Looking for Advice on new Screen

**TheSensFan** · **10-25-09, 09:07 PM**

Hi All...

New to the site and I can honestly say my eyes are sore from reading so many posts on different paints.

Therefore, I thought I would simply give you a little background and request some suggestions.

I will be upgrading my InFocus 4805 with the new Pan. AE4000. Currently I am using a 96 inch black out cloth screen and it has worked wonders. But seeing that I am upgrading the projector I thought it would be a good time to upgrade my screen as well and experiment a bit.

The new black frame has already been built (110 inches 16x9) and will be installed on a perfectly flat and primed wall. Room is has total light control.

It looks like there are two ways to approach the paint mixture, one is to have your local hardwrae store mix it for you or two purchase a number of tints and mix it yourself. I was leaning toward sthe first one seeing that it looks easier.

Can anyone suggest a paint mixture which would go well with the AE4000 to achieve the best contrast and colours?

Cheers!
TSF

**tonyvdb** · **10-25-09, 11:53 PM**

I'll let the pro's answer the paint mixture choice but thought I would say Welcome to the Shack!
The AE4000 is a stellar projector and it will maximize your viewing experience with just about any paint mixture you choose.
My best guess is a white screen as you projector wont have any issues with blacks but again Im not the knowledgeable one in this area..

**wbassett** · **10-26-09, 12:06 AM**

Welcome to the Shack and may I say we really did try to make things as painless as possible... all a person need do is peruse the stickies above!

If you are looking for a painted option though, based on what you outlined above I would have to say Cream&Sugar would be my number 1 recommendation and if I were doing your theater build what I would use for your setting and scenario.

**Harpmaker** · **10-26-09, 03:49 AM**

I too welcome you to the Shack!

If you are going to be watching 100% of your video in a dark room then you only need to look at white or very light gray screen solutions, but if you want to have enough light on during viewing so that people can move safely around the room, such as at a Super Bowl party, you might go with a darker mix such as Scorpion.

The whole idea behind the specialty mixes we have here (Cream&Sugar, Scorpion and Black Widow - in order of descending shades of gray) is to provide mixes that have better white performance over simple gray paints the same shade.

Given your stated screen size, projector and viewing conditions I too would recommend Cream&Sugar.

I need to revamp the C&S thread a bit. There are three different formulae to make C&S and they all achieve the same goal, a very light gray paint that has similar white levels as a white paint while offering the slight advantage of added image contrast from the gray nature of the mix. While your AE4000 might not need any help in image contrast, that aspect of the screen image is the first thing to go when any amount of ambient light is introduced (even the light from a single candle flame has a negative impact on the image on a pure white screen).

The base paint for making C&S #1 is getting harder to find since Sherwin-Williams is discontinuing that base color (Luminous White) in some of it's paints. For this reason I would recommend using C&S #3 which can now be made using base paints from either Valspar or Behr (Lowe's or Home Depot).

**TheSensFan** · **10-26-09, 10:01 AM**

First of thank you all for the suggestions. You are now getting me to rethink my position on painting a screen instead of using my black out cloth solution. Typical viewing is in a very dark setting, where the only lights on are some night lights along the floor.

If you believe it will make the colors “pop” more then I will go down the route of Cream&Sugar. But if you think my overall gains will not be significant compared to BOC I might as well stick with BOC.

Its easier and less time consuming than painting.

Cheers!
TSF

**TheSensFan** · **10-26-09, 01:42 PM**

Well I am on my way to C&S #3. Stopped by the Depot at lunch and picked up the first part. Will swing by Mike's and pick up the silver tonight.

**Harpmaker** · **10-26-09, 02:39 PM**

The thing about BOC (Black Out Cloth) is that different brands are different colors, and since the material isn't designed to be seen (it is usually applied to the backs of curtains to make them opaque to light) there can even be differences in color between batches of the same brand.

C&S is actually close to the same color as my BOC fabric (which is a fairly neutral N9). C&S does have the metallic element in it which does brighten whites over my BOC.

As for "pop", that can be a hard term to quantify. To some it means that colors are their brightest, to others it means that colors are richer and more saturated. I use the latter definition when I use "pop" and while C&S will have more than a white screen, it will have less than darker gray screens depending on your screen size and PJ brightness. It's also a term that is quite subjective.

Good luck with your screen and let us know what you think.

**wbassett** · **10-26-09, 06:48 PM**

Quote:

TheSensFan wrote:

First of thank you all for the suggestions. You are now getting me to rethink my position on painting a screen instead of using my black out cloth solution. Typical viewing is in a very dark setting, where the only lights on are some night lights along the floor.

If you believe it will make the colors “pop” more then I will go down the route of Cream&Sugar. But if you think my overall gains will not be significant compared to BOC I might as well stick with BOC.

Its easier and less time consuming than painting.

Cheers!
TSF

I guarantee you that there will be a night and day difference between BOC and C&S©!

BOC is easier but harder. My personal experience is that by the time I get the BOC stretched and stapled and all waves out of it I can already have a painted screen rolled and drying.

I'm not saying BOC is bad, it's like everything in life... each has it's own sets of pros and cons.

C&S© is a very light gray. To some people N9 is still a white to them. It will help out with perceived contrast over a pure white screen. If all your lighting you have on are those night lights then you'll be fine with C&S© and like stated it will help with the black levels even with that low lighting. Keep in mind that just one single candle lit in a room will totally trash the contrast of any projector and render a 10,000:1 projector down to the same CR as a 500:1 unit! That's why so many people have a light gray screen even in a dedicated room. Any light at all, even a dim rope light along the stairs will destroy CR.

The only thing we ask is that you take lots of pictures and show them to us!

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