do it yourself screen?

[Pirate]

Hey,

im getting a projector soon (end of the month hopefully), but I only have enough for the PJ. I'll have to get the screen later. Does anyone have any advice on what i could make a screen out of? I'd hate to use a plain sheet with such a nice machine.

thanks
-PH

[I 8 Piglet]

There are a ton of DIY options out there. I very simply made a frame out of 2x4, wrapped it in white blackout cloth and made a border out of poplar and painted that matte black. You can check it out in my sig. A lot of people just paint a wall white, more and more people are actualy using Glidden's Misty Evening grey as grey helps the contrast of digital projectors. There is a popluar product out there called parkland plasitic (and its cousin do-able), that people use as a screen material, and its supposed to work great, but I cant find it near me.

Seamonkey used to use a sheet of sheetrock painted with a combination of colors. I dont know if he still does. Thats the route I would go if knew my HT would be in one place for a decent amount of time. But thats a little to heavy for me to move into and out of apartments.

AVS has an entire forum dedicated to DIY screens. It might be worth a trip over other.

[I 8 Piglet]

If you dont mind me asking...what projector(s) are you looking into?

[chlngr1970]

The parkland Plastic can be found at your local Lows Home Improvement Center ( that's where I got mine ) Then you can frame it with molding like you would use on a baseboard ( use the good stuff ) and hang it on the wall ( paint the frame a flat black )

Works realy well...

j

[Frank Z]

Here ya go.
http://tmkask.netfirms.com/Screen.htm

[I 8 Piglet]

Originally Posted by chlngr1970

The parkland Plastic can be found at your local Lows Home Improvement Center ( that's where I got mine ) Then you can frame it with molding like you would use on a baseboard ( use the good stuff ) and hang it on the wall ( paint the frame a flat black )

Works realy well...

j

Yeah but apparently its more prevelant on the west cost. It used to be only available out that way. Apparently now you can find in some store this way, but I havent been able to.

[Wirehed]

Yes, I have a sheet of drywall with many, many coats of paint. I can't even tell you what I did now, it's been a while, but I used a combination of paint types, including a sort of greyish "Plastic" primer.

It works quite well, much better than my friend who has the same kind of projector who did the framed black-out material method.

A real screen is, of course, better.

[Pirate]

HELP!!!!

I'm calling fabric stores to get some blackout material, but no one has material big enough to accommodate the size I want. Does anyone have any ideas of where I could get bigger material? I want a 135 diagonal screen.

Thanks
-PH

[chlngr1970]

Are you trying to black out the whole back side, or are you trying to put...say a few inches border around it? If you are trying to black out the whole backside....why? You should be able to get just ...oh say...3-6 inch strips and mount that to the edge of the screen. What I Plan on with my next screen ( never got the first one done ) is that concept, with a border made out of some sort of matte black material, and some corner/edge moulding painted a matte black

Hope this helps

j

[Pirate]

really, im just looking to throw something up on the wall so i can play with sizes. Im told that black out material is the fabric to use if you want to make your screen.

thanks
-PH

[chlngr1970]

Did you check out Frank's link above? It was pretty good. I don't think you need to get THAT much black material tho. You could just get away with the length to wrap arround the outer frame.

Or, you could order the material.

Or, you could do what I did ( scroll up ) and frame it with mat black painted borders...

I 8 Piglet, i had to special order my Parkland Plastic, and will probably have to do the same next time. The sad part is, the shipping was twice as expensive as the product

j

[Pirate]

I did check the link, but i guess im confused about a few things:

Is blackout material black or white?

Where did he buy it in that size?

-PH

[chlngr1970]

From what I gather...the Blackout material is what goes arround the outer frame. the white material is what is inside the outer frame, and that is attached to the inner frame. THAT is a white material...the black material is cutout and stapeled to the OUTER frame...

Hope this helps

j

[Pirate]

So, what is the white material and where do i get it?

thanks
-PH

[I 8 Piglet]

No, the blackout cloth is white. The black boarder is usually some sort of felt or veloux material (or in my case matte paint). Blackout cloth comes in several colors, black, white, and for some reason the back of mine is grey. You use the BO cloth as the screen it self. It works so well because it doesnt let any light pass through, so you get a brighter crisper image, than you would with say a white bed sheet. If you just want to experiment with size, why not just paint that wall white and go from there, thats what a lot of guys over at AVS do.

The problem with BO cloth is the hieght, most stores dont carry anything wider than 1.5 or 2 yards so your limited to that, but that should be big enough for just about any screen your are going to put in your home...shouldnt it?

[Pirate]

well...I can't paint the wall, cause its wood paneling and in terms of the screen im looking at 120" to 135" diagonal. So, im having trouble finding BO cloth thats big enough. Maybe im just looking in the wrong places.


thanks
-PH

[chlngr1970]

Originally Posted by I 8 Piglet

ou use the BO cloth as the screen it self. It works so well because it doesnt let any light pass through, so you get a brighter crisper image

Now...don't I feel stupid

AFAIK, the Parkland Plastic is available in many different sizes, so you can get what ever you want. The one I got was 4' X 8', and I trimmed it down to a 16:9 ratio, and was gonna frame it. my 4X8 piece cost $11 and change...shipping to WA was 22 and change ad to that the cost of the border material ( say...floor molding ) and paint ( Matte black ) and you should get off at under $100 easy.

j

[Chromy]

What projector are you getting? 120-130"diag might be a bit agressive depending on the resolution of the projector and how close you are sitting. For larger sizes of blackout cloth you might try an upolstry specialty shop?

[Pirate]

I got some Black Out Material today. They folded it when I bought it and now it's got wrinkles and kinks in it. They told me I cant iron it. Does anyone know how to make the screen a smooth surface?
I thought I saw a link about this on here, but i couldnt find it.

thanks
-PH

What projector are you getting?

I'm getting the SANYO PLV-Z2 and Im sticking with a 109 to 120 diagonal screen.

[Frank Z]

I got rid of the wrinkles by attaching the long sides one at a time, keeping as much tension on the material as possible. I went over the screen side with a hot steam iron held about 1/2" above the material and used a lot of water to keep the steam going. After I got most of the wrinkles out I attacched the Short sides and repeated the steaming operation. Worked extremely well.

If anyone else is planning on a Black Out screen, ask the store employees to roll it on a tube to keep it flat.

[SilentBob]

You can always try a local movie theater and ask a manager for some info (like a phone number or an email). Some theaters have had screen ripped apart by angry and drunken guests. My theater makes a call and we have a new screen replaced within a day. They are expensive but maybe you can get a phone number or a rough idea on how much the material could be for your desired screen size. Our screens do have a bit of a grey tinge and little small holes throught the screen for sound reasons. But you never know, you might be able to get some used screen form a closed down or renovated theater. The screen material is shipped out in no less then 2 days in a square folded box and must be hung up within that time. The material is so sensitive to the folds that it might distort the screen appearance. But worth a shot

[airjosh]

To make my screen and avoid spending a lot of money, I purchased the screen material from Da-Lite and then stretched it on a paint canvas frame at 72". This cost about $200, which is pretty good for a high-gain fixed screen.

[I 8 Piglet]

The wrinkles came right out of mine as I stretched it over the frame.

[Sycho]

anyone have ideas one a DIY REAR projection screen?

[I 8 Piglet]

There are a couple of guys over at AVS with RP setups, but from what I understand, if you have the space to do FP your better off.

[Sycho]

Originally Posted by I 8 Piglet

There are a couple of guys over at AVS with RP setups, but from what I understand, if you have the space to do FP your better off.

i just want to know what to use for a screen

[Frank Z]

Da-lite, Stewart, et al make screens for rear projection systems.