I think what i meant is how does it compare to a DIY screen.
will i get a better picture?
Or will a diy screen look just as good.
How much time & money will it cost me to build a good dyi screen.
will i get a better picture?
Or will a diy screen look just as good.
How much time & money will it cost me to build a good dyi screen.
If you search the forum you can find a lot of info on diffent materials used like black out clothe and this stuff called PLAS-TEX ... both are pretty cheap the plas-tex from what i've heard runs for about $50 total. As far as quality I've heard and seen that the results are promising. The draw back to the plas-tex method is that it's heavy. that's why i'm using clothe
more on diy screens
Better info on diy sceens can be found in
http://www.avsforum.com
Go into the sceens forum and there you can find comparisons between commercial and diy methods.
Exipnos
Better info on diy sceens can be found in
http://www.avsforum.com
Go into the sceens forum and there you can find comparisons between commercial and diy methods.
Exipnos
Here's a reply I posted to another page but it is relevent here - hope it helps (not all is relevent to you all).
OK here's a bit on screens for you all:
What are they made of - the good ones have tiny particles of glass gluded onto a backing material, the really really expensive ones used to have a coting of asbestos in resin (but I very much doubt that you can still get hold of these).
Reflection ration and viewing angle:
Higher reflection is obviousley important, however there is a trade off, higher reflection means a smaller viewing angle, although if you have a small room this will not make much of a defference a larger room will require a screen which has a slightley lower reflection ration and thus a wider angle of viewing. When I say a wider angle of viewing, what I mean is that the brightness and clarity does not decrease when you move off the screens axis. There are complex equations you can use to work out the ideal reflection ration for a screen, but these only necessary if you are a cinema or intend to have a custom screen made for you by a professional firm. Expensive screens, on close inspection are actualy not flat at all, in fact they have a tectured surface.
Can you build a screen:
Well yes and no, of course you can build a simple screen from a sheet or painted wall but the image will never look as good as a real screen. If you want a screen which will look very good (most people do not realise how much of difference a proper screen makes) then I'm affraid you must buy one. But never fear, have a look on eBay, you can pick up some very cheap ones for under $30 and looking at some posts that's less than some people have spent on paint alone. It is easy to mount a floor standing screen on a wall, simple DIY is all that's required. Now here is the only slight prob: Many of the screens on eBay are designed to be used with 35mm slide projectors and are therefor not always that wide, often only up to 4 feet. However (reason unknown to me) many of these screens although only about 4 feet wide, are much higher than 4 feet when fully rooled out (in other words they are a rectangle, with the shortist side on the horizontal), There would be no reason why you could not take appart the screen, rotate in 90 degrees and fix it to a wooden frame so you end up with a wider screen. In fact I know someone who did this, though he uses it to project slides onto, not video. So if you do buy a screen from eBay here are some tips for you:
1) obviuslsey ask how wide the screen is, and how high the screen is (this is with regard to the screen material not the enclosure size!!)
2) ask if there are any marks on the screen! It is possible to clean them but you are meant to use special cleaner!
3) ask if the screen has any crease marks where it has been rolled up badley - but this may not be a problem if you are going to fix it onto a homemade frame for you could pull it taught.
4) don't pay too much money - you wont need to - rememer most of the screens that you buy on eBay were when new very expensive, in a lot of proper home cinema setups that have projectors the screen is often more expensive than the projector and audio equiptment put together, especially if it is acoustically transparant (in otherwords you can have speakers behind it and the sound can pass through with out obstruction) so buying from eBay you will be saving yourself a lot of money.
So good luck to everyone who tries to make a screen, but do yourself a favour and buy one from eBay - you could end up saving yourself some money and ending up with a wonderful screen.
Hope this helps you all!
OK here's a bit on screens for you all:
What are they made of - the good ones have tiny particles of glass gluded onto a backing material, the really really expensive ones used to have a coting of asbestos in resin (but I very much doubt that you can still get hold of these).
Reflection ration and viewing angle:
Higher reflection is obviousley important, however there is a trade off, higher reflection means a smaller viewing angle, although if you have a small room this will not make much of a defference a larger room will require a screen which has a slightley lower reflection ration and thus a wider angle of viewing. When I say a wider angle of viewing, what I mean is that the brightness and clarity does not decrease when you move off the screens axis. There are complex equations you can use to work out the ideal reflection ration for a screen, but these only necessary if you are a cinema or intend to have a custom screen made for you by a professional firm. Expensive screens, on close inspection are actualy not flat at all, in fact they have a tectured surface.
Can you build a screen:
Well yes and no, of course you can build a simple screen from a sheet or painted wall but the image will never look as good as a real screen. If you want a screen which will look very good (most people do not realise how much of difference a proper screen makes) then I'm affraid you must buy one. But never fear, have a look on eBay, you can pick up some very cheap ones for under $30 and looking at some posts that's less than some people have spent on paint alone. It is easy to mount a floor standing screen on a wall, simple DIY is all that's required. Now here is the only slight prob: Many of the screens on eBay are designed to be used with 35mm slide projectors and are therefor not always that wide, often only up to 4 feet. However (reason unknown to me) many of these screens although only about 4 feet wide, are much higher than 4 feet when fully rooled out (in other words they are a rectangle, with the shortist side on the horizontal), There would be no reason why you could not take appart the screen, rotate in 90 degrees and fix it to a wooden frame so you end up with a wider screen. In fact I know someone who did this, though he uses it to project slides onto, not video. So if you do buy a screen from eBay here are some tips for you:
1) obviuslsey ask how wide the screen is, and how high the screen is (this is with regard to the screen material not the enclosure size!!)
2) ask if there are any marks on the screen! It is possible to clean them but you are meant to use special cleaner!
3) ask if the screen has any crease marks where it has been rolled up badley - but this may not be a problem if you are going to fix it onto a homemade frame for you could pull it taught.
4) don't pay too much money - you wont need to - rememer most of the screens that you buy on eBay were when new very expensive, in a lot of proper home cinema setups that have projectors the screen is often more expensive than the projector and audio equiptment put together, especially if it is acoustically transparant (in otherwords you can have speakers behind it and the sound can pass through with out obstruction) so buying from eBay you will be saving yourself a lot of money.
So good luck to everyone who tries to make a screen, but do yourself a favour and buy one from eBay - you could end up saving yourself some money and ending up with a wonderful screen.
Hope this helps you all!
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