Best Paint-On Screen for Bat Cave with DT-500

Both CMRA and I can attest that for the 500, a S-I-L-V-E-R application is wonderful. That is the PJ he is using, and the Knave dares to say it outperforms his own Light Fusion Screen, one he steadfastly stated to all was better than a StudioTek 130

But the S-I-L-V-E-R will certainly ZAP your eyeballs if they are overly sensitive. It does not seem to bother CMRA, or any of the people on my end, because it does not Hot Spot or "glare", but bright it most certainly is. But that just adds more Contrast since the Silver element greatly increases the Black levels while bringing out detail seldom seen under bright or Dark circumstances. IT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE LIGHTEST AREAS ON SCREEN AND THE DARKEST AREAS THAT DETERMINE HOW GOOD YOUR CONTRAST IS. .....caps attack....

Another "Positive GAIN" choice is RS-MaxxMudd. That mix was the upgrade to MMud-SE, which appears to be what you have since you state you added Silver Metallic.

You one of the "MMud Family" ya know, so that means you get extra special treatment the second time around. I'm not even hurt that you doidn't ask for my advice personally.

Not much anyway.

Well maybe a little.

I'll get over it.

The Sharp is a great machine by all accounts I have read so far and I use its older brother in my media room the 10X. from the conversations I have had they are similar in brightness and my room lighting sounds much like yours and also the desire to have some good PQ on sports with the bat cave lit.

If I had to upgrade today the DT-500 would be on the top of a very short list for me.

I have viewed your construction photos before and your room looks most impressive.

You didn't mention your screen size and giving out screen paint recommendations without knowing what size you are shooting too or better yet what FL level you are at IMO would be premature.

You did mention your MM screen is blinding. And that's a good indication of how much darker you should be able to go. I believe it's a misconception that in light controlled settings even with darkened light absorbing colors and textures in a room like yours that gray is not an option. First you have a excess of lumens why cut them down with a filter or a iris in this case when you can kill some at the screen surface and punch the real black level up and also the perceived black level. While bringing the whites down where they should be. Keep in mind gray even dark gray or black will reflect a white image. Is a huge misunderstanding / (myth even) that white will only appear as the shade of gray the screen is. I have been beating this drum for a good year now

But here is the interesting part of ambient light performance to me with a bright projector. With the lights turned up you are still not going to need that gain. You have the lumens for the bright colors its CR you loose and you loose it off the dark end of the image. That gain isn't going to help you darken the blacks its going to make the ambient that's overpowering them brighter. To overstate the simplistic. Black is projecting nothing or close to it. With ambient task lighting it's about the screen not reflecting. And a slight amount of ambient absorption at the screen combined with a bright image to compare the (black) with is what boasts perceived blacks.

Factor in how your eyes change aperture with a task lit room and it's very possible to have a dual mode media room.

I have several links below in my signature that detail my ideas about this and some of my last entries in the screen paint thread even show photos of perceived black.

Perhaps.

The OP mentions his "Bat Cave", a term reserved for 'black hole' environments. The DT-500 certainly does NOT require such to achieve its 'best' image.
Without toning down the brightness, S-I-L-V-E-R may infact be 'overload', more so than he already experiences.

I should have the chance to view my 500 in Scopeboy's dedicated (bat cave)theater on his NEW screen soon so I'll have a better feel for the situation.

More later...perhaps.

Neuner

As you know my light control and room colors are quite similar to yours and it seems your image tolerates some indirect ambient light about the same way mine does.

It's true my Sharp has a higher rated lumen level but it's a 4:3 projector and we share the same screen width of 96 so when I watch 16:9 material I'm viewing the same 54x96 screen you are. The difference is 25% of my lumens go unused. Based around the wattages you posted and diminishing my eco mode lumens by 25% I think we could be very close in output. And seeing as how both projectors are Sharps my guess is they are measured in a similar manner. I know you have iris settings and it's not a business projector for whatever that's worth but the brightness you described sounds pretty similar.

I actually don't think you would be way off in trying the silver leaf shade of gray. And no one wants to spend months experimenting with this. well almost no one. Buy a quart of silver leaf for 10 bucks and paint some on a piece of a cardboard box and take a look. If its to dark you could add some white to get a feel for what a darker gray might do for you. You know my thoughts on the metallic they are great if you need them. I think you might not need them with the new DT-500 I know I don't need them with the 10X

By all means spend as much time with your girls as you can.

No problem with the help see when my 10X gives up the ghost and I get a DT-500 to move up in the world maybe I'll know just what I want for a screen this way.

Give yourself a good size test panel when you make it 2'x2' min. and then view it with and without a calibration. Then keep in mind mixing a little poly in the paint or putting the flat poly over it is going to give you a nice bump in brightness without changing what you will be seeing much at all as to colors or black level.

I HAD a DT-500 (bulb blew up), and started with a flat white wall, it looked great.........
I then repainted my wall Benjamin Moore "Pebble Beach"(very similar color to SW "Grey Screen")- 2 coats, over the flat white paint.
I then added 2 coats of #780 Behr.
Results?
Outstanding for a cheap and FAST screen, IMO, much better than the flat white, especially with any light in the room.

All's well that ends well.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Did you ever do the gray sample for comparison?

If you could do us future DT-500 owners a favor and still do a sample first and take a couple pictures of the neutral gray compared to the MM+SM you have now as a side by side. It would be greatly appreciated.

Plus that will give you the chance to adjust the gray one way or the other based on what you see and like.

Neuner
Screen shots look good now. Glad to see you got thru the hosting problems.

Seeing the difference in exposure times of your photos will tell you what your eyes are starting to tell you about how many more available lumens you have going at the screen now.

It's always hard to compare two projectors that require so much span in calibration.

Looking forward to seeing your side by side screen shots comparing the grays.