Remember My Old Screen Project? Well Forget It!

[yourgrandma]

Some may recall that I originally wanted to use an AT screen for the conveniance of just sticking it in front of the center. I have since decided that my center sounded terrible where it was and needs to be out in front of the screen.

Therefore I have been looking at other alternatives. Namely Black Widow and laminates.

Just to clarify, I have an Optoma HD70 throwing ~10' to a 96" diagonal screen size. Light is usually well controlled, but the screen being so large for such a small room means there is a lot of back splash, washing high contrast images.

Presently, I'm sharing the other room's blackout fabric screen. This is a PITA. So I NEED to build my own SOON. I have a few requirements that may limit my options.

I need to be able to move it around, because my TV and all my gear is behind the screen. (It's a bedroom, too.) I'd like to be able to lean it up against the back wall when not in use. I don't want it to adversely affect my acoustics when I'm not using it. I'm going to make a combination center speaker stand/screen mount, so it should be self supporting from the bottom, ie perimeter frame or a sturdy/light substrate.

What construction would be recommended for this? Should I paint canvas, or paint a laminate? How flexible is black widow? If I painted cloth, would I be able to roll it up? Making a frame for that would be a snap, so I like the option of rolling it up and sticking it out of the way.

Any ideas are welcome, I'm sort of stuck because of my constraints with positioning.

[mechman]

First off Randy, let me apologize! This one flew under the radar on me and I never noticed it. Poor excuse I know!

What color are the side walls that you're getting so much back splash? Can you paint them?

Paint will only give you so much flexibility. While rolling it up for storage etc. may work for awhile I would guess that sooner or later it would develop cracks.

You may want to stick with Blackout Cloth just for it's flexibility. You could always tray and paint it if you'd like.

[yourgrandma]

The walls are white and I can't paint them. One idea I had would be to store it behind the other room's screen, but it would have to be very thin.

[mechman]

Laminates are thin. Did you ever think about them?

[cynical2]

Agreed...laminate sounds like a great option. It's the only thing I can think of that is thin and also durable enough to move around as needed (would need to be mounted to a backer). If you move a screen around, it's likely going to get smudges, fingerprints, etc on it, and the laminate can easily be wiped clean when needed.

Randy, please read through the laminate thread if interested.