanically, with a pair of spinning mirrors. Many of the parts of Herr Dittrich’s machine were salvage, and he’s entered it in a scrap-hacking contest sponsored by German computer magazine c’t. [via adafruit]

More:

• Scratch Built RGB Laser Projector
• DIY pillbox laser projector
• Laser projector
• Homebuilt laser projector