The Official Silver Fire V.2 Thread. - Page 12

What a great example of why to go CIH...your 2.35 stuff looks so great, it looks like it was meant to....and then you see 1.78 avatar and it seems so....i dunno...just neutered....the other option is to have maybe a litte bigger 1.78 screen...and then loose all the cinematic feeling of the 2.35...i dunno just my 2 cents.

Great looking picks!!!

Buddy, once you go scope, there is no turning back! I'm watching right now Kung Fu Panda with the Mrs. and ever since it started, we have not stopped praising this setup. Like you said, watching scope is the way to go.

And once again guys, Silver Fire is the shiznitz! I'm speechless! Once the movie ends, I will post some pics of the room and the screen itself. :-) Now back to my cinema! lol

because the 8350 has a number of different viewing modes... in living room mode... it has enough fL's to 'fire up' up a SF V2 4.0

however, i do stress that if you are going to be a considering 4.0... i recommend that you have at least 25fL's to work with (when using 1.1 gain for your screen calculator). and if you should come up short of 25fL... ie. say 22-24fL's... then you should use the HG base.

Ok guys, here are some pics of my dedicated HT and the DIY I built... The room is a dedicated HT with 100% controlled lighting. NO ambient light and the recessed lighting is on a dimmer.

The screen is made out of 48" H x 115" W drywall. I bought a 4' x 10' drywall from Home Depot and cut off 5" and it was perfect.

I made a frame for it with 1/2" x 3 1/2" boards which I screwed the drywall onto and then had a friend mud it up and leave it paint ready smooth.

Once done, the screen was hung onto the wall via 2 heavy duty hooks attached to the wall studs.

The room is not 100% perfect but please remember that I am not a craftsman and this is my very first attempt at doing such a project.

The only thing left to do is to change the floor carpeting to a burgundy colored one which Home Depot carries and paint the floor trims from white to matte black. I'll probably paint the exposed area of the closet door below the bottom of the curtains to match the matte black walls and blend everything in.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated, good or bad!

what screen size are you shooting for? the sanyo is lumen challenged compared to the 8350... so you'll want to pick which SF V2 accordingly.

immediate jealously is what comes to mind....

Im not for sure yet, but more than likely somewhere between 92" and 96" so on the smallish side.

Yeah that sanyo's specs are only 1200 lumens...but i figured small screen in dark room...

What which SF V2 would you recommend?

I like it! Its clean and simple and looks super cozy and usable, I could chill in there anytime.

Ranger;

to get to 12fL's at your screen size... you'll want to use the SF V2 HG base... and to help you in the contrast department... i would go with 1.25 to 1.5oz of colorant.

the white ceiling is THE contrast killer of your setup... find a way to get away from stark ceiling white and at the very least, paint it an off white... such as a light sand / leather hide color... and you'll go a long ways to helping yourself.

premiertrussman;

i'd go with standard SF V2 in the 1.5 - 1.75 range.

Can anyone help with above questions?

Thanks,
Greg

gregory,

silver fire hg is exactly that... high gain. and all high gain screen straddle the line between being being too much for any given projector's output. silver fire is far less likely to do than just about other high gain screen... diy or manufactured. the key in is in the application... dusters being the key word... for if it's layed downed too wet and slick... the poly rises to the top as it takes longer to dry... causing too much sheen... and guess what? ...your chances of hotspotting are considerbly greater.

now mind you, a screen such as silver fire hg WILL expose the weaknesses of your projector's uniformity issues. it's like having a great set of speakers and using a cheap pioneer receiver and then complaining why they don't sound much better than the pyle speakers you used to have... or another example would be a great audio system exposing how poor the source level recording was.

as for color accuracy... few people ever need any more than a couple minor adjustments... regardless of their pj selection.

as off-axis viewing is splendid. it the one thing everyone who seen a full screen in person raves about.

So my original plan was to paint directly onto my brothers wall, but going over everything last night, i realized I'll have a couple obstacles to over come...One being, timing....I'd rather not spray after carpet has been put in and carpet is coming SOON...way before we'll have a chance to get the PJ, and I'd really like to have the PJ on hand before we finalize the screen size....secondly...looking at the wall....Its not true at all... in fact there is a fairly significant dip in what would be the lower left hand side of the screen...

Since I'm 99% sure, hes not going to be able to get much more (if any) than a 96" 1.78 screen...Im thinking maybe a 4X8 Sheet of MDF would be a much better option. I can just trim it down to the appropriate AR and ill have a nice flat smooth surface to start with that i can paint anywhere and move to the site.

Is MDF and appropriate material to use for this application? I'm sure there maybe better options, but I'm looking for something thats cheap and easy to get.

Thanks!

Thanks for the explanation, I have an 8350 the lens is aprox 12’ from the screen ( I will get the actual measurement tonight) and I plan on a 120” 16X9 screen.I am about 3 weeks from painting the screen.

*EDIT*
Where can I find a projector calculator that says how many FLs are available?
End of EDIT


ERuiz
Thanks for the screenies and room picks, looks like a very nice room.
I prefer a darker black, that is my rational for wanting to go with a V2 4.0
Why did you go with such a dark screen when it looks like you are in a totally light controlled room?

as always thanks
Erich

I think others more experienced than I am would recommend a sheet of drywall

Hi Erich... As you can see, my room has dark walls and black ceiling but since it's so small and with such a large screen, you still get tons of reflected light bouncing around the room. The side edges of the screen are only 14" from the wall!

I couldn't be happier that I went with SF v2 4.0... Of course, Cinema and Natural modes are too dim for this screen but general tv watching, gaming on Dynamic and movies on Living Room has never looked so great. The extra lumens these modes provide and once properly calibrated, really makes the screen come to life. The image once again has that DLP 3D'ish look to it.

Thanks for pointing him in the proper direction

Excellent. I handnt thought of something like that.

So i was sitting in church on sunday, and i noticed, that our PJ just projects onto the wall...just whatever color the walls are colored...some white/off white color. A lot of times there is quite a bit of ambient light in the room....as the paster uses it for presentations during service...would something the SF V2 improve the image quality substantially? Or would it be more work that its worth....just wondering...and yes...i WAS paying attention in church...it just got me thinking is all....

Thanks pb_maxxx. Is this formula still valid for base components ?

SILVER FIRE V2~HG (High Gain - Active 3D)

(base components)
24 oz. Delta Ceramcoat Pearl #02601
24 oz. Liquitex Basics Silver
1.5 oz. Liquitex Basics Gold
9 oz. Behr Interior UPW Flat #1850 (or Exterior #4050)

Same size & shape as the screen I'll be painting, except I'm trying it on a Spandex backing. How much SF V2 did you have left over after spraying? Is the formula on the first page enough for a screen this size?

Yup, more than enough. I would say I ended up with about 1/4 of a gallon left. Granted I had to add plenty of water to make the viscosity perfect for spraying. Once the mix wwas perfect and the colorant had been added as well, I had about 7/8 of a gallon of SF v2 4.0... I sprayed about 4-5 coats of it. First two were dusters, then two moderate ones and the last was another duster. Finish was like a mirror. :-)

Good to hear, thanks ERuiz! Btw, your theater looks great!

Thanks! :-)

Thanks for the explanation.

What gains can the SF V2 HG be made to?

Thanks,
Greg

Thanks, I just figured out how to use the screen calculator at Projector Central and I come up with 25 fL.
I guess it is the HG base for me, going shopping out of town tomorrow.

A page or 2 back you posted a pick of a SF V2 7. Screen.
How did you vary the base or is it a standard HG base?

(don't worry I'm not going to go any darker than 4.0)

ERuiz are you running your bulb in ECO or normal?

As always thanks
Erich

@fun4me, I am running ECO mode. But remember, if going with SF v2 4.0, cinema and natural modes are pretty much useless. You will need the extra lumens the other 2 modes provide.

Basically, I use the two modes listed below fully calibrated:

Dynamic - eco lamp - for video gaming and general Fios TV watching. With this mode, I turn up my recessed lighting so that the lighting feels comfortable. The pics I posted earlier shows the degree of lighting used and trust me, the image looks great and lots of pop.

Living Room - eco lamp - for watching movies and the room is always pitch black when in this mode. The image is the best we have ever experienced. Amazing blacks, contrast, colors and just an overall 3D'ish feeling to it.

Hi pb_maxxx,

I just read about RS-MaxxMudd v.2. Since I watch movies in the dark w/very little ambient light (family room w/ off white ceiling, beige walls, and 3 windows on one side), should I consider RS-MaxxMudd v.2 instead of SF v2/SF v2 HG for max gain and contrast ? If so, which version of RS-MaxxMudd v.2 do I use ? I am shooting from 16.5 ft away with Pro8100 to a 120" 2.35 screen. I may go a bit bigger to 125". The screen substrate is WA DW. I am hoping to achieve minimum 12fL's. Thanks !

RS-MaxxMudd Retro v.2
(darkest and highest gain of the rs-maxxmudd mixes, note the amount of SILVER in the mix)

20 oz Liquitex Basics Silver Metallic
8 oz Delta Pearl Finish #02601
6 oz Behr 1850 UPW Flat

12 oz Minwax PolyAcrylic Satin Finish
15 oz distilled/tap water**

----------------------------------

RS-MaxxMudd v.2(for low to moderate ambient light)

16 oz. Liquitex Basics Silver
12 oz. Delta Pearl Finish #02601
8 oz. Behr 1850 UPW flat

12 oz. Minwax Polycrylic - Satin finish
15 oz. distilled/tap water**


----------------------------------


RS-MaxxMudd HGC v.2
(for high gain contrast bat caves ht's)

20 oz. Delta Pearl Metallic #02601
12 oz. Liquitex Basics Silver
9 oz. Behr UPW flat

12 oz. Minwax Polycrylic - Satin finish
15 oz. distilled/tap water**

------------------------------

RS-MaxxMudd LL v.2(for lower lumen pj's and controlled light home theaters)

20 oz. Delta Pearl Metallic #02601
8 oz. Liquitex Basics Silver
12 oz. UPW flat

12 oz. Minwax Polycrylic - Satin finish
15 oz. distilled/tap water**
---------------------------------
this is the only mix of the rs-maxxmudd family that can be rolled

I think that you have to be careful as to what fL's Projector Central comes up with. Not that it's wrong, just that it's difficult to know what picture mode and lamp mode is assumed. I do believe from calculating the numbers that they are using Dynamic. Projector Central says that they use the manufacturer's spec, which is usually the brightest mode (uncalibrated of course). Also, remember that calibration will generally knock more lumens off. They do assume that the bulb life is at 75%, which is another factor to think about...........it is significant.

So, if you are getting decent, but not great fL's THX mode may be too dim, as ERuiz is finding out. I believe he originally had 19 fL's calculated for his set-up, but he is finding that Cinema and Natural modes are too dim. This calculation was most likely based on the Dynamic mode. It would be great if these calculators listed the picture mode and lamp mode.

I generally find the lumen value from various reviews and calculate the fL's myself. I use Projector Central to give me the throw ratio that I use in the calculation. It's very frustrating to see how easily those precious fL's get gobbled up.

By the way ERuiz..........great job!

My calculations are showing that I too would need Living Room mode in Eco lamp mode, but with an Epson 8700, which is brighter than the 8350. I cannot mount the projector as close as you do (mine is 18' throw), so lumen output will be less.

So, my question to you and anyone else with these projectors is what are you giving up in terms of picture quality when going from THX to Living Room mode (black level, contrast, color accuracy, etc,).. Maybe you can't answer that because your image is too dim in these other modes to judge. I ask because in most reviews that you read these other modes are good for TV, but tend to push green, etc. and are not really recommended for movies for the best image.

Thanks,
Greg