8mm Forum: What color screen

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Topic: What color screen

Barry Fritz
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1061
From: Burnsville, MN, USA
Registered: Dec 2009

posted January 03, 2010 03:49 PM

I have an opportunity to buy a white movie screen or a silverish one. Which is best for viewing? For film transfer? Thanx

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Winbert Hutahaean
Film God

Posts: 5468
From: Nouméa, New Caledonia
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 04, 2010 10:13 AM

My opinion: the best for movie transfer is the white one.

(but why people call "Silver Screen" for movie theater?? [Wink]

)

cheers,

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Winbert

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 04, 2010 10:29 AM

I agree with Winbert, a matt white screen is the way to go. Matt white gives you the same brightness at any viewing angle and the picture will also appear a little sharper. A silver or glass beaded screen focuses the light into a narrow viewing cone, so you get a much brighter picture over maybe a 30 degree viewing angle, but a much dimmer picture beyond that. For Cinemascope a matt white screen is usually better , because if you use a high gain silver or beaded screen the picture brightness will not be uniform across the width of the screen. For film trasfer, I would use a matt white screen to avoid getting a 'hot spot' in the camera image.

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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
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Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj

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Martin Jones
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1269
From: Thetford , Norfolk,England
Registered: May 2008

posted January 04, 2010 10:51 AM

Although not relevant to this discussion, the term "Silver Screen" comes from the days when movie theatres used metallic "silver" coloured screens to improve brightness. Itis also ESSENTIAL for polarised light 3-D presentations to avoid scattering the polarised left and right images.
Martin

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Retired TV Service Engineer
Ongoing interest in Telecine....

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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007

posted January 04, 2010 02:11 PM

For film transfer it is absolutely essential to have the smoothest surface possible, with no glare (thus no shiney spots) or texture (thus beaded or textured screens are out). I grew up with a silver screen for family slides but never understood why. Perhaps there was a 3D aspiration never realized. It is NOT as bright as a 1.0 matte.

The most successful camera-to-screen transfers I've done actually used, believe it or not, $1 white poster board. It was perfectly smooth to the eye and reasonably thick, so the camera image conveyed no clues as to the screen's nature! The trick of course is to find one that contains no paper flecks or signs of damage from transport or store display. Then I just tacked it to the wall of the room where I did the transfers, which allowed for easy relocation or adjustment.

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Barry Fritz
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1061
From: Burnsville, MN, USA
Registered: Dec 2009

posted January 04, 2010 10:03 PM

Thanks guys. You saved me some time. The white screen was glass beaded. I think I'll try the poster board. Sounds cheap and easy. [Smile]

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Dino Everette
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1535
From: Long Beach, CA USA
Registered: Dec 2008

posted January 05, 2010 02:03 AM

Yep Barry, just go to the local drug store and pick up a piece of the foam core poster board (so it will be perfectly straight/flat) and shoot off that since everything else is gonna contain a surface that your camera will pick up..

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"You're too Far Out Miss Lawrence"

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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007

posted January 05, 2010 10:34 AM

I have also used poster board too (which is nice because it holds its shape all by itself!), but a word of caution: the paper coating may not be matte enough, allowing a glare to reflect and shine back into the camera lens if it is close to on-axis with the projector lens (preferable, of course).

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Bill Phelps
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1482
From: USA
Registered: Jan 2009

posted January 05, 2010 05:58 PM

I use foam core board for my home transfers and have had great results...better than some pro (so called) transfers I've paid for!

Bill

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted January 06, 2010 11:00 AM

I've thought about doing the foam board route myself. This is an interesting topic!

I've experienced with different colored screens to help with projecting fading films. I came up with a light blue/cyan yet shiny foam type board screen. (only a few feet across), as my theory was that instead of using a fliter in front of the lense, (which cuts down on available light), I would use a highly reflective colored surface, and it worked pretty good!

Since this is a specialized kind of product, you would probably have to go to an art supply store to find it.

It really did work. You don't have the problem of the light being cut down straight from the projector, and the reflective surface of the board also helps compensate for the slight loss of light with the light blue surface.

I encourage others to try it. Of course, it doesn't return perfect color to a faded print, that will never happen, but it does make a faded print quite enjoyable.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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