What to get and where to get them?

I need to black out a 2'0 x 8'0 picture.

Use black out shades. They come down in tracks and block almost all the light when installed correctly.

http://www.smithandnoble.com/sn/product_detail.jsp?sch_cat=Petite%20Blockout%20Cell%20Shades&prod_oid=252762&nav_cat=-17994

Doesn't come with side tracks though

http://www.northsolarscreen.com/html/blackout.shtml

The link above shows the tracks about 3/4 of the way down the page.

One downside: the IR sensor built into my blinds is located in the front half of the room and is very sloppy about what it accepts as a control signal. The result is that various other remotes sporadically cause the blinds to open. At the moment fast-forwarding the TiVo sometimes does it. Even manually switching on my previous projector could open the blinds, I think due to a burst of IR noise from the bulb itself. It can be annoying, to say the least.

One downside: the IR sensor built into my blinds is located in the front half of the room and is very sloppy about what it accepts as a control signal. The result is that various other remotes sporadically cause the blinds to open. .

What brand of blinds and remote are you using?

What brand of blinds and remote are you using?

I think they're Bali verticals. It was a custom order at Home Depot 9-10 years ago and the remote came with them. They do respond immediately and reliably to their own remote, they just also sometimes respond to other remotes when the angle is just right and the mood strikes them. I've never seen the blinds remote have any effect on other equipment, so I believe the issue is entirely in the receiver.

At some point I may just replace them and be done with it. They have S-shaped slats which are supposed to block more light, but "more" ended up being nowhere near "enough" and I had to use a second treatment between them and the glass to get the room anywhere near dark enough (it's a living room with a bay window that takes direct sunlight). I'd probably be better off with some proper blackout shades that have side channels, mylar layers, etc.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

Anyone else have any suggestions?

One thing we were planning to do for our HT is to use some wood blinds that you can use a remote control with to open/close.

The following company, justblinds (http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=lxDetbZsIZc&offerid=116505.10000010&type=3&subid=0), sells them with that option. When you go to customize your order through the website, they offer an option of a motorized tilter which can open & close the blinds (Note: it just controls the blind tilter - which is all you really need - it doesn't actually lift the blinds up or down).