thoroughly confused about screens

[teke]

ok,

well, I have made my way over here from the other forum where I have spent a great deal of time researching what diy screen to use for my new (first) projector.

I have read and read and read and now I think I am completely confused about what to do. I was all set to order designer white from HD and then I read about the benefits of grey screens and ambient light.

I need some advice.

-Room: 14x19
-projector: epson cinema 400 LCD (1500 Lumen)
-throw distance: 17' 6"
-16:9 image, 117" diagonal
-seating distance: 12'
-2 windows (36x60 each) with 2" blinds and I just bought black out curtains and drapes to completely control the light in the room.
-currently projecting on tan wall and it looks good, but what do I know, since I am new to this.


According to the projector calculator I am at about 12 FL, with 1.2 gain DW I will be at 14 FL., I am watching alot of football and hd sports, then movies. I am painting the walls a stone color, and the ceiling a darker shade in flat paint.

Will the DW be too bright for my projector with 1.2 gain or should I be painting a simple grey screen to help with daytime sports viewing? I appreciate the responses and hope to someday be knowledgable on these issues to help someone else.

[cynical2]

teke wrote:

ok,

well, I have made my way over here from the other forum where I have spent a great deal of time researching what diy screen to use for my new (first) projector.

I have read and read and read and now I think I am completely confused about what to do. I was all set to order designer white from HD and then I read about the benefits of grey screens and ambient light.

I need some advice.

-Room: 14x19
-projector: epson cinema 400 LCD (1500 Lumen)
-throw distance: 17' 6"
-16:9 image, 117" diagonal
-seating distance: 12'
-2 windows (36x60 each) with 2" blinds and I just bought black out curtains and drapes to completely control the light in the room.
-currently projecting on tan wall and it looks good, but what do I know, since I am new to this.


According to the projector calculator I am at about 12 FL, with 1.2 gain DW I will be at 14 FL., I am watching alot of football and hd sports, then movies. I am painting the walls a stone color, and the ceiling a darker shade in flat paint.

Will the DW be too bright for my projector with 1.2 gain or should I be painting a simple grey screen to help with daytime sports viewing? I appreciate the responses and hope to someday be knowledgable on these issues to help someone else.

First, WELCOME TO THE SHACK!!





I think you'll like it here more than some other places you've been, as no one here will give you advice that isn't backed up by data (including actual numerical data, rather than screen shots alone).

You'll be fine with DW, and it won't hot-spot. If the image is too bright, you can put a filter on your projector and then remove it as the bulb ages and dims.

If you are going to have 100% light control all of the time, and have no desire to have any lights in the room, then there is no reason at all to look at anything other than white. If that's not the case (and, for instance, you'd like the option of having some low lighting in the room), then I'd think about either a FG laminate (which may need a top-coat if you see hot-spotting) or a neutral grey paint. True Value (Winter Mist and Winter Mountain), Sherwin Williams (Soothing White and Gray Screen), and the EasyFlex options (from member tiddler) are all good. I personally have an EasyFlex-04, and am a very happy customer of Todd's (tiddler).

[GbrNole]

see bill's thread regarding the projector calculator pro.

you have to keep in mind that your projector is capable of putting out MUCH more light than is reflected in those calculations and conversely it will put out less light in it's best mode.

since you do some daytime viewing then you are a good candidate for a gray screen and the fact that the epson 400's ability to project deep black is a bit limited then it just reinforces that.

the question is which gray you should go with?

you mentioned the other forum and there happens to be some nice screen shots there that a user did on an easy flex solution (with poly top coat) as introduced by tiddler.

those screen shots look very good but his screen is also a fair bit smaller than yours will be.

as opposed to easy flex you could always go with one of the one can solutions like true value winter mist (light gray) winter mountain (darker gray) sherwin williams gray screen (similar darkness to winter mountain but with a sheen so no poly would be needed) or wilsonart fashion gray laminate (the darekest of the grays mentioned here) with poly top coat.

personally i'd be inclined to go with one of the darker grays to compensate for deep blacks and for the longest time i was sure i would end up with an epson 400 and that was going to be the direction i was heading.

your standard mode is best for daytime viewing on the 400 since it bangs out a true almost 1000 lumens and then movie 2 for night time.

ps. the person at the other forum used an easy flex 06 paint mix which is somewhere between winter mist and winter mountain in color - might even be your best bet?

oh and last but not least check out bill's neutral gray thread where he shows screen shots using sherwin williams gray screen paint since your projector is about equal in light output to his when yours is in best mode but absolutely kicks butt in standard mode (double the light output) bear in mind that you will be using a bigger screen though so that is relative.

[GbrNole]

pps. welcome to the shack!

and just to clarify i only recommend gray screen so that the 400 can achieve the similar black levels to other similar lcd projectors.


for reference i'm also using an easy flex solution at the minute, EF06 in a upw1850 base. it looks a **** site better than the primer i was projecting onto but now i can help but imagine if a nuetral gray might be a better fit - fun diy times begin!

as cynical said though - in a fully light controlled environment a white screen will work very well and if the black bars on cinemascope movies don't bother you now then they likely wont with DW either.

good luck!

[teke]

thank you for the quick responses, this seems like a much friendlier forum to spend time on. I am more into sports this time of year, so I am thinking of starting out with painted gray option then moving toward the DW if necessary. It is always nice to have an option to have some lights on.

So to start, if i go with the sherwin williams gray screen, It will just be 2 coats, no poly top coat and sit back and enjoy. That seems like the best starting point. Please let me know if I am off base. Thanks again.

[cynical2]

teke wrote:

thank you for the quick responses, this seems like a much friendlier forum to spend time on. I am more into sports this time of year, so I am thinking of starting out with painted gray option then moving toward the DW if necessary. It is always nice to have an option to have some lights on.

So to start, if i go with the sherwin williams gray screen, It will just be 2 coats, no poly top coat and sit back and enjoy. That seems like the best starting point. Please let me know if I am off base. Thanks again.

Should work great...and get it with the "Matte" base...it's also a durable finish compared to the True Value "Flat" bases. Compared to the tan wall you're projecting on now, I'm confident you'll be a happy camper.

[wbassett]

teke wrote:

Will the DW be too bright for my projector with 1.2 gain or should I be painting a simple grey screen to help with daytime sports viewing? I appreciate the responses and hope to someday be knowledgable on these issues to help someone else.

Another welcome to the Shack!

I have a 1700 Lumen projector, but... and this is a big one, my walls and ceiling are currently white. It found it was too bright for me even though I tend to only watch things with total lights out viewing. I got scatter reflections that lit up the room as if I has a room lamp on, and some reflected back on the screen, washing it out some. Interestingly, I could turn my room light on and the screen image looked virtually the same, but then again, I already mentioned my room was lit up from the screen itself.

Now... if you take care of the walls and ceiling you shouldn't have the problem I did.

If you're interested in laminates, the new kid on the block looks like Platinum is actually a close D65 match. We'll know for sure in a week or two.

Not much else to say, the guys all jumped in with excellent advice! My screen is an N8 shade and works equally well with lights out or lights on viewing. I wouldn't have a problem recommending an N8 shade at all. Too bad you couldn't have done the Kilz2 baseline before you painted the walls.

[teke]

wbassett wrote:

Another welcome to the Shack!



Not much else to say, the guys all jumped in with excellent advice! My screen is an N8 shade and works equally well with lights out or lights on viewing. I wouldn't have a problem recommending an N8 shade at all. Too bad you couldn't have done the Kilz2 baseline before you painted the walls.

I am painting the walls this weekend, they will be a stone/pewter color, and the ceiling will be a darker shade of this in the same family. Currently the walls are builder/new home tan color and the ceiling is white.

I have a can of kilz2, since I use it for other home painting and I am going to purchase the new colors and the sherwin williams grey screen to do this weekend.

What do you mean by the kilz2 baseline?

thanks for the help.

[wbassett]

teke wrote:

What do you mean by the kilz2 baseline?

thanks for the help.

For some reason I thought I read the room was already painted... my mistake!

What I strongly recommend people do is paint the intended screen area with Kilz2 and then setup the projector and calibrate it. This gives you a very nice unity gain white reference screen to get a baseline of the projectors performance and note any weak areas. Without a baseline it's difficult if not impossible to tell if you improved things or not. Plus it lets you get used to the projector and settings as well as try different screen sizes out so you can see what suits your needs/tastes the best.