Has anybody ever thought of using a roller shade as a projection screen? But, paint the back black so it absorbs ambient light. I have tried it, and it works...

My old screen was a 72" roll up shade. worked really well 'till it got tore up in the move. Never thought to paint the back though... hmmm.

Im wondering if it might be better to paint it silver? Computek, you ever kicked that idea around? How much light gets through the shade to begin with?

SJ

That sounds a whole lot easier than my solar sailer contraption...

But your solar sailer has so much style. I mean, come on.

What's good for tron is good for me.

The light goes through, but hardly any light does. I pointed a halogen lamp at the screen's back and looked at it from the front, and hardly light gets through. I even sprayed one small spot silver on the back and it seemed to absorb light. But, i dont know what black's effect would be.

Interesting. If this works, it could be a cost effective solution, akin to blackout cloth.

Did you come from the DPC forums? If so, Welcome aboard the U.S.S. Fiat Lux. Please honor Co-Captain Brainchild and Co-Captain Lustra.

Yes I did, thanks for noticing. My hat's off to them. Now, where are the refreshments...

Would it be better to paint the back of the curtain or the front? (With the silver paint I mean.)

The back. I was hoping the silver would reinforce the lumens on the front by pushing back a bit of that light that comes through.

Commercial screens are black on the back...

Ok. I asked because I have seen where people would use mixtures of silver and pearlescent paint to use on the wall. Because of this, I wasn't sure whether it was desirable to paint the back to "augment" the front, or to paint the front and use the painted screen, like a painted wall. (That way you could roll it up like a screen.)

You could do that too. The only thing I would be concerned about would be the paint flaking over time. I know that silvery colors tend to hotspot when they are used for screens, so folks tend to cover silver layers with other semi transparents to allow the shine through but kill the hotspotting. There are some really complex formulas listed on the site.

Yeah, I thought about the flaking as well. I guess it makes more sense to just buy a good screen that is designed to take that sort of punishment if you're worried about screen quality and the ablility to roll it up.

Brainchild has been working on screens for a better price. I have no idea on the ETA, though. The product looked very nice. Price was right too.