if you’re looking for a fun and cheap
way to watch events like the Super Bowl
or March Madness here’s a low-budget
life hack that will convert your laptop
smartphone or tablet into an improvised
home theater
[Music]
I started this project with a cardboard
box and a roll of duct tape I got the
black kind aside from those the only
thing we’ll need is a simple magnifying
lens I got this one online for about $4
with free shipping these are typically
sold as full-page magnifiers for reading
small text the end of this cardboard box
is just slightly bigger than the plastic
lens so let’s place it in the middle and
when it looks about Center we can trace
around the edges now the lens is going
to be taped to the inside of the box so
let’s trace out another set of lines
about a half-inch smaller and now the
setup should look like this while we’re
here let’s use a credit card or a hotel
key to trace out a rectangle in the
center alright it’s time to get to work
making some cuts and scissors can be a
little awkward so I’m going to try using
this steak knife instead let’s start by
cutting out the center piece taking time
to make the cuts as clean as possible
now we’ll need to cut along the inside
edges and if you’ve done it right
you should be left with a piece that
looks like this but don’t throw it away
now this part is optional but I’m going
to add some duct tape along the cut
edges just to smooth them over and clean
up the look now let’s flip the box over
to expose the inside and add our lens
this gets placed over the hole with the
grouped side facing up some more duct
tape is added to secure the lens in
position and now we can work on making
the box a little more sturdy I’m folding
the big bottom flaps in first so the
smaller flaps are on the outside a strip
of tape will ensure the inside bottom is
flat and smooth and the outside flaps
are taped down as well next let’s use
our knife to cut down the two corners at
the back to make a flap that opens up
the top can now be closed and tape used
to hold everything together firm and
strong I gave mine a quick paint job and
there’s the finished projector
well that was cheap and easy ok we’re
going to need a projection screen so I
went to a sign supply company and found
this sheet of 0.02 high-impact styrene
for about $2 the sheet is 4 feet wide
and adding a little black duct tape to
the edges gives it a nice looking border
I had just enough tape left to hang the
screen on the wall and rigged up a
little makeshift theater room now this
lens configuration will allow the most
light to shine through but if you’re ok
with a darker but crisper image you can
go ahead and add the shroud to the front
of the lens this will tighten the
aperture and give a better focus at this
point we’re about ready to test it out
I’m going to try it with this iPad and
we’ll need to go into the settings menu
and make sure we lock the rotation of
the screen we’ll also need to bring the
light up to maximum to hold your tablet
upright in the projector you’ll need to
find something sturdy this box of tomato
paste was the right size for me so I
used a couple of rubber bands to hold
the iPad firmly against the box and with
the screen flipped upside down this can
be slid into the projector and you may
need to play around at the positioning
of your tablet to see where it focuses
the best okay let’s turn off the lights
and test it out
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
well there you go we just made a cheap
version of a 50 inch home theater and it
looks pretty decent if you try this with
your smartphone the process is pretty
much the same but your picture will be a
little smaller I found that a laptop
computer gives the best results because
it’s got the brightest screen it fits
together a little differently but works
for all the same reasons so if you’re
trying to save money there’s a little
trick that will hopefully keep costs low
and put a fun spin on your next sports
party if you like this project perhaps
you’ll like some of my others check them
out at the king of random comm
[Music]
way to watch events like the Super Bowl
or March Madness here’s a low-budget
life hack that will convert your laptop
smartphone or tablet into an improvised
home theater
[Music]
I started this project with a cardboard
box and a roll of duct tape I got the
black kind aside from those the only
thing we’ll need is a simple magnifying
lens I got this one online for about $4
with free shipping these are typically
sold as full-page magnifiers for reading
small text the end of this cardboard box
is just slightly bigger than the plastic
lens so let’s place it in the middle and
when it looks about Center we can trace
around the edges now the lens is going
to be taped to the inside of the box so
let’s trace out another set of lines
about a half-inch smaller and now the
setup should look like this while we’re
here let’s use a credit card or a hotel
key to trace out a rectangle in the
center alright it’s time to get to work
making some cuts and scissors can be a
little awkward so I’m going to try using
this steak knife instead let’s start by
cutting out the center piece taking time
to make the cuts as clean as possible
now we’ll need to cut along the inside
edges and if you’ve done it right
you should be left with a piece that
looks like this but don’t throw it away
now this part is optional but I’m going
to add some duct tape along the cut
edges just to smooth them over and clean
up the look now let’s flip the box over
to expose the inside and add our lens
this gets placed over the hole with the
grouped side facing up some more duct
tape is added to secure the lens in
position and now we can work on making
the box a little more sturdy I’m folding
the big bottom flaps in first so the
smaller flaps are on the outside a strip
of tape will ensure the inside bottom is
flat and smooth and the outside flaps
are taped down as well next let’s use
our knife to cut down the two corners at
the back to make a flap that opens up
the top can now be closed and tape used
to hold everything together firm and
strong I gave mine a quick paint job and
there’s the finished projector
well that was cheap and easy ok we’re
going to need a projection screen so I
went to a sign supply company and found
this sheet of 0.02 high-impact styrene
for about $2 the sheet is 4 feet wide
and adding a little black duct tape to
the edges gives it a nice looking border
I had just enough tape left to hang the
screen on the wall and rigged up a
little makeshift theater room now this
lens configuration will allow the most
light to shine through but if you’re ok
with a darker but crisper image you can
go ahead and add the shroud to the front
of the lens this will tighten the
aperture and give a better focus at this
point we’re about ready to test it out
I’m going to try it with this iPad and
we’ll need to go into the settings menu
and make sure we lock the rotation of
the screen we’ll also need to bring the
light up to maximum to hold your tablet
upright in the projector you’ll need to
find something sturdy this box of tomato
paste was the right size for me so I
used a couple of rubber bands to hold
the iPad firmly against the box and with
the screen flipped upside down this can
be slid into the projector and you may
need to play around at the positioning
of your tablet to see where it focuses
the best okay let’s turn off the lights
and test it out
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
well there you go we just made a cheap
version of a 50 inch home theater and it
looks pretty decent if you try this with
your smartphone the process is pretty
much the same but your picture will be a
little smaller I found that a laptop
computer gives the best results because
it’s got the brightest screen it fits
together a little differently but works
for all the same reasons so if you’re
trying to save money there’s a little
trick that will hopefully keep costs low
and put a fun spin on your next sports
party if you like this project perhaps
you’ll like some of my others check them
out at the king of random comm
[Music]
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