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Author
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Topic: Screen Fabric
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Steve Klare
Film Guy
Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted December 06, 2011 12:01 PM
It's one of those "It depends" kinds of things. A beaded screen gives a much brighter picture than a matte one, but only over a narrow angle of viewing. As the angle the viewer sees the picture from gets larger, the brightness quickly drops off until a matte screen becomes brighter.
If you projected in a narrow room and the screen filled the entire short wall, a beaded screen would be better in terms of brightness because the viewers would be restricted to sitting in front of it. My screen sits on the wide wall of a wide room, so most of my viewers are not close to the axis of projection. I chose matte.
Matte screens are easier to clean than beaded. The fact that when I bought it I had a 3 year old in the house meant I needed to guard against the possibility of chocolate handprints and maybe even crayons. This was a factor too.
I don't know how it happens, since I've never seen it in progress, but once or twice a year a bug gets squished inside when I roll it up. A couple of spritzes of windex and a paper towel sets things right again. (I'm still glad I chose the matte.)
Basically, when in doubt: matte it.
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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...
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Rob Young.
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1633
From: Cheshire, U.K.
Registered: Dec 2003
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posted December 09, 2011 06:10 PM
Hi Roger and thanks for your recent email regarding my home cinema; would have replied sooner but have been a bit busy.
The screen is 100% home-made. Basically, it is a 10ft x 4ft hardboard sheet coated with 3-4 layers of matt white emulsion paint, applied with a roller for a smoother finish. I find this ideal for smaller rooms with wide viewing angles and wouldn't spend good money on anything else (although I know many will disagree). I've always built my screens this way and stand by it as way to make a performance sceen at a sensible price, although it does need securing to a wall or solid frame.
The black side and top/bottom tabs are sturdy plyboard covered with black velvet material; I find black velvet the best for absorbing edge of frame light and giving a really crisp border to the image. Basically, I found a fabric supplier who could sell it from the roll and ordered what I needed.
The side tabs basically move on a curtain rail, with the top and bottom tabs movable on slats which can be loosened and tightened, allowing them to be manually moved into position for whatever format is to be shown.
The curtains are home-made too; my other half and my mother spent many happy ( ![[Confused]](confused.gif) ) hours sowing the material to the required lengths and pleating them; we bought the material from the same supplier as the black velvet.
There was quite a bit of planning and measuring to so that it all worked and fitted together properly!
Since the room was re-carpeted at the same time, with the colour scheme being blue off-set with red, we used an off-cut from the carpet to cover our home-made stage and added more matching cutains to the front.
The seat was re-painted with blue hammerite paint to give it a dappled metal look and the cushions re-covered in material to match the red screen curtains.
Before all this, wiring was laid down for the three centre channels of sound and lighting. At the time, we were mostly using film with some digital, but saw the future as digital sound, so decided to play safe and fit 5 channel surround sound; glad we did!
The projector stand is actually a hi-fi stand, made by a british company called Apollo Hi-Fi furniture;
http://www.apollohifi.co.uk/Aria/Aria.html
The stands come in basic packs, I think, and then you add shelves as you require them.
The great thing is that you can order different heights for each shelf to suit your equipment, and because they are for hi-fi, they have dampening rubber feet between the actual shelf and the frame. Primarily this is to reduce vibration in, say, a turntable, but it acts to dampen the chatter of the projector...I've never heard a projector run quieter on anything else.
Now the bad news...they are quite expensive! I think I remember paying over £500.00 for the complete stand and that was over 10 years ago now! But they are solid and a very safe place to put your valuable equipment. But try running a search for hi-fi furniture and see what you can find.
Let us know how you get on building your own home cinema!
Best, Rob.
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