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Behr 'Silver Screen' + white pearl

16K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  Oleson M.D. 
#1 ·
Recently a new member (Oleson, M.D.) joined this forum. His current screen was a mix that I wasn't familiar with that consisted of Behr 'Silver Screen' and Behr 'White Opalescent Pearl' mixed in a 3:2 ratio (60% SS + 40% ***). In order to know what his screen truly looked like I went to Home Depot and purchased some Behr 'Silver Screen' paint, but the Behr *** is no longer available. Through other research I knew that most "white pearl" paints are very similar so I made up some test batches of the above 3:2 mix using white pearl paints I had on hand. The results were surprising in that all the resulting mixes were VERY color neutral and showed NO color-shifting due to the mica in the pearl paints refracting light, the SS controlled the refraction nicely at this ratio. All mixes were N8.5 in the Munsell gray scale.

I need to state categorically that I did not test the actual pearl paint (Behr White Opalescent Pearl) used by Oleson, M.D. so my results may differ from his screen.

I would still recommend the Elektra™ N8.5 mix over this Behr SS/pearl mix, but if one already had one screen or the other I don't think they would see a significant difference by changing to the other mix when it comes to handling ambient light, which is governed primarily by the shade of the mix.

The screen mix developers here at HTS have been accused of being prejudiced against all mica-based mixes. That is not true and I hope this thread helps put that myth to rest. We don't care what ingredients go into a mix as long as that mix performs well as a screen without color-shifting, color-pushing or hot spotting.

Below are the Spectral Reflectance Charts of the mixes tested (I'm not quite sure why they are different sizes :scratch:, I may correct that when I have time).





 
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#2 ·
Quite interesting information. With the subject of 3D being tossed around lately, I'm curious about the polarization qualities of these mixes and if a measurement of that is being done? In other words, how well do these mixes preserve the polarization of the reflected light? I know some 3D folks out there are (or will be) using polarized light systems and if they employ DIY screens, this info would be helpful if it were available.
 
#4 ·
I'm not sure if even high quality coated mica would retain polarization. The Xyrellic pearls might though since that are based on aluminum oxide; however they might not either since they also use an interference boundary for reflection and it may be this boundary layer that is removing polarization.

The mix in the thread title will NOT retain polarity for true 3-D usage.
 
#6 ·
Sorry about that. Yeah, the 'Silver Screen' paint in this thread is a neutral gray paint from Behr that is about N8.3 in shade. It isn't literally a "silver" screen made with metallic particles.

My understanding is that only true metal particles will retain enough light polarization to work as a 3D screen. The problem then becomes how to decrease the shine of those particles to minimize hot spotting while keeping the polarization. There is a thread on that here, but it has been dormant for a while.
 
#7 ·
Great follow up research!

Again, the above mix is a pretty good formula and easy to make. As I further tweak and adjust my Panny Projector, I'm finding this screen (Behr SS / ***) is beginning to live up to my expectations.

But.......I will continue to experiment.

A big thanks for all of the suggestions posted on this forum!!!
 
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