Get a Ultra Short Throw...not a Ultra Short Temper!

Hello MississippiMan and any others. I've been lurking for months but decided to finally ask my own question considering my individual circumstances. This is my very first post so please forgive any lapse in decorum as I learn the ropes.

I am trying to decide between the VAVA 4k UST projector or the Optoma P1 UST projector. Regardless of which one i buy I am clearly in the market for a very specific type of screen. I have read a great deal on here and I am now leaning towards buying Carl's flexi-white material as a base canvas to paint. I have read where you (Mississippi Man) have said the proper paint (if memory serves) can work with UST projectors VERY well and produce an image on par with a purchased screen in the thousands of dollars. I am something of a DIY'er and consider myself pretty handy so if I can custom build my screen and it turn out just as good as 1500 dollar screen I'd have to otherwise buy, I'm all for it.

My question(s) are what paint or mixture of paint do I need? Is there a kind of sprayer I need to use (HVLP) and if so what kind? Does it have a special tip I need to use? Can the paint be rolled on instead or is spraying a better application? 1 coat or 2?

So you have an idea about the room itself. It is a finished basement. It is 95-100% light controlled. There is one single window on the other side of the room with a wall coming out about 6 feet that separates the window from the wall where the screen will go (so no direct ambient light from that window would ever hit the screen). That window itself has plantation shutters and I will be buying a black out curtain to go over that. This might be overkill as most of our viewing will be at night. However, if this is the immersive experience i am hoping for we might be watching a lot on the weekends during the day as well. The screen I am building will be 115 inch, with a thin boarder .5 inch black velour tape around the side.

Thanks ahead of time for any and all assistance!

-Kal

Kaladyn said:

Hello MississippiMan and any others. I've been lurking for months but decided to finally ask my own question considering my individual circumstances. This is my very first post so please forgive any lapse in decorum as I learn the ropes.

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We are very forgiving on this Forum...............as long as you do as your told.

I am trying to decide between the VAVA 4k UST projector or the Optoma P1 UST projector. Regardless of which one i buy I am clearly in the market for a very specific type of screen.

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Do yourself a BIG favor and choose the Optoma. While the VAVA is OK...it is just OK. It has no Color / Image adjustments....at all. Not good since the general consensus is that the color "out of the box" is not really that accurate.

I have read a great deal on here and I am now leaning towards buying Carl's flexi-white material as a base canvas to paint. I have read where you (Mississippi Man) have said the proper paint (if memory serves) can work with UST projectors VERY well and produce an image on par with a purchased screen in the thousands of dollars. I am something of a DIY'er and consider myself pretty handy so if I can custom build my screen and it turn out just as good as 1500 dollar screen I'd have to otherwise buy, I'm all for it.

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Yes....the only thing DIY cannot duplicate is the Lenticular Screen designs...the ones that cost those $1000s
.......and from what I see below...you don't need one of those type Screens anyway.

My question(s) are what paint or mixture of paint do I need? Is there a kind of sprayer I need to use (HVLP) and if so what kind? Does it have a special tip I need to use? Can the paint be rolled on instead or is spraying a better application? 1 coat or 2?

Click to expand...

Spraying via Electric HVLP is the ONLY way to apply an advanced Custom Coating, (...or any paint going on Fabric...) and get a virtually perfect, smooth surface...which is exactly what you want. Besides, rolling onto stretched Carl's fabric is something that is fraught with difficulty and problematical results.


Your two choices are:


A simple Light Grey tinted Paint...of good quality such as PPG Diamond Flat (Home Depot) tinted to Universal Grey (Glidden Color Palette) Properly thinned and applied in 6-7 light "Duster Coats"

Silver Fire v2.5 w/No Colorant with an additional 8 oz of the PPG Diamond added to the regular "Non-UST" version of the Mix



And get used to the idea that it will take 6-8 coats of paint...but that isn't as bad as it sounds because each coat take under a minute to apply, and about 20 minutes to dry, so most Screens your size will be completely done in under 3 hours. If you were rolling two coats onto a Wall, it would take every bit as long or longer. So no worries...should you take the good advice and spray (...because you have to...)you will get all the guidance you need...right here.

So you have an idea about the room itself. It is a finished basement. It is 95-100% light controlled. There is one single window on the other side of the room with a wall coming out about 6 feet that separates the window from the wall where the screen will go (so no direct ambient light from that window would ever hit the screen). That window itself has plantation shutters and I will be buying a black out curtain to go over that. This might be overkill as most of our viewing will be at night. However, if this is the immersive experience i am hoping for we might be watching a lot on the weekends during the day as well. The screen I am building will be 115 inch, with a thin boarder .5 inch black velour tape around the side.

Thanks ahead of time for any and all assistance!

-Kal

Click to expand...

As I stated above.....ambient light (...excepting in-room lights you might occasionally use...) will not be an issue. And in the daytime hours, if the Plantations are shuttered and a curtain drawn, everything will be great. You may well find you can leave the Curtain open with shuttered Blinds, just so the room doesn't have to be Tomb-like at every setting....even with the simple Flat Grey. But with Silver Fire v2.5, then you will reach up into the more rarified quality levels I speak about so often.

Thank you for the response.

I have read the Optoma P1 is the better projector. Right now it's 600 bucks more. I would be more willing to make that purchase if it goes on some kind of Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale... time will tell.

I worry a bit about the throw distance for the Optoma as for my screen size, calculations are showing something like a little over 2 ft away from the screen. That is hardly the end or world, but it does mean I will either have to buy another piece of furniture (or more likely) build it to the dimensions necessary for the room and screen placement. From what I have read the Optoma also has to be placed very low to the floor to project at the normal height of a screen. Most people I have read about are sitting them on the floor. I'd prefer not to have to do this as I married into a bunch of cats and they all live up to their curious nature. Something NEW on the floor is to be explored, poked, prodded, or completely destroyed upon whim. haha (Honestly it would probably be fine but i worry more about cat hair getting in the lens if they are around too much)

However, at the end of the day picture quality trumps all (except money) up to a certain point.

Regarding the paint, Im going for the Silver fire v2.5 w/ no colorant. I will add the 8 oz. PPG Diamond to the regular non-UST version, mix good and start spraying. (I always go for higher quality whenever I can). Can all of this product typically be bought at the local Home Depot?

Is there a substrate or canvas you would recommend as "better" than carl's flexi-white?

Thanks again for everything btw.

I was going through some posts in the past concerning the Silverfire v.2.5 with N/C.

New Formula Addition:

As an alternative to the older RS-MaxxMudd LL & Retro formulas, below is a version hereafter called Silver Fire v2.5 N/C

Rustoleum Metallic Accents – White Pearl 32 oz.
Rustoleum Metallic Accents – Sterling Silver 10oz.
PPG Diamond Flat 20 oz. Home Depot
Rustoleum's Ultimate Polyurethane Matte Finish (water based) 20 oz.
Distilled Water 32 oz.

The "N/C" designation means that "No Colorant" is added.

Is this the correct formula I need to mix but with the 8 additional oz of PPG Diamond? Also is the PPG Diamond flat white?

ok... White 6mm - 60in x 120in sheet... ordered!


I read and re-read... then read again the first post in your SilverFire thread.

From my understanding I need these materials...

Rustoleum Metallic Accents – White Pearl 32 oz.
Rustoleum Metallic Accents – Sterling Silver 10oz.
PPG Diamond Flat 20 oz. Home Depot
Rustoleum's Ultimate Polyurethane Matte Finish (water based) 20 oz.
Distilled Water 32 oz.

Is there more i need to purchase for the silverfire v2.5 mix alone that I need to spray 6-8 coats on the Sintra board? I wrote down the quantities and understand i need to have the base and viscosity's mixed in separate 2 gallon plastic containers.

but once mixed do i combine the two buckets?