DIY screen... white or grey? (1 Viewer)

[DonRC]

I think I've decided I'm going to go ahead and try building my own screen, on the theory that if it works out I will have saved myself a bunch of money, and if it doesn't I won't have wasted much.

With that being said, should I finish the screen with a white finish or a grey finish? I have a room where I will have excellent light control. The room is 16.5 feet wide and 18 feet long. The walls will be dark colored.

I know I've read that grey screens provide better black levels when there is difficulty controlling ambient light. Is that still an issue when I can control ambient light sources? Are there any advantages to a white screen?

What are the pros and cons of each type of screen? What would people here recommend?

Thanks!

 

[Scott L]

For digital projectors they're always a good choice since the contrast levels are usually lacking. Problem is white is more reflective so you need good light control if you want a grey screen as I understand it.

I'm on my 4th mix of combinations from silverscreen, misty evening and WOP. Still not satisfied, the colors are always more vibrant when I take down the screen and project onto the white wall. I think the next mixture will be 40/40/20 of ME/eggshell white/WOP.

Good luck with whichever you choose. There's still no 'best' way to go about it, since much of it is personal preference and experimentation.

 

[SimiA]

For less than $200, you can buy a pull down Da-lite Model C. 100 inch!
The ease of use and time not wasted trying to figure out the correct color configuation of the DIY, was worth it for me.
The colors are vibrant as is the brightness of the picture, with no hot spots!. It doesn't take up any floor space, and is easy to install!
Vb

 

[Kirk Tsai]

In a related DIY screen issue...I've read several tutorials on how to make the screens here and at AVSforums. However, none really give a description on the most basic--probably too basic for most people to be taught, but not for me--the frame itself. I'm not much of a handy guy, but would like to go the DIY route. Any advice?

 

[Jim Mcc]

Kirk, I built my own screen, 52"X92", 106" diagonal, out of 1X3 pine and blackout cloth from Joann Fabrics. Total cost was about $40.00. I use it with an X1 projector and I love it. This is my first projector and screen, I bought it about 6 weeks ago. If you go to Avsforum.com then go to DIY screen section, there are a few threads that have step by step photos and instructions to build this blackout cloth screen. I would suggest 2 people when you stretch the fabric and staple it to back of frame. It's really pretty easy to build. One side of fabric is sort of a vinyl finish, and the other is cloth. I used the vinyl side, thinking a stain might be easier to remove. It seems to be a tossup which side to use.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Yeah, those threads are very helpful, and I would go with the blackout cloth route. The problem, however, still remains---I don't know how to make a good frame.

 

[Ian-Fl]

Here's a link to a screen I modelled mine on.
http://members.shaw.ca/danhanson/The...eenproject.htm
Last summer I brought my projector on my vacation. I took some Blackout cloth and built a frame out of old 2x4's screwed together end to end. The trick is to get everything square.
The other option if you want to improve black levels is buy a FL-Day filter by Hoya and project it on a white wall. The filter will loose the equvalent of one camera f-stop but the white screen should compensate for the darker picture.