What primer were you using for your original screen?

Was the primer flat? (most are not by-the-way)

Do you have a sample of the primer to compare to?

If you painted the tile board and the primed wall screen is still there, could you take some photos with the tile board covering half of the screen?

I don't think it would make that much difference, but usually I had ti fill the pearl bottle half full and shake it about three time to get all the mica flakes out.

I did some experimenting with Behr Exterior primer. It was fairly white and had an interesting specularity about it. Under the light of my Optoma HD72 it hot spotted quite badly. I also played around with Glidden Gripper primer and it too had some sheen. If you used a similar primer with some sheen then it may have already had a gain greater than 1.

no, the primer was flat. It was fairly inexpensive, and had no sheen or hotspotting. Dont get me wrong, the screen is very watchable. (from the photos you have, it is about the same as one of the panels painted with just UPW. I would just like to have it help bring out the dark scenes, and make movies like 300 even more enjoyable) I'm going to try to change my bulb out. I bought it with my ballast used from ebay. Maybe that will help with some of the brightness, and bringing out true colors. Thanks for your help anyways Tiddler.

Ksonny the UPW what was the code on the can was it one of the ones that Tiddler mentioned?Did you apply the same way instructed to in the earlier post ?What lamp are you using in your current setup?How is your lighting in the room were the PJ is setup?You mentioned that you were going to replace the bulb what type of bulb are you going to replace it with ?These are all factors and contributers to take into account the over all projected image brightness, quality,sharpness etc.I am using the BT 37 400 watt M59 4200k 65CRI bulb the outer envelope is huge.The image being projected is 82" diagnolly ,this also must be taken into consideration my image is perfect except the screen door effect caused by the screen resolution.And because of the bulb kelvin and the bulb CRI that i'm using the image is warm but once my new bulb arrives (yes Still Waiting)T15 400watt
91 CRI the image will be brighter be a little cooler,how ever not to sure on the colors because the colors are 100% perfect rite now.Just some thoughts to throw in for you to help you get were you want to be.

hey, I used the behr UPW flat enamel (#1050 i think) not sure wut type of bulb it is... its 400 wat MH. my screen right now is 115 inches, which i know if i moved the PJ closer, and got a smaller screen, it would be brighter. this still might be a possibility because right now the PJ is hanging from the cieling in a very makeshift way. my cieling in the basement where my "movie room" is is not very high (like 6'5'') so Im debating on turning it into coffee table style, and therfore it would be moved forward a little bit to probably a 90in screen. the lighting is 97% controlled, so i know lighting isnt the issue. thanks for you interest.

Ksonny, I just want to be sure I understand the situation.

You started out with a matte white screen which was a wall painted with flat white primer. You do not recall the brand or the name of the primer and the can is long gone.

You purchased a piece of tile board and painted it flat white using the Behr UPW #1050 latex paint. Did you compare just the UPW to the white primer? Which was whiter and which was a flatter finished?

Skipping the Decoart version, you then applied two or more coats of Behr Matte Polyurethane #780 mixed with one bottle of Folkart Pearlizing Medium.

When you compare the tile board with this painted and Pearlized Clear Coated surface to the primed wall you find there is no real difference in brightness of the image. Is that correct?

Are you able to actually lean the tile board screen against the primed wall and project half onto the primer and half onto the tile board? This will allow you to do an A - B comparison. If possible you could also take a couple of screen shots to demonstrate what you are seeing.

You mentioned in the last post that your screen is 115" (diagonal?). Is it a 16:9 or a 4:3 aspect ratio screen? Either way I gather the tile board is only meant to be a test panel, or does the tile board come in sizes greater then 4'x8'.

What color are the walls, ceiling, and floor in the room?

Just to clarify what I am thinking, all things being equal there should be a noticeable improvement in brightness with a pearlized clear coat over a matte white surface when compared to a matte white surface.

all of your information are correct. the picture spills off of the tileboard unless its 16:9 ratio, then it fits almost perfectly. I have a HTPC running the system, so when i pull up programs like MS paint, i can put any color full screen and see the difference in color, brightness.. ect.. and i honestly see no difference. like i said, i get a fairly bright image... i just would like it to appear a little brighter and a little more like a regular TV (i know i know... i will never be able to get it that bright) i'll try to take some pix of different things, diffent scenes from tv, movies, color bars.. ect and post them as soon as i can.

Ok I was checking out Behr website and saw the #780 water based poly ... Ok .. It says to use this to cover the faux finish.. Right now my wall is painted flat white with some cheap walmart paint.. So let me get this straight I need to buy some faux flat white paint and then some #780 water based matte poly from behr... Wonder what happens if I just paint the poly over the flat white.... My image looks great on a flat white wall but when there is a scene with a white background and colored words ( Like Blue or Red ) the whites look alot brighter than the words... I can fix this by turning down the contrast but then the picture looks washed out a little.. Also when I play direct tv I notice even though I have a really good picture when I look at the blue border that shows the channel and info and it's real dark... Any perfected screen paint colors yet....
I am going to have to paint 1 whole wall because my image is 6.5 ft x 14 ft.... reso is 1024x768 I use GOM or VLC player and play all my movies in 16:9 Also Win DVR 3 is set to 16:9 ... 256mb FX5200 Nvidia card,,
I got to get a better brightness quality..

I should point out two important factors before you read my thoughts about possible screen modifications. First of all, I have no first hand experience with very lumen projectors. The second is that I am not too familiar with the use of HTPCs and what sort of color calibration issues there may be that could be effecting your image brightness for the colors. I would suggest you investigate the calibration of your projector and source before experimenting with the screen.

The significance of the Behr polyurethane being formulated to over coat fuax finishes is that it was intended to be rolled on, is quite clear, and levels out very well. It can be applied to protect many other surfaces as well as faux finishes.

I don't see any reason to over paint the flat white with another flat white.

If you have a DVD with the THX Optimizer on it then try calibrating the brightness and contrast. Again I recommend you look into forums where you can get some good advice on calibrating a setup like yours.

It may actually improve your picture to start with a very light gray and then paint over that with the the Behr polyurethane with some Folkart Pearlizing Medium added. I don't recommend you jump right in and paint the wall. It is worth while to experiment a little first. I know the Behr Polyurethane is a bit expensive but it is worth it to see what the difference will be.

You can buy a 2'x4' piece of 1/8" thick hardboard with a white surface on one side at Home Depot for around $2. I would try painting it with the following:

===============
Quart Custom Tint
Behr UPW #1050
0 2 0 Lamp Black
0 1 0 Yellow Oxide
===============

Just take this to Home depot they will know exactly what you want.

Put this up against your screen and you should find the colors look richer and the blacks deeper. The whites will be a bit subdued though. That may actually be what you want or like. This will however be overall not as bright as the flat white.

If you think the gray is an improvement then you have three choices.
- Leave it as it is if you like it.
- Add two coats of just the polyurethane to give the whites a gentle boost and protect the screen.
- Apply two coats of a pearl clear coat to maximize brightness as well as protect the screen.

If you don't like the changes introduced by the light gray then stick with the white and again you have the same three choices as far as top coating goes.

Application of the polyurethane is just the same as applying paint.


Go back to Post #16 for Pearl Clear Coat Instruction.

If you have trouble finding the Folkart Pearlizing Medium you can also use the Folkart Metallic White Pearl. It has a lower concentration of pearl flakes so you can either go with one 2oz. bottle or two 2oz. bottles added to the quart of Behr Matte Poly. With only one bottle of pearl the poly rolls on just like the paint but with two bottles you must use the down rolling to avoid streaks. I recommend the Folkart Pearlizing Medium over the Metallic White Pearl but both work well.

Like I said before I know it may cost the price of a quart of paint, a quart of poly, and maybe some pearlizing medium but it is well worth it for you to know exactly what to expect before you paint the whole wall.

Okay, this is what I have right now.. I'll buy different stuff if you think I need it.

2 Quarts of Behr clear poly 780
1 Quart of Behr Faux Glaze 748 (this looks white and not clear to me!)
1 Quart of Kilz2 latex white primer/sealer (maybe don't need on a white BOC screen?)
2 8oz bottles of Delta Pearl Finish
1 8oz bottle of Delta Metallic Silver
1 8oz bottle of FolkArt Silver Sterling Metallic (looks a lot more gray than the Delta brand metallic)
1 2oz bottle of FolkArt Metallic Pearl White

I know I can't mix all of it together so what would your suggestion be for mixing this stuff and applying to my screen? I would like to use a roller if possible.

For a screen I am using a stretched BOC on a frame that is 96" X 54"
How much paint do you think I will need to cover this screen?
I am looking for a little more brightness (aren't we all?) my colors are pretty good right now even projecting on that pinkish-cream colored wall right now!

I want you to know we all are deeply indebted to you for all your unselfish trials and experiments you are doing!
Thanks, Phil (Wulff)

Wulff,

Did you just purchase all these paint products?

If yes, then the good news is you can return most of it and get your money back. You only need one quart of the behr Matte Polyurethane #780, probably the Kilz2, and possibly the Folkart Metallic White Pearl. See comments bellow to decide about the Kilz2 and pearl.

What color are your walls, ceiling, and floors?

With brighter projectors, 300-500 optimized lumens, the light colored room surfaces will reflect light from the screen back onto the screen. For scenes that contain light and dark ares, this rebound ambient light will wash out the dark areas. The net result is a washed out image or loss of contrast. The best way to resolve this is to paint the walls and ceiling a medium to dark color. Another solution is to use a light gray screen surface. The result of using a light gray base with a pearl clear coat will be a screen with similar brightness as a matte white screen except the blacks will be deeper.

Will you always have the lights off, or might you have some ambient light?

Having some ambient light present will tend to wash out the blacks. Ideally you would keep ambient light to a minimum and directed away from the screen. If possible use can lights in the ceiling that have a narrow beam that shines down directly where you need the light. Directly over the seating area is best. Also use dimmers to minimize the light. If you will have ambient light in the room then again you may want to consider a light gray screen.

General Suggestions:

First thing I would do is return all the paint products except one quart of Behr Matte Poly #780, the quart of Kilz2, and the Folkart Metallic White Pearl. Look for the Folkart Pearlizing Medium, at Wal-Mart and Michaels. If you can find the Folkart Pearlizing Medium, get one 2oz. bottle and return the Folkart Metallic White Pearl. If you caan't find the Folkart Pearlizing Medium then get a second 2oz. bottle of the Folkart Metallic White Pearl.

Build your Stretched BOC screen, and hang it without a border. Also take some of the BOC (1 or 2 square feet) and apply two coats of the Kilz2. Use this small sample of primed BOC to determine which is whiter the BOC or the primer.

Use the screen with just the BOC to get a feel for your ambient light conditions. If you are having any problems with the blacks getting washed out by ambient light, and you cannot eliminate the ambient light through wall color or better lighting then you may want to consider a gray base.

As far as priming or not goes, generally I would prime unless you decide to go with a white screen and the BOC is whiter than the Kilz2. The primer is applied as shown in this video:


At this point you have to select one of the following 4 possibilities for the base color. If you are going white then decide between the BOC and Kilz2, by which is whiter. If you are going gray then you have to select one of the two tints bellow to use in the Kilz2. This choice is dependent on which pearl you will be using. The Metallic White Pearl has white paint pigment in it, so go with the darker tint. If you find the Folkart Pearlizing Medium, it has no color in it, just mica flakes, so go with the lighter tint. You should be able to return to the store you purchase the primer from and get it tinted.

===============
Quart Custom Tint
Kilz2 Primer/Sealer
0 1 1 Lamp Black
0 0 1 Yellow Oxide
==============
If using Folkart Pearlizing Medium clear coat

===============
Quart Custom Tint
Kilz2 Primer/Sealer
0 2 0 Lamp Black
0 0 1 Yellow Oxide
==============
If using Folkart Metallic White Pearl clear coat

Now you can apply the base coat of Kilz2, unless you have decide to go with the BOC as is.

The Pearl Clear Coat is either one bottle of the Folkart Pearlizing Medium added to one quart of Behr Matte Polyurethane #780, OR, two bottles of the Folkart Metallic White Pearl added to the Behr Matte Polyurethane #780. You will be able to apply two coats from the quart, possibly three, but don't start the third coat unless you are sure you will have plenty of the mixture. Scrimping and stretching the pearl clear coat usually results in streaks. Two proper coats is all that is required to get a nice boost in brightness.

Typically a quart of paint will give two coats on a 120" screen. Your screen is 110" so you should have plenty of Kilz2 and polyurethane for two coats of each. I found that a 3/16" or 1/4" nap fuzzy white lint free roller hold quite a bit of paint, maybe 4 oz or so. Therefore just bag the roller between coats of the Kilz2. Be sure to use a new roller for the pearl clear coat. Also wait over night to apply the pearl clear coat. You want to absolutely sure the Kilz2 is dry.

Don't forget to review the Pearl Clear Coat application instructions in Post #16.

Good Luck!

Yeah, I did purchase them within the last couple of weeks but my daughter was working on a project and had a lot of this stuff never opened.
My walls are light cream colored, the ceilings are white 'popcorn' texture.
I was setting up the theater room on the upper 'landing' where the stairway is, I can close off the bedrooms and put some covers over the windows but during the day I think I will get some light coming up the stairs.
If I have to we will only watch it in the hours of darkness (it would be nice though if I could have a small lamp on to light the HTPC.
Whaddya think, Tidd.. can you help me?
Thanks!
Wulff

Hi there Wulff,

I got impatient and added my thoughts to the previous post before yours.

It sounds like a light gray base would be helpful in your case. Just keep in mind that it is a very light gray I am suggesting and it will enhance the blacks while only slightly reducing the whites.

If the comments in the previous post don't answer all your questions or are not clear let me know.

Thanks for all the help...
My neighbor gave me a quart of Behr Silverscreen he had left over.
Would a base coat of SS and followed up with a pearl clear coat be good? I haven't heard a lot of good stuff about SS as a single-coat paint. I have heard the colors are good but the brightness is very low (not good for the DIY projectors).
Another question(s) I have read a lot about people mixing metallics and Pearl with non-clear base coats and wondered how this could work as the paint being non-transparent would only reflect the flakes that are right on the surface, right? In other words, if you took some white semi-gloss and mixed 8 ounces of Pearl in it wouldn't most of it be 'covered' up? Wouldn't it be better to put down a plain white base and follow with clear mixed with Pearl?
My head HURTS!!!

As far as I know, the Behr "Silver Screen" tint was NOT developed for use as a screen paint. That according to my contact at the Behr Color Laboratory. It was also color tested and found to be far from a neutral gray. I have encountered several people including my neighbor who have reported very unsatisfactory color shifting making red lips look purple etc. I only recommend Behr "Silver Screen" for painting the walls of your garage.

There are DIY paint mixes that consist of metallic flakes in a semi-transparent mixture of polyurethane, a bit of UPW, and some silver and pearl craft paints. These mixture do seem to produce a reasonable screen surface. If you want to learn more about them then go to AVS and look into the Silver Fire and RS-MaxxMudd DIY screen paints. My only problem with these mixtures is that they were difficult to apply.

I tend to agree with your assessment of a base of white or near neutral gray with a clear coat containing pearl flakes. I have not and will not be doing any real comparisons between these two aproaches but Mechman over at Home Theater Shack is planing to do some extensive testing and comparison of various DIY paint solutions. I do believe he will be testing Silver Fire and some of the EasyFlex solutions. One of the EasyFlex solutions involves a white or near neutral gray base with a Pearl Clear Coat.

Please note that I have revised the tints I had provided earlier in Post #60. This is based on my experience tonight with comparing a couple of these very light gray bases to a Da-Lite High Contrast Matte White screen. We were shooting to with a Sanyo Z2 which was rated at 800 Lumens. The tint with 0 3 0 Lamp Black was almost a dead ringer for the Da-Lite HCMW. It was just a bit lighter gray base.

Hey Tidd, I was wondering about the 'recipe' on the first page:

"3 coats of a mixture of a Quart of Behr Faux Glaze + 1/2 Quart Behr Matte Polyurethane + two 2oz. bottles of Folkart Pearlizing Medium."

I have the Behr Faux Glaze and wondered if this should be clear or white? Do you feel this recipe wouldprovide some gain? If it isn't real "GAINEE" what would help? More Pearl?
Do you think this might be the way to go? Oh, I can't find the Pearlizing Medium anywhere around here but I do have Delta Pearl and Delta Silver Metallic.
Why is the Pearl mixed with clear and not used alone? Is this to 'spread' it out so it won't be too bright?
Sorry for all the questions but it seems like for every recipe I find I have even more questions!

My experiments with the faux glaze did not produce as good results as the simpler poly plus pearlizing medium. The Pearlizing medium and the white pearls all have very high sheens. The Behr matte poly eliminates this surface sheen there by avoiding hot spotting.

The Delta pearl has very little mica in it and the Delta SM has gray pigment in it. I have tried adding the Delta SM to the poly but it just makes a mess when you roll it. It may be possible to spray it but then you would be in virgin territory.

In the end the simplest solution worked out to be the best. The pearlizing medium contributes only mica flakes and the Behr Matte Polyurethane rolls on very smoothly and levels out to a very smooth surface.

The only thing that crossed my mind is you could use some of the Delta SM to tint your Kilz2. I have no idea how much to add to the quart of Kilz2 but I would start by adding 1oz. of Delt SM to the quart of Kilz2 and paint a 1' square test piece. The mica from the Delta SM won't hurt in the Kilz2 and may add a little more gain. When viewing the results keep in mind the two coats of Poly+Pearlizing Medium will effectively lighten the gray and brighten the whites. I suspect that anymore than 2oz. of Delta SM added to the quart of Kilz2 will start to make it dark enough to kill the brightness you are looking for.

Cool, I will try that on a sample piece, I noticed the metallic silver does (as you mentioned) does darken the paint it is mixed with.... but, this brings up another question: How much Pearl can you use? like if I was to add a little Delta MS to the Kilz2 and then take three 8oz of Pearl and mix it with the Clear Poly (780) and put as many coats over this as I have material for?
I am thinking any of your recipes will be better than my off-white wall as I took a section of my BOC and tacked it on the wall and some areas of the projected image looked a lot better where it fell on the BOC (especially the blue sky).
Have you found while rolling the Pearl on that the flakes align a certain way depending if it is rolled horizontal or vertical? If it does make a difference what would happen if you did one pearl clear coat horizontal and the next vertical, etc… do you think this would help the field of view or do think it would darken it (because of light going in other directions)?
Sorry Tidd for all the questions, I am an engineer and because my family roots are from Germany I, (according to all my friends I over-complicate everything because I over-engineer everything I build!).

tiddler,
are you saying the Delta Ceramcoat Pearl Luster Medium ( here ) is not as good as the Folk Art Pearlizing Medium ?

I ask because I was thinking of trying the Delta because my local walmart and michaels didn't have the folkart PM.

cheers,
gs

I am not in favor of using the Delta White Pearl in the clear coat. There are two choices, either find the Folkart Pearlizing Medium, failing that use two bottles (4oz) of Folkart Metallic White Pearl.

I have not experimented with rolling the Pearlizing Clear Coat on sideways. It was always too awkward to try. I don't know if it would widen the field of view or not. It may work if you apply one coat with uni-direction rolling left, then apply the second coat with uni-directional rolling right.

The BOC is a nice matte white so it should produce a bright accurate color image. That's why I suggested putting up just the BOC screen and trying it. Then if you want to try the gray or pearlizing clear coats you have something known to compare to.

Don't worry I'm surrounded by engineers and scientists all day so I am used to it.

I had a look at the Delta Pearl Lustre Medium and could see that it did not have anywhere near as much pearl in it as the Decoart and Folkart. Therefore I did not try it. I did make up samples using the Decart and Folkart Pearlizing Mediums. The Folkart was noticeably brighter and whiter than the Decoart.

If you can't fins the Folkart Pearlizing Medium then you can try the Folkart Metallic White Pearl. It is more commonly available. Use two 2oz. bottle in a quart of the Behr Matte Polyurethane.

Tiddler, I was wondering why a person couldn't use White Pearl coat ONLY? Or at least add like 4 or 5 bottles to some clear matte coat?
I made up some test panels to test, I don't have a projection lens right now but can you get a good feel for the reflectivity by just shining the lamp on them?
Thanks for all the help!

One way to test them would be to take a picture of them with the camera flash on. Stand several feet away from the sample and take a photo. If it is going to hot spot you will see it like this:



The problem with the pearl alone is that it has quite a bit of sheen. I think you could get away with three bottles in a quart of poly. It gets a little more difficult to roll without getting streaks.

Thanks Tidd, I did as you said and it works good for testing purposes. While I was testing different mixes I mixed something like 30% White FolkArt Pearl and 780 Poly and I noticed that the panel took on an off-white. I don't know if this is due to the darker Mica flakes or if the white paint in the mix is not true white.
Do you think if I did my full screen with a mix such as this the image would suffer due to it not being ultra white in color?
One thing I have noticed with my projector, the black is very black and I don't notice any improvement by using gray.
What is your feelings on all this, Tidder?

The white pearl paints are not really white. They tend to be more of a cream color. That is why I was looking for a source of mica flakes that had no color to it. The pearlizing mediums are just mica in a clear base.

I don't know how far off neutral the screen would be so I don't know if it would be possible to get a good color calibration.

If you are in a completely darkened room and the walls are not reflecting the screen light back onto the screen than a white screen will have nice dark blacks. If there is any ambient light in the room you will see the white screen start to wash out. Here is a simple comparison of a white and gray sample panel in the dark and with some ambient light.



Keep in mind that the way a projector produces black is by not projecting any light. If the screen in white and there is enough ambient light to see the screen then the areas where the projector is not projecting light will not be black.

That makes perfect sense... it's sometimes easy to forget that you can't 'project' black!
I wonder if I could take my 'cream' colored pear coat and use this over a very light gray or maybe I should use a little more clear in it (with a gray background)?
I am really surprised at how well the pearl is working, The last sample I took and used a friends DIY PJ and compared it to a sample that I used glass beads and the pearl was brighter and didn't hot spot like the glass-bead... in fact, I found you can virtually approach the reflection properties of a glass-beaded screen by using the right amount of pearl... your experimenting has been a real help to those of us with lower lumen diy projectors!

If you apply your creamy pearl over a light gray that pushes a bit blue they could cancel each other out. Typically we use Lamp Black and Yellow Oxide to get a near neutral gray. The Lamp Black alone tends to make a gray that pushes blue. I would try a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 of LB to YO.

Paint Tinting 101

The three numbers in the tint formula are ounces, 48ths oz. and 96th oz. Therefore when you see "0 3 0 Lamp Black" it means there is 3 48ths oz of Lamp Black added to the can of paint. When I talk about the ratio of LB to YO I mean the ratio of the tint quantities. The following is a 3:1 tint ratio:

0 3 0 Lamp Black
0 1 0 Yellow Oxide

And a 4:1 ratio:

0 4 0 Lamp Black
0 1 0Yellow Oxide

If those tints are for a quart then what would the same tint be for a gallon. Keep in mind there are 4 quarts in a gallon. Therefore you must multiply the tint by 4. So here are the same tints as above but for a gallon:

0 12 0 Lamp Black
0 4 0 Yellow Oxide

And a 4:1 ratio:

0 16 0 Lamp Black
0 4 0Yellow Oxide

Now back to your gray base under the cream colored pearl. If you would say the pearl mix is a warm white then try the 3:1 ratio. If you can actually detect some yellowishness to the pearl then reduce the Yellow Oxide in the base. It may take some experimenting but there really are not that many choices. Since you guys are using low lumen projectors you should stick with very light gray bases. I would not go any higher than 0 2 0 Lamp Black / quart. I would keep the Yelow Oxide constant at 0 0 1 YO. Here is the list of possibilities:

Quart Tints:

(4:1) Tint
0 2 0 LB
0 0 1 YO

(3:1) Tint
0 1 1 LB
0 0 1 YO

You can also just use the Lamp Black.

Hope that is what you wanted to know about.

If you are interested in doing a little more experimenting beyond the very inexpensive Folkart Pearls I id briefly try two other higher quality products. These should be available at Michaels or other art stores. There is Liquitex Iridescent Medium and Winsor & Newton Iridescent Medium. These are both clear bases with reflective flakes in them just like the Folkart Pearlizing Medium.

The Winsor & Newton Iridescent Medium has very silver looking flakes. They are slightly larger than the other mediums but small enough to be usable for a screen. On axis gain from these flakes is quite high. Off axis they actually don't look silvery at all. Some amount of these very reflective flakes could be really beneficial to a low lumen application. It might be worth further investigation if someone is so inclined.

The Liquitex iridescent Medium is more like the Folkart Pearlizing Medium. I suspect the clear base is of a higher quality and it remains flexible as with most of the Liquitex products. The quality control and quality of the mica flakes is probably higher than the Folkart craft paints. I really could not see any significant advantage to using the Liquitex so I focused my attention more on the Folkart and Decoart products.

One other DIY screen solution you folks should consider is Wilsonart Designer White laminate material. Here is a link to more information on the laminates.

hey tiddler! i just wanted to update everybody on my pearl coat. after applying 4 coats, and re aranging my projecting (went from cieling mount to coffee table which helped control more light leakage from the projector) i can see the difference in gain. though not spectacular, very noticable. I would like to thank you tiddler for your support and enthusiasm towards this subject. I'll get some screenshots up soon, i have to tinker with keystone again so after that, i'll post some pix.

Ksonny !Thats great news so how do you like the new and improved screen colors are much better?Image is brighter?Let us no your results!!!

yeah colors are better, but the best thing about it is that when i'm watching a movie like superman, and the scene is outdoors in the middle of day, the screen makes it look like the middle of day instead of right before dusk. i'm goin to get some more AA bateries and fireup the ol digi cam tonight and get some pix up for u guys. I'm in the process of building a frame for screen. once that's done, let the entertainment begin.

Also, to improve brightness, i took the lid off my PJ and fiddled with the fresnel lens' while the pj was on. just by making sure the lenses were alighned PERFECTLY, it imporved my results dramatically. just an FYI for noobies like me.

I am so glad to hear you have finally achieved some acceptable results. After all the fiddling and what not, I hope you feel some sense of satisfaction. It is often a combination of things that will lead to the best result. Good on ya for leaving no stone unturned.

Tidd, I had a question.. I took one of my samples and put a coat of Kilz2 white primer followed by a single coat of Folkart Pearl White (not mixed with anything) and when it was dry I noticed it was almost as bright as a 'glass bead' screen, I didn't notice any hotspotting but my samples are so small (14" X 12") it may not be apparent. I then put a single coat of matte poly 780 over this. When dry I tested it and it had lost ALL the gain that the pearl had produced! In fact, I painted one sample with Folkart Metallic and even though it had the dark looking silver when I put this in the projected image it was a LOT brighter than the Pearl w/Matte topcoat!
Now I am lost as to how I should get some gain without having to use 'straight' Pearl White without topcoat.
Maybe I should keep adding pearl medium to the clearcoat till I get the gain I want?
By the way I found some paint called Pearlizing Medium by DecoArt at Michaels in 2 oz bottles, have you heard of it? It was in the same area as FolkArt so I don't know why I didn't see it before!

Read this post by tiddler about the DecoArt stuff.
cheers.
gs

The gain you are seeing is from the sheen of the pearl paint. This type of sheen will hot spot. You proved this to yourself when you top coated it with the matte polyurethane.

The Decoart Pearlizing Medium did not seem to produce as much gain and also seemed to shift the color of the image. I did some preliminary testing of both Pearlizing Mediums and the Folkart Pearlizing Medium seemed to perform better overall.

Here in Ottawa Canada I can find the Folkart Pearlizing Medium at most of the Wal-Mart stores in town. It does not seemed to be carried by the Michaels store but it is shown online at the Michaels web site.

At Michaels you may be able to find the Winsor & Newton Iridescent Medium. This contains very silvery looking flakes that may add a more dramatic gain boost but I did not do any extensive experimenting with it.

my coffee table setup: (the pics really dont do the screenshots justice, kinda a crappy camera, lots of shake)


desktop:


lights on!:


popular gladiator scene:


brad pitt TROY:

300 action:



there you go guys! all i have left to do is put a door on the coffee table so i can hide the pj when its not in use, and build a frame for my screen. Thanks again guys!!

The colors and contrast look very good to me. Next time just set the camera on the coffee table and use the self timer to take the shots. You will get a clearer crisper photo.

Thanks for the feedback.

I have a 90" blackout cloth heavily stretched over a frame. After reading your excellent post I'm looking at

Behr Ultra Exterior UPW Flat #4850 @

0 2 0 LP
0 0 1 YO

and then the Behr Matt Poly #780 with the Folkart Pearlizing Medium.

How many coats of each should I apply? I have the screen in my florida room with blackout cloth curtains (3 120" curtains!) but still have to deal with some ambient light so def want to try the 4:1 for more contrast & brightness from the Poly with the Pearl.

Look forward to soaking my WUXGA and painting this 90" screen tomorrow

The sample panels I prepared each had two coats of base paint and two coats of the PearlIzing Clear Coat.

Have been able to locate the Folkart Pearlizing Medium?

Has anyone else tried the PearlIzing Clear Coat?

I will be trying in the "near" future... i'm just not sure what "near" is !

ya got everything and need to do another coat for contrast and then the two clear coats. Dude, my screen ate almost an entire quart of the #4850

What size of screen is it?

How did you find the Behr ULTRA #4850 for application and leveling?
Did it produce a very smooth uniform surface with very little texture?

Did you use this basic rolling technique?

I did it on my screen it made a noticable difference when compared to a plain white wall. I applied it directly to my wall.

I was retarded and used the wrong paint roller. My wife usually does the painting around here

So, I sanded the screen (90") and repainted with the correct roller and only used half a quart this time and it is much smoother. Will be doing a clear coat tomorrow so I can watch some SEC football goodness in HD

downloading Gladiator and 300 H.264 ripps right now too

Looking forward to your feedback and some screen shots if possible.

Hey Panabob!

How did it work out in the end?

Come on Panabob! I'm dying of anticipation here!

Even if it turned out badly please let us know what happened.

Hey Tiddler.
I've started my test panel. Have had the UPW base coat on for some time, but now have a single clear coat layer on. No difference at all w/ one coat. I will apply another today, test this evening, and probably apply another coat tonight and test again tomorrow... It takes about 3-4 hours for a good dry before being able to apply another coat. Once I get some visual difference i'll post some screen shots...

cheers.

Are you just applying the Behr Polyurethane or are you adding the Folkart Pearlizing medium to it?

Do you have a sample of the UPW alone? Something that you can put up next to the screen and see if there is a difference. i would suggest something at least 2' square. Home Depot sells 2'x4' 1/8 white hardboard panels for about $3 if you don't have some scrap around the house. It may be worth the effort just to have some basis for comparison.