DIY Screens (1 Viewer)

[JimDeBell]

My theater is still under construction and I would like to try projecting onto the wall without buying a screen. The projector is a Sanyo PLV60HT. This is the first projector I have seen in use. The picture looked great to me projected on a sheet. I wonder what gain would be to have a fabric screen. There seems to be a lot of different ways to go about making a screen. I am unfamiliar with the fabrics suggested on these forums. Any suggestions or comments? Here are the pictures so far:Under Construction .
I am doing everything myself and feel capable of the work just unsure if it is needed. Thanks for any comments!

 

[Asim]

lookin sweet! (the HT that is.... )

 

[Bob Hill]

I made up mine using blocker fabric for the main screen and a black poplin for the border. Looks great with my Studio Experience 13-HD and was very easy to put together. If you want specific instructions on how to do just pm me. Here is a link to some very early shots of my theater and the screen.

http://home.dwave.net/~bobhill/finishing.htm

 

[Christer W.]

There are several ways to go to get a great screen with prices from ~20 bucks up to thousands!

• Blackout cloth over DIY screen. Some folks use the "rough" cloth side, others the vinyl "shiny" side. This creates a wide viewing angle matte screen.
• Parkland Plastic. This company makes a material called Polywall. Used in commercial construction for rest rooms and kithchens, basically any place water is assumed to be present. Surface is textrured on one side, smooth on the other. People nail it directly to the wall, build frames around it. Material is bright white. Can be used "as is" or some folks paint it. Comes in 4x8 sheets down at HD, or you can order a 5x10 direct from them. ~20 bucks for the 4x8.
• Fancy paint coatings. Goo Systems up in Canada makes a series of emulsions that can be either rolled or sprayed onto any smoot surface. This stuff yields very good colors and contrast. Figure about 100 bucks for both base and top coats for a 92" screen. Liquiscreen is another vendor of similar stuff.
• Commericial screen material. Lots of folks buy Da-lite pull down screens in their material of choice (Matte White, High Contrast Cinema Vision, Hi-Power to name a few of the few most popular) remove the material from the case and mount it directly to a frame of their own making.
• Dazian makes a fabric "Celtic Cloth" that is popular as well that isn't particularly pricey.

The Parkland is cool as it is usable the minute you get it. It needs to lay flat for a bit to get out any wrinkles created in transit. Material is very thin about 1/8th inch thick, so you need to be creative in getting it supported properly if you are not fastening direct to a wall. The beauty is that you can later apply a finish from Goo or someone else.

There are lots of people trying all sorts of paint mixes to improve black levels while keeping colors bright. Blackout cloth is also frequently painted as well.

 

[Lei]

Hi, Thanks for the info. I am working on my screen right now. I am thinking using da-lite hi-power glass-bead fabric. Can you tell me where I can buy this type of fabric?

Lei

 

[Rick Guynn]

Lei, if you want to buy the fabric, you might just want to order a model-b pulldown with the size you need. Oddly, the fabric purchased alone is more expensive than if you buy it with a pull-down mechanism.

RG

 

[Lei]

Thanks. I will look into it.

 

[Bruce Van]

Lei, stop over @ http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/index.php?s=
and check out the screen forum, tons of info. Look for
reviews by "Tryg", he's covered just about everything out there.

Bruce

 

[Neil Joseph]

I know that this is DIY but I am going to move this to displays. You will see some other DIY screen threads there. Also, if you click on the DIY Screen link in my signature, you will see another approach. The blackout fabric scretched over a frame is the most popular method though.

 

[rin]

I made a Parkland Plastics screen out of a 4'x8' sheet cut down to 48"x85" with a border made of redwood 1"x4"s covered with black velvet for my Boxlight 1HD. I think this setup looks excellent but friends and family are stunned when they see it.
Now I need to make some mattes for 2.35:1 AR films.

rin

 

[Ron-P]

Where are you guys buying the Parkland Plastic material. I'd like to run a test with it, if I can find it.

Peace Out~

 

[Craig Robertson]

Parkland Plastic Poly-Wall 0.060" x 4' x 8' SKU #:

Home Depot: 179646
Lowes: 72405
runs about $15 or $20/sheet, if i remember correctly.
you can also order it directly from the mfr, but it usually cost more. Parkland also offers 5x10 foot pieces directly from them, where you can only get 4x8 from retailers.

there are hundreds (and hundreds and hundreds) of posts on the Parkland screen over at AVS. lots of other DIY screen info, too. some of the "paint on" products look interesting, such as ScreenGoo or Liquiscreen. if i hadn't stumbled across a great deal on the exact Stewart screen i wanted, i'd have gone Parkland or ScreenGoo, or both.

 

[rin]

I got my sheet of PP at the Tustin Marketplace Home Depot store. The address is: 2782 El Camino Real, Tustin.

rin

 

[Amano Ai]

I have Joann Fabric's budget blackout cloth over 1x4s. It's nice, inexpensive, and white. BTW, I use the vinyl side for viewing.

 

[Ron-P]

Thanks guys. I want to buy a sheet of this and throw it up over my blackout cloth just to see.


Peace Out~