$40 DIY Yardstick Frame Masking System for Pull-Down Screens

It seems that masking solutions are primarily for fixed screens, but I have a 92", 16:9 pull-down screen, and gray bars on the 2.35:1 movies have always bothered me.

Here's an inexpensive, quick, lightweight solution for pulldown screens that I built yesterday. It can easily be attached and removed by a single person using common office binder clips.

Here's what I used to build two 82"x6" masks:

* (11) Yardsticks - 1 1/16" wide x 1/4" thick. I would recommend 3/8" for larger screens.
* (1) Bag of Craft (Popsicle) Sticks
* Bottle of Wood Glue
* Velvet cut 6" longer than the length of the mask
* Stapler
* (4) Large office Binder Clips
* Saw to cut the yardsticks and scissors to cut the velvet.

The yardsticks were $1.00 each, the velvet was $20.00, and I already had the wood glue, craft sticks, and stapler.

Cut the yardsticks as follows:

* (8) Full Yardsticks plus (4) 10" pieces to be used for the top and bottom rail of each mask.
* (8) 3 7/8" pieces to be used as vertical supports.

Glue the frames together using two craft sticks per joint. Trim craft sticks as necessary for best coverage for the vertical pieces.

Glue extra craft sticks around the perimeter to attach the staples for the velvet. The staples will poke through the front if attached directly to a 1/4" thick yardstick.

After the glue has dried (I waited about an hour, although overnight is better) attach the velvet with the stapler.

The masks are attached with a single binder clip on each end and can be adjusted up or down to accommodate variances in image height.

Making the frame:


Frame on screen:


Completed masks:

Glad this was helpful. Makes a huge difference and the picture really pops now. BTW, the velvet is priced at ~ $12.99/yd. so make sure you use one of the frequently available 40% off coupons from Jo-Ann Fabrics. You can get them via their e-mail newsleter or in the Sunday newspaper.

Victor and Brajesh - I'd love to see some pics when you build your masks, especially seeing how the clips will work on the side masking for Brajesh.

As for me, it looks like I'm going to have to wait a few more days to enjoy my new masks as the lamp on my Sanyo Z3 dimmed noticeably on Monday and went out for good on Wednesday.

Well, I installed a new lamp in the PJ and had a chance to take a couple of screen shots to compare with the masks on and off. I had to use Paint Shop Pro to bump the black level 30% on each photo as the camera crushed the dark areas of the image to black. Nonetheless, the relative difference between masked and unmasked should be apparent, although in-person the improvement is even more significant.

Without the masks:


With the masks:

Thanks BLloyd and deewan. It was fun to join the DIY crowd by starting with a quick project like this.

Hi lalakersfan34 - glad to hear that someone else has tried building the masks. Please post some pics if you get the chance.

Hi Rover2002 - thanks for letting me know that this was helpful. Enjoy!

tom cierzo, yousuredo, and windrockwater - thanks for the kind words, guys. Glad you all were able to find the post.

Until I tried it, I couldn't believe masking would make that big of a difference, but it really does.

Thanks, MMan. Good point. I used staples since I had an office stapler handy, but other methods (e.g. velcro, spray adhesive) might work as well or even better.

I can't believe that someone who frequents an HT DIY screen thread wouldn't know that masking is used to cover gray bars not black bars..lol..

I guess I never understood why people feel the need to drop in on a thread just to say that it has no value to them. Guess it's a personal thing.

Thanks for the note, Warbie. It hasn't caused waves for me. I pull the screen tight before clipping, and the back of the clip attaches behind the screen border pressing against the frame of the mask, not the white area of the screen.

Thanks for the note, billqs.

Now that you mention it, it does look like I may have misinterpreted MississippiMan's suggestion. Any thoughts on whether the velcro would cause the screen to roll-up unevenly and create waves?

Seems like it may work if you used a thick enough piece, but I've never used foamboard. Maybe the folks who use it for screens can give you some feedback.