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Laminates as a DIY Screen

18K views 118 replies 12 participants last post by  wbassett 
#1 ·
I just thought I'd post a couple screen shots of what a laminate can do as a projector screen. Here's what it looks like in medium ambient light.



Over in the other forum someone posted about how their screen looked great even with the flash on...



And in darkness:



This is a Wilsonart Laminate called Fashion Grey. Screen size is 100". Projector is a Mitsubishi HC3000.

I know that wbassett is going to post all the info that was done over at avs here, I just thought I'd post a couple teaser shots. :jiggy: :jiggy:

mechman
 
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#3 ·
Wow... those are some awesome shots. Explain to us what a laminate is... or is that forthcoming?

Also... to keep us within the rules we need to downsize those images to 800 pixels maximum width. This keeps those surfin' on 1024x resolution from being widescreened... which is about 35-40% of our members. Thanks!
 
#4 ·
Laminates are basically countertops. Kitchen countertops without the backing. There are numerous colors that where whittled down to about 4 or 5 that would be good for a DIY screen. wbassett did the majority of the research as did a couple others over at AVS.

Sonnie,

I'm workin' on the pics now. I misread the rules, thought it said 1200 wide.:yikes:

mechman
 
#8 ·
No super big hurry on the pics. You can also upload those to our Image Gallery and we'll host them for you if you want.


So what you are saying is that there are actual laminates that are already the right color and nothing has to be done to them... just hang and shoot?

Obvious I have been missing a lot on that subject over the last few years. Of course I've been satisfied well enough, but still. This would be so much easier than painting, to say the least.
 
#7 ·
I believe 5X12 is the largest I've heard of. I purchased mine direct from Wilsonart at $2.25 a square foot. That's expensive compared to what people are getting it for elsewhere. I've seen it for as low as $51 for a 5X8 sheet of Designer White. It can be ordered thru Home Depot or Lowes.

mechman
 
#11 ·
Dougie it's Designer White that doesn't need it. I'll post all that info tomorrow morning and even let you guys know why Fashion gray needs it. I promise everything posted will be backed up with testing and data and not just me saying 'this is the best and only thing you should use', like some people tend to do. (I personally really dislike those kind of statements!)

There are several shades, Designer White is of course a white screen with a 1.24 gain. Fashion Gray is a well balanced gray that is very comperable to the color composition of a Grayhawk. The gain on FG is .95, but there is a higher amount of gain due to specular gain (again I'll go over that).

Mechman has done a lot of field testing with Fashion Grey and even some darker shades. There is one that goes all the way down to that of a Firehawk and shows some interesting promise.

mechman if you don't mind, I'll probably start a new thread with an index like I did over there. Here though I plan on trimming things down to just the pertinant information all right up front.

Can this thread be renamed to Laminate Screen Showcase? That way we can do something similar to what was done on another site. That seemed to work out well to keep the technical stuff seperate from the screen/performance shots.

Sonnie FYI... the main thread over there has almost 1700 posts now, that's why I separated the two. It gets too hard for people to find things with all the screenies and everything.

I think I'm going to like it over here :)
 
#10 ·
I got stuck working (still am at 11:48PM) I'll start posting the main data and testing tomorrow. This is really some good stuff and on par with some very expensive screens... we even have tested gain for these so there's no guessing or assumining what the gain and color composition is! :)
 
#12 ·
Yeah... when you get that many posts in a thread, it does make it hard to follow. You wanna ask a question and somewhere in the thread it's probably been answered, but going through 25 pages is no fun, especially if you have to wade through a few pages of bickering and so forth.

I'm all for breaking it down into as many threads as you can.

Do you really wanna change the name of this thread... OR do you wanna start another thread titled Laminate Screen Showcase and only have actual showcase images in that thread with a statement to ask question in another thread? We can do it how ever you like though... you guys just let me know and we'll set it however you wish... you know more about it than I do and you've been there done that at the other place... so just let me know.
 
#14 ·
That is a size limitation, like I commented in another post, all DIY methods have their pros and cons...

The size of the sheets are up to 5x12. I have seen countertops though where you had to really really look to see the seam, so I know the professionals can install two pieces that tight, but I have never known of anyone trying anything larger than a 124" screen using the laminates. Note: they say 4x or 5x, but they actually measure 61" wide not 60" so you can squeek out a 124" diagonal screen instead of a 122" diagonal one... not a whole lot of difference, but to some it matters :)

When I get all the information reorganized for on here, I have all the sheet sizes and even the weight of them. BTW, the CRT owners love Designer White... nice color balance, and a 1.24 gain works very good for CRTs, but people with digital projectors also use DW and love it.

toecheese, how big of a screen are you looking for? And in gray or white? If you want white and in a very large size and don't mind painting, Rosco's OffBroadway White White is an outstanding paint that a lot of people just seem to ignore. The company deals with the stage and theater community (like RoseBrand) and they acknowledge one of the uses for this paint is for screen paint. It is a vinyl based paint, not just a plain latex and it also is in a matte finish (two very nice things that most paints don't come in). A lot of people love Behr Ultra Pure White, and I have to give it credit, UPW is the whitest white I have seen out of all the paint manufactures I have checked into. RGB values for it are 253 244 253, which is pretty **** white! (I'll do a little primer on some of the data everyone is going to see and what it all means). White is 255 255 255... so like I said UPW is pretty white. OffBroadway White White looks the same when side by side with UPW, but brightness and shade are pretty much where they end in similarities. The vinyl and matte finish have a whole new level of performance over plain latex Behr UPW. Quality wise, it's very close if not the same as Designer White laminate. Some people just can't paint so the laminates do fill a needed niche and are extremely easy to make a screen out of... but Rosco paints roll very easy and smooth too... so there are many options you can go with...
 
#16 ·
I would probably keep the showcase thread close to the other threads... although you can use the gallery if you want. I'm just thinking since it's all related to screens it would be better keeping it all in the same forum.


I don't know of anyone using larger than a 10' diagonal screen. I'm sure there are a few out there, but I believe 10' would cover about 95% or more of the general HT population.
 
#20 ·
I don't know of anyone using larger than a 10' diagonal screen. I'm sure there are a few out there, but I believe 10' would cover about 95% or more of the general HT population.
Some of the guys over in LumenLabs have some insanely big screens... some are actually way too big for their lumen output though, but they seem to love their total wall size screens!
 
#17 ·
Could we make a little sub forum under the DIY Screen/Video Displays section for laminates so that it will all be there. And possibly limit thread creation to certain users so that we don't get a **** load of threads made and people can just ask questions in the thread specified for that? Just an idea :) Would keep it nice and tidy...not to mention if its organized like that people may come here for all their DIY screen needs because its easier to navigate and find what your looking for. Once again just an idea.
 
#19 ·
I talked to Sonnie about a DIY Screen section, and he said if there is enough interest it was possible. I have a lot more data and stuff to present than just laminates, and I am sure there are others that have lots of input on different methods too, so I personally wouldn't want the thread specific to only laminates. We could have various DIY screen methods in it then, paints, substrates, fabrics...
 
#18 ·
Yeah I'm going to gear up for that thread too. Most of the work is just time sorting through everything and condensing down the information and weeding out all the preliminary testing that went nowhere.

I'm on vacation all next week so I should be able to whip up a ton of stuff! Lol people in here may get sick of me real quick! (I hope not though)

Fellow Shacksters... there are a ton of DIY screen methods that are super easy and really are on par with screens costing $1000 or more. One thing you will never hear from me though is that there is a super duper DIY ambient light screen that beats a SuperNova or HoloVega screen. There is way too much science behind those screens to be able to just roll one out from a can. There are however some screens applications that I call very ambient light friendly. Fashion Grey is one, and there are others...

Ambient light is a term that gets way over used and is more of a buzz phrase to me. Most gray screens will work very well with light to moderate incandescent lighting on.. Sunlight is a totally different kind of ambient light and a screen killer. Also crazy people that put spot lights that reflect on their screens and then complain... never really understood why people would do that in the first place! Anyway, I think there will be some very nice options that people in here will like. DIY isn't just bedsheets anymore ;)
 
#22 ·
Ambient light is a term that gets way over used and is more of a buzz phrase to me. Most gray screens will work very well with light to moderate incandescent lighting on.. Sunlight is a totally different kind of ambient light and a screen killer. Also crazy people that put spot lights that reflect on their screens and then complain... never really understood why people would do that in the first place! Anyway, I think there will be some very nice options that people in here will like. DIY isn't just bedsheets anymore ;)
Not to mention the flash bulb test! :eek:

mechman
 
#21 ·
Well could be a forum for DIY Screen with sub forums for the different methods like Painted/Laminates/Sheets/ whatever else could be used. Just would keep it nice and organized. I know one of the problems at the other forums is that a lot of the stuff is all over the place and it is rather hard to find answers your looking for. You have to read for a couple hours sometimes and I know a lot of people would just stop after getting frustrated.
 
#23 ·
Excellent point! It would be nice to have everything organized and easy to find. The big problem I noticed elsewhere is the lack of sticky threads that could point you on your way quickly and easily. And when they were there they weren't maintained.

mechman
 
#29 ·
Hey guys, this is great, can't wait to see what it brings!

looking forward to the info on the designer white 1.24 gain material.

I may need to accelerate my plans for a new screen.

Any estimates of total cost would be appreciated!

also any discussion on mounting would be great - ie is a backing necessary, if so, whats the thinest, lightest backing people have had luck with - I've seen MDF mentioned, but that stuff isn't light
also what are people using when the screen is taller than 48 inches?

- Jack
 
#30 ·
I purchased the WilsonArt Designer White 5x10 sheet from Home Depot for $100 including their special order charge and tax.
I have a totally light-controlled room so that's the recommended color. I'm very happy with it's performance and the cost:yes:
Caveat: I've never owned a real projection screen so maybe I don't know what I'm missing...
I plan to frame it at some point. For now, I keep playing with my projector deciding what size I want...
 
#31 ·
Somewhere I saw someone's DIY screen.
it had 2 borders: the inside border was 1x4 wrapped in velvet,
and the outside was decorative trim - white fluted 1x4s or 1x6s with those flower pattern square things on the 4 corners.

I'm thinking I'll do something similar.

how are you supporting the laminate during your sizing experimental phase?
 
#32 · (Edited)
Total cost for myself was ~$200. I overspent on my frame though. It was made from 1X4 poplar and 1X3 maple. Here's a pic of it upside down on the horses:



A cheaper alternative would be to use square aluminum tubing at most home centers. Cut it to length and then attach corners using a 'L' bracket. Then I would add a couple braces inside of the frame. Attach those with a 'T' bracket. Then you would attach the laminate with double sided tape.

If you go with the wood option, use laminate adhesive. I used a 3M spray adhesive for laminates.

If you have light control or even minimal ambient light go with the Designer White. If you have a wife like mine who has to have the lights on to read or knit while I watch my shows, then you would want either Fashion Grey or Dove Grey. When I talk about ambient light, I mean this:



There are 5 cans (85 Watts each) dimmed to around 60-70%. The closest cans to the screen are about 13-14 feet back. Her's one looking at the screen:



When I talk about high or extreme ambient light, I generally mean light which spills directly onto the screen. This pic would be what I consider high ambient light:



The two cans closest to the screen ~4 feet back are fully lit up, as well as the rest of the lights in the basement.

Another thing to consider is that if you choose to go with FG (Fashion Grey), it will need a coat of Behr Clear matte polyurethane to eliminate the subtle hint of hotspotting.



If you are going to apply this, it is essential to be fully prepared. I screwed up my first coat and had to apply a second. You need a low nap roller - I used 3/16" nap but I'd recommend a 1/4". It is absolutely essential that your finish has no roller marks - they'll show up later!! I rolled mine the first time with the screen laying on the floor. The second coat it was hanging on the wall. Hanging on the wall was definitely easier to roll and see any roller marks. You'll need a bright light off to one side, at an angle to get a good look at your finish and make sure there are no roller marks.


mechman
 
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