Jamestown or Elite Please Advise - Page 19

Never mind. I used the eye-hook method instead.

For those who want to know.
1. Get two eye-hooks form lowes/home depot (about 3" long)
2. Screw them into the two studs at each end where your screen goes. (make sure the appropriate height)
3. After you assemble the frame (and before the screen material), rest the bottom of top aluminum tube on to eye-hooks
4. Adjust horizontally and mark the eye-hook holes on the bottom of aluminum frame.
5. Drill the through hole at the markings.
6. Inseer a bolt of about 1.5" and fix it with a nut into the drilled hole (Top of the bolt is on the top and the bottom portion hanging out (and tightened with the nut).
7. Insert the hanging part of the bold into the eyehooks when you are ready.

can more ppl post of pictures of their jamestown screens? i keep heraring stuff about the quality and the framing having imperfections. My room is not blacked out so i would prefer a nice framing/trim on a fixed-frame screen. also are ppl still having issues with stretching the material?

The quality of my photography has really suffered since I let my older camera die and decided only to use an iPhone. I really need to buy a new camera. All my pictures of my theater suck because of the dark contrasts. I'd have to get right up on the frame for you to even see it on the wall.

With that kind of closeup I'm sure it would look like crap.

Yes, stretching the screen was/is a hassle. I finally got the wrinkles out and (I think) the seasonal change in humidity put some back.

I will offer this meager advice:

Advice #1. After you stretch the screen as best you can on the floor, HANG IT and restretch it while it is on the wall before you cut the tabs. It's certainly a hassle to hinge it out and use a stubby screwdriver to make tension adjustments while it's on the wall., but laying frame does not equate to hanging frame. Hanging frame has a different tension. If you spend hours getting the screen perfect while it's in the floor, your heart will break after you hang it.

Advice #2. Just get it as close as you can and don't worry about it. You don't see minor wrinkles when the screen is illuminated by the projector. Mainly it's those cursed above-the-screen stage lights that draw attention to the screen flaws when the projector is off.

I've had a couple hundred guests through my theater, some of them critical a-holes. Nobody has ever noticed the soft tension spot on my screen. Nobody but me. It drives me batsh!t, but there's a point where I fix one wrinkle and create two new ones. Gah.

Consider all the advices by cshawnmcdonald. He is spot on.

As for imperfections. The back of the screen really looks DIY. Not so on the front. I do have a minor misalignment of the two bottom frame pieces that created a step of about 1-2mm where they meet in the middle. But it is at the bottom and I know so I see it.
I did not cut the tabs. I have instead run a continuous tape (standard 3M transparent 2") over it after folding them inwards.

And yes, hang to test. Makes lot of difference. I guess I have near perfect stretch. I don't know if it will create wrinkles over time and if I need to re-stretch. But for now it is as flat and smooth as it can.

The screen material also stinks bad. I was getting headaches for couple of days and I was confused. Then I realized it is that smell. I spray something pleasant to mask it. Hope the stink goes away in few weeks.

Did any of you guys consider the visual apex fixed framed screens? 1.1 gain in cinema white? im leaning towards this due to the hassle of the Jamestown screens. On the setup videos of the Visual Apex screens they seem to be built pretty nicely with easy set up. 120 for 379 plus additional 15% off through the end of the year...

Me also.

I didn't notice it for months until I channeled up a news station that had a low yellow crawl line at the bottom. Haven't noticed it since unless I was looking for it.

Hi, I'm ready to pull the trigger on a 92" Jamestown screen but just wanted to get some advice first. My Epson 8350 is mounted on a high shelf at the back of a very small room with 9'7" from the lens to the screen. There is only one small window with blinds so it's got good light control. My question is related to whether the matte white that I was planning on ordering will be too bright for the room as we'll be sitting about 8-9' from the screen. It's closer than I'd like but I have no other options. Any and all advice appreciated.

Sorry if I'm a bit slow to respond to your question about your Epson possibly being too bright.

I had a bunch of similar crises i needed to take care of: Namely I have too much money in my bank account, my wife's boobs are too big, Scarlett Johansson won't stop sexting me naked pictures of herself, and my kids are embarrassing me with their straight A report cards.

Yes, Alexdad, that is a short throw distance and yes, you do have a light cannon in the 8350, but I'm pretty sure the screen won't actually ignite into flames.

Past that, I defer to the AVS braintrust. Can a picture be too bright?

Dude, are you sure that size screen is even possible at that throw distance?

I'm having a hard time making it work on the calculator.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Epson-PowerLite_Home_Cinema_8350-projection-calculator-pro.htm

I should have your problems! LOL!
I'm pretty sure it'll work, I hooked up my laptop to the Epson yesterday using the wall where the screen will hang and I got a beautiful image that ranged from 90" to 94", with 94" being almost to the walls. Definition and colour were great.

I should add that I measured diagonally with a tape measure so it was a bit of a rough estimate.....I also tried with the Epson calculator and it didn't work for me either but it did when I actually tried it.
Should I go for a smaller screen as well then?

Okay, I'm confused.

I didn't know Jamestown made a 96 incher, so I was assuming that was a custom size.

Are we talking 96" to the outside edge of the velvet frame? Or the actual screen real estate?

Nope, it's a regular 92" Jamestown screen I was thinking of getting not a 96"'er. Their website says: "This is a 92 inch viewable custom design Jamestown Home Theater Screen in 16:9 wide screen format. With Viewable dimensions of 45" by 80" and total dimensions of 52" by 87".

If I use this calculator the size seems to work: http://www.da-lite.com/products/projection_calculator.php

Assuming this size will work, will a matte white with a 1:2 gain be too bright?

Yep. I need to learn to read. Don't know where I got 96,

Okay, if it sizes, then it sizes.

Back to the man's question: Can a projector be too bright? Will a grey screen suck a little of the overblow out of a short throw?

Still waiting.....

Ordered 120 inch gray screen on October 10, 2012
Email confirmation 10/10 said first week November (11/2)
First excuse on 11/02: suppliers are not delivering the goods, will be there week of 11/12
Second excuse 11/26: Relative in the hospital just before thanksgiving, will ship this week.

Lets see if I get it before 2013!!

At 31 business days and counting!
What's the deal with healthcare in Tennessee?? He has a huge family that keeps ending up in the hospital!

I don't understand why the man just can't be honest and upfront and say it will take 30 to 40 business days. I doubt that he would lose much business, as those in the know would have already done their due dilegence and know that 2 months is the average tiem he takes.

Can someone please post pictures of the way you drilled the holes and install pics of the back. Most of the posts state not to use the hardware he supplies.

aaranddeeman, pics of the eyehook method? I can't visualize it from your description.

Like I said a couple pages back, the time has come for James to grow the business out of his garage. He needs to hire an assistant before ill will comes boomeranging back at his bottom line.

Dude, I'm travelling on bidnezz. I'll try to get some pics up Friday.

Taking it off the wall will present me with yet another stretching opportunity.

No worries, doubt my screen will show up before then!

I feel like I would have wrote this lol I also ordered a 120 inch but white screen on October 10th also. I got the same excuses 2 relatives were in the hospital and supplier problems. This guy must seriously have bad health in his family cause I think others posted him saying the same back before I even ordered. The week before thanksgiving I called on that Thursday and was told it would be done that Friday or Saturday. It's now almost 2 weeks later... I finally got a tracking number today and looks like I will finally get it on Thursday.

From the time I ordered it on October 10th to when I will receive it it took 50 days... Pretty messed up considering when I talked to him before I ordered he said 13-15 days before it would be shipped. I was about ready to ask for my money back to this weekend if he still was giving excuses. 4 times longer than what he originally said is just crazy. I hate to see what happens if an order is ever messed up!!

I recently finished helping my niece install her new home theater. I gave her a bunch of suggestions for screen manufacturers and she eventually opted for the inexpensive Elite SableFrame CineWhite 120" screen for $340.

By the time I got to her home she and her husband had already put it together. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the frame and screen material. They mentioned the hardest part was stretching the screen material which is true of just about any screen.

Once I got their Panasonic AR100U projector up and running we were all pleased with the image - both from the prime viewing area and off-axis, it looked really good. It seems like an excellent bang for the buck. She purchased it at the projectorscreenstore.com website with free shipping.

Now the screen is hung and I will not be bringing it down.
BTW I picked that idea from one of the DIY (spandex) threads. I will try and find the thread that has pictures.

Let me make an wordy attempt to give you the picture once again..

1. Eye hooks go in to studs on the wall. The through hole is horizontal to the ceiling and ground (Imagine that you have to shove a long thing stick through it with the ends of the stick touching one to the ceiling and other to the ground).
2. On the screen aluminum frame, you have screws that go on the wood. The hanging screw hole that you will make will be on the sides that are open. (Those will face the ceiling and ground when the screen will be hung)
3. Make the holes in the aluminum frame only after eye hooks are on the wall, the frame is assembled (no screen stretched) and positioned on the eye hooks to take appropriate markings.
4. Before final assembly tighten the screws with nut (I used 1/4 20 1.5" bolt and nut. 2 Nos).

Hope this helps..

Edit : Ok found the thread/post I was talking about. Check the second picture from this post
Edited by aaranddeeman - 11/28/12 at 8:35pm

Which screen would you suggest for use with a ViewSonic Pro8200, seating area about 9'-14' from screen, room is about 16' deep.
Primary use will be movies and games, room has windows, but they will have blackout treatment. Some ambient light during the
day is sure to be present, but not so much during movies. The ceiling is low at 82", and the calculators tell me that I'll need to hang
the pj about 16" from the ceiling which is lower than I'd like. Currently have a medium gray wall that I can project onto once the pj arrives,
but it is limited to 48" in height. A 100" screen would be about 17" from the ceiling and 18" above the floor. Any suggestions are welcome,
I am clueless as this is my first projector. Thanks.

Arrived on 11/30/2012 !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Going to have to wait a few weeks to put it up due to work/life etc..

Got it! Thanks!
I'll take pics of my attempt to assemble/hang it and post them if it will help others.

Movieaddict, have you opened yours up? I am too busy to open mine, we both ordered 120 inchers on the same day, both shipping to Texas, I sure hope I got the gray screen and you the white screen!

As requested, how/where to install the Home Depot French Cleats.

Here is my Jamestown mounted in the theater.



The missus and I pulled the screen and hanged it in a convenient area of the basement that is still under construction. I have made four or five half-assed attempts to restretch the canvas while it was still hanging on the wall. While I was pulling the screen for pictures I figured it was an opportune time to get the damn thing stretched perfectly once and for all. We did. Perfect now. Again, for those of you who didn't read my other post, if you can stretch the screen while it's hanging, you'll get a lot better results. If you stretch it on the floor and get it perfect, as soon as you hang it, there's probably a different tension and you'll get ripples.

Note the shop light above the screen, shooting downward. This is the best way to create shadows that magnify ripples and bubbles. You'll quickly see what needs fixing.



Here is a picture of the right cleat (from the front... Left side of the back). I screwed through the center hole using the existing Jamestown hole and Jamestown screw. Then I drilled the left and right holes and used my own screws, matched for depth.



Of course, you want to either tape your drill bit or use a bit stop like this one to make sure you don't drill all the way through the velvet. It takes some arm pressure to power through drilling the metal tubing, and you don't want to come through the second wall of the aluminum frame with a heavy hand and then whip through the wood frame and damage the velvet.

Yup set mine up the same day I got it and got the white one I ordered. Finally got my room all set up now I just need to paint the room and carpet the platform.

Thanks for your help, I finally decided to order an Elite ELTER92WH1 Sable Frame Series 92" Screen in white as I wanted to get it before Xmas and all the comments about delays with Jamestown put me off. It was in the same ballpark for pricing and shipping in Canada and it should be here by the end of the week. It will be interesting to see what teh brightness level is...stay tuned...

Hey, you could get a Jamestown screen delivered before Christmas.

Christmas 2016.

Good luck, brother. Let us know how it turns out (including ship time).

My 2 cents.
Do not drill with the aluminum tubing attached to the wood. just remove all the screws, take it away and drill where ever and however you want.
This will avoid two things.
1. Drilling through the wood frame.
2. Getting the aluminum bur on your screen and the possible damage due to that..