What Color To Paint Your HT?

**ACGREEN** · **08-03-07, 08:59 AM**

Does anyone have any expeirence hanging fabric (or something else) on the ceiling for sme purpose as the grey paint. My theater is not in a dedicated room and I can not bring myself to paint the ceiling. I am thinking about hanging some acoustical panels on the ceiling above the screen which should serve the same purpose.
I am also going to use acoustical panels and a rug to darken the walls and the ceiling. Thanks for the information on the grey paint as I will paint the back wall the greay color.

**Chrisbee** · **08-03-07, 09:22 AM**

18% grey is much the same as the palm of your hand.
Which is why you used to see photographers pointing their cameras at their hands to guage the light levels falling on a subject.

I wonder why HT fans don't follow the optical guys and have thin black baffles around the screen. If reflected light can't reach your eye then the baffles are working.

Here's a crude drawing. No, not a rude drawing!

**John Simpson** · **08-03-07, 08:39 PM**

Hmmm... maybe because it would look ugly Chris?

We used to actually make free-standing posters for conventions etc that could do that job. They were printed on a type of woven fabric-paper, and I guess you could print them out in matt black. Each had their own aluminium support frame.

An interesting (if expensive) experiment!

**robk_11** · **08-04-07, 05:10 PM**

I just started painting my walls. I am using "retro colonial blue" which is a blue gray color. I couldn't go with anything too dark. I don't know why but i value asthetics in a room. Hopefully soon I can post some pics of my finished room.

**fcheshire** · **10-08-07, 02:01 PM**

I'm a fan of a black front wall to mount the projector on. When the lights go out... you are not distracted by anything else.

Frank

**goose** · **10-24-07, 10:35 AM**

I just painted mine a sea blue.

**tonyvdb** · **10-24-07, 04:02 PM**

My wall that I have the screen painted on is a dark blue, flat finish. With the lights off I hardly see it. My wife hated the dark color but now she says it works well when watching movies.

**tonyvdb** · **10-24-07, 04:14 PM**

Quote:

John Simpson wrote:

Negative effects from using carpet? Has anyone else heard about this? (This was actually another idea I was throwing around.)

I found that using drywall on the lower half of the wall and black carpet underlay (found at Home depot) on the top half making sure the walls were filled with fiberglass insulation worked really well. I have nearly a perfect flat response after running a 3rd octave spectrum annaliser test. My room is 15' wide 32' long and 8.5' high.

**mifydnu** · **10-28-07, 09:07 PM**

So now you guys all have me worried! I was going to hang some dark curtains behind my screen and never really considered that the walls might have much impact on the viewing environment. (All good information, I just hadn't considered it!) In the interests of actually getting done, I had decided (as of today) to skip the curtain behind the screen and just leave the painted wall. Now I'm wondering if it will be distracting?

My walls are also a medium colour, which I hope will be ok. One thing that I apparently did right was to paint the ceiling a flat midnight blue. Two days that I'm not eager to repeat any time soon....

I'd be interested in opinions on the background wall and potential distraction from anyone who's been through this situation.

Some photos of my project are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mifydnu...7600213855614/

I'm not sure how to link to just the last posted photos, so thanks in advance to anyone who's willing to wade through all the photos and provide any advice.

Cheers
Andy

**Sprtex** · **11-05-07, 02:07 AM**

Andy,

That's an awesome media room you've built. You've definitely put a lot of thought into planning and your wood working skills are much better than the average DIY'fer...My question is the use of fiberglass insulation - will it actually help in dampening any noise transferernce?

As for the colors, your stain and rock combination makes for a very classy build - nice work.

**goose** · **11-05-07, 06:59 AM**

Quote:

Phil M wrote:

Before painting my HT room I had seen a few dealer demo rooms that looked great, but painted in very strong colors - such as deep reds/burgundy etc. It struck me that this would shift the color balance/perception or whatever the correct technical term is. So finished up using a grey similar to the background on this forum for my room. Since then I've seen light greens, bright blues....
So my questions are - does wall color make a difference to the projected image, and if it does what color(s) should be used?

Very nice room.

**mifydnu** · **11-05-07, 07:22 AM**

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the compliment. Always nice to hear appreciation of one's work! In answer to your question, I think anything that diffuses sound will decrease transmission, but to what extent fiberglass insulation will reduce sound pollution in the rest of the house, I don't know. Honestly, it's all I could afford. I have 6 rooms (not including two bathrooms) to finish out in my basement so cost is an issue for everything!

On the bright side, part of my decision to use just normal insulation is that the theater is underground on two sides, it's in the opposite corner of the house from the master bdrm on the main floor, all other bedrooms are on the second floor, and only the dining room is directly above the theater.

I just hooked up the projector and audio last night for a test run and while you can hear the theater from the dining room, the rest of the house is pretty free of noise bleed. (The sub-woofer does make itself felt a bit, but not bad).

Hooking up the projector did answer one question for me - the light coloured walls are not a problem at all. While they may not be 'optimal' for light dynamics, they are pretty good for my enjoyment of the room.

**John Simpson** · **11-05-07, 04:00 PM**

Yeah, that's shaping up to be spectacular, Mif -- good job!

That stone veneer you're using... is it Eldorado stone? We're about to start building, and will be using stone veneer extensively. As we're doing the stone ourselves, I'm keen to hear about other experiences (and I saw your note about screwing the wire support to the wall -- point well taken!).

I wouldn't worry too much about the sound properties of the insulation -- you can always add diffuser/absorption panels once the room's complete.

**Sonnie** · **11-05-07, 05:23 PM**

Andy... I would start a new thread so that it gets more attention and not get bogged down in this thread where it will be off topic...

And wow... that will be an awful lot of pics to go through for anyone to figure out where to help you. Your best bet is to upload your last few pics to our Image Gallery and link them from there to your new thread post.

**mifydnu** · **11-05-07, 10:14 PM**

At Sonnie's request, I've moved the stone bit of this discussion to a new thread. It's here:

http://www.hometheatershack.com/foru...r-theater.html

I hope I did that right.

With respect to getting help, well, too late now! I'm kind of impatient so I just hooked everything up and it all looks fine. I think some curtains on the side might help a bit but other than that I'm good to go. Again, sorry for all the pics. I will use a bit more discretion next time and perhaps avail myself of the gallery option on the forum site.

Cheers
Andy

**thewire** · **11-12-07, 09:39 PM**

I was making some various things black in the dedicated theater room but my father wanted everything black and he only gets to enjoy it on the weekends for some years to come so it will be all black. Track lighting is later. I need to put that bulb in some more further.

photo -

**Scuba Diver** · **11-14-07, 02:02 AM**

I like dark colors. I would have painted the room black if my wife would have let me. I did paint the walls around and to the sides of the screen black. Dark colors helps me focus on the picture not the walls and decor.

**S2roush** · **02-25-08, 03:30 PM**

I did mine in Valspar Shark Fin grey. Nice greyish blue.

l new to the forum but in the last leg of finishing my theater so I thought I would toss in my .02. It took me about three months to figure out what color as I read a lot of stuff here and else where about what and why and how to paint the room. The shark fin was the first color that I found that was both pleasing and did not "appear" to affect the screen at all color wise ( i have a cheap mustang screen that came with the projector) Everything in my room is satin finish. that includes the hardwood floors.

Short take is go with something that you like cause your going to have to look at it a lot. Just don't let your wife tell you it has to be all white.

**salvasol** · **02-25-08, 03:36 PM**

Quote:

S2roush wrote:

... Just don't let your wife tell you it has to be all white.

Why not??? ... She can tell you, but another thing is painting the room white

Or, you can paint it black ... then tell her that is a dirty white

**Blaser** · **04-04-08, 06:32 AM**

I have chosen very dark (neutral) grey for my HT, Front wall is black cloth already. It is of paramount importance to minimise light reflection that will wash out the blacks on the screen. I couldn't imagine how much black depth I was losing while my HT ceiling and walls were white and light yellow respectively.

**Cyphon** · **07-07-08, 04:22 PM**

I had originally planned to paint mine all dark (it's kind of a dark, charcoal black), but after viewing different home theater galleries on the web I was inspired to change it up a bit. Several reasons for this, I really didn't want a "cave" feeling in the room, and the way the floorplan is layed out for the viewing distance of the projector and screen, there's room for other stuff too. Poker table, bar stools, whatever. I kept the same dark color I had originally picked (I don't have the exact color name on me sorry, it's a SW brand) but I put that color on the same wall where the screen will be, which continues past the equipment cabinet, and around the corner to the adjoining wall with the bathroom entry. Everything else, cabinets, trim, and the remainder of the walls is Khaki Shade. Antique White is on the ceiling, and there will be a tannish, light brown carpet installed this week. I think with the eleven 3" can lights I have installed it really attributes to the ambiance of a home theater... but can also be used for other entertainment purposes (but the wife knows there's no if's about it - it's a media room first and foremost :P). So here are some pics, with the black granite tile on the bar as current as yesterday:

View from the stairway entry

This is where the screen will go

View from the planned seating area

View towards entry (the door on the right goes out to a sunroom that overlooks the backyard)

And here are some shots with the lighting installed

This is what it used to look like when we bought it :O

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