[AndyN]

i'm hoping to ceiling mount my BG1208 and have finally got the wife's ok to paint the walls a dark burgundy but she won't budge on painting the ceiling a dark color. So, is a dark ceiling a must? Also any other creative ways to darken a ceiling? I was even thinking of drapes that I could have on tracks on the ceiling that I "extend/retract" when I needed.


Thoughts? Suggestions?


Andy

 

[glankford]

I would say let your wife convince herself that you need it. I would leave it for now. It will likely drive her nuts to see all that light bouncing off the ceiling. If not, your frequent complaining will wear her down and she will let you paint it eventually.


That is what I had to do.

 

[AndyN]

How do you think I got the walls burgundy in the first place?


Anybody know of any fairly inexpensive decorative/accoustic panels or foam?

 

[Budget Pete]

You could have a 'curtain' in front of the screen that when raised would cover the portion of the ceiling near the screen. Bendable track is pretty cheap.

 

[AVWERKS]

I have the same PJ mounted downstairs and was using Black out material for the screen. The problem with wide angle screens (1.0 to 1.3 gain) is they bounce the light all over the place and reduce contrast ratio.


The ceiling would light up every time you hit any 80 to 100 ire light levels in the program.


I switched to some Draper M2500 just 2 weeks ago and the problem is gone because the angular reflective nature of this material bounces the light straight back to the viewer and away from the ceiling. That's one of the benefit's of a high gain. It introduces other artifacts to get that 2.5 gain, but is worth it my opinion.


David

 

[Budget Pete]

What 'other artifacts' do you get?

 

[ChrisWiggles]

I don't know that the ceiling would be much more important because you are ceiling mounted, if you are using a basic low-gain screen. IT would still be an issue with a floor mount, so certainly trying to get areas close to the screen as dark as possible is preferred, but I don't know that the ceiling would be any more important. If it's a low ceiling it might be more annoying than the walls, since the angle of reflection is less youll get more of a sheen look, like glare, that's annoying.


AS for acoustic treatments like absorbers, they are usually think fiberglass boards as the best value, and you can cover them with whatever fabric design you want. See the HT builder forum for more info.

 

[Brian Hampton]

Get the walls burgundy and then start working on permission for the ceiling. My room is burgundy and it really helps the image, in my view.


You can re-paint a room if needed so what's her objection to painting the ceiling?


I think when she sees the wonderfull difference the dark walls make she will be asking you to paint the ceiling or she'll be doing it herself.



If I had too.. I would get blackout fabric and paint it and then put grommets in the corners and then use L screws and mount it streched so that it doesn't bow much.


-Brian

 

[plain fan]

I've got a floor mount right now and the light spray across the ceiling sucks. I just haven't gotten around to covering the white ceiling with anything. The walls were painted dark green and it made a huge difference so I can only estimate at the difference created by darkening the ceiling. I would also recommend thinking about the floor as well. I've got an off white carpet that really needs to be darkened as well.

 

[Graham Johnson]

The ceiling dark makes and enormous difference to the overall black level you see on the screen. Mine was a light beige colour and it lit up like a christmas tree when I had the projector on.


Now its dark, The screen looks so much better with deeper blacks you wouldnt beleive.

 

[deronmoped]

One other thing, anything that is distracting from the picture is bad. I plan to keep all my theater decore towards the back of the room, the screen and speakers will only be at the front.


Deron.

 

[John Alison]

Black is the new black. It always was. So black ceiling, walls and floor. Be prepared to budget for wife bribes.

 

[AndyN]

sorry, been gone moving in to the new place.


Just wanted to thank you all for your responses. I'll try to work on painting the ceiling but the curtains idea might also work.


Andy

 

[hi_l2es]

Hello AndyN -


I agree with everyone here that is saying black does make a dramatic difference.


In my case, I did not want black across the ceiling of my media room which is about 800 square feet. I was also concerned about not increasing the sound reflections off my ceiling material which painting will probably effect to some extent. My solution was easy and it works well:


You can use either Black Velvet or Black Felt on the ceiling in front of the screen. With my Stewart Ultramatte 200 which has a gain of 2.0 I went one foot wide of the screen width on both sides out to nine feet in front of the screen. This resolved the issue here for me without damaging my sound characteristics; the ceiling reflections are under control. Interesting this is one of the changes my wife liked the most in my constant quest for improving PQ.


You can make this relatively small area look very professional by putting a nice molding trim on the ceiling around the black area that you can then cover or paint on the inside of the perimeter trim molding.


My personal preference is Black Velvet - Felt - Paint / in that order / but they will all enhance PQ.

 

[hi_l2es]

Budget Pete -


I do not think that a good high gain screen like the Stewart introduces new artifacts; but I guarantee you that you will see more of what is there including slight text burn in and the like if it is there to see.


This is probably what AVWERKS meant.

 

[TheFerret]

A darker colored room will create a better environment that helps minimize light reflection (but not all) and also assists in minimizing visual distractions. While my screen wall if flat black, my other walls, ceilnig, doors and trim are the same dark-as-can-be blue-purple I could get. Floor is jet black carpeting.


I rented a sprayer from Home Depot for the application.