Advices appreciated...

I can't speak for which paint to use on which pj.

I would say buy a quart of Silverscreen from Homedepot and give it a try. You may want to use Behr 4850 UPW (Ultra Pure White) and maybe even try adding some Minwax Satin Urethane to it.

I would suggest using Black Widdow mix for a DIY if you have light issue problems.

But then again I can't comment if that mix is going to be good enuff for your PJ lumen output

You didn't tell us the make and model of your projector or the screen size you want to do. The specs on projectors are sometimes misleading.

Welcome to AVS. Don't worry too much about your english...it's lookin' mytee gud!


If your in the States, and can restrict yourself to a 98" diagonal screen, using the White coated hardboard called "Thrifty White" at Home Depot will be a great start for a substrate.

Silver Screen is Junk? Who'da ever dare say such a thing? Beware of those who outright dismiss everything but their own Favorite. It's good to be proud, and even better to try to help others obtain such pride, but there is and will always be graduations of the level of expectations and needs, and sometimes a Great Screen can be mismatched by PJ specs and room conditions.

Silver Screen, eh? Well, to some it would seem to be a case of "Hauling up short of one's possibilities." but to a great MANY more it's been, and continues to be a great starting point for a beginner. Considering the THW cost only $11.00 and a Quart of Silver Screen only $12.00, if you can get to Michaels Arts and Crafts and pick up a 8 Oz. bottle of Delta CeramCoat Gleams White Pearl Finish #02601, add 8 Oz. Minwax Satin Polyurethane, mix it all up well, and apply it using either 6" Low nap Foam rollers or Spray it using a Wagner Control Spray. (additional water required)

Getting the inexpensive Wagner CS Sprayer makes sense not only because you'll get the best possible resulting finish, but as time goes by you will keep moving up "screen wise" and although starting with Silver Screen on TWH is a great beginning, much more awaits you once you cut your Eye teeth on DIY Screen making.

When that happens, we'll be here waiting to assist you in your madness.

Well Bud, he did say he wanted to paint on Hardboard so that's a size-limiting factor. In this case, if the basic premise of his post is taken "as law", he's got some Lumens to play with on a new PJ (so lamp is new) and needs some contrast help as well. You are right though...it's not all the info we'd like, but at this conjecture we can address the questions as they are to a small extent and know that what we "suggest" will help his "Bottom Line" needs. He's a Noob, and he's got a bit of a Plan worked out...and has already been exposed to "whatever' craziness is "out there", so helping him find a quick solution that won't disappoint and comes in pretty inexpensively might spur him on to desiring much better results later on down the DIY Road.

Don't you think?

That sounds like they don't know much.... You won't get flamed round here ... we's got a good Sherriff yarbouts. He's a Dead Eye Killer. Don't pay 'em much though.


SS is very neutral as well....but your overall direction is solid. Any Gray that shows Neutral will work if it's not too dark. Adding the extra stuff just ramps up your potential.

Your projector is a WXGA projector and is in the 16:10 aspect ratio. The spec I read said 2000 lumens ANSI in bright mode and 1590 lumens ANSI in eco mode. If this were my projector I would be in love with that AR and those lumens and the contrast ratio is well suited at 2000:1 to give you a great home theater image and it should also be able to deal with that little bit of ambient light quite well.

I would do a screen that takes advantage of the full 16:10 ratio, to take advantage of every pixel you have, for things like 4:3 content or photo shows etc. But if you are only interested in 16:9 content (remember scope movies still will have black bars) then go 16:9 and deal with the over spill of light with your screen masking. One thing about darker neutral gray screens is they do pretty good at self masking for different AR's.

My idea on screen selection is to design the screen so that as the bulb ages and dims, as much as 50% over the life of the lamp. I have room to adjust the brightness upwards. Plus I personally would design the screen to have ample brightness with the projector in eco mode and the brightness setting slightly low so I could every couple hundred hours recheck it and bump the brightness if required. I have a business projector and I used this method thru the life of the bulb. So if you are selecting a G_R_A_Y paint being neutral is important but the starting shade of gray is more important IMO. I outlined the method I used in the links listed in my signature below. And in my case with a very bright projector and a listed 2000:1 CR I was able to get a stellar image with some ambient light with just G_R_A_Y paint and some poly added to it to introduce a bit of sheen to the surface.

Also welcome to DIY