Just BLEW the budget on finishing the basement and need a cheap screen

I would go with a MDF screen painted with Behr Ultra Pure White paint--cannot remember the exact info but search Tiddler on the screen forum and will find it. I did this with my Marantz projector for a while and it was plenty bright. Had butted sheets up to one another mounted to wood so 5 foot tall x 12 foot wide screen area shot pic from about 13 feet---and my projector is not light cannon so should work with your choices pretty well.
Currently have a screen--same size--using a sheet of Wilsonart Designer White Laminate from Home Depot. Also very cheap and give good pic and easy to mount. My professional calibrator ( UMR here on AVS) even recommended it on his website as a viable alternative to high dollar screens.
Greg

I "engineered" it by putting a piece of the clear tape over the seam and then painting over the tape. If I looked at the 'screen' from a foot or so away could see the seam a little as slightly different color since on tape not wood but when a pic was thrown from the projector never noticed it even when seam was part of say a sky scene in Transformers or the like where should be uniform over a large area--it was. The seam really was not very visible anyway as could butt the two sheet up to one another very tightly and when painted was hardly noticeable even before my tape 'fix'

greg

At that size, using two sheets of WA-DW will still be somewhat expensive, and making the effort to hide the seam will be at least as much of an issue as working to optimize the drywall finish...if indeed not more, and with less effective results.

If you want gain to any degree, and there is ANY visible line from the edge of tape, it will show. All due respect to energyfun, that is not a viable method of joining two sheets, especially WA-DW, if one is considering a 140" screen that would viewed from 13'

If you choose anything, choose to go ahead and finish out the Drywall. It's a common sense approach, and if it already looks reasonably good, all it should take is a long day's worth of effort. They say, "Time is Money", but if your capable of finishing out easily correctable flaws and doing joints correctly, I assure you that matching up a $200.00 PJ with $160.00 worth of substrate that still would need to be "seamed", primed, and painted ain't savin' you a dime.

Paint-wise, for Gain & improved contrast, consider RS-MaxxMudd LL as your best "easy" choice.

1.4 gain
Easily mixed
Spray-able or Roll-able

@ 140" diagonal (69" x 122") you'd achieve 13 foot lambert, just enough to have a respectably bright image w/1.4 gain. Might as well go for that size as dropping to 130" only gets you a 1 fl. increase.



Now if you go ahead and do a really righteous job on the drywall, then S-I-L-V-E-R would be the absolute BomB for you.

Take $60.00 away from the purchase of just a single sheet of WA-DW and apply it to this: http://www.gleempaint.com/noname.html

S-I-L-V-E-R consists of three ingredients:

1 Gallon Behr Faux Matt Glaze
1- 8 ounce tube of Liquitex Basics Silver
40 oz Distilled Water
(ingredients can be halved)

2.0 gain minimum and that get's you 20 fl with that 'ol SONY

S-I-L-V-E-R provides fantastic Colors and appreciable Contrast boosting.

It's applied over a series of 7-8 finely applied "Duster" coats that are in turn applied over a carefully applied coating of a good quality White Primer.

But.......the wall surface (..and hence the primer coating...) must be smooth and blemish free. It must be sprayed.

......and you must want a screen that will be absolutely ready for that future upgrade to a $500.00 PJ.

Here are links to the application, which features S-I-L-V-E-R being utilized on a 16 "foot" x 9 "foot" screen.

original "Build" thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=854134


AVS Members Pre-view party
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1159573

Mississippi Man--not a problem I was referring to the seam between MDF sheets being covered with tape to make a single larger screen as agree no way to join WA laminate that way with any success. I know from your posts had a lot of success with DIY so your advice to the original poster is well given.
G

Sawright Bobbalouie....

For the edification of the Masses yearning to know;

Joining a seam, drywall or otherwise, and making it completely invisible is not something intuitive...but it's also not impossible. It just needs to be done right.

With MDF, sanding down a depression channel along each side of the adjoined edges, to a depth where whatever Tape is used is setting a fraction of a hair below the surface of the material is the only way to get'ter dun correctly. And the rear of the "joint" needs support via applying a "Bridge" of 3/4" x 24" x "material height" so that joint will not flex. A flexible joint tape such a Nylon Mesh variety should be employed. Lightweight Drywall compound should be applied in at least 3 separate layers, the first as a skim coat designed to simply adhere the tape within the sanded down groove.

The 2nd / 3rd coats are applied so that each of their footprints are successively wider that the Taped Grove application, so the edges of each application can be feather sanded down to a smoothed, flush state. You really do not want to sand the center of the 2nd coated area very much at all, letting that go almost un-sanded until the 3rd coat is up.

As for joining laminate, I'd brace the rear, but the edges together, and then use a paint-able, water based adhesive Flexible Caulk. Apply it with a 6" Drywall blade held as flat to the surface as possible, then immediately take a damp cloth to the outside edges and wipe then down until virtually flat.

If done correctly, after 2 rolled coats of Primer, one should not be able to see any lines.

However I would always do this sort of thing with the Board or Laminate already set in place, as any real degree of flexing will almost always result in a crack after Drywall compound is applied.

Not anymore. There is a better choice that has considerable gain but none of the potential for screen artifacts caused by the Silver Content.

It is perhaps a bit more expensive a mix that S-I-L-V-E-R, but it is also an over acheiver.

Your call, oh Super one.

where can i get an 135" piece of sintra?

the sintra is easier to paint... but it's not completely featureless.

the polycarbonate... actually comes in larger sheets than sintra... but it VERY heavy and VERY pricey... with the latter being the cons. oh and unlike the sintra... it requires a special adhesive application as shown by MM's recent thread.

but as a pro... it starts off completely featureless... ie baby butt smooth as glass

has anyone heard MM and I say... the smoother the finish (without sheen)... the better your picture's gonna be when you want it at it's best... with the light's out.
especially with today's high contrast 120hz+ 1080p's and future proofing for 2K/4K

1/8 to 3/16

Superdave35,

Brother...if you can get 80" x 120" Sintra.....you gotta go with that. A 68" x 120" 16x9'er equates to being 138" diagonal. Gotta love that!

A proper priming by spraying can get it as smooth as the Poly-Carbonate and ready for a great Top Coat, and it's bound to cost a bushel and a bundle less that the PC does ( $30.00 per linear ft. ! )

Good Golly....if I could, I'd pre purchase every bit of that remaining stock. Yessiree.

As far as using the Poly-Carbonate, getting the 3/16" thickness assure that it will lay absolutely flat. It comes in 78" wide and 100" wide sizes, so you can narrow down your size needed to avoid cut-waste. And you'll absolutely want the supplier to cut it for you to size....believe me.

SD, if you go the "Poly" route, be sure to check back in before you have it cut, and certainly before you attempt to hang it, as I'd like to interact with you and be certain you get the nest results for your effort.

RS-MaxxMudd-LL v2.5

well how about a new maxxmudd formula specific to dedicated home theaters and geared to 2k/4K... like that monster polycarbonate screen mix... with +gain and no trace of granularity whatsoever.

perphaps...

MaxxMudd DHT (dedicated home theater)
or
MaxxMudd 4K

I used Screen Goo and have been pretty happy. I'm using a Sanyo PLVZ3000 projector with a throw of almost 17 feet onto a 108" screen. Plenty bright and I can even watch in moderate light. I will warn you that you have to follow the directions carefully because it dries quickly and you can leave streaks if you're not careful. I have it framed in felt and people can't believe that it's just paint.

That's all fine and good,(...if you say so...) but GOO is a Mfg. Mix, and therefore is not referred to or suggested on this DIY Forum, whose rules plainly state that no product specifically intended and/or sold for use as a Projector Screen or Projector Screen Paint is allowed.

Considering that we have DIY Mixes that effectively trounce GOO products at well under 1/2 the cost, it would be a gross disservice to refer People to 'em in any case.

With all due consideration and respect for what I know is a screen your proud of, all the caveats that come with GOO are what led me to create a viable...and better, more easier and less expensive alternative way back in 2003. And things have always gone forward from there.

You....you....PB you!

Super Easy, Super Dave. Simply skim with "Regular Drywall Compond" 2x, and very lightly sand, then Prime the Sintra and it'll be "all good".

Not so much "under wraps" as being revised because of a tendency to be to "sheeny". I'll relate the upgrade to you soon.


"Super" bad, superdave... ...everything except the "Adhesive" part.

2x4's !! Egad! I get crazy when people state they are considering using 1x's !!!!

What you do/use is 1/2" x 3.25" MDF Base Trim. As a start you can draw a level line where you want the bottom edge of the Sintra to be, then screw a long piece of the base to the wall along that line.

Yes...you apply Elastomeric Adhesive Caulk in 1/4" wide Beads at 1" intervals and trowel out as smooth as possible. Start a bead 1' in from the top edge and pull down to the center line of the screen. Repeat until you have gone from one end to another, then go back and repeat from the center line to the bottom edge. You don't want to try to carry the bead too far or it will thin out as the pressure lessens. You want even beads. After you have done all the "onside" beads, you go back and ring the top-side edges with a bead, and place a bead on the wall along the bottom edge above the "Ledge" (...always Trowel inward toward the center, pressing the edge of the Trowel "Flat"...don't drag the sharp points too hard...)

Then, after you have applied the adhesive, you and another soul place the bottom edge of the Sintra on top the 1/2" "ledge" and start pressing the Sintra against the wall from the Bottom up, like apply any adhesive panel. Work up then out to the sides. Then taking a soft towel folded across your hands, press / rub the surface with zeal, making sure you have it bonded to the wall.

BTW, the adhesive will not stick to Drywall compound...you have to prime the wall with at least 2 coats.

Then, after 2 hours, you can remove the "ledge" and start painting. You don't want a raised edge or a "drop off" at the edges or you cannot get even paint coverage all the out to such edges.

After painting, then you wrap the "Mitered" Trim with Velvet and butt it against the edges, sloped edge inward so the edge of the Trim literally flows into the Sintra and is almost flush with the Sintra's edge.

Well OK then!


I'm going to go with a recommendation of S-I-L-V-E-R for the SONY and your Screen. The mix is simple...so all you really must do is concentrate on your spray painting technique.

That said, the original RS-MM LL option is still perfectly do-able. It 's only lacking is that it will be of less gain.