HDTV Screen – High Quality and Very Low Cost - Page 43

Hey Laserfan,
Thanks for the great info on a good Mfg & their local dealer who both actually care about just a single customer, making sure he is taken care of promptly and his needs met. Good to hear you testify !
Thanks for sharing. How's that screen look ?

I'm sure the Manufacturer was hoping I was VP of Interior Signage for Wal-mart International () but the dealer was very happy to sell a one-off to me, and mentioned in fact he'd sold some to others for screens.

I'd bought it just for testing--I was gonna get a $2K+ electric and wanted to see what size we might like. Well, the gatorfoam is perfectly smooth and flat, no "pattern" or bumps/texture to it at all, no flex or warpage to it, and I can't find any glitches on-screen when I look hard for them. No hotspots either. This is even after I got both surfaces dirty getting it home in my utility trailer, and working at the cleanest side with an eraser for an hour or two. And it's bright, so bright that for grins I brought home all the White sample chips from the paint store, and comparing them the Gatorfoam was much brighter than any of them!

I suppose one day I might glue a real screen fabric to the face of the gator, or maybe to the backside and have a reversible screen for different ambience, but in the meantime I love the bloody thing. We're having great fun with it.

I received my Sony AW 15 digital projector on Tuesday. I had been working on a Parkland DIY screen (approx 4X7) to mount inside onthe front of my Geodesic Dome Home on a slanted wall. It is so light that The whole thing is supported by 2 bolts into the wall. The projector is on a walkway in the middle of the dome on the 2nd floor (3rd floor if you count that the whole house is 8 feet off the ground) pointing at the screen through a railing . I finished and installed everything a few days ago. What a fantastic picture. I have not had a projection tv since my old Advent curved screen /coffee table projection set. This is so much better than I had anticipated. I have seen other friends and relatives projection set ups over the years and personally opted for Plasma screens etc due to various PQ factors etc. The plastic parkland material is mounted with 3M 90 spray adhesive directly on on a 1/4 inch piece of silver foil faced thermoboard with a plastic flat-black frame around the perimeter. Very light and cheap. That is all mounted on a frame built of 1X3 pine which is mounted to the dome wall. The screen/foam/plastic frame is mounted to that with 8 bolts with all the heads painted flat black. I put the projector and the Verizon HD DVR, Audio equipment, DVD player etc a 3 shelve chrome plated rack system (really a utility cart minus the wheels that I got from Sams Club for $50). The remote can control all the units by pointing at the screen and it reflects back. I am running on low bulb power and about 60 per cent brightness. Blu ray is next (if the wife doesnt read this) Next step is to get the old 65 inch rear projection Toshiba down the steps and out of the way. Thanks to all for this thread. I now have something that looks professional that i can tell people I made myself. I have pictures that I took from my iphone of the process if anyone is interested.

Pictures of your setup?

Yeah I have pictures of the set up etc. and of the screen from loose parts to final product.

Cool. I'm looking for mounting ideas for my next screen so start up a thread and post a link to it back here.

here is where you can see my photos. I have a few more and will add them soon. Thanks.
http://mysite.verizon.net/resur7gw/diyscreen/

I'm having a hard time seeing those. Do you have larger versions or were those supposed to be clickable? I'm running a 15.4" monitor w/1680x1050 resolution so those are fairly small. Sorry to be picky. A small write up on the process w/the pics would be nice too.

ok I will see if I can fix the pictures to expand or something if I can figure that out.

they r bigger now and I added a few
thanks for looking

Im in Gilbert,AZ. On saturday went to the local home depot. they had a stack of poly-wht ( Parkland ) 4 x 8 1/8th for 19.98. Picked up a sheet, took it home and tacked it to the wall - voila instant screen. Using HC 4900 projecting a 95 " diagonal and the picture looks sharp. Downloaded HD 1080p demo's from wmvhd.com fed to the PJ through DVI and they look sharp. The only trouble was that I did not get the smooth side real clean and I can still see smudges. I still need to frame it after I get the screen size dialed in.

Jer,

Maybe giving a lower resolution a try. Maybe 1024 x 768, just to view the pictures. That should help you out.

Mike

Hello, I'm looking for something to put in front of my GF's entertainment center that she refuses to get rid of (WHERE would she put all her nic nacks?!?). I can't spend a lot of money, was thinking of just picking up a sheet of something at HD or Lowes, then somehow mounting it to the EC so that it can be taken down when not in use. The only thing is, I think it would cover my components up, so I'll need an IR receiver/transmitter...local electronics store has them for $100 ($180 if I want something that looks 'pretty') - unless anyone knows of a cheaper solution/product?

But I don't know what material to get, I've heard the Parkland mentioned. I'm looking at about 43x57 screen (YES, 4:3...until I replace my PJ in a couple years). Right now we have pretty good light control, but I have no idea if the place we move to in 6 months or so will be the same situation. So I'd like something that HD will cut to my dimensions, and be done with it...understanding that it might not look as good. But, if I need to 6 months from now, I could paint it to accommodate the different lighting.

tia,
Brian

Hello,
I have been reading allot of post in several sites and I came upon this one and it caught my eye but then I realize how old some of this post are. So my question is if this material still as good for DIY projector screen as some of you have claimed in the past. I found a vendor in my local area (San Antonio, TX) who can have a sheet for me next Tue. And I'm eager to try it out especially after reading wsreed post because I too have a Sony aw vlp 15 and like how his set up looks, especially the images on the screen.
The vendor only has an 4x8 sheets so I guess that will do for know, because I really wanted to go 106" diagnal screen. I have 14' 1/2" seating distance and the projector will be on a shelve directly above me about 2' high and 15' throwing distancece to the screen.

Thanks
please someone reply!!

the 4x8 or 48x96 will give you a screen as big as 97.29" diagonal if you trim off the 11" off the 8' side.

At $20 or so, you can't go wrong...

Hi guys,

I only found the following sheet here:

PLAS-TEX NRP
Dimensions .090" X 48" X 96"
Texture Pebble (front) Smooth (back)
Available Colors Pewter White

Would this one work well also?

Thanks,

Steph

Pewter would denote at least a "gray white" or even a darker hue I'd think.
You might have to paint it. Or perhaps it will turn out to be an ideal shade somewhat darker than a White, and thereby enhance Contrast. If so, it might be "The Next Big Thing".

Anyway, using the smooth side is your only option with the newer Polywall. So be sure that side is pristine when buying.

Actually I have a box of samples from Plas-Tex, but most don't seem usable as far as color balance and these are pretty thin... allowing a substantial amount of light to pass through.

They are extremely light wieght and look like they can be cut with basic shears, but it's also not something locally available to most people. The prices I was quoted exceeded those of very easy to get laminates.

Now it is totally possible that if you paint the back a person could reduce or even eliminate some of the light loss, but again that's an extra step for something that's not any less expensive than what is already available and extremely viable- even holding its own against some of the most expensive commercial screens out there.

I called the company and if this was something I thought was the next best screen killer I would have been all over special ordering some full size sheets for testing. My opinion is these could work, but we already have better at a lower cost right now.

The Older Polywall stock is/was the preferred material. In many places, even after almost 2 years since the change-over, there remains substantial stock.

Thicker, and featuring one side semi-satin, and the other Matte with an extremely small "pebble grain", the Original Parkland Plastic was the focus of many a successful DIY project. (...and a Monster of a Thread...) Many even painted the back (smooth side) with Behr SM, or laminated Aluminum Foil or Mylar onto the back to attempt to duplicate the SM/MM effect (...a "paint only" solution) Results were mixed in that instance, but alone, or painted with a good DIY concoction, it was among the first easy to obtain substrate that could go either way.

As Bill related, the new stuff isn't as good to use alone anymore, IMHO. But the smooth side still can, if unblemished, offer up another excellent option as a Substrate to paint on. But........, Bill's also correct in his statement that it's not nearly as good "these days" as the Wilson Art Designer White Laminate is, and I dare say, wasn't even "as good as" the WA-DW even in the older incarnation.

I'd glady paint on either to make either even better DIY applications.

'Dems my thoughts.

Hey Mman,

How does one tell the old good parkland from the new not so nice version ? Do they have different part numbers ?

Thanks

Bump...

Yeah bro, wish I could rep for bringing back one of the best threads I'm subscribed to... and also for bumping after so long (lolz) =D

Does anyone still frequent this forum? I am just getting into buying a projector and am looking to make a screen. Any help on the current state of affairs on this topic would be appreciated. Thanks

Are you kidding? 'Cmon now...the last time you posted was in August!

While you've been wasting valuable time deciding to get into "The Big Picture", many of us have helped dozens like you obtain exactly what your just now getting around to considering.

Where have Ya all been?

Ok...so now your here...what to do?

First off, this Thread is most likely is not the place to be. Here is why. There is no "Parkland Plastic" that is ideally suited "as is" for Screen use anymore. Sadly, the Folks at Parkland Plastic made a final decision to avoid being suppliers of a material that could be used so easily used as Screen material..

A few years back, due to aggressive promotion on this Forum in avocation of the use of Polywall, demand for the stuff soared. At first PP started complaining about all the individual orders they had to fill and ship as being way too much trouble. Then.....PP took advantage of the demand and quickly raised it's price by over 2x it's original amount...and even listed it on their Web Site as "Front Projection" Screen material. Quite frankly, only the availability of sheets in the 5' x 10' size is what made it so very desirable. But it was just so very obvious that in making what was to be construed as a "business decision" based on PP having to fill so many individual orders, raising the price by double was pretty extreme and very much overly opportunistic.

Well, that didn't go over well with cheapskate DIY'ers, and what with DoAble Board coming into the picture at 1/3rd the cost (even with it being limited to 4' x 8') and the more rigid Wilson Art Laminates,(...and whose "Designer White's" performance was superior to PPP) whose price was the same as the Parkland product, demand for the PP-Polywall dropped precipitously. Instead of reacting with understanding, and dropping the price even a little, Parkland Plastic reacted by stopping production of the Polywall as it was originally formulated, and introducing it again with a texture and coating that made in NOT effective for use as a Screen material. Sort of a "Back 'atcha all in yer face" response to all of our resistance to the price increase.

Still, after all the elapsed time since then, Parkland's popularity, and the constant bumping of this Thread... ... has still kept many interested. But if you check and you'll find no effectively good reviews about any current Parkland product. You could get a big sheet, flip it over, and use the smoother rear side to paint on...but there are Mo Bedder choices that cost the same to consider that don't require painting...or that can be painted with advanced DIY Paint applications for even more superb performance.

So here's what to do......

Start a new thread titled; "Looking for a great DIY Screen to go with a Great Projector"

No need to wander about the PJ Forums, many po DIY Screens can give sage advice on such a selection.

but we do need your help to match up a DIY Screen to a specific PJ based on the following critera.

• Will it be for a dedicated Theater, or Family Room use?
• Will lighting be controlled, directed, or absent alltogether during viewing?
• What color are the Walls, and the Cieling/
• Where (how far from the screen) will you sit?
• What will the majority of your viewed content consist of?
• How big is your room? Dimensions?
• How big of a Screen would you like?
• Are you rollin' in dough...or just as cheap as most all of us?

Provide the info requested in that new Thread and I Gar-ren-tea ya a rapid response.