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White Paint vs. Screen Experience?

1K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  Mark Rejhon 
#1 ·
I have just finished painting my rear wall with Sherwin Williams luminous white flat paint. Under the light from a 500 watt halogen used for painting, the wall is smooth and WHITE!


I am now waiting for my projector to arrive.

How good will this screen-wall be in comparison to a professional screen such as a Stewart Studiotek 1.3?


Haa anybody started with such a painted wall and made the switch? What was your experience in this regard?


Regards,

Steve B.
 
#2 ·
Steve,


How large a screen are you planning? You can get a pull down screen very cheaply, around $100 or so. I use the Video Spectra which is a 1.5 gain from DaLite and I've been very happy with it. If you purchase a square screen they are much cheaper than the video format screens sold specifically for home theater. I think it would be a shame to limit your projector performance and your room decor by not spending $100, but that's just MHO.
 
#3 ·
Knowing what it took to get either Stewart or Da-lite to pass the venerable Mr. Kane's screen requirements...and then witnessing the manufacturing plant for Da-Lite...then experiencing countless setups for customers with a HUGE variety of screens...


...I would recommend upgrading to the screen.


I have never seen a perfectly smooth drywall surface...and those aberrations will jump out at you with motion on-screen. But it does work with the budget...


Stretched vinyl will be a perfectly flat, smooth surface. And if you want the most convincing image...stick with one of the better 1.3 gain screens. I'm partial to the felt wrapped high-end Stewarts...but they really charge a premium for 'em. Look at what Da-Lite offers in the same size.


I will continue to recommend 1.3 screens since they show the most three dimensional, involving image...consistently.


John
 
#4 ·
still....Look at the picture at www.avsforum.com . David Bott tried out 4 high quality screens, before settling on the Draper M2500. Yep, that's an M2500 pictured in the photo of his fancy home theater. He found the M2500 to be the most three dimensional of all of them.


So it's not always a rule of thumb to only stick with 1.3 gain screens. 1.3 gain can be better if you have the light output necessary but not everybody does (without driving the projector to the point of blooming). Not everyone wants to go for a smaller screen size or sit closer to the screen. Not everyone have walls painted black (an M2500 has better ambient light rejection, including scattered light from the screen). I have personally visited his home theater as well. The picture was great!


If you have money, try both. As long as the projector is cieling mounted, more than 50% of the time, you'll go for the M2500, unless you really focus carefully on all other nuances and aspects of the home theater (size, viewing distance, etc) - then it's probably a 50-50 break even.


Just make sure the projector is cieling mounted, you're sitting in center, and you're sitting at least 1.5 screen widths away from the M2500. Otherwise, you won't get the best effect out of a M2500. This is good if you can normally sit in the prime seating position all the time.


Most of the dissatisfaction reports comes from people who cannot sit in center, or the projector is floor mounted, etc.


------------------

Thanks,

Mark Rejhon
www.marky.com


[This message has been edited by Mark Rejhon (edited November 03, 1999).]
 
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