DIY screen - need advice..Are laminates good enough?

[Th!ru]

Hi Friends,

This is my first post here:yahoo:, excuse me if this topic has been covered before. I tried searching but couldn't find much details on it.

I have decided to go down the DIY route for a projector screen, which will be lit by a pretty basic Epson 1080P LED projector(HC2040). The width of the wall which will hold the screen is 11', and i am planning to putup a 108-110" 16:9 screen. The room is a spare room in the terrace and will be a light controlled environment with dark ceiling and dedicated for a HT/man cave.

Now, The options i had in mind was

1. Order screen materials from Carl's Place - Projector Screen Material, Kits & More! or the inlight materials found on amazon.in and stretch it across a frame.
2. Go for a white/grey laminate stuck on a thin plywood with centre support and mounted with a black velvet wrapped frame.

I did not consider pull down screens as it is a dedicated HT, and IMHO the fixed screens look much neater, but they cost a fortune sometimes even more than the projector cost. As far as the screen materials goes i am not sure if it would be easy to find someone who can do a clean job which involves stretching the material uniformly on all sides to prevent any ripples or uneven surface, Also when shipping these fabric are folded, the creases might not easily go away.

That leaves me with the laminate option. Has anyone here used it for an extended period of time. Is it really good enough? If so which brand/shades would you guys recommend? What could be the difference as opposed to using fabric/material meant for optics

Also, Are there any issues with hotspotting, i read in some other forums where a member was facing uniformity issues and hotspotting when the projector is mounted directly in line with the screen, which in my case will be true as the HC2040 has no vertical lens shift and the offset is such that the projector will be mounted at a height below the top of the screen.

Thanks

 

[dipdawiz]

Hi Friends,

This is my first post here:yahoo:, excuse me if this topic has been covered before. I tried searching but couldn't find much details on it.

.....

That leaves me with the laminate option. Has anyone here used it for an extended period of time. Is it really good enough? If so which brand/shades would you guys recommend? What could be the difference as opposed to using fabric/material meant for optics

Also, Are there any issues with hotspotting, i read in some other forums where a member was facing uniformity issues and hotspotting when the projector is mounted directly in line with the screen, which in my case will be true as the HC2040 has no vertical lens shift and the offset is such that the projector will be mounted at a height below the top of the screen.

Thanks

if you have a plain wall to project on, apply putty to flatten it (or plywood thing will also do, but increase cost and some more labour ) and use this paint and add black border. I have used it on wall to project on 92" screen size using Epson TW5210, its not bad. The paint is white, with very little grayish tinch. For black boarder, I got asian paint 200ml glossy black oil paint. To make the black boarder matte finish, rub with damp cloth once paint dried well. Low cost and easy to apply and make the screen, did not find any issue in projection quality. At this moment I don't have any image of my setup, would post once I get some time.

Some people use Asian paints "Winter Moon" as screen color too, which is very light gray and may be good for bright projectors like epson.

Cheers,
Dipayan

 

[rdksrk2013]

I had posted my experience with snaps for your easy reference.

Below is the thread:

http://www.hifivision.com/home-thea...4499-sharing-experience-diy-fixed-screen.html


REgards

 

[Th!ru]

I had posted my experience with snaps for your easy reference.

Below is the thread:

http://www.hifivision.com/home-thea...4499-sharing-experience-diy-fixed-screen.html


REgards

Thanks for your reference thread. BTW, can you share more about shipping the Carl's BOC to India, did you use any freight forwarders like borderlinx or had you/someone carry it to India. In case it was through any freight forwarder, did it involve any customs duty for the pkg?

 

[Th!ru]

if you have a plain wall to project on, apply putty to flatten it (or plywood thing will also do, but increase cost and some more labour ) and use this paint and add black border. I have used it on wall to project on 92" screen size using Epson TW5210, its not bad. The paint is white, with very little grayish tinch. For black boarder, I got asian paint 200ml glossy black oil paint. To make the black boarder matte finish, rub with damp cloth once paint dried well. Low cost and easy to apply and make the screen, did not find any issue in projection quality. At this moment I don't have any image of my setup, would post once I get some time.

Some people use Asian paints "Winter Moon" as screen color too, which is very light gray and may be good for bright projectors like epson.

Cheers,
Dipayan

Thank you for your suggestions.. my wall is a rustic tiled wall, and so I will have to go with the plywood route.. in case iam going in for a 110" 16:9 screen that would involve attaching 2 pieces of plywood as they mostly come in 4x8 size, though the crease will be covered with putty, my concern is that over time with wood the cracks might reappear. Is this something which I need to be concerned about?, Or should I used gypsum boards which tend to be blending better when joining pieces. Also any advise on the method/ number of coats with the said paint.. and the dilution of the paint and roller used..

 

[Th!ru]

if you have a plain wall to project on, apply putty to flatten it (or plywood thing will also do, but increase cost and some more labour ) and use this paint and add black border. I have used it on wall to project on 92" screen size using Epson TW5210, its not bad. The paint is white, with very little grayish tinch. For black boarder, I got asian paint 200ml glossy black oil paint. To make the black boarder matte finish, rub with damp cloth once paint dried well. Low cost and easy to apply and make the screen, did not find any issue in projection quality. At this moment I don't have any image of my setup, would post once I get some time.

Some people use Asian paints "Winter Moon" as screen color too, which is very light gray and may be good for bright projectors like epson.

Cheers,
Dipayan

Thanks for the info on the paint.. my wall is a rustic tiled wall and hence need to go down the plywood route. If iam going for screen sized ~ 110" I would need to attach 2 pieces of plywood as they come mostly in 4x8 size. I understand putty would cover any crease/gaps, with wood will they reappear later. Shud this be of concern? Or Iam thinking should I go gypsum board which tend to blend better when joining pieces. Any suggestions on the method/number of coats, as well as suitable roller and dilution. As for the border I would mask with black velvet cloth wraps around frame as i might be mounting the ply on it.

I had posted my experience with snaps for your easy reference.

Below is the thread:

http://www.hifivision.com/home-thea...4499-sharing-experience-diy-fixed-screen.html


REgards

Did you ship the carls BOC through any freight forwarder, if so which one and was there any customs charged for the pkg?

Cheers

 

[rdksrk2013]

Did you ship the carls BOC through any freight forwarder, if so which one and was there any customs charged for the pkg?

Cheers

No I ordered it to an US address and got delivered. But Carl's also ships international. Check the website of carl

 

[dipdawiz]

Thank you for your suggestions.. my wall is a rustic tiled wall, and so I will have to go with the plywood route.. in case iam going in for a 110" 16:9 screen that would involve attaching 2 pieces of plywood as they mostly come in 4x8 size, though the crease will be covered with putty, my concern is that over time with wood the cracks might reappear. Is this something which I need to be concerned about?, Or should I used gypsum boards which tend to be blending better when joining pieces. Also any advise on the method/ number of coats with the said paint.. and the dilution of the paint and roller used..

If you use good ply which does not bend/expand, chances of cracks should not be there. Heard that branded particle boards are good in that matter, seasoned well and does not bend. And of course heard about use of gypsum but haven't seen any implementation as such. So can't say. Its a DIY, so you have to take some risk

And for the paint, diluted with approx 20% water and I used 3 coats on freshly layered putty and primer. This paint leaves a rough surface than normal acrylic paint. Used brash first and then roller. But sharpness, brightness and contrast are good when projected (compared to my previous off-white wall paint).

 

[sud98]

I would advise you to stick to paint on wall rather than laminate. Laminate will reflect and will be difficult to read.

To check, take a small piece of laminate and project on it to see the reflection.

Same problem with Gypsum. Additional problem with gypsum is that it may crack on heat (with direct projection).

There are cheap blackout cloth available with dealers who sell to theaters or you can do it on the wall.