DIY screen question

[Beta Man]

I've been looking at this.....

http://members.shaw.ca/danhanson/The...eenproject.htm


but also looking at this

http://www.buildyourownprojectionscr...atalog/i5.html


my question....

The method described about has the material pulled, and stapled to the flat surface..... is it not better to pull the material COMPLETELY OVER the frame, then apply that velvet tape????? I just don't see how that person in the first link made the screen "Taught" and without wrinkles etc.... Should I plan on making the screen 7 inches taller, and 7 inches wider (after stretching etc... outside dimensions of frame) and apply this 3.5" velvet tape all the way around it?????

Also, with the zoom feature, if I make my screen 98" or 102" etc... after the border is on etc... will it matter that it's not perfectly proportionate with the dimensions given for a 100" 16:9 screen??

Sorry for the numerous stupid questions!!!!!

[Brain Sturgeon]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

I've been looking at this.....

http://members.shaw.ca/danhanson/The...eenproject.htm


but also looking at this

http://www.buildyourownprojectionscr...atalog/i5.html


my question....

The method described about has the material pulled, and stapled to the flat surface..... is it not better to pull the material COMPLETELY OVER the frame, then apply that velvet tape????? I just don't see how that person in the first link made the screen "Taught" and without wrinkles etc.... Should I plan on making the screen 7 inches taller, and 7 inches wider (after stretching etc... outside dimensions of frame) and apply this 3.5" velvet tape all the way around it?????

Also, with the zoom feature, if I make my screen 98" or 102" etc... after the border is on etc... will it matter that it's not perfectly proportionate with the dimensions given for a 100" 16:9 screen??

Sorry for the numerous stupid questions!!!!!

From what I've read, it is much easier to staple the material to the front of the frame, and then mask it with velvet tape. Here is a quote from the owner of SMX Screens on doing this:

Don't start from the corners or ends, start from the middle stretching towards the top and bottom. Work your way from the middle to each end stretching the material the height and direction you're are going.

This method proves best for mounting without issues.

It is much easier to staple or Velcro your material to the front of your frame. Then just cover the staples by trimming out your frame with a black velvet border (velvet wrapped around door casing). Wrapping the material around the frame and stapling it to the back can be a trying method and people usually end up not getting it 100% perfect.

If you don't have perfect 16:9 screen, it's not usually a big deal as the velvet border will absorb any light spilling on to it. As long as you're close, you just zoom your image so that it fills the screen top to bottom, left to right, and let the velvet black out any overspill.

Just remember, measure/calculate twice (or more!), cut once.

[Beta Man]

So the way this guy did it, was stapled the screen to the BACK, after he wrapped it with velvet, so you're saying Staple it to the front, WITHOUT pulling the screen over the frame, and then covering it with velvet......

This was originally the way I was planning on doing it, and then adding a velvet border to the outside....


http://www.eldamar.net/house/ht/screenHowTo.html


See how he pulls it around, and makes it nice an taught????? You're saying to pull to the edges and staple, but not over the top of the frame????? I can do either, I just want to pick an angle of approach, and go with it!!!!!

And yeah.... I'll measure a LOT, and make sure I have everything I need before I start on this venture!!!

[Brain Sturgeon]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

So the way this guy did it, was stapled the screen to the BACK, after he wrapped it with velvet, so you're saying Staple it to the front, WITHOUT pulling the screen over the frame, and then covering it with velvet......

This was originally the way I was planning on doing it, and then adding a velvet border to the outside....


http://www.eldamar.net/house/ht/screenHowTo.html


See how he pulls it around, and makes it nice an taught????? You're saying to pull to the edges and staple, but not over the top of the frame????? I can do either, I just want to pick an angle of approach, and go with it!!!!!

And yeah.... I'll measure a LOT, and make sure I have everything I need before I start on this venture!!!

I think you could do it either way-- from what I know, BOC is a bit stretchy which should make things easier. It seems to me that just stapling it to the front would be easier, and you'll end up with the same result at the end. Some of the screen DIY'ers here could probably chime in and give their thoughts on this issue.

[09camaro]

I stretched mine around and stapled on the back. I just feel that a screen
properly stretched this way will maintain it's tension better than front stapling.
It is a little easier to staple on the front. Just go with the method you feel
more comfortable in doing.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by 09camaro

I stretched mine around and stapled on the back. I just feel that a screen
properly stretched this way will maintain it's tension better than front stapling.
It is a little easier to staple on the front. Just go with the method you feel
more comfortable in doing.

I think stretching it to the back, then adding that felt tape I found (errr... Brain gave me the link to ) is the way I'll do it!

P.S. I'll have to measure, but I think if I get the "Big" roll of tape, it'd be big enough for two screens...... might I'd have to measure out the screens etc to be sure..... but if I go that route, maybe I'll trade you half a roll of the tape for a blu-ray or something (I also have enough screen material to make a second screen, but you already made yours! )

[AlaskaDon]

I cut my boards, wrapped the Veleveteen tightly to the boards, then assembled the frame. That way you can just staple the BOC to the back of the frame and don't have to worry about what the stapling job looks like. You just have to get it on good and tight. As long as you use care to get the velvet on the frame without wrinkling it, it comes out looking very nice also.

After everything is put together, I would cut 4 triangles out of plywood and screw them to each corner on the backside of the frame to make it more rigid. Screws because you want to be able to remove them if you need to replace the BOC. This way the BOC is sandwiched between the wood frame and the corner braces.

[Beta Man]

excellent! thanks! I'll have to locate some felt/velvet etc... if I don't use the "velvet tape" stuff (which was kinda expensive, but worth it I thought) Any regular fabric store sells this stuff I assume??? ahhh hell... back to AVS I go!!!!

[AlaskaDon]

Yup, just tell the person at the fabric store that you're looking for black Velveteen. They'll know exactly what you need. Since you already bought the tape, you may want to stick to original plan though. I'm not familiar with doing it that way.

The corner bracing is still a good idea though. I didn't do that but wished I had after the fact. If I ever have to take my screen down off the wall, I'm going to do that myself

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by AlaskaDon

Yup, just tell the person at the fabric store that you're looking for black Velveteen. They'll know exactly what you need. Since you already bought the tape, you may want to stick to original plan though. I'm not familiar with doing it that way.

The corner bracing is still a good idea though. I didn't do that but wished I had after the fact. If I ever have to take my screen down off the wall, I'm going to do that myself

I didn't buy the tape.... was going to order it.... I just bought the Blackout Cloth, projector mount, longer HDMI, and was planning on going to the hardware store (home depot) tomorrow..... I should call up the same place I got the Blackout Cloth, and see if they have "velveteen" there, or if I should order it.....

When they special ordered the screen material for me (BOC that is) there was a 5 yard minimum order, so I ordered 6 yards (to get two screens out of it) If they don't carry the velveteen, I certainly don't need 5 yards of it.......

When you bought yours, were you able to get it cut in a size where you could make continuous pieces to stretch over the wood frame, or did you over-lap it???? If so, is it noticeable?

[AlaskaDon]

You get the Velveteen long enough to cover your 2 longest boards then you cut it lengthwise into 4 strips. No overlapping needed. It's probably easiest to just pick it up at the local fabric store.

I'll save you some sticker shock though. When I built mine last year, the velveteen was the most expensive part of the screen. I think I spent around $35 on it. You could go cheaper with felt or something, but the velveteen ends up looking really nice. It takes a little care when wrapping the boards (on the 45's at the ends) but it's doable and looks very professional when you're done.

[Brain Sturgeon]

Beta,

If you're looking for some (relatively) cheap velvet sheeting to black out your screen edge, check out the adhesive velvet sheeting at www.mcmastercarr.com . Just search for velvet sheet and it's item number 88015K2. That's the stuff I used to black out the front of my theater, and it is black.

Here's a couple of pics from a DIY'er at AVS that used this material:

[Beta Man]

Minor.... little..... unimportant update.......

Screen is Complete (without black-border, need to hang it, and shoot an image on it to decide how wide of a border etc to do)


I'll get pictures soon.

[sticks4legs]

If your willing to put the time in, and stretch it properly you can get some great results.

Look up how to stretch canvas for painting and then follow that pattern.

[aramis109]

Total noob question, more out of curiosity than anything else- outside of removing som reflections, are there any other advantages to a curved screen such as the DIY pics posted above?

I'm not currently in the market to build a screen as my house won't support it but I was wondering.

[Brain Sturgeon]

Originally Posted by aramis109

Total noob question, more out of curiosity than anything else- outside of removing som reflections, are there any other advantages to a curved screen such as the DIY pics posted above?

I'm not currently in the market to build a screen as my house won't support it but I was wondering.

Yes, curved screens are useful for managing the pincushion and geometric distortion introduced by the use of an anamorphic lens in a scope (2.40:1) projector/screen setup. Pincushion and distortion occurs because the light from a projector has to travel a farther distance to the edges of the screen than to the center. This is usually minimized by lens design in the projector, but introducing an anamorphic lens into the light path accentuates this effect. A curved screen combats this effect by keeping the screen material equidistant from the point light source of a projector. The amount of curve you need can be calculated precisely based on throw length and screen size, but most people (myself included) find that a 40' radius curve works well.

A curved screen also helps to increase perceived brightness by reflecting more light towards the viewer.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by Brain Sturgeon

Yes, curved screens are useful for managing the pincushion and geometric distortion introduced by the use of an anamorphic lens in a scope (2.40:1) projector/screen setup. Pincushion and distortion occurs because the light from a projector has to travel a farther distance to the edges of the screen than to the center. This is usually minimized by lens design in the projector, but introducing an anamorphic lens into the light path accentuates this effect. A curved screen combats this effect by keeping the screen material equidistant from the point light source of a projector. The amount of curve you need can be calculated precisely based on throw length and screen size, but most people (myself included) find that a 40' radius curve works well.

A curved screen also helps to increase perceived brightness by reflecting more light towards the viewer.

Great explanation. Thank you.

[Suntory_Times]

Originally Posted by aramis109

Great explanation. Thank you.

I bet diy'ing one would be difficult though.