What advantages does Sintra have over Black Out Cloth?

michaelddd;

many. but they are mostly cosmetic.
if you've got a flat wall... no need for a frame...
no need to stretch boc and uses countless staples... jut screw the sintra directly on the wall. etc. etc.
it's also much easier to paint than BOC.

as for visual... it is brighter than BOC... and slightly less ambient friendly as well.
unfortunately depending on where you get it, and whether it's sintra or komatex... quality control on the sheen is iffy. and with today's brighter pj's... will tend to hotspot.

it's a great substrate... but not necessarily a hang and shoot substrate...
unless you're shootin' it with paint.

Much...MUCH less, and the end results are always the best you can hope for, not what you have to settle for.

I'm not afraid to suggest a paint.......

RS-MaxxMudd LL for the "beginner". Silver Fire 2.5 2.0 if you can get'cher self up for it.

BTW, Sintra does not have a shiny surface...more like a semi-Flat. But if you rub a cloth on it, it will buff out to a satin-like finish.

I would have an issue with using Sintra or Gatorboard as is. Both leak light so bad that they could almost be used as a rear pro screen. Gator's sheen isn't to bad, but Sintra is unacceptable in my opinion. If you are going to paint them, then they should be a good solution for that.

What are you talking about? Something you actually know about or have seen. Apparently not. Sintra is a very opaque sheet material. Gatorboard is slightly less solid, but has a Paper Veneer. The original Parkland Plastic sheets we used 7 years ago had a greater degree of translucency, but to date no one has ever mentioned such as being the case with Sintra or Gatorboard

If someone tried to obtain Sintra in a thickness less than 3 mm, you might see a slight vestige of bleed-through, but nothing along the order of what your inferring. In the 6mm thickness, it would be never be an issue.

I don't disagree that under most circumstances Sintra will hot spot if a bright PJ is placed withing the minimum throw distance. But I can't recall anyone with knowledge of that material ever suggesting such a use except as being temporary until some type of paint is applied. In fact, where on this particular thread was such a usage even mentioned? No, it was specifically warned that is was not really acceptable to use.

I do not have the Gator on hand, but when I projected an image on it I was shocked at how bright the image was on the backside of the screen. I had this in my parents garage about a year and a half ago doing some testing on a couple of pjs. I remember watching the football game clearly on the backside of the screen. It wasn't muted at all, but actually pretty bright. I only had a sample of the Sintra and don't remember the thickness, but it bled as well.

The OP asked whether it had to be painted or not.

i've been using and recommending sintra as a substrate long before it became household (thread-hold) name at avs or otherwise...

let's just say there's a huge difference between it and gatorfoam... not even in the same ballpark.

as as for light leakage... 3mm from behind... in completely blacked out room... you can't make out an image of any sort... but i has a slight glow on bright scenes... but it could NEVER pass for a rear projection screen... of which i've done many. 6mm light leakage... forget it.

but the real of it is this... neither 3mm or 6mm has any noticeable loss of reflected light back to the viewer... and the image is plenty bright with positive gain.

the only thing keeping it from being a recommended hang and shoot substrate is the lack of quality control with the sheen. Sintra is made domestically. Komatex is imported. Same material, closed cell expanded extruded pvc foam... many different manufacturers resulting in many different sheens.

so you might get a sheet from one that hotspots and from another that doesn't.

Go as big as you can, so you won't get the bug to upgrade later. I just finished a painted screen with komatex/sintra and really like this stuff.

While not quite the same, I got the melamine board from Menard's that PB_Maxx recommends, and just nailed it to the wall. I then painted it and finally, added the border.Much easier than my first DIY screen, which was made with BOC. I think it looks much better - it has a much more professional look to it.

The various "Board" solutions all have their appeal linked to not having to construct a surface, one that must be smooth, tight, and perfectly flat.

As sizes increase, the logistics and expense of doing a Fabric screen also rise. Still, wen one is getting into sizes that go beyond the norm available in solid sheeting, such screens can offer solutions to the demand for such.

Having done both, I'd state that between 135" and 160", a BOC Screen has been and remains a viable solution. Beyond that, I'd come down in favor of either using an existing Wall surface, or a White Polycarbonate Sheet that comes in3-6mm thicknesses, and from 72" to 100" high to whatever lengths are needed.

Expensive, but absolutely a perfectly smooth, virtually indestructable screen surface on which to paint

Without mentioning any specific names, the only Mfg Screen paints that approach or equal the SF varieties cost upward or beyond $180.00 for 64 oz.

Some even more.

To that end, DIY'ers on this Forum are encouraged to give what we suggest a try, because with any degree of care, the only worrisome part...mixing up the Colorant...will produce a mix that is close enough that if there is a resulting "push" due a preponderance of too much Blue or Green or Red, and IF the DIY'er posts his results and asks for a corrective solution, when that Colorant is mixed into the Reflective / Viscosity bases (...which BTW are really quite simple to mix...) any undue color shift from neutral Gray is easily corrected with the specific diluted R-G-B elements required to effect such.

For sure, some want spectacular results (...especially "ambient light performance-like" results...) to be available in a "One Can Solution". But just as certain is that there are no "Over The Counter" paints that can provide such, and the Mfg Screen paints will...and are going to make you pay though the Nose. Or from the Hip at least, where your wallet resides.

So in the end it boils down to how much effort toward a true, much less expensive DIY solution you can, or are willing to make. In the real world, one can usually spend their way into where they want to be...but if you can't afford Popcorn & beer afterward, where's the joy in that?

This was a great advertisement but let me shed some light on the sintra.

here is a pic with just a small led pen light with a weak battery.

They don't call him eric glo for nothin. Looks like we have another myth busted.

Oh and here is the thickness.. and the pic was taken from the Sintra that was coated.



I would be searching the internet for guys that knew a 30 lumen penlight would have light pass through a coated Sintra. Then I would thank Ericglo for his answer. Then I would call the guys up and tell them to start editing again.

Well I seen it..

That is precisely why i went with an OTS neutral gray paint. Cheap, fast, and easy. And if i don't like the end results, i can always move on to the next option.

sorry...that's Over The Shelf (same as OTC).


here's my build: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1395140

I wonder how many coats of house paint it would take to prevent the bleed through. I would guess at least five or six coats. I know the stuff I use would probably take ten coats if it was heavy on the titanium dioxide. That being said, I really like the Gatorboard screen that is at my parents house. It is light and easily moved for a quick set up and take down. I know the bleed is probably effecting the image, but I am less critical for this use. Even the blue shift doesn't bother me that much. If this was a dedicated HT, then I would have to paint it.......... or put a mirror behind it and make it a GatorFusion.

I might add that mechman measured Sintra and Gatorboard with a spectro and found the Sintra to be almost perfectly neutral. The Gator shifts blue slightly. Of course the gloss and bleed through on the samples I had make them less usable as is. Maybe as pb says the really thick ones don't bleed, but the cost does go up.

Yes, it's the Sherwin Williams Unique Gray.

Thanks, I love them subs. Built them on the cheap, yet they very well in my room. I also have a build thread for that.