DW or Scorpion

[ubaldoc]

Hello. I've been lurking for about a year and gathering information. I am finally getting close to finishing my basement and need a little advice on what screen to make. I plan on purchasing my projector this next month. I'm hoping its the epson 8500ub, unless they price it higher than anticipated (< $2500). If that ends up too high, then I'll probably opt for the ae4000.

My room is approx 13'W x 30'L. Seating will be at about 12' and the pj location can vary but I was going for about 13-14'. The room can be completely light controlled, but I envision using it mostly for HDTV and gaming so there will be some ambient light. The wall behind the screen is a dark red and the rest of the room is light colored, i.e beige walls and white ceiling.

I want at least a 110" screen. My walls are not set up well for painting so I was going to use laminate or a substrate to paint. Since there is no way that I can get a 5x10 sheet of hardboard or mdf down into my basement, I was going to buy laminate and construct the screen down there. I can buy a DW sheet for $95 locally, but if I was going to paint it anyway, I could probably buy a cheaper sheet.

I guess my question is if it's worth spending $95 on DW to see if I like it, or since I will be using the pj in slight ambient light mostly, is better to just go to Scorpion 8 (or other suggestion) on a cheaper laminate to help with contrast.

Thanks for all the info that you guys have provided on this site.

[mechman]

Welcome to the Shack ubaldo!

If you think you'd prefer a gray screen (and I agree!), why not get a gray laminate like either Platinum or Fashion Grey? That's the route I would take. DW washes out in ambient light.

[ubaldoc]

Never thought of that. How does Fashion Grey compare to Scorpion? I already bought AAA a while back thinking that I was going to paint Scorpion or BW. Then, I saw the contrast numbers on these new pjs and thought that I may not need the grey screen. But after reading a little more it sounds like those numbers get crushed when a little bit of light is introduced.

[Harpmaker]

Howdy ubaldo!

Mech and Wbassett are the laminate guys, I haven't tried that stuff yet; but if you have light walls and ceiling I would definitely go with a gray screen since any light at all in the room starts affecting the contrast of the image on a white screen, even light reflecting from the screen which bounces off the walls/ceiling and back onto the screen in an otherwise totally dark room.

[wbassett]

ubaldoc wrote:

Never thought of that. How does Fashion Grey compare to Scorpion? I already bought AAA a while back thinking that I was going to paint Scorpion or BW. Then, I saw the contrast numbers on these new pjs and thought that I may not need the grey screen. But after reading a little more it sounds like those numbers get crushed when a little bit of light is introduced.

It really is amazing how little light it takes to trash those impressive CR ratings! Even someone walking into a totally dark room wearing a white shirt during calibration is enough to change things! That and the candle example are extremes and most people won't notice that much of a difference, but there will be one- and that's the point. That's where a gray screen has the advantage over a white screen.

Fashion Grey and Scorpion are both around N8 grays, I'd give the performan edge to Scorpion though. FG has been used by many people and does work well but also can start to hot spot a little with brighter projectors. A fix for that is to put a coat of matte poly on it, but that kinda negates the ease factor of going with a laminate in the first place! Plus we've proven that poly's yellow over time.

Scorpion does sound like a good match up for either of those projectors and the room you described.

[mechman]

Just to add to Bill's reply a bit. If you do go with FG and need a coat of polyurethane to knock down the hot spotting, try out Valspar's Clear Protector. I think it holds up better/longer than the Behr product.

[ubaldoc]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to go straight for the Scorpion since I already bought the AAA and Behr 1850 for the C&S#2 portion. Scorpion should come out OK with C&S #2, right?

[clark17]

ubaldoc wrote:

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to go straight for the Scorpion since I already bought the AAA and Behr 1850 for the C&S#2 portion. Scorpion should come out OK with C&S #2, right?

C&S#2:
- One quart Behr UPW #1850
- One 8 oz. bottle Craft Smart Metallic Silver
- One 4 oz. bottle Craft Smart Metallic Gold
- One 4 oz. bottle Craft Smart Metallic Bronze

Black Widow:
- 4 parts Bermuda Beige - matte or flat enamel preferably Valspar Ultra Premium Flat Enamel (we call it VUPE). I've used Behr paint.
- 1 part Auto Air Aluminum

Then both you mix in 1:1 ratio to get Scorpion N8. I did roll 110" screen using it and I LOVE IT .

[Harpmaker]

ubaldoc wrote:

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to go straight for the Scorpion since I already bought the AAA and Behr 1850 for the C&S#2 portion. Scorpion should come out OK with C&S #2, right?

Yes, all the C&S™ formulae make essentially the same screen mix in terms of color and performance. They will all do for making Scorpion™.

[mechman]

I'll echo what Harp said.