need rugged outdoor screen

[tobytune]

Howdy folks,
Here's my situation... i run a semi-outdoor theater in Costa Rica. High humidity, etc. The screen is protected under a roof but the walls are open. i bought a Da-lite motorized screen with side masking -electric 168". After the first year it devloped deep creases (not to be confused with "waves"). After a year, I replaced it with another fabric. The next year, same problem only along with the creases, it has deep dimples. I finally got the Da-lite rep to come down for a visit and look/see. He said he never saw anything like this and probably thought, because of the humidity, that the layers were shrinking/expanding at different ways. Anyway, he suggested that I just replace the fabric every year. Well, it was $5,000 for the whole system and $2000 for the replacement. Can't afford that. I've been looking everywhere for a more durable fabric and have exausted most sources. Can anyone out there offer any advice?

[Sonnie]

I bet you could use some sort of painted screen that would be much easier to repaint every year or two. I'm not sure it could be retractable though.

I'm sure the guys here will know and will chime in.

BTW... welcome to the Shack!

[mechman]

Wow! 168"! That's a large screen! What's available to you substrate and paint wise? I'd think the best way to get a screen that would be unaffected by humidity would be paint for you. The other option would be a laminate but you're way beyond 61" wide.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but we are looking at over 12 feet wide by just under 7 feet tall right?

mech

[mechman]

toby,

Are these the vinyl screens from DaLite that you're using? If so you may want to switch to one of they're fiberglass based screens. The High Power and the Silver Matte are fiberglass screens.

Those marks look to be caused from the rolling up of the screen too... They seem to be evenly spaced. Did the DaLite rep talk about vinyl vs. the fiberglass? Call them up and ask them about this.

mech

[tobytune]

Yes, it's 14 feet wide. It needs to be retractable to get it out of the weather as well as to not obscure the great view of the Pacific Ocean. Plus, its all part of "the show". We have a pot luck dinner at 5:00 - people watch the sunset - and then its dark at 6:00. The screen comes down with 4:3 masking and we run 45 minutes of strange and weird short subjects. We then take an intermission, do popcorn, etc and get everyone back in their seats. We show a trailer for next week in 4:3 and then the side masking goes up - people go "wow" - and the widescreen movie starts in 6.1 surround. So, paint is out. There has to be a more durable fabric out there somewhere.......


www.MoviesInTheJungle.com

[mechman]

Sounds like a great place for Sonnie to send us mods!!

mech

[cynical2]

mechman wrote:

Sounds like a great place for Sonnie to send us mods!!

mech

^^^ I agree with him. ^^^

Regarding the screen...I think you may want to look at something specifically made to hold up to the elements of outdoors. Maybe something like billboard vinyl. Here, they sell an 8'x13' piece of white billboard vinyl for $177. No idea if they'd ship to you, but that's a direction you may want to consider.

[cynical2]

Oh, and I forgot to say...Welcome to the Shack!!!

[cynical2]

Another option is a marine fabric, such as "Stamoid Double Coated Canvas", found here.

Stamoid is guaranteed to withstand climates that range from the hottest Florida summers, to the coldest Great Lakes winters, to the wettest Northwestern months. Stamoid exterior marine fabrics have provided long lasting, durable quality on boats of all sizes world wide for decades.

It comes in 80" widths, for $64/yd. So, you'd be looking at $2-300 for something like this.



It comes in a variety of colors:

WHITE





SNOW WHITE





PEARL GREY (very likely way too dark, unless you have lumens o' plenty...which would be surprising on that giant screen)

[mechman]

Good find Jim! Snow white looks good. Would it be easy to incorporate it in the electric screen though? I bet you could...

mech

[cynical2]

mechman wrote:

Good find Jim! Snow white looks good. Would it be easy to incorporate it in the electric screen though? I bet you could...

mech

I would think that it wouldn't be an issue...I don't know much about commercial screens, since when I started into the front-projection I was too cheap to go any route other than DIY. But, I would assume that there's a roller to which the material could be easily attached using some industrial adhesive. Given the humidity (at least I perceive it to be humid ) in Costa Rica, I'd go with a marine sealant...maybe something like this. If this stuff can hold up to salt water, then under a shelter in Costa Rica should be no sweat.

[tobytune]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the advice. The canvas idea is interesting, but wih only an 80' width, I would have a seam down the middle, so that's out. The fiberglass from Da-lite says it only has a 30 degree viewing angle so that might not work. And when I talked to the chief salesman at Da-lite, he never mentioned that and said nothing they offered will work for me. I asked him if they ever install in outdoor places and he told me that they have a large screen out doors at SeaWorld. And they replace it every year!
I received some literature about a "SUPER NOVA" screen sold by a company in India. They sent me a sample and it was lot thicker then what I have but I don't know how it would stand up. Anyone heard of this product?
Thanks again for all the advice. And , Mech... I'm was from Minnesota as well. Cold, eh!

[mechman]

Toby,

It was a warm October and it's shaping up to be a warm start to November!

As to the 80" width, you can get it in whatever length you need but you'll have to cut the size down a bit.

mech

[cynical2]

Toby,

What are the actual screen dimensions that you need (length and width)? 168" can mean a lot of different things, depending on whether you're talking diagonally or width, and what aspect ratio you want.

Jim