Instead of paying hundreds for a professional screen, what are the best home made screens? White paint, sheet, canvas...
2006-11-28 13:14:58 · 6 answers · asked by musicguy 2 in Consumer Electronics ➔ Home Theater
See the answer to a similar question at the link. Note the first link was omitted in error (it is given below as the 2nd link) and the 3rd link broke when I moved the picture (sorry).... the 3rd link below works.
I'd add to this answer as follows:
The Goo system mentioned by others is certainly supposed to be pretty good, but it's not cheap.
As noted in the referenced answer the AVS DIY Screen forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=110) is the place to look. There is a lot there but some excellent discussion and advice covering almost every conceivable approach and material. The secret appears to be a smooth background material .. after that it is what the surface coating is that matters. I found spending the time to read through several of the fora well worthwhile.
The screen I made was based on information from the DIY Screen forum. There is no obvious "hot spotting", the image is still good at 20 degrees off centre, colours are natural and bright with good program material (and can be oversaturated or otherwise flawed with poor material) suggesting the screen is rendering fairly accurately what is projected on it.
When I compared my screen to commercial screen material (1 sq ft pieces of three different types taped over my screen) I couldn't see any significant difference. I won't claim my testing was scientific, but any difference was not obvious and mine cost about $50 to make vs $800 -$1200 to buy.
I've included a link (#4) to a seating distance / screen size calculator since you need to give size and aspect ratio careful consideration. Personally I use a 4:3 screen since my projector (Canon SX-60) is native 4:3. This allows me to have a BIG 4:3 picture for old films and project widescreen (1.78:1 > 2.40:1) full width. I have not found a need to mask the top and bottom.
Hope this prompts you to give it a try ... after all what have you got to lose but a small amount of money and some time.....
2006-11-28 22:43:43 · answer #1 · answered by agb90spruce 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the main point of any projection screen is it's reflective qualities. White sheet work OK in dark invironments, but in the every day living room there would be too much ambient light to get a good picture quality off of a sheet. There is a specialized white paint that is reflective in the right ways, and i've used/seen it and it looks good. Along the same lines, there's a special black paint that soaks up extraneous light that you can paint all around the screen. It helps a lot. (it's like a football player putting black under their eyes) anyways, i'd go with the paint if possible. Hope this helps.
2006-11-28 13:56:53 · answer #2 · answered by nothingleft2005 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've found that sunblock, the white material behind some curtains is cheaper. The reflective qualities of the SB lend themselves to this purpose extremely well.
2006-11-28 18:43:44 · answer #3 · answered by Tanner 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've heard a lot of good things about Screen Goo ( http://www.goosystems.com/ ). It's a specialized paint.
2006-11-28 13:23:30 · answer #4 · answered by watsonc64 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get a silk or satin king size sheet -and voila!
2006-11-28 15:22:55 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
use a white or pink sheet
2006-11-29 04:59:35 · answer #6 · answered by FEK 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋