Please Look Over My Plan for a DIY Screen

Here's an option to consider. You could paint a piece of 1/8th inch hardboard instead of using fabric. As for the choice of paint, you could also consider a very dark neutral gray. The X9s lumen output is stronger than most, and can make good use of a darker screen. I posted a formula for such a mix in the X9 thread a few days ago.

From Home Depot.. Behr 1850. Formula is for a quart.
149 Lamp Black
33 Brown Oxide
14 Medium yellow

Hi Yguy,

First off, kbgl suggested using HARDboard, not CARDboard for a screen material. Just thought I should point that out. I would suggest this material for a screen as well unless there are other reasons you want a fabric screen. Most places that sell the 4x8 foot sheets of tempered hardboard will also cut them to size for you either free or for a buck or two (usually it's free).

I know nothing about the screen material you mention, but I do know it is easier to paint a solid substrate than stretched fabric if you are thinking about rolling the paint on.

That felt tape looks interesting!

The links you gave for the paints are both correct, but be SURE to have the Valspar Ultra Premium Enamel tinted to match PPG Bermuda Beige #427-2 or the mix won't be a neutral gray.

Also, you only need 8 fl.oz. of AAA-F to add to a quart of latex paint to make BW, your link is for a purchase of 16 fl.oz.. If you intend on trying to darken Black Widow to make an even darker screen, don't do so by simply adding more AAA-F; while the mix will get darker it will also move away from being neutral in color.

You didn't say what the ambient light conditions are in your home theater. You certainly have a lot of Lumens to combat quite a bit of ambient light. The PJC Calc is showing 70 fL. with your PJ and screen size. A BW screen performs great with even less than 1/4 of that much light which leaves you a lot of room for lamp-aging, using econo mode etc..

With the brighter PJ's in use these days, it seems it is time to come up with a darker BW!

Kbgl is correct that you might well be served with simply a dark neutral gray paint, and to save some $$$ you might want to go that route. What BW does is produce a physically darker screen (about N7.5) that performs under projection like it was a lighter shade of gray (about N8.2).

In case you haven't read about Munsell N values yet, Pure White is N10 (reflects 100%) and Pure Black is N0 (reflects 0%). N5 only reflects 18% of the light that strikes it (this is the color of the Kodak Gray Card used in photography).

Another approach is the one I used for my X10, 3/8 inch sheetrock over a 1x4 frame. Then primed with Kilz and painted with a grey just a tad lighter but one which kbgl had suggested to me in another thread.(124 black,28 brown oxide,12 medium yellow)

As an experiment, I just painted a screen with an even darker gray than the formula above. It's drying now. I was hoping to determine a mix that would work well with close to a wide open iris setting on my X10. That should be comparable to the X9s output.

Edit.... The darker shade is too dark. The X10 looked good with the iris at 100, but it will eventually be too dim to use with low lamp mode!


By the way, what is your room like?

Hardboard or sheetrock are much smoother than a piece of plywood, and would be much better for that reason. My screen is 1/8th inch hardboard with no frame or borders. It's cheap ($12), light weight, and I hang it on two small nails.

Any of the paints recommended should work fine. The worst that might happen is that the picture could be brighter than you want it. That's why I recommended a dark gray. You can of course reduce the brightness and contrast controls some if needed.

You may have a dark room, but when you fire up the projector, light from the screen is going to light up the room a bit.