[kl899]

I highly recommend going this route if you have the wall space. Honestly, matte white is a can't lose proposition. I'm not saying you won't get better results with other types of material, but if you are unsure of what you want... trust me, I'm very please with this screen. I had a parkland plastic screen before this and I would say this is slightly better... although close.


P.S. - The black borders are made from black gaffer's tape.

 

[grog_lives]

Can you post how you made it? Materials? Procedure? Etc.?

 

[HK-Steve]

What is the difference between this screen and the Parkland plastic screen? Brighter? Sharper? Color?


Yes, we want more details, materials used etc.


Cheers

Steve

 

[kl899]

what I did was shine the projector on the wall so that I could see the outline of it's dimensions, which i marked roughly and then precisely drew it out later on with a square and a level. then i put masking tape around it and put on 2 coats of ultra white ceiling paint... painted right on top of the regular wall paint you see to the sides of it. then the black borders are made out of black "gaffer's tape" which is available at any theatrical store. actually this only cost me $15 for the 60 yards of tape... the paint i got for free from my neighbor


the image is a bit brighter than the parkland plastics... no real change other than that. go with the paint if you have the wall space because it is much easier to do than the parkland route, and much cheaper. parkland will end up costing you well over $100 and tons of more time.

 

[philba]

this is very consistent with what others (including mois) have reported. A good matte white paint produces a very reasonable 1.0 gain projection surface. It takes a little skill and care in painting (roll or spray). You can paint any manner of surfaces as long as it is flat.


I think parkland can be reasonably cheap but requires mounting the plastic on some sort of backing making it heavy. I much prefer the "stretcher bar" (homemade or store bought) approach with blackout stretched and painted. Mine weighs all of 14 lbs with the black frame.

 

[BSN]

Does gaffer tape have that felt-like texture that absorbs the light?

 

[kl899]

no, duvetyne tape is the one with the felt like texture. gaffer's is just matte black... it is also much easier to find at your local stores.


the parkland is hard to work with no matter how you approach it. building a wooden frame like Ron's costs a lot of money for a DIY approach... wood is surprisingly expensive by the time you get to the checkout at home depot. i'd like to look into the blackout fabric and stretcher bar method for if/when i need a new screen.

 

[TJC]

hmmm. so would you need a ceiling paint or any type of white paint? this may be an option as i am beginning to look into ordering screen material.

 

[ThePanda]

Will the screen get darker over time from dust and whatnot, so you would have to repaint it every once in a while? Other screen materials say you can wash them with water, but I guess that wouldn't be possible with paint. Is there some kind of coating you could put over the paint?

 

[TJC]

i think it would be more of less dust and you could blow that off from time to time with a leaf blower.

i think i will get a sheet of 4 x 10 drywall mount it to the wall and paint it.

 

[kl899]

i'm guessing that any ultra white type of paint would do the same thing. the ceiling paint doesn't seem terribly special. i'm not worried about dirt because you can easily wash paint with a sponge and dish soap... you must not have kids!

 

[ThePanda]

No I don't. I was under the impression that the water would just soak into the paint and unevenly discolor it. That's good news that there are ways to clean it, so I will probably try this.


But I can't paint right on the wall so I was wondering what a good material is to paint on? I don't know very much about screens yet, but from searching I see a lot of people talking about blackout cloths. Is that the best way to do it? Also, is using a roller the best way to apply it so you don't get hotspots, unevenness, etc.?

 

[kl899]

I used a foarm roller and didn't have any uneveness problems at all. Not sure what the best surface is to paint on if a wall isn't an option... most material comes in 4 foot widths which might be enough for you, especially if you are doing a wide screen. For my 4:3 screen, I wanted 5 feet width and the only option I could find was Parkland Plastic, which you can paint on after you mount it to something.

 

[GanChan]

Is this a better option than simply putting up a piece of matte-white paper of the desired size and gaff-taping around the edges? I live in an apartment, and I don't want to have to re-paint the walls again when I move out....But I did find craft paper by the yard at a teachers' supply store....

 

[penticton102]

i have tried various suggestions on diy screens and i always go back to the painted wall, less headaches, wallet friendly and the picture is extremely nice , have gotten samples from many fabric stores or suppliers and compared to the cost of even the cheapest wall fabrics/materials the ultra white paint is the best, especially for your wallet, now i am not saying that when funds allow i won,t buy a good screen but for now its a great second,........

 

[TJC]

yup, what i'm going to do is by a 4 x 10' sheet of drywall. Hang it on the wall then flash the projector on it to see what size i will need then cut, paint and frame it.

what's good is that i was sort of limited to screen height but not length so the 4' height will work better i think. i'll take a pic when i'm done.

 

[ThePanda]

I've decided to do it like kl899, right on the wall with tape as a border. Is it better to use the ultrawhite flat ceiling paint or the regular flat ultrawhite paint? I don't know what the difference would be. This page at behr shows the different products:
http://www.behrpaint.com/cgi-bin/db2...s=on&page=1210

 

[Garyr3883]

Hi Everyone,


Great posts! They have been invaluable in helping me look at the available options for creating a screen. I just purchased a Mits xd300u projector (2100 lumens), and I am about to create a permanent viewing surface for it. I will probably go with a painted wall with a black border around the projected image.


The question I have been wrestling with relates to the minimum boarder width that will still enhance the image on the screen. I like the idea of using matte black gaffer's tape, but is there an advantage to using a wider border? Does a wider border equal a better viewing experience? If so, what is the best width to shoot for? Any thoughts on this?



Gary

 

[kl899]

mine is 2" for @ a 100" 4:3 screen, and i find the borders to be sufficient... but i don't think it would hurt to go wider!

 

[GanChan]

I'm a little confused as to whether I should even make a screen at all. I have an old, low-lumens projector, which I have been shining direcly onto my wall. My wall is an off-white or ivory color, and so both my whites and my colors are a little "off." It isn't so noitceable without an external reference, but I think I'd get better gain with an ultra-white surface. I experimented by attaching a piece of white paper to one part of my screen, and noticed that while black levels were compromised somewhat, my whites now looked true, colors in general were more accurate, and the overall picture was brighter and cleaner -- like those before-and-after pictures of a restored painting. But now I have to figure out whether it's worth sacrifing my deep blacks, which the ivory wall seems to reproduce better. I've heard that pure white is more important for CRT, while the off-white or light grey is often preferred for LCD/DLP. Anyone out there who has had to weigh these options, I'd like to hear your final conclusions, especially as they might apply to a low-lumens projector.