Projector screen paint
Discussion
Having painted my screen wall matt white and getting 'OK' results, (darks are too dark though) I am now looking at improving things by using some paint designed to be projected on too and wondering how much 'snake oil' is involved in this market?
All the paints available on ebay are apparently 'the best you can get' but range from £23 to £100 a tin.
Does anyone have any recommendations?
Or, If a screen is the only answer, then the same question applies, do i need to spend top dollar or are there good value cheap ones that anyone could point me towards. Approx 100" is what i will need.
All the paints available on ebay are apparently 'the best you can get' but range from £23 to £100 a tin.
Does anyone have any recommendations?
Or, If a screen is the only answer, then the same question applies, do i need to spend top dollar or are there good value cheap ones that anyone could point me towards. Approx 100" is what i will need.
There are pros and cons to using a painted screen. A physical pull-down or electric screen can give fantastic results, but can be limited in size due to location. You can get ones that are suitable for rooms with ambient light (e.g. where you can't black it out properly, or where you want to keep some lights on) but they can get expensive very quickly.
Painting has the advantage that you can have it completely borderless, so you can use it for a while before you optionally decide to install a screen. The in-between one is to use acoustically-transparent material on a frame, and then the speakers go behind the screen... Whatever you use will need to be blemish-free.
In the US and UK AV forums there is a user 'mississippi man' who is the king of painting screens, and his techniques and recommendations are well within the DIY arena. It usually involves a spray gun and lots of coats. The paint formulations can be expensive but there are DIY methods and mixes. A lot of the information is US-centric though.
If you start researching painting screens you'll be going down a rabbit hole.
Edited to add: I was originally using a Sapphire electric 92-inch screen, with great results. Then I rearranged the room and the screen is now a painted wall, the wall was painted with a white primer and then Dulux 'Chic Shadow' which is a matt grey. The projected image is definitely darker than via the original white matt screen, but it is actually very good. At the moment I don't feel the need to reinstall the physical screen in the new location.
Painting has the advantage that you can have it completely borderless, so you can use it for a while before you optionally decide to install a screen. The in-between one is to use acoustically-transparent material on a frame, and then the speakers go behind the screen... Whatever you use will need to be blemish-free.
In the US and UK AV forums there is a user 'mississippi man' who is the king of painting screens, and his techniques and recommendations are well within the DIY arena. It usually involves a spray gun and lots of coats. The paint formulations can be expensive but there are DIY methods and mixes. A lot of the information is US-centric though.
If you start researching painting screens you'll be going down a rabbit hole.
Edited to add: I was originally using a Sapphire electric 92-inch screen, with great results. Then I rearranged the room and the screen is now a painted wall, the wall was painted with a white primer and then Dulux 'Chic Shadow' which is a matt grey. The projected image is definitely darker than via the original white matt screen, but it is actually very good. At the moment I don't feel the need to reinstall the physical screen in the new location.
Edited by karma mechanic on Thursday 21st November 10:22
Thanks, this is a temporary setup as i am just in this house for six months so i dont want to go crazy.
Another option is to just try one of the cheap screens that are designed to be moved about /taken on holiday but as these are available for about £10 i have my doubts as to whether they would be any better than just a Matt white wall!
I suppose I will have to experiment. Annoyingly i did get an electric screen with this (used) projector but the motor was borked so i just unravelled it and hung the screen fabric on the wall but it didnt hang correctly and caused 'waves' which were far more annoying that just shooting the image at a white wall, and the image really didnt seem to be that much better either.
I did start a similar thread to this already and i suspect my major problem is that the whole room is light coloured so whatever i do is going to be a compromise, i might just have to reduce the screen size and put up an oversize black border and she if that is any better!
Another option is to just try one of the cheap screens that are designed to be moved about /taken on holiday but as these are available for about £10 i have my doubts as to whether they would be any better than just a Matt white wall!
I suppose I will have to experiment. Annoyingly i did get an electric screen with this (used) projector but the motor was borked so i just unravelled it and hung the screen fabric on the wall but it didnt hang correctly and caused 'waves' which were far more annoying that just shooting the image at a white wall, and the image really didnt seem to be that much better either.
I did start a similar thread to this already and i suspect my major problem is that the whole room is light coloured so whatever i do is going to be a compromise, i might just have to reduce the screen size and put up an oversize black border and she if that is any better!
karma mechanic said:
In the US and UK AV forums there is a user 'mississippi man' who is the king of painting screens, and his techniques and recommendations are well within the DIY arena.
I have used Mississippi Man's formula at my last house and was impressed with the results. I did buy a 100 inch flat board to paint on and I made a DIY frame that was attached to the wall. My mix was to allowed me to watch in ambient light conditions and it exceeded my expectations. When I ran into trouble Mississippi man called and walked me through it.There has been some comments since I did my screen that Mississippi Man's mix is difficult to source and expensive. You do need a paint sprayer and the process is difficult due to having to make a spray booth. Some have said they are seeing similar results from specific brands of normal wall paint but I have not seen a comparison in person.
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