CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

lexx21 · Joined: 10 Oct 2008 Posts: 119

I have been looking around for info about using a painted wall as a screen but most of the discussions don't specify if they are using a digital or a crt. Has anyone here painted a screen before, and if so, what did you use? Would Behr ultra white flat work or would I want to go with a different finish?

Thanks in advance

Ben851 · Joined: 13 Sep 2008 Posts: 221 Location: Ottawa, Ontario

For the longest time I used a sheet of drywall and primer - not sure about the gain figures but color reproduction wasn't bad... I remember someone posting a "recipe" for a decent screen, I believe the top coat was Behr Eggshell White...

Don't know how much you're looking to spend, but here's a commercial product specifically designed for screens.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Goo_Systems-Screen_Paint.htm

lexx21 · Joined: 10 Oct 2008 Posts: 119

I'm kind of having to do this on a shoe string budget. I had looked at Goo systems, but they were pretty expensive.

dturco · Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:39 pm Post subject:

Foget paint it's not going to work, well not good anyway.

Check out the screen section. There's a couple of posts in it about, ahhhhh........Screens Laughing

..........

on the cheap. Smile

ecrabb · Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:47 pm Post subject:

I'll try this again... I had a damn post written and the forum was in never-never land. Arrgghhh...

Anyway, if you have $100-150 to spend, check out WilsonArt Designer White laminate. It's about 1.3 gain, fairly rigid, easily mountable, and is about as good as a DIY screen gets.

If you're on a really tight budget, check out Parkland Plastics... Sometimes it's "Plast-Ex" or "PolyWall"... I think it's under $30/sheet and should be available from most home improvement stores or lumberyards, though you might have to call around. This is the white, shiny, pebble-surfaced stuff you see in gas station or bar restrooms sometimes, only for projection screen, you use the nice, smooth white back-side you don't usually see. I think it's about 1.1 gain or so. It's a little flimsy, so you have to use some cheap PVC or composite ranch trim or something on all four sides to hold it on the wall.

By the time you bought Behr paint and a good roller cover, I don't think you'd have much less in a screen than a PP screen.

SC

jkruger · Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 2435 Location: Carlsbad, CA

Kiev Savoie · Joined: 25 Oct 2007 Posts: 432

I have another option for you to consider as well. there's a guy on ebay that buys professional screen material in bulk rolls and sells it by the piece. He claims it's the same stuff Draper uses for a lot of their products. I bought a piece big enough to make a 4:3 120" screen for about $50. He included instructions on how to make a DIY rigid frame for it. It looks great, really improved my setup, has a 1.3 gain, it's easy to clean and cost me under $100 dollars all told.

ecrabb · Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 3:04 am Post subject:

Kiev,

Have you measured the gain on that screen? Draper doesn't sell a material with a 1.3 gain. If it's truly the same stuff Draper uses in a lot of their products, then it's like M1300, which is actually 1.0 gain. FYI.

If you have any scraps left over, I wouldn't mind comparing it to Wilsonart.

SC

picree · Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 351 Location: Johnson City, TN

You asked about painted screens so,

For several years I had a painted screen. Here is the formula I used. I had the chance to buy a Stewart screen so I have that now but this worked great. You just have to be careful when rolling on the finish to get it even without roller marks. All Liquitex stuff can be bought at Michaels craft store.

I clipped this from the comments in my photo album here:

"Screen: the screen is just the drywall painted with Behr Premium Plus Interior Flat Ultra Pure White No. 1050. On top of that I used a version of the formula posted by algol on AVSForum on 01-22-03 "Mommy, Daddy's Painting the Screen... Again!" The formula was:

16 oz. Liquitex Basics Acrylic Gesso, white
8 oz. Liquitex Colored Acrylic Gesso, neutral gray
2 x 2 oz. Liquitex Concentrated Medium Viscosity Acrylic Artist Color, iridescent white
2 x 2 oz. Liquitex Concentrated Medium Viscosity Acrylic Artist Color, iridescent bright silver
2 x 2 oz. DecoArt Pearlizing Medium

If I remember correctly, that formula was for a DLP/Greyhawk-type screen. According to my notes I did not use the neurtal gray nor the iridescent bright silver. So my final formula was:

16 oz. Liquitex Basics Acrylic Gesso, white
2 x 2 oz. Liquitex Concentrated Medium Viscosity Acrylic Artist Color, iridescent white
2 x 2 oz. DecoArt Pearlizing Medium

And I substituted one (or two...can't remember exactly) jars of 4 oz. of Liquitex Matte Medium and more white Gesso to make up for the omitted components. I would go with one jar of Matte Medium and if it didn't look thin enough then add one more."

The gain was about 1.3 by eye. I would NOT just use flat white since a gain of 1.0 would look dull and washed out. Heck, if this doesn't work just paint over it.

grogthegreat · Joined: 16 May 2007 Posts: 166 Location: San Diego, CA

I have used the Behr ultra white flat with a sony 1292 which is a pretty dim projector with a 96" diagonal with a 16:9. I found that with the picture was acceptable in a completely light controlled room. It wasn't as bright as I would have liked and this was in a perfectly dark basement at night but the picture was definitely watchable. It was bright enough to the point that no one else in my family noticed that it should have been brighter.

lexx21 · Joined: 10 Oct 2008 Posts: 119

Good information! I appreciate the feedback.

paw · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 1176 Location: Arvada, CO

Mark_A_W · Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:00 am Post subject:

perisoft · Joined: 29 Aug 2007 Posts: 2920 Location: Ithaca, NY

I had good luck stretching fabric across a wall / piece of foam board when I was first playing around. Dig around in a craft/fabric store, or a superduper walmart if there's one near you, and you can usually find some fine-textured white fabric that'll work well. Blackout cloth can be far from white - the stuff I've seen is more beige - but you can find some pretty damn bright white fabric out there. Get stuff that's stretchy, too, and it's great.

I ended up with an electric Stewart ultramatte 130 for $-50, but that's not really something you can plan on. Smile

picree · Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 351 Location: Johnson City, TN

picree · Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 351 Location: Johnson City, TN

dturco · Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 3:57 am Post subject:

I don't think paint is the answer. It is too temperamental in application to get even responses for most people. Color shifting heavy roller lines and such, and an unknown gain when your done.

My screen is crap that I bought online. Its even but not nearly enough gain for a CRT. No I haven't measured it's reflectance it just looks dull.

The next thing I am going to try is the Wilsonart white laminate S/C posted about. Its relatively cheap, and once you build a frame for it if you don't like it, you can still use the frame for some cloth or actual screen material later.

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 4:14 am Post subject:

dturco · Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 4:24 am Post subject:

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 4:27 am Post subject:

One of these winter days I have to get some Willsonart. I did sample it and it looked good as compared to a standard 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. Laughing