Black Widow??

[Toocrunk]

I have roughly 1 gallon of Sherman Williams Luminous white flat left over from a paint project. To make Black Widow I need to mix 8 oz. of Cretex Auto Air Aluminum with my base paint after it is tinted to Bermuda Beige? I take that will be 1 Quart of Bermuda Beige and 2 4 oz. bottles of AAA..Correct? Also, I noticed the Sugar & Cream mix. Would that be a better choice for a Epson S5 projector painted on dry wall? Is the Sherman Williams effective for a Black Widow mix? I have a Michaels, PPG, Lowes, Home Depot, Sherman Williams, and other specialty paint shops here in Augusta, Georgia so getting materials won't be a problem. I just need some solid advice to get a nice picture from my projector.

Thanks in Advance,
KJ

[Harpmaker]

Hi Crunk,

Welcome to the Shack!

To get a firm screen recommendation you will have to give us more info such as the size of the room the projector will be used in as well as the colors of the walls and ceiling, and if any lights will be on when viewing with the projector. Also, what size do you want your screen to be?

Just from looking at the specs for your projector, I would say your best bet is to use a darker Black Widow mix. Rather than try to use your Luminous White, I would suggest using the Valspar Ultra Premium interior flat enamel tinted PPG Bermuda Beige available from Lowe's. This paint has a bit of added sheen that Luminous White doesn't and it helps make a great screen mix even better.

I'm sure others will give you more detailed suggestions after you give us some more info.

[Toocrunk]

Thanks for the warm welcome. As for the requested information....

All walls are Dry Wall. They are colored White. Seem to be a Satin Finish. The Ceiling is White. The screen will be next to dual french doors which I have metal blinds shading. The area is my living room(not sure the size). Later I plan to make sure it is totally light controlled so I want a recommendation that suits a acompletly light controlled enviorment. I have already mounted the projector and made a border with STP. I just need to paint the wall. The size is 100X78 inches (4:3 aspect ratio).

I took your advice and bought the recommended Valspar Ultra Premium Interior Flat Enamel Finish and asked the guy at Lowes to tint it to PPG Voice Of Color Bermuda Beige. I figured I would use the tried and true instead of wasting my money. Not to mention, it was only 11 dollars and some change. I also purchased a Nap Roller, Nap Tray, and roller from the DollarTree.

I also ordered some Createx Auto Air Aluminum from DickBlick. The wall is already primed with 3 coats of ZAP primer. I wet sanded the 2nd coat then applied the 3rd. I only did this so the left over primer I had didn't go to waste. Now, I am stuck with either going Sugar & Cream or going Black Widow.

By the Way this is the paint I picked up.....


As far as the data on the can goes.....
SportsColors BERMUDA BEIGE - PPG Voice Of Color
Valspar Prem. Int. Flat Enamel
Base 1 Quart
104-3.5 107-2.5 109-0.5

Edit: As we speak I have all the materials to make the Cream & Sugar. I won't have AAA until Wednesday(FedEx 2 day) so Black Widow will hve to wait. Initially I started this for one projector, but with the wife's approval I am able to make two screens. So, I will be using a both mixes. I just don't know where I am going to put one and the other. The projector that is going in my bedroom is a Infocus.

edit 2: Well it seems I'll have to wait until Thursday for the AAA......

[Harpmaker]

Thanks for the additional info Crunk! I'm hoping the others here that have more experience with projectors will give their opinions.

Unless it was a typo, Projector Central has your projector listed as having a 400:1 contrast ratio. To be frank, it seems you will need all the help you can get in the contrast department and gray screens are far better at that than white ones. Having said that, most of the time I have noticed that new projector owners are recommended to use a white screen to initially adjust their projectors.

If you have the ingredients, there is no reason you could not paint a C&S #1 screen first and then if you need to go darker (and my guess is you will) to gain some perceived contrast you could paint BW over the C&S without having to re-prime the screen. It's kind of a win/win situation unless painting the screen twice seems a pain.

The white walls and ceiling will be throwing reflected light from the screen back onto the screen big-time. This will make your contrast situation worse with that 125" screen. I think you will need a darker gray screen, but you are the best to judge that.

Please take some photos and post them so we can see whats going on!

[Toocrunk]

That Contrast Ratio is correct. It's not the best projector at all I admit, but for 299.99 I couldn't beat it. Especially with a bulb life of 3000High/4000Low. The bulbs only cost 129.99 so that's a plus too. The native isn't that great either, but for now it will have to do. As for using Gray or any type of color, I am open to suggestions. I just want the best picture I can get from it. I don't mind painting the wall either. Infact, I planned on going with a dark chocolate brown/dark beige in this entire room.

Though changing the ceiling from white is something I am not willing to do at the moment. I think I am going to go with Black Widow in the livingroom and Cream&Sugar in the bedroom. The Infocus has better specs than the Epson, but they both have **** natives....but hey....I'll just have to deal with it for now until I can get better.....or willing to pay for better.

BTW, don't laugh at this pic. It's VERY blurry and doesn't show anything good about the projector. Taking photos at night/in the dark is not my thing. Having a **** camera doesn't help either. Though it doesn't look so bad for dry wall. As you can see from the top of this pic, my screen is like 1 inch from my ceiling. The bottom of the screen is 2 foot from the floor.

[Harpmaker]

Toocrunk wrote:

That Contrast Ratio is correct. It's not the best projector at all I admit, but for 299.99 I couldn't beat it. Especially with a bulb life of 3000High/4000Low. The bulbs only cost 129.99 so that's a plus too. The native isn't that great either, but for now it will have to do.

I hear ya! I have a cheap Viewsonic PJ503D I paid $400 for, and while it's "listed" CR (2000:1) is higher than the S5, who knows for sure? I don't know how to measure CR.

As for using Gray or any type of color, I am open to suggestions. I just want the best picture I can get from it. I don't mind painting the wall either. In fact, I planned on going with a dark chocolate brown/dark beige in this entire room.

I really can't be of too much help here. All I know is the darker the room colors the better, but if the room is not a dedicated HT (and few of us can have those) a compromise must be made.

Though changing the ceiling from white is something I am not willing to do at the moment.

I understand this as well. It may help if you could darken the section of the ceiling that is close to the screen. I'm just throwing ideas out there.

I think I am going to go with Black Widow in the livingroom and Cream&Sugar in the bedroom.

Cool! Photos would be nice.

BTW, don't laugh at this pic. It's VERY blurry and doesn't show anything good about the projector. Taking photos at night/in the dark is not my thing.

No laughing here, perhaps a smile or two. Just kidding!
I use a tripod to take my screen photos and I still end up blurring a few.

This is a bit off-topic, but I notice you use VLC player. Do you notice any interlacing problems using it with your PJ? I'm giving VERY serious thought to converting an old PC to act as a media server for my HT and I've noticed a very small tendency for VLC to have interlace problems on my 22" LCD monitor.
I still love VLC!

[Toocrunk]

I have no interlace problems at all really other than a few downloaded "alternative" movies I have to adjust via ATI Catalyst Control Center/AVIVO Controls. I have a 22 inch LCD monitor too. It's a Dell E228WFP and overall I am happy with VLC. It's the best all around free player in my opinion. The aspect ratio adjustment that other players lack are very helpful when playing content on my projector too.

[Toocrunk]

Well my paint will arrive today. I guess I can start painting ASAP.

Can't wait to see how BW performs with my cheap projector..

[cynical2]

Awesome, Crunk!

Take pictures of the process and let us know if we can help (if you have any questions along the way). But, it's pretty simple...as long as you can paint a wall...so I'm sure it'll go great!

Also, another WELCOME TO THE SHACK!

[Toocrunk]

cynical2 wrote:

Awesome, Crunk!

Take pictures of the process and let us know if we can help (if you have any questions along the way). But, it's pretty simple...as long as you can paint a wall...so I'm sure it'll go great!

Also, another WELCOME TO THE SHACK!

Dude, sorry I have been away without posting pics. I guess I have been enjoying the screen a bit too much. All went well. I still need to redo my border, but it isn't that big of a deal right now. I am going to fix it this weekend when I paint the bedroom screen.

Here are some pics. They really don't show how well the screen looks because the camera is ****** and my photo skills are ******. The pics are a tad blurry, but I am sure you all will get the gist of the performance I am getting eventhough the pics suck. All my pics are pics of channels from my Comcast box. Some are HD and some are not. I have decided to use the projector as my main TV screen. I just can't use a standard TV anymore......I admit, I am spoiled now. If it's not 100 inches or better....I don't want it.

Well, here ya go...(all shots were taken during the day and there is sunlight coming in the room)...Keep in mind the Epson projector only cost 299 and has ****** specs(400:1 contrast/800X600 native res/low lumens).

Here is Johnny Test from Nickelodeon...


Some soccer game on ESPN....


Here is one from Food Network HD...
As you can see on the wall on the right there is sunlight on the wall. Going to buy drapes or something to get rid of all light from the french doors...


Tonight I am going to take some pics. I get better picture quality at night due to no sunlight.