What's wrong with projecting onto a properly prepared and painted wall?

It's not a dumb question, and IMO projecting onto a blank wall (vs. buying a fixed-size screen) has alot going for it, primarily that you're completely free to size your images, and simple curtains can serve to "frame" your images as you see fit.

The down side of using your wall is that it may not be perfectly flat, though if any abnormalities exist they will be obvious to you (or not) when looking at some projected images.

The best way to approach this IMHO is to select your projector first, with distances and sizes of projected images clearly in mind, and start looking. The first night you watch a movie (assuming you are a FP newbie?) you will be thrilled-and-bedazzled, and wonder why it took you so long to go FP! Over time you will decide whether the setup meets your needs, or if you need to either buy fancy paint or put-up a pricey screen.

Well SilverScreen ain't bad...but you have other options that can/will improve on that a Tad Bit.

Where are you located/ with that info I can source some affordable Paints that will take your "Wall" to the next level.

Also, how you correct those few blemishes will determine if the Coating you apply later will cover them equally as well as the rest of the wall.

My best advice at this point....lose the mind think "if it doesn't work out....", because if you follow some simple advice and instructions to the "T"...and don't rush out / into anything before you ask for advice or check on procedures, your chances of completing a "Wall Screen" that will perform better....and look better than anyone else's screen will rise to 98%.

Don't ask about the other 2% though.......

Get a New, Clean Gallon can

Pour 1/2 of the SS into it.

Add 1 Quart of MinWax Water based Polyurethane (Satin-Clear) -@ Lowes-

Add 24 Oz (3 bottles) of Delta CeramCoat White Pearl Finish ( @ Michaels Arts & Crafts)

Stir on slow speed with Squirell Mixer ( @ Lowes or Home Depot)
http://squirrelmixer.com/
(...best Mixing tool in the entire Cosmos....)

That mix will be on the order of a full Light Year better than the straight SS....and look better under room lighting as well..

But of course!

#02601

In reality, I've mostly switched to using Dutch Boy "Pearl Luster" and "Silver Lining" paints, but those only come in Gallon size @ $36.00 per so they are not effective choices for anyone who does not use a butt load of paint. Me? I keep my butt loaded all the time.


Did I just say that?

To each his own, but... ugh. Ours is sort of a grey-green. No gloss! Satin perhaps, but no gloss.

Our theater room

Laserfan is giving good advice.

A Dark Blue in a Flat (...'cause it's a gotta be Flat...) is pretty droll....it can actually be very unattractive. Blue was meant to shine, at least a bit, and any degree of "shine" in a Home Theater can be seriously detrimental.

That "Greenish-Gray" suggestion is excellent. I've personally done several Theaters using variations on the Glidden Color Card that contains "Misty Evening"....and those Grays have some small degree of Green within it.

Here are the Color codes for the most attractive;

Walls..... Moon Rock 10BG 38/069

Ceiling... Seahawk 10BG 21/087

Paint your Base and Door/Window Trim with Seahawk. Basically, the normal Color Scheme is reversed, with the ceiling being the Darker shade and the Walls lighter, with Trim Dark for base relief.

Browns can be good too, but tend to be depressing to some in thier "earthy-ness".

Another suggestion is a deep...dark Russet Red on the walls, and a very Dark Gray ceiling.

A last note. Of all the colors, the Green/Grays are in my mind the best because when the lights go up they show a "cool-toned" color...a pleasing thing for the Estrogen Set. Blue...so dark you can't tell it's blue, should be a ceiling only consideration (...in Flat...) but it's also a color that when done in Flat looks more "dusty" than something with color. Ditto on Flat Black, one of the pug-ugliest choices ever.

Oh yeah, do yourself a big favor and roll on at least one coat of tinted primer, tinted about 1/2 the depth of the shade used. Coverage with the finish coats will come infinitely more easier and be more even.

They are "Glidden" colors and are on the same Tint Card as Misty Evening. But with he Color Codexs provided, you can get those colors mixed anywhere, in any Base.

Once you Paint that wall and set the PJ in place so the image is where you want it, marking /masking off the area and then installing an actual border is simple. But I was under the impression this was to be an image projected onto the wall with no confining border....???

Whenever you end up doing the painting, I'd love to see pictures. I'm about to make the jump from an unprepared wall (with off-white paint) to a screen, and just want to see if I'd be happier with a painted wall.

Watch me do drywall work.

You'll know everything that's wrong with using a painted wall.

(Though... we'll miss out on the properly prepared part.)

I thought I would chime in...

I am a complete noob (to drywall, to painting rooms, to projectors) and I was able to prepare and paint a wall with great results (I even painted the rest of the walls and ceiling as well as hiding wires behind walls but that's another forum).

I had an 84" screen I bought with the projector but once I got the pj up, 84" was too small compared to the size of the image on the screen behind it.
So I read all sorts of stuff on this site and decided to prepare and paint the wall. This included sanding, applying drywall (to show you how new I am to all this, I had to google to figure out if joint compound was the same as mud lol). Sanding then using a paint sprayer to apply the screen paint.
I finished it off with a self adhesive velvet border (which I recommend).

Now I wouldn't go back to anything other than a projector and am very happy with using the wall.

(note: this is in a new house so the wall was already in excellent shape. I probably would have gone a different route instead of trying to fix the wall.)

Be advised that flaws that will not show on a Flat white wall can and will pop out when a high contrast paint is applied. To be absolutely certain, apply a coat of light Gray tinted primer and then observe. If there are no defects then...your Golden.

I live in the Sav area to, lol. I have a BW screen/wall. Both my screen and wall paints are close in color. And unless the lights are on you can't tell. Had the drywall guy pay close attention to the screen wall, came out perfect. no border or anything, I like it that way. I don't notice the different aspect ratios while watching. good luck and enjoy your pj.

Blackout cloth will insulate as well as Blackout light.. they are what you are looking for.

Believe it or not, good 'ol Walmart carries pre-cut Curtain Liners that are specifically made from true "Black Out Cloth materials. Just look for the criteria you want marked on the package. (light blockage + Heat/cold)

I am finishing my newly installed walls now. I just finished one coat of kilz2 and doing second coat tonight after I sand.

While I was at HD, I ended up buying a gallon of the premium plus ultra in silverscreen. I live in Columbus, Ohio. If you say that I should go with something that will work better and look better, I am open to change and value your opinion. I still have time since my 8350 wont be in for a few days.

Whatever is going to give me the best "pop" and brightest picture for football is all I care about, movies are irrelevant lol

i used plain painted light colored white almost matte white for the longest time until i did my build.