My DW 120" Wide CIH Screen

Just finished my DW Laminate scope screen which I now have paired with a AE4000u 1080p LCD projector. All supplies were purchased at home depot minus the black velvet which I got at a local fabric detailer. Everything went pretty smooth untill while painting the walls in dedicated room I slipped off a bucket and put my knee through on side of the screen. The damage is evident in at least one screen posted below. Already have a new peice of Laminate on order and should be here any day.
The screens veiwable measurement is 120 X 51 ( 130 diagnal). The black velvet covered frame width is 4".

Most of these pictures were taken with my iphone, a few were taken with a M381 Kodak easyshare.

Supplies laid out


Construction started


Nap time


Frame


Velvet started


Velvet completed


Laminate cut


Mounted


Hung with visible knee crack >.<<br />

First image after unpacking my AE4000u, Makes me smile. 2:35.1 Iron Man


A few more a day later after I put in my speakers and followed a color calirbation guide I found

16:9 UP


16:9 UP


2:35.1 Matrix Reloaded


2:35.1 Fifth Element


Up close detail shot


Now all I got to do is re-install the new piece of laminate when it comes in.

Thanks for taking a look.

Thanks to all the welcomes.

Im sure ill throw some screenshots in the laminate showcase thread at some point this weekend.

As far as the memory zoom on the AE4000 working with my 2:35 screen it is amazing and is truely the reason that pushed me to pull the trigger on the panny. Even the mear mechanics of the projector are very friendly. I still have not even opened the user guide and I setup multiple memorys of aspect ratios, memorys for custom color/image settings, sleep timer, split screen picture calibration sessions. . .ect. The auto sensing feature is pretty fun as well however there are in fact a few downsides which Im sure anyone who is researching this projector already knows or will soon.

One being the autosensing aspect ratio can seem-over welming if there are alot of previews before the movie that go in and out of different aspects but on second thought I guess it would only bother someone if they grew to dislike:
A. it takes about 2.5-3 seconds to sense the aspect
B. a really unneeded small box in middle of screen that says "Processing..." appears each time.

But that can be avoided by just turning the auto sensing off and pressing two-three buttons each time you want to switch aspects which is very simple.

And the other only downside I can think of is that you will never want to watch a movie on a regular LCD ever again. "Watching Last Action Hero" on blu-ray over a 10ft wide scope screen kept me smirking over and over again whilst looking over at my wife asking if she can beleive this or not.I mean seriously it felt like I was a child again. I would recommend the AE4000U to be paired with a scope screen any day of the week (especially if its a screen that you get to make). The experience is exhilarating and the reward is breathtaking.

Accomplishing the screen gave me and the wife somthing to do together and at the end be proud of (sounds corny but is actually pretty true and badass). I wouldn't have it any other way. We are in no way carpenters whatsoever so this was awesome.



Actually reading this forum got me to this point so far so I welcome every bit of it in the future. Few weeks ago I had a 55 lcd in the loft and Im never going back. This forum has done so much for me research and motivation wise.

On my first peice I did notice some minimal waviness. Just finished replacing my first sheet that got cracked with the new sheet a few hours ago with a little different methods with a far better outcome. First off I pre-drilled holes and hand screwed in my screws this time. I think this is a must if using screws, this laminate is very brittle.

My outer frame is 1X4 and an inner frame of 1X3 Poplar board. Which created a 1 inch inlay border on the back side.

I first laid out the laminate on the frame and made sure my horizontal cut was good. I cut it so that there would be about a 1/4 gap from the edge of the 1X4 frame on the bottom end. I used 3/4 Pan head screws spaced at around 12-14 inchs apart from corner to corner across the top. Pre-drilling is the key to no minor cracks. I admit my first go around my drill put a few a litltle too deep and a noticed some hairline fractures. pre-drill and hand-screwing is the key to avoud this.

After top had all screws in I had my wife hold the frame upright so the laminate hung freely. This allowed the laminate to hang stright and flat pretty much eliminating the 1/4 gap that was previoulsy there when laying on the ground. (Caused from the laminate bellowing in the middle against the carpent.

Now that my wife is holding it upright I begin to do the same with the bottom but kind of applying some downward pressure with my thumb in a latex glove (supplied a little more grip). Did the whole bottom just like the top and the sheet fit perfectly within the 122 X 62 frame (1X3's). I did keep checking as I went for any visible waves but seemed pretty simple to keep flush with the wood.

Now I put a few on the sides making sure no waves/bubbles there and was done. If I was to do it any different I think I would use 3/4" velcro around the edge of the 1X3's and edge of screen followed by the above pre-drill / hand-screw method. But I am verry happy with my end product and the screen is very flat and "tight" from left to right.

Also I guess If I did notice some waves I coulda used some of my excess 1X3 or 1X4 poplar boards to make a few 63" lengths and after each screw apply a board behind it for backing but I dont think I needed it. The laminate is brittle yet is very solid at the same time. I also had a thought go through my head of using a 122" X 53" peice of ply-wood and glue the screen to it and then lay it in the frame.

Goodluck hope my insight helped.



I used 1x3 Poplar boards for the inner frame and actually to think of it I remember that I couldnt find 1X4 poplars at my Home Depot so I settled for RedWood 1X4's for the outer frame.

Yea it was real easy to attatch the velvet after the frame was put together. I wanted my 45 degree corner folds to look proffesional-like and I had my wife make sure the front was flat as could be as I shot in staples like a madman. Used so many staples to get the tight look. Think I only had about 1/8-1/2 inch between each staple. . Did the sides, then the top, then I flipped the frame to do the bottom (new top). Corners like I said were perfect and because frame was already put together in order to achieve this (perfect corner) all I had to do was fold under velvet excess and pull tight and staple.

Also hope some of this insight helps someone out there and good luck.