8mm Forum: Need a New Projector Screen. Suggestions?

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Posted by Ernie Zahn (Member # 274) on July 28, 2013, 07:35 PM:

I'm not a fan of inflatable screens (indoors anyway), I have a tripod mount one right now. But I'm looking for a retractable screen because the only good place for a screen at my place is an area that can't be blocked regularly.

I've heard Elite Screens have issues with retracting regularly. Any suggestions?

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on July 28, 2013, 08:32 PM:

What kind of size are we looking at Ernie. there were lots of suppliers of materials at one time, Clearvue, springs to mind in the UK. There might be an outlet I can check for you, but it would be
secondhand plus shipping from UK, but let me know the size.

Posted by Ernie Zahn (Member # 274) on July 28, 2013, 09:09 PM:

I'm looking for 90" to 110" in size diagonal if it's 16:9.

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on July 28, 2013, 09:42 PM:

Ernie, I hate to say this, but on a film forum we don't measure
on the diagonal, but in the rectangular.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on July 28, 2013, 10:08 PM:

Ernie
I use an American Da-Lite screen. Here's a link. They are not cheap but they have a very wide range to offer.
http://www.da-lite.com/dalitehometheater/

Posted by Ernie Zahn (Member # 274) on July 29, 2013, 06:31 AM:

Thanks Maurice! I'll check it out.

Hugh, "in the rectangular?" In physics/chemistry that means measuring the volume of the 3D rectangle. Like a prism.

Are you sure you did not mean the width or height? Rectangular is not a navigable direction.

Perhaps I should have been clearer. I'm looking for a screen for my S8 projector and a digital projector. Screens for digital (HD) projectors are measured diagonally like TVs.

But I've heard film handlers describe their screens with diagonal measurements before.

In either case, I'm still interested in finding one. 100" diagonal would be about 90" wide.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on July 29, 2013, 11:01 AM:

Hi Ernie,

What I did that has worked very well is to sneak a rollup screen into the front window in our living room. It's a bay window, so there is a small ceiling behind the curtains it hangs from. All that was needed to mount it was two sturdy screw hooks (Home Depot). When it's retracted behind the curtains you can't see it at all, and when it's pulled down the curtains frame the screen very theatrically!

It's a Da-Lite 52" by 92" I got at B&H.

Da-Lite 52" by 92"

This is 106" diagonal and 16:9.

I've been using this one easily 3 nights a week since 2005 and it has never failed me even once.

The joy of this kind of settup is there isn't any setting up. It's just there whenever I need it and hides nicely when I don't.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on July 29, 2013, 12:51 PM:

Ernie, try this for a very inexpensive big screen before shelling out the money for a expensive one ...

1. Get a brand new white silk sheet, the brighter the better. (queen size or bigger)
2. Get two wood dowls (long thick wood poles) the length of the sheet.
3. Get four hooks, two for the ceiling, two for the wood dowls.
4. Get a pack of thumbtacks.

Now, take the thumbtacks and "tack' both ends of the sheet to the two wood dowls. For the top dowls, screw in the two hooks at opposite ends of the top dowl.

Make sure that the two dowls you are screwing into the ceiling, are at the same distance apart as the two hooks on the top dowls.

Once this is done, simply hang the screen on the two hooks in the ceiling and when not in use, simply take a decent strong rubber band and, having rolled up the bottom dowl (with the thumbtacked sheet, of course), simply put the two rubber bands on opposite ends of the dowls and simply take off the rubber bands to unroll this massive sheet down.

What you get is a very passable large screen for viewing your films, and at very little expense! Make sure the two hooks for the ceiling are the larger kind, (that you would hold potted plants with), so that they can support the weight of the dowls.

This should cost around 30.00 dollars or less. Most of the cost is the silk sheet. Dowls are fairly inexpensive at your local lumber yard.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on July 29, 2013, 02:40 PM:

Osi, you gave me an idea!

I was messing around with 1/2" PVC pipe last weekend and I thought "This must be useful for something!" (Other than that whole "water" thing...)

It's lightweight, It's cheap, it's available with all sorts of joiners.

If you built a vertical framework with legs on it and stretched some fabric across it, I bet this would be good for a large, portable (indoor) screen.

Outdoor? More of a sail!

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on July 30, 2013, 03:46 AM:

If you want a cheap idea; paint your wall white.

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on July 30, 2013, 04:13 AM:

The point I was making Ernie is that cine screens were always
width x height, 4x3, 8x4 etc, the TV industry measure the diagonal,to make it sound bigger than it is,which can be confusing.

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on July 30, 2013, 04:23 AM:

Excellent idea from Maurice.
Today’s top tip!
Dulux do an ‘Ultra White’ emulsion which is as good as any screen paint and contains light reflecting particles giving a said twice as much reflected light back. We used to buy a sheet of 8ft chipboard cut to size, sand it smooth and lay it flat when paining. I gave mine 5 coats of paint with a strait edge marked a pencil line around it to paint a matt black border using black board paint. When dry mount it on the wall and I used to have mine hinged so it would swing against adjoining wall, painted on the back to match the interior décor. Those were the days, it worked fine and today you have much better quality reflective paints available. Those old enough will remember Mike Kent had the same at his house.

Mike Kent with his 1970's setup also with a speaker in the screen side, oh plus a Eumig obviously!

Posted by John Selph (Member # 3366) on July 31, 2013, 09:37 PM:

Ernie,
Check your local Office Depot or Staples. When I worked at OD, we used to carry the old style screens for use with the new digital projectors. Nice brite white surface and didn't seem to wrinkle as much as the older ones did.
HTH,
John

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