Not everyone may realize, a little over a year ago cfavreau released his open source projector controller DAC, called OLSD. This is a neat little DAC built on an arduino duemilanove, which can be had for $20-25, plus a 'shield PCB' that performs the DAC function and can be purchased or built from the open plans. This little device works with all OSes and has good performance - MUCH better than an iShow DAC.
It can be used with a lot of community software, including
LSX
ILD SOS
LaserCam
Spaghetti
Mamba Black (through the MLD Interface)
HE_Laserscan (through MLD)
and probably others.
Now, it's not a 24-bit true color DAC like an EtherDream and most others (iShow is only 3-bit color) it's 9-bit or 15-bit color for 512 or 32,768 colors, depending on the version you buy/build.
If you are building or buying one and want to use it as-is with LSX, with shows that you create, just drop the OLSD.dll into the LSX install folder. Simple!
However if you want to play protected shows from LSX, do not change OLSD.dll as above. Some PCB modifications will be required to turn your OLSD V3 into an OLSD-LSX device. There are a few benefits to doing so:
-Max point rate increases to 50kpps from 30kpps
-Point output smoothness improves
-Can play protected shows from LSX
You will need:
Soldering iron
Drill with thin bits
OLSD-LSX Arduino chip (PM for details)
Thin wire
Here are the instructions for doing the mod
1) download FTProg
http://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Utilities.htm
With your device plugged in, Run it, and click 'scan and parse' under 'USB String Descriptors' change product description to "OLSD_LSX_V1.0_F" (without quotes) then under 'Hardware specific, IO controls' change C2, C3, C4 to CLK24
Finally, click 'Program Devices' at the top.
2) apply the thick red wire Duemilanove modification as shown in the photos. The thin wire mod was factory-installed already. Note that on
the underside, the trace leading to the wired pin is cut right next to the socket pin.
That's it, install the OLSD/LSX chip and you should be good to go. Note, these instructions are for the V3 variant of OLSD.