What's the right kind of paint to use for projector screen?

Gatticus

[H]ard|Gawd
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Feb 5, 2006
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I'm not buying a screen for my LCD projector and instead want to paint the screen on the wall. I've already marked off the area and cleaned it with Magic Eraser. Man, those things work well. :) Now need to just paint it but can't remember the best paint to use. I did read an article a while back where the person showed you how to do it and what paint to use but I can't find the link again. I may have it bookmarked on one of my three PC's somewhere though. He recommended a flat grey for better blacks but a flat white for more brilliant image. I want to go with white. If you know the correct paint would appreciate being told what it is.
 
To answer my own question: off the shelf is best to use Behr UPW Flat Enamel #1850, another option is Behr UPW Flat Latex #1050. For custom solution use the below.


RS-MMMaxx (for moderate ambient light)
16 oz. Delta Pearl Metallic #02601
10 oz. Delta Silver Metallic #02603
7 oz. UPW flat
3 oz. Delta Pale Metallic Gold #02624
14 oz. Minwax Polycrylic - Satin finish
14 oz. distilled/tap water


RS-MMMaxx LL (for lower lumen PJ's, and for completely controlled lighting)
16 oz. Delta Pearl Metallic #02601
8 oz. Delta Silver Metallic #02603
10 oz. UPW flat
2 oz. Delta Pale Metallic Gold #02624
14 oz. Minwax Polycrylic - Satin finish
14 oz. distilled/tap water
 
It depends entirely on your projector. I have a Mitsubishi HD1000 in a light controlled room, and the image is incredibly bright. I went with a grey paint (Behr Silverscreen). White looks bright white, and blacks don't lose their detail.

If you have a bright projector, don't use a white paint, or your black levels are going to go to shit.
 
You can buy projector screen paint which seems to give a lot of people good results.

Any reason why you don't want a screen? It's easy to make and dirt cheap.
 
It depends entirely on your projector. I have a Mitsubishi HD1000 in a light controlled room, and the image is incredibly bright. I went with a grey paint (Behr Silverscreen). White looks bright white, and blacks don't lose their detail.

If you have a bright projector, don't use a white paint, or your black levels are going to go to shit.


OK, my projector is the BenQ W500 with 1200 Lumens so it's not the brightest but fairly bright. It's the blacks I want to make punch out more so perhaps I should go with a light grey instead. Am buying the paint today so the sooner I can get the definitive answer on this the better.
 
You can buy projector screen paint which seems to give a lot of people good results.

Any reason why you don't want a screen? It's easy to make and dirt cheap.

THat Screen Goo and such is very expensive though. That formula up above is supposed to be just as good. Only thing is I doubt any paint store will cusom mix that for me and I'm not going to do it myself.

I want the screen painted on the wall because it is cheaper and fits in with my decor ideas.
 


I was at their forum last night and got some ideas from them. I read a long thread by someone at another projector forum and he has done extensive testing on the Behr paints I posted about plus other types so am going with what he says if I can't get the custom paint made form me. The Behr Silverscreen is not as good as the Screen Goo going by what I have read. Screen Goo may be the best but I doubt I can get it at Home Hardware and it is very expensive.
 
Well, no answer to my question. I'm off to buy the paint now so will use my own judgment. Think I will try to get a grey though as I want better blacks. My 22" CRT monitor blows away any LCD, DLP or Plasma when it comes to black levels so I am used to the best and certainly don't want to wash out the blacks. Black level looks pretty bad on my cream eggshell painted wall right now so if I am not happy with what I get I will try another solution.
 
Ok, here's what I ended up with. I read that the mix Behr Silverscreen is quite good so had them make that up using the Behr UPW Flat Enamel #1850. This paint is a very neutral grey so should work well, hopefully.
 
It depends entirely on your projector. I have a Mitsubishi HD1000 in a light controlled room, and the image is incredibly bright. I went with a grey paint (Behr Silverscreen). White looks bright white, and blacks don't lose their detail.

If you have a bright projector, don't use a white paint, or your black levels are going to go to shit.

That Behr Silverscreen works pretty good and I now get a richer image but the blacks are still no where near my CRT quality. I saw someone mention on another forum that he uses a filter to improve the blacks. Have you ever tried a filter?
 
Yea, I'll have to turn off my CRT monitor when a DVD is playing from my PC onto the projector as I keep comparing my CRT image quality to the LCD projector and it just isn't there when it comes to the blacks. Colour quality is not as pure either but it's fairly good since I tweaked it up. The image size is massive compared to my CRT though and playing Winning Eleven Seven on it is great. :)
 
That Behr Silverscreen works pretty good and I now get a richer image but the blacks are still no where near my CRT quality. I saw someone mention on another forum that he uses a filter to improve the blacks. Have you ever tried a filter?

I haven't tried a filter, no. The Mits is considered to have extremely good black levels as far as DLP projectors go, so I haven't worried about it too much. It looks great to me (and I am very picky), and anyone who has come over to see it has been utterly floored by the image quality.

One thing you need to remember is that for all intents and purposes, CRTs have an infinite contrast ratio. No DLP, LCD, LCoS, Plasma, or other technology can compete with CRTs for black level; it's just the way the technology works.
 
Gatticus what you need to do is basically make everything in your room black and remove anything reflective or that has light like a led or other image source.

If you can't do that then consider making a 1 foot box around your screen of black felt. That should help. example
 
I rent an apartment so I can't do that. I have read about putting the black border around the screen though and I will definitely do that. I read you can buy a flat black tape for just that purpose. It looks pretty good in low light conditions and games look fine in daylight so it is ok. Next time I will spring for a DLP instead as they supposedly have better blacks. Maybe by then they will have even a better technology that can compete more with CRT. I like this setup better than a big huge monitor in my apartment anyway. They won't like the fact I painted a screen on my wall but screw 'em if they can't take a joke.
 
Next time I will spring for a DLP instead as they supposedly have better blacks.
I have a DLP pj. It's almost true black becuase of the way the micro-mirrors work. The black level is basically the ambient black in the room compared to other pjs which have a overscan that's clearly visible. You can get a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about. link. See how my bedroom door reflects. haha I know certain people on avs that make like felt everything everywhere so it's 100% black. They say it looks subtly insane.
 
Yea, paint your door flat black. What size is your screen there? I've only got mine at 63" because of the size of my apartment and how it is set up. I have to point the projector at the shorter width of the room instead of the long length of the room. 63" is good for me though and moving the projector back further dulls the brightness a bit too from what I have read.
 
Yea, paint your door flat black. What size is your screen there? I've only got mine at 63" because of the size of my apartment and how it is set up. I have to point the projector at the shorter width of the room instead of the long length of the room. 63" is good for me though and moving the projector back further dulls the brightness a bit too from what I have read.
I had felt over the door a while back and it really helped. I forget around 100 inches or so screen size. Avs forum deleted or either archived my posts documenting that so. Basically I took dark felt and more-or-less screwed it into the drywall. Made exiting and entering a bitch, why it was removed. Supposedly I've heard the more you make your surrounding environment dark the picture improves dramatically. When I move next year after I graduate I think I'll buy a tripod screen maybe. Problem is I don't watch movies anymore that much no time. This pj has a focus ring and zoom ring but you still have to have it at a considerable distance from the screen to ensure a adequate image size. Pjcentral has a calculator which you can use customized to your pj. link 4 u. Btw your pj has much better brightness compared to mine. If you still find you're not satisfied with the colors try putting tin foil on your windows. Cheap way to keep out heat and light, for your new cave lol. Ambient light ruins everything.
 
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