8mm Forum: First Encounter with a Beaded Screen

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Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on January 22, 2007, 11:11 AM:

Yesterday afternoon I was looking out the window, when what did I see but what was obviously a large tripod screen standing there at my neighbor’s curb waiting for the garbage men to arrive this morning!

Trying to have a little dignity, I waited until after dark and scurried across the front lawn and made a grab for it. Once inside I found I had a 60 inch square glass beaded screen. It did everything a glass beaded screen is supposed to do, including putting up a bright image even in a normally lit room, and rolling off rapidly in brightness as I moved off -axis.

This is a good second choice to my home screen which is a wall mount and therefore not very mobile. Maybe I’ll be more open to taking my show on the road again.

Kind of sad, in the last couple of years I’ve snagged at least one screen per year out of people’s garbage, to the point where I’ve actually had to thin the herd myself! Thought I’d nailed a projector once, but it turned out to be a sewing machine! That’s OK though; every friend who knows I do Super-8 has given me whatever silent, 18FPS only, worn out film shredder they have on hand. There is not a GS-1200 in the lot of them! I haven’t the heart to put them out of their misery so they just bask in cinematic retirement, taking up space!

Question: The surface of this screen is yellowish; much more so than my Matte screens are. Is this normal for a beaded screen or is it a function age? From the looks of this screen, it can’t be any newer than about 1965.

Posted by Barry Johnson (Member # 84) on January 22, 2007, 01:21 PM:

Steve,
Back in the 'old days',we used to refresh glass beaded screens by putting them out in direct sunlight-that appeared to make them shine brighter.Evidently it bleaches the glass beads thus givin a greater lease of life.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on January 22, 2007, 01:46 PM:

Personally, I never cared for the beaded screens, as they tended to reflect light a little too much. It's all just persoanl choices of course.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on January 22, 2007, 02:14 PM:

Barry, a suggestion well worth trying. I'll just have to set it up where my neighbor can't see it! How much time does the screen need to be exposed to sunlight to make a difference?

I'll have to admit, all things considered, I like the matte image better myself. All those little beads tend to make the image seem "grainy", especially close up. However, this screen is great for when I do remote settups where I may not be able to have the room as dark as I would like. I wish it was a rectangular format instead of square, but it was free!

My main screen absolutely can't be beaded. In a household with a little kid anything that can't be easily cleaned is doomed! I've already taken a very artful chocolate handprint off my wall-mount, and by the way, the print was way too small to be either myself or my wife...

Posted by Barry Johnson (Member # 84) on January 24, 2007, 01:44 PM:

Steve,
If you get it at all stateside,a good day in the sun will give better results as the bleaching is more intense.If you get seriously hot sun,a slightly shaded area will be best as otherwise the sun could soften the adhesive used to affix the glass beads.
Barry.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on January 24, 2007, 04:32 PM:

Thanks Barry,

If it's sunny this weekend I'll give it a shot.

Most of the USA does get sunlight on a regular basis except for wintertime Alaska above the Arctic Circle and Seattle pretty much all the time!

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