[inky blacks]

Is there really any reason you could not or should not paint the side walls of a home theater dark green and have the ceiling and crown moldings painted golden wheat?


I don't want a flat black or gray room to watch movies in. Are the dark green and medium golden wheat colors really going to reflect enough of their light back on the screen to make a big difference? I will be using a large built in rear projection screen about 100" diagonal so the room will not be totally dark while watching movies.


IB

 

[BarryO]

"medium golden wheat " sounds like it would reflect alot of light. Can you just paint it the same dark green? I painted both my walls and ceiling dark blue.

 

[Charles R]

My room started out with a white ceiling and the walls being a fairly light beige with a hint of green. The room has no windows with a 10' ceiling and triple (close to 12 inches) crown moulding painted a lighter beige all the way around the top including the headers down both side walls which extend a third or so into the front (screen) wall.


Since then I have installed a whole lot of draperies and painted pretty much the entire room in small steps. And I have been able to see what each change has done to the room's look along with (if any) the affect on my projector's image. I'm working with a D-ILA projector so the blacks aren't great to begin with so your results may vary...


First I hung black velvet drapes directly around the fixed screen and this still has had the most (best) effect on the image. It jumps out at you much more than before.


Next I put down a couple of dark oriental rugs on the floor which make it a little more cozy. Especially when the lights are out. Using the burgundy in the rugs I then hung velvet drapes across the rest of the screen's wall. This helped the wall disappear while viewing the projector and was more of a benefit to me than improving the image.


Later I painted the side walls roughly twice as dark as they were to what most would call a medium shade. Actually, I used the original formula just at 200% strength. This again seemed to have little effect on the image though it gave me more of the floating image... the room disappearing with the lights out.


Then I painted the ceiling at 400% (same formula - later I painted the headers the same color) and I must say this turned out very nice. Even though the ceiling is rather high again it disappeared with the lights out and sort of made the room look like a theater when they are on. It also made the crown moulding pop which is OK since it's pretty high above the screen.


After doing all of this I found very little difference with the screen's image (I am using a FireHawk screen) regarding reflections. I feel if you have total light control you are pretty much good to go with a medium shade - I'm guessing on a scale of 1 to 10 (white to black) some where around a 5 is plenty dark. For me it was more of wanting to make the room disappear.

 

[inky blacks]

As I am using a rear projection system, I think I can get away with more than if I were using a front projector. I was wondering if the color of the walls, not just the lightness or darkness of shade, would have an effect. The shade of golden wheat I want for the ceiling is kind of dusty and not a bright gold color. An all dark green room would really go against my taste and ruin the effect of the crown moldings. I want a kind of Georgian look to the room, to fit the rest of the house. I estimate I will be getting 58 foot lamberts out of that screen, so it will be as bright as a good 50" rear projection television. There wil be windows on one side of the room only, with metal sades and good light control, but I want a medium light setting with no direct light hitting the screen.


IB

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Yes! With a RP setup you can get away with a lot more, so I think you should be ok with such a paint color. Try it and if you want it darker later, paint is cheap! I would try to get the ceiling by the screen dark too though. I did a big zig-zaggy stripe of eggshell black in the front of my room (flat would have been better, i think, but oh well). And then the black continues back around the sides at the bottom, and above it is a more reddish tan color. Then the rear wall is flipped, black up top, and reddish down low. It looks plenty good, and I have a CRT anyway, so the ANSI cr is weak from that already. Certainly it could benefit, I know that I will definitely need masking, but that will come a little later.

 

[outlier2]

I have an FP and have dark green walls and a white ceiling. It looks great and I have had nothing but positive reviews from guests. The walls disappear in the darkwith a movie on but my beige carpet and white ceiling reflect some light. I actually find this useful as I don't have to turn up the lights to find things in the room (like remotes). Some people in the forum will say that overkill is not in their vocabulary. Remember, you have to live in your space so the total dungeon look may not go over well for many.