With 3 kids mouths to feed, sports to pay for and what not I find that I am having to DIY or hunt for deals on the used market for just about everything in my home theater. My current screen is made from matte white Formica and it's about 90" diagonal. I believe it was wbasset's meticulous thread on the subject that introduced me to "The Shack".
Since the screen cost under $80 and was relatively easy to build, it squeezed into my overall budget nicely. It was my first attempt and it does do a fairly good job but...
For starters my home made screen's border is just baseboard trim painted black. I used spray paint and it came out a little shiny. I measured twice and cut once, but there was about an extra 1/4 inch in height than their should have been. I can size the picture to fit the width but there is still 1/8 inch top and bottom that are exposed when viewing 16:9 content.
I also messed up and a little glue squeezed out onto the screen. I managed to clean it up reasonably well but construction adhesive is nasty stuff. It's only noticeable if you get up close though and it's in that 1/8" gap so it doesn't affect the picture. There is also a finger print somewhere in the middle that causes color variation in bright scenes. Kids and their greasy hands. I've tried quite a few different products but it will not come off.
I also cheaped out and used regular spruce/pine/fir 1x2 for the frame and it warped slightly so it doesn't hang flat on the wall. I should have used kiln dried poplar or hardwood. I've been toying with building a new one, but time, budget and WAF get in the way even though it would only cost around $100 if I did it right.
The motorized Elite screen would give that extra sense of awe in my theater room. I could control it with my harmony remote or I could also use the trigger out on my projector or receiver to lower it also. It would also prevent "The Kids" from touching it. I can hide the remote, but hiding a fixed screen...thats what retractable ones are for. Of course I wouldn't mind the fixed screen either as it would clearly blow away my cheap laminate model. I'd be sure to do some side by side comparisons to prove it.
Here's my current screen and where the Elite 100" screen would reside. It would almost take up the full width of the room with a little over a foot to spare on either side. That still leaves room for some 12x12x17 bass traps on each side which I plan on adding towards the end of November.
I'll get some more pics up soon of the "lessons" I learned not to repeat when making a screen.
raying:
