Screen Help

[Noah]

I am a relatively atypical user with regards to those who frequent this forum but I am running into an issue and having lurked here for a while I feel that the most knowledgeable folks who might answer my questions are here.

I am a college student in Florida with my own dorm room. This summer I worked and earned a large enough amount of money to finally be able to finance my dream of owning a projector. I purchased a B-stock JVC RS2 and I am quite in love with it. For the time being I have been projecting on my wall and it looks spectacular to my admittedly virgin eyes. But even I can notice a few issues with it. Being an old dorm the wall is horribly painted and repainted with numerous poor plaster jobs. Fixing it up is just not feasible and the paint is less than ideal either. I cannot paint this wall without paying a fine or repainting it at the end of the year which seems a huge waste of resources not to mention I am bad at painting and DIY in general (or at least inexperienced). So if I am going the DIY route (which I am considering) it would have to be something like Wilsonart DW or Do-Able which is mostly pre-assembled and doesn't make a huge mess. I am also considering buying a screen and here is where the advice comes in.

I have a virtually absolute ceiling budget of $500 give or take 50 or so (though I would prefer to pay around $300) so please things like Stewart screens are out of the question. My main problem is even with this price limitation I am overwhelmed with options and I have some slightly less than adequate realities that affect the equation which I couldn't find info on. First this not my house and the walls are white/off white and I cannot repaint them. Besides that though I have shades I can't perfectly even light control the windows. So these factors are making me consider going the gray route. The problem is I am not sure at my budget there is a good gray solution for ambient light (all the ones I have found are mostly for improving bad blacks which isn't really my problem). My screen size is going to be 110-120 or so inches diagonal and I am undecided on whether to go 2.35:1 or 16:9. Frankly I could go either way since though I don't watch tv I play video games on it about in equal proportion to movies (mostly rock band). For DIY solutions and I am willing and able but don't want something that will make a huge mess or require precise effort which I am not confident I am capable of.

Sorry for the length of the post and the important details I probably omitted (please ask I am quite a neophyte at this).

While I know there is no perfect solution I am sure that I can get some more guidance by asking here rather than spending my money and then regretting the decision. (For some perspective as a college student these $500 is a good 20% of my discretionary spending budget for the semester (though one I am willing to invest)).

Also I do not need it to be acoustically transparent.

Thank you very much in advance.

[tonyvdb]

Seriously painting on a screen is a very easy task and can be done for under $75.
If you must go with a screen look used I see many pull down screens for $50 or even ask the I.T. department at the College if they have one that you could buy off of them. I work at a university and we always have lots of unused screens that would do the job nicely and give you a good 72" 16:9 image.

[mitchok]

I concur with Tony... or build one from a frame/cloth (see forum posts) or go to your nearest home improvement store... Lowes and HD will cut sheets for free. If you are willing to live with a 4'x 8' screen, then buy yourself a piece of 1/2" sanded (3/4" might better... but heavier). Paint (numerous suggestions on the forum) & hang as you would a heavy picture. I did something like this for an outside party once & used just your basic eggshell white paint (3-4 coats) & was surprised how good it was (of course it was for night time). I think that keeps you well within your budget.

MitchOK

[Noah]

Thank you very much for the replies. I actually asked my school and they said no luck on extra screens (we are pretty small). I am considering painting but I see three main difficulties.

The first and largest is that I am unable to paint my walls. This is non-negotiable and would cause me to be fined. Second is that if I were to buy something from home depot or lowes I don't have an easy way of transporting it (my only vehicle has two wheels not four and no trunk). Third I have no painting experience and it worries me that I would botch it and waste paint and materials. From what I have read you need to be able to apply a very even coat and I have never painted anything larger than a canvas for art class.

If I were to go painting (and if it is the best solution I am willing to learn) what mix would you recommend? I am ideally interested in some kind of ambient light solution since it is a problem, especially during the day when light does leak through. The screen is watchable but it is very washed out and is spectacular at night.

I have already budgeted the money so as long as I don't have to pay more I don't really need to go cheaper, so I don't need to look for a bargain bin solution. As I said I feel happy paying around $300 and I am willing to go up to $500. The main concern of mine is getting value for my money. I do consider my time somewhat valuable so a huge in depth DIY is tricky when I am already writing papers.

More and more upon thought I feel like I want an ambient light solution if one is possible. With the walls pretty light and reflective even at night it is a concern and as I said repainting is not an option in a dorm (for perspective the fines for the whole room would be around $500-800). Any help is appreciated and thanks.

[tonyvdb]

How about this screen then, its in your area I believe. or This one
Here is another one

[Noah]

So would you say at my price range getting a ambient light screen isn't possible? If not I think that Da-lite is very appealing. I didn't think to check Craigs-list tbh, was thinking new.

[mechman]

Elite Silver Frame Cinegrey. Well within your budget. Not quite 110" but it's close enough. There are others there that may be what you're looking for.

[tonyvdb]

The window in your room How large is it? Could you build a simple plug for it out of a Styrofoam insulation panel that you can buy from a local Home depot?

[Noah]

I was looking at that and thinking about it seriously. One thing though was that a review I read said that it isn't really an ambient light solution, just for if you have bad blacks. Do you have experience with it to the contrary? Is the fact that it is gray going to help? I am really not very knowledgeable about this. I read your review of the high gain version, would that be a better solution? How are elite screens in general? I read some horror stories about them with people getting sent the wrong screen and bad customer service and such? But I was looking very seriously at them because they seem to compete best at my price point. Either a 115" 2.35:1 or a 120" 16:9. I have seen near the top end of my scale. Which do you think is less of a compromise when viewing the other type of material with no anamorphic lens?

Edit: The window is a bear, the shades are pretty good but it is maybe 8 feet tall and 10 long or something. It barely leaks and does so in an ambient sort of way but it does, half the problem is that the walls are quite reflective.

[tonyvdb]

That is a fairly good sized window, Maybe building a 1x1 frame with black cloth stretched across it would block out enough light to work.

Mech is the best guy to ask about the screen properties I'll just let him handle the other question.