DIY Aluminum paint rolls well. . . but. . . - Page 4  

Greetings Ddog,

Yes, I did screen rev 2 this weekend. It turned out very even this time, thanks for the technique it sure helped. Now as to the adding more white part it seemed to do just right for the white and blacks remained very good.

I seems to just, every once and a while, start to hotsopt, I still trying to make up my mind on this one though. I do remember what you said about using glaze and white to tone it down; but I wait since aging may play a roll. Screen and PJ lamp.

But let me tell you it is a far cry better than my Parkland screen. Much brighter, color more vibrant and blacks are great. Ambient light rejection is a magnitude better then my other (parkland screen).

I think I would say gain must be close to 2 using some screen samples to compare against.

Am looking forward to seeing your masking system - cool!!!

Yes ! That is exactly what I meant. So if you could be of any help with that it would be greatly appreciated ! ;)

More developments...

The current setup with the Pearl reflected too much ambient light, so I decided to make a change.

I went and purchased 4 tubes (2oz) of Golden's Silver Iradescent acrylic paint. I used 1 tube per coat mixed with about 1/2 Qt of glaze. I used less glaze than Pearl since I knew this layer was going to show the roller marks much more and I wanted to get it even as I can.

After the first coat, I almost regretted doing it since the roller marks were so visible. It was very distracting, but I waited another day and put on a second coat. The result is not bad at all. It is almost to a point where I can live with it. The roller marks still shows but it is faint and only shows up in bright scenes.

I compared the result so far with the Rustoleum Aluminum painted foam board. Rustoleum definitely has more gain, but now the contrast is very comparable. The blacks are much blacker and ambient light rejection is outstanding. Unlike Aluminum, hotspotting is not a problem. The color is still very good as well. My screen has never looked better.

I am planning on putting on another 2 coats. I am pretty confident the roller marks will be very faint by then.

I will try to take a picture when it is done and show a comparison against the Aluminum paint.

Elvis, you method won't work with fabric screens as the weight of the paint will make it pool up in the middle. It may work with a thick MDF...

Ddog - on your 0003.jpg - it appears that the silverish finish has dulled the flesh tones on the man's face as well as the womens'. Does it look that way or is it just the jpeg file ?
Another question - would it be easier for us all to just use a bright white screen and buy a color correcting filter and SMART III (for us HS10 users) as opposed to trying to tweak the screen colors ? What do you guys think ?

Talking about easier after reading this and other threads about silver screen I thought anodized aluminum.
I placed my laptop in front of my screen and got great results similar to thous in the Silvester thread.
So today I ordered a peace of anodized aluminum 80x45x0.02 at the local metal shop for about 100$.
I will put it on the frame where I have some dazian fabric on in the moment.

sportster64,

I wasn't very happy with any of the pic's that I took, they just never look like they do in person (must be the lack of light or something) plus you have to figure in the calibration of everyones computer monitor.

You also have to remember that if you change your screen then you need to recalibrate you PJ. So with a PJ calibrated for a Matallic screen and then you go and throw up a piece of bright white Blackout cloth your whites become out of control.


Now, I've tried all kinds of filters (hell I've got a hole stack that I don't use anymore) and I've found that altering the image through the screen works best for me. For me Filters cut to much light and seam to choke off the punch of the image.

I've been expearmenting with this for over a year and a half now and have gone in allot of different directions and I always seam to come back to the screen. I have been using this screen for over 3 months now and have found not one thing that I didn't like about it.

I (IMPO) feel that if you take the time and follow my formula exactly the way it's been spelled out in this thread you will have a screen that rejects light like nobodies business, has good accurate colors, produses thous dark inky blacks that we all need and want and gives you a deep 3D image.

So good luck, have fun and if you need any help feel free to let me know I'll be glad to help.

Ddog!!

Can someone explain to me the different technologies available for spraying paint - such as the Wagner Sprayers versus a sprayer that will attach to an air compressor versus an HVLP sprayer - as they relate to spraying the paint and glaze - what should I look for if I am going to buy one of these ? Do they all require you do dillute the paint down with water ? keep in mind I have to be able to justify it for other uses around the house to the wife - Oh boy ! - now I will not only have to spray the screen - but also all the other honey to do's like paint the house shutters, garage doors - but hey I will at least have it for the screen !

HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure) rigs are the tool of choice for woodworkers who make fine furniture. You probably DO need this kind of precision for a really smooth, even screen, but an HVLP rig isn't going to be of much use for those "Honey-do" projects...

Here are some excellent links on HVLP:
Anatomy of an HVLP sprayer
What to look for before you buy an HVLP sprayer
Comparison of several sub-$500 HVLP sprayers
And while it won't teach you how to make a screen, here's a good book you may want to pick up on the subject.

After reading this thread (and getting my compressor fixed yesterday, wahoo! :)) I totally plan on spraying on a layer ddog's top code.

However, before I do so... can someone help me understand the affect of this on off-axis viewing?

We bought the front pj specifically because my wife HATED how rear projections looked like crap from the sides. My current screen (which is just 3 coats of KillZ primer... always wonder if I should put a "real" paint on top :)) looks pretty much identical from front of sides. What will my situation w/ this be?

Sillyboy,

I would say, the off-axis viewing is very wide. I did two screens with the mix now and both had just a thouch! I would quess maybe 120 deg at the least.

Ho-Ly-Crap!

I am gonna have a long day ahead of me tomorrow... calling all my friends and them our friendship is OVER. Cuz my only friend is DDog! :)

I am a simple guy, so I simplified the recipe to :
2 parts silver, 2 parts glaze, 1 part white

Sprayed that on an existing hunk of drywall I had previously primed w/ KillZ. Layed that bad boy against my existing screen (which is .. umm, well, just KillZ :)) and wow.

Whites seem damn near just as white and the blacks are SO much blacker. Played the beginning scene of the Matrix... at the point where trinity is pointing her two guns back up the stairs towards the window she just dove through... One gun is a washed out gray mess, the other gun (on the ddog screen) is nice and black, with white highlites. bitchin'.

So, tomorrow I tear down my screen and slap a coat o' goodness on it. So stoked.

Ddog is the man.

Okay, 1 question before I dive in -- the greens on my Z1 are sick, I mean...everyone looks sickly green. I really have to crank down the green to make it okey dokey. Adding red to my coat o' goodness will really help this out? scares the pants off me... not sure why. :)

I used Behr Premium Plus products for all 3 parts.

I would say the gain is around 1.0 for my mixture (which is heavier in white than ddog recommended). Well, that totally assumes 1.0 is what my previous KillZ primer screen provided... :) Its certainly on par w/ it.

Sillyboy,

I'm glad the screen is working out for you! But unless you can handle a long distants relationship (I'm in southern California) you better keep a couple of thous friends! He! He!.

If you want to put the kibosh on thous greens then put a little red in the white.
If you look at a color wheel red is straight across from green, So in Laymans' terms red kills green and vise versa. I hope this helps!

Good luck and I'm SO glad your happy with the screen.

Ddog!!

For those following along at home... the keys phrase was A LITTLE red. I had read a previous ddog post that said something like 1.5% red. He was on crack! (To his credit, in the same post... he said a few drops of red). A teapon'ish added to 1 quart will get this http://franckhc.free.fr/comparoC&Cs.htm -- lovely pepto colored screen. And while possibly great for watching movies, it makes the wife very grumpy.

Now I get to put another coat on -- still trying to decide between zero red (assuming some of the current red will show through...) and a few drops.

Oops! sorry about that I guess I should of said go easy on the red especially if your using a red that was made with strong toners.

Ddog!!

Hey! So how did the "pink" screen actually work? I wouldn't care if it were dayglo orange if it made an improvement in picture quality!

Eric.

Sorry to say, but I didn't bother trying. My fear was that I would love the image... and my wife would still veto it... causing me great sadness. :)

If I had to venture a guess, I think it would have looked great -- just based on how overpowering my greens are, and on how the dude w/ the french Sanyo Z1 site recommends it.

Well, I've taken the plunge guys. I bought my L300U and have been constructing my DIY screen the past few days. I"m off this week and, except for relaxing 2 days for surgery I just had, I'm off and running in the Home Theater.

I just finished my final (I think it's my 4th coat) of the silver/glaze/white/red mixture.

I've read more details into hotspotting and "sparklies." Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Should I expect to see them and just try to get used to them?

I have a box of screen-goo waiting for me right here incase this doesn't work. But i'm hoping it does. I really have high-hopes for this combo. Thanks DDog -- this looks like a real winner.

I haven't tested the screen yet, but if it DOES hotspot, can someone tell me exactly what they did to fix it?

Thanks.... Joe

Yes, If it does Hot Spot then do another coat of Glaze and put some Flat Base in it. I've talked about it before but nobody seams to be using it. I used it in my screen. I have absolutely NO Hot Spots in my screen.

If you have ANY questions about what to do let me know. I'm positive that you are going to love this screen!! So if you can, you should send the GOO back!

Ddog!!

Would using a bright white pearlescent in place of the regular white in the top coat mix increase gain?

I suppose that might lead to more hot spotting though, eh?

NO!(I've tried), but I've been expairmenting with another screen(SHHHHHHHHHHHHH) and found that if you(this is very confiedental) put Glaze in with your White (on the White base coat)it will increase your gain without adding Hot Spots. once agian shHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Ddog!!

Wait, no it wouldn't increase gain, or no it wouldn't increase hotspotting?

Look, the Glaze is what increases the gain and depth.

Ddog!!

And NO, the pearl would lead to more "sparkles" (I've tried) not gain. Only the glaze will give you more gain. The screen is already very bright (have you at least tried to make it yet?

Ddog!!

I'd love to try it, but my room isn't done, so I have to just daydream about how great the screen is going to look by following your sage advice.

I just happened to be at Home Depot looking at wall paint when I spotted the pearlescent stuff to add to the glaze, and figured I'd ask.

Eric.

Ddog
Ok! I 'll bite. Will you share your glaze to white ratio????

I am doing rev 3 this weekend; I find the texture some what annoying. This time I will use a HVLP type sprayer in hopes of getting it better.

Any and all hints accepted!

Again i must say for me it is one heck of a good screen!!

Thanks!
Rew

ddog, please don't post the results of your experiments, I JUST got my screen finished. :)

totally stoked w/ the results. Fixed my pepto colored screen snafu, now it has a reasonable red tint to it, and indeed the green push is better.

Interestingly, the same day I got my screen done, I received samples from da-lite -- Hi Contrast Da-Mat, and Hi Contrast Cinema Vision. Now, I know its not even close to a fair test, since my pj is calibrated for my screen... but damn, I liked it much, much better than either sample.

I damn near hated the cinema vision -- sorta shimmery/sparkly and the blacks were brutal. The hc da-mat has awesomely dark blacks, but the whites looked crap-tastic. I suspect I would have liked the hc da-mat if I recalibrated my pj... but I still sorta doubt it would be better than my ddog-special.

Question: how much better are other border materials than just flat black paint? it would be great if I could overscan a bit and not see it... (cuz its damn tough to get my image to line up just perfect w/ my screen).

REW - from my research, if you have an air compressor - I think the Wagner HVLP Conversion gun - which is the same gun that they sell with their top end turbine HVLP systems- is the gun to get - I think I am going to order it soon ! Supposedly - it can spray latex without any thinning - but probably in our case - may require some thinning with the glaze - I'm guessing about 5-10%. I wonder if you could use that floetrol additive to ddog's mix to help it spray on nicer ?

I use Black Velvet (NOT Velveteen) and I can shoot the image right onto the border and it socks it up completely.

I didn't like the Da-Mat very much, it was very dark.

Ddog!!