for Engadget's How-To Tuesdays. And as anyone home theater buff will tell you, any HDTV worth its weight in salt will present its viewer with a 16:9 (1.78:1) aspect ratio display, or in some cases, project a 1.8:1 ratio. For todays How-To, though, we're building one of the holy grails of the home theater: a 2.35:1 widescreen. Yep, that's movie theater widescreen, alright.
The most important component is the screen material. Mom's old bed-sheet just isn't good enough (and is actually quite nast). Most fabric stores carry rolls of material called curtain backing or black-out cloth. It's a light, opaque white material used to make curtains actually block light. Made from cotton and polyester, one side looks like woven cotton while the other looks like it's plastic coated. At our local fabric store it was about $5 per yard and 54-inches wide. When buying your fabric, we suggest buying at least 4-inches wider and longer than your planned screen dimensions to allow room for construction. If you want to build a MECHA-screen, it's available even wider.
Shopping list:
- (3) 1 x 4 x 96-inch Douglas Fir boards
- (1) 2 x 2-foot x 13/64 piece of plywood
- 1-1/8th-inch fine thread drywall screws
- Staples
- (3) yards of white curtain blackout cloth
Tools:
- Drill with Phillips screwdriver bit
- Saw
- Staple Gun
- Hammer
- Utility knife or scissors
Our 2.35:1 screen is designed to maximize the materials we purchased. We decided to aim for a 104-inch wide, 44-inch tall screen. By placing 1 x 4 boards at the ends of our 8-foot (96-inch) boards, we achieved 103.5-inches of real estate.
The frame is constructed using theater set 'Flat' construction techniques. 1 x 4-inch boards, some plywood and drywall screws will make a very strong frame. We used Douglas Fir because it was easier to find nice straight boards, and it costs about the same as the more brittle (and bent) select pine. (To visually check the board, hold the end and look down the board lengthwise like a gun barrel. Avoid twisted and curving boards.)
To get started, the 1 x 4-inch boards need to be cut to length. Don't forget that 1 x 4-inch wood is actually .75 x 3.5 by the time it gets to you! Our trick for getting them even is to screw the two boards together and cut both ends at once. Screw two of your 8-foot long boards together and just trim the ends so they're perfectly even. Unscrew them and set them aside. Cut around 45 inches off your last board. Screw the two pieces together and trim one end even. Now cut the two boards down to 44 inches at the same time. (Don't hit the screws with your saw!)
You'll need to cut some 1-foot triangles out of the plywood for each corner. If you don't have a saw, you could just have the hardware store cut out 1-foot squares and use a square on each corner. We cut our triangles on a table-saw.
Lay out your wooden frame on a flat surface. The edges of the 44-inch pieces will be against the ends of the 8-foot pieces. To get the frame square, get a helper and a tape measure. Measure diagonally corner to corner. If the two measurements match, it's square.
Place your plywood triangles on the corners. We uses a scrap piece of 1 x 4-inch to place the triangle evenly off the edges.
Use your screw-driving drill to put the drywall screws in a pattern similar to the picture. (It's generally 3 screws in each corner and a couple along the areas the boards join.) You might want to double check the squareness of the frame as you work just to be safe.
When your frame is done, it'll look something like this. Theater flats usually have a cross bar, but for our light wearing application, it's just not needed.
Now you need a CLEAN surface to work on. Lock the dog in another room and lay your blackout material down on the floor. Carpet or a large clean blanket is important to use. Place your new frame (triangles up) on the middle of the material.
Starting in the middle of one of the long sides, wrap the cloth over the frame.
Apply a gentle tension to the edge of the cloth and staple the cloth about 3/4 of an inch from the outer edge of the frame. Work your way completely to one end. Return to the middle and work the other direction. Repeat for the opposite side. Do the same with the short sides. As you work around, evenly tension the cloth so that there will be no wrinkles. Take your time and it should be fine.
In the corners fold the material over itself and staple everything down.
If the fabric came out nice and even, go ahead and tap all the staples snugly into the wood with a light hammer. Don't hammer so hard that you cut the fabric in the process, you just want the spread the tension of the staple across the fabric.
When you're done, trim the extra material with a utility knife or scissors. Be careful and don't slip and cut your new screen.
Now that the screen is built, mounting depends on you. I used two brass shelf mounting tabs and drywall screws. Just locate some studs (our are part of a cloth covered frame behind the screen). and screw the tab to the back of the frame, and run a drywall screw through the mounting hole.
Voila! Total bill of materials: about $35 US.
posted Aug 29th 2006 at 7:09PM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Colin J. @ Mar 24th 2008 4:01PM
I'm probably being dense here but which side of the blackout cloth is facing outward (being projected on)? The rubberized side or the cloth side?
Dirtsandwich @ Mar 9th 2009 4:42PM
I have a IN74EX Infocus DLP PJ. They are about $1300 now. I simply built a drywall frame and put up drywall that's 10' wide by about 6' high. It's huge. 4" of black curtain on top, right and left sides. I have a aluminum bar that holds up a curtain on the bottom. I can raise this to multiple settings for different aspect ratios for movies. The right and left curtains expand inward to box in a 4:3 picture from an old movie. The PJ is about 17' back. I just painted the drywall with Behr Ultra White Flat paint. 3-5 coats and you are good to go. No wrinkles or nothing. Maybe every once in a while apply another coat, but I haven't and it's been almost 2 years. Easy to patch, clean, paint over marks.etc. HD looks awesome.
moorework1 @ Apr 20th 2009 10:26PM
Went kinda risky this weekend and decided to just attach the screen by staple gun to the drywall and stretch. Worked very well, had no problem with the staples holding (put a stable every inch basically), but this is a cheap way to do it, just staple it up and then frame around.
arkowi @ Aug 29th 2006 7:22PM
now, where can i find a sub-1000$ HDTV projector (that i don't have to build myself)?
all4artz @ Oct 29th 2007 6:19PM
Well there is a good reason to BUILD YOUR OWN and NOT buy one. I'll give your a hint...LAMP BULBS
glen @ Aug 29th 2006 7:26PM
looks great, but I'd like to see a shot from the front after it's mounted (but without the movie image on it). Hard to get an idea of just how huge this thing is otherwise...
Andrew Theken @ Aug 29th 2006 8:25PM
I was out in San Diego and ended up at a little lecture in the Data Visualization Lab.. they had a nice screen done like this.. but they used white Spandex.. It doesn't wrinkle, and you can rear-project with it.
Chuck Haskins @ Jan 25th 2007 3:31PM
I am looking to build or purchase a large 8 ft rear projection screen and spandex idea is great but this needs to be portable. Ideas?
Riza @ Aug 29th 2006 7:42PM
Look for a Sanyo PLV-Z2. Great HD projector for the price.
I picked one up last year for about $850 including tax and shipping.
stephan @ Aug 29th 2006 7:44PM
For a little more cash lazy types can get custom canvas stretcher bars and some ready-made cross braces from an art supply house. Should be a lot easier to make with only a hammer and stapler, and far lighter.
Bweetza @ Aug 29th 2006 7:48PM
Big bada boom!
Alex @ Aug 29th 2006 7:54PM
>now, where can i find a sub-1000$ HDTV projector
If you are looking for a sub $1000 HDTV projector, I've been using the infocus screenplay 5000 which has a 1280x720 LCD, and costs around $999 with a rebate. I've been using it for 5 months and I love it. Only bad part is the cost of the lamps, $319 at newegg for a 2000 hour lamp.
Mike @ Aug 29th 2006 8:46PM
How about just painting the wall with pure white and nailing the moulding around it for it to be "real" ? With some paints you could even make the screen have positive gain.
bozo @ Aug 30th 2006 10:26AM
I am running a X1.
480P is good enough...until HD-DVD, anyway.
100" With a decent 5.1 system is pretty awesome and
you could do the whole rig now adays for under $1000
J Ozer @ Aug 29th 2006 8:07PM
Seems like a waste of projector pixels. While some HDTV projectors are actually 16:9, most projectors people use are still 4:3. With a screen like that, you are looking at using only about 2/3 of your projector's pixels to make an image. Why not make a 4:3 screen, then show movies in 2.4:1 or whatever inside of that. Same size image for movies, plus you can use it for games and TV.
Rob @ Aug 29th 2006 8:30PM
take a picture with someone standing next to it. preferably a hot chick.
airpolgas @ Aug 30th 2006 1:02PM
Instead of asking for a sub-1K HDPJ,is there a 2.35 (CinemaScope) projector available for sub-2K?
The only way I could see the value of this is when you have a correct aspect ratio DVD or HD show (not HBO!!!), you would back-up your projector a bit so that the letterboxes are actually outside the screen. When you watch a 4x3, do you actually need to physically move your projector forward, if this is the case?
Will O'Brien @ Aug 29th 2006 8:37PM
The image on the screen is from my circa 1995 Sony VPH-1272 CRT Projector. It's a huge monster... but it cost me $100.
I did spend another $40 to replace one of the tubes - but it took a year of shopping around to get it that cheap.
dan @ Aug 29th 2006 8:59PM
for the blackout material, which side is facing out for the projector image, the plastic side or the cotton side?
Will O'Brien @ Aug 29th 2006 9:14PM
Which side of the cloth?
It doesn't really matter. I chose the slightly plastic side. Both are the same white, so it's up to your preference.
James @ Aug 29th 2006 9:17PM
Now can you come up with cheap ways of hanging a projector from the ceiling?
Ovidiu @ Aug 29th 2006 9:20PM
A better approach (fancier too) is to build a remote controlled retractable screen. I built one some time ago, check it out here:
http://www.webweavertech.com/ovidiu/weblog/archives/000429.html
dkimball @ Aug 29th 2006 9:30PM
The problem with using a piece of regular old fabric for a screen is three-fold. 1. You're going to loose a ton of lumens (brightness) because the fabric, no matter how white, isn't meant to be reflective. 2. You're going to lose a ton of contrast because the fabric will reflec certain colors/values more than others. 3. Becuase of the way fabric has threads oriented in certain ways, you'll lose more in off-axis viewing.
The solution? Screen Goo. It is a custom formulated acrylic paint that is designed to dry and harden into a highly reflective screen. You can essentially paint it on, and it will turn in to a pro-level screen. The offer different products for different applications, and they offer a true screen grey (believe it or not, grey is better for screens reproducing all shades of white to black). You can roll it on, etc. I work for a production house, and we paint tons of stuff with this goo to turn set pieces into screens. It ends up looking as good as a high end stretched screen.
For home theatre, just paint it on your drywall, and use some moulding to trim it out...
I think the link is http://www.goosystems.com
BrianP @ Aug 29th 2006 10:53PM
I project my Panny 900U onto a bare wall. I considered buying or making a screen, but the problem is the projection size varies. Sometimes depending on the material, I'm content with the minimum 92" diagonal. Most of the time, I prefer something about 1.75x that. And while I rarely go for the full 2x that literally is 10' high, sometimes I pull that out too.
The projector is in my basement with full light control, and I had already painted the walls a light coffee color. Probably with the right material it could retain more light or whatever, but it looks pretty darn good the way it is.
Bill @ Aug 30th 2006 5:51PM
I can personally say that heavy weight White Nylon/Lycra (Spandex) fabric works great for this DIY project. I believe that the image is much brighter because the fabric has a shiny reflective quality.
Lloyd Wagoner @ Aug 29th 2006 11:33PM
This is why I read engadget, Thank you.
post about screen goo, PRICE $35 (engadget) vs. $300 (for paint)?
anyone used or seen the DIY CANVAS MATTE PROJECTOR SCREEN MATERIAL on ebay? wonder if that would work as poster pointed out the contrast and brightness issues with fabric.
Ben Hobbs @ Aug 29th 2006 11:46PM
Why is everyone talking about 4:3, There aren't even any 4:3 Home Theatre Projectors that you can buy, 4:3 projectors are for data.
Sami Mustaklem @ Aug 30th 2006 9:51AM
What flick is that screen shot a capture from?
Randy Marsden @ Aug 30th 2006 1:24AM
You don't necessarily have to use the expensive goo paint. Of course, it is best, but if you're just looking for a decent screen, a cheap can of flat white primer paint works just fine. With the brightness and contrast ratio of most projectors now days, the image is just fine for the average user. I've used it in two home theaters now with great success. The added bonus: when your three-year-old decides to walk up and shake hands with Barney by touching the screen with his chocolate-covered hands, a quick job with the roller and you're good to go again. (Try that with your fabric screen Engadget!).
Slick @ Aug 30th 2006 12:49AM
I'm here to tell ya that "curtain backing or black-out cloth" works amazingly well. Most who have tried it say they don't see the need to go the more expensive route, once they see the results.
And the approx $35 price mentioned in the article is accurate.
Mine is awesome!
Slick @ Aug 30th 2006 2:20AM
one more thing, here is what has got to be the BEST place on the planet for anything related to DIY screens and anything home theater...
A terrific user's forum: http://www.avsforum.com/
"AVS Forum > Display Devices > Screens > DIY Screen Section"
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=35a20fe2194bdaefcc4bd24c65f11694&f=110
Trey @ Aug 30th 2006 1:06AM
Woot (http://www.woot.com) has a DLP projector today for under a grand. It'd go great with this project.
newswede @ Aug 30th 2006 4:29AM
Our living room was a deep orange and we wanted to go white with it. I don't know why, but I got the idea to use flat ceiling paint. It worked like a charm and I even left one wall totally bare for the projector. Looks great! Very sharp, lots of contrast, couldn't be better.
GhostDoggy @ Aug 30th 2006 5:18AM
Wow, so you wind up spending $35 and a lot of your time not knowing what the reflective properties might be compared to your white drywall surface. If you are that poor then simply chalk it up to not being well-enough financially empowered to get the best results from your projector in the first place.
Time to go print the 'Lambo' stickers and slap them on my Toyota Tercel.
Alex @ Aug 31st 2006 7:14PM
What Movie Is the Picture From? It has been annoying me all day!
Anthony @ Aug 30th 2006 6:40AM
For Bonus points, frame the screen with 2-3 inches of black felt to suck up any over shooting of the projector image.
James @ Aug 30th 2006 7:39AM
I used a "masonite" board for my screen, painted with matte white primer. The wooden frame was painted matte black to suck up overshoot light and avoid distraction.
I can't remember the total cost, but it was cheap ($30 - $40).
BDC @ Aug 30th 2006 8:20AM
Ralph Lauren makes a paint called 'Oyster' or 'Oyster Shell' that I used on my wall. Has great reflective properties (from ground-up oyster shells?) but needed to be sprayed with an HVLP gun. Looks great both as a screen and in the daytime as a regular wall. Couldn't be happier. Plus it was an excuse to buy a cheap HVLP gun
Darren @ Aug 30th 2006 9:54AM
Here's a simpler solution:
1/2" sheet of MDF from Home Depot - $15.95
16oz bottle of Titebond III wood glue - $7.99
1qt Sherwin Williams enamel primer $7.99
1qt Sherwin Williams blend $5.99
8oz Sparkling White Pearlescence $11.00
Cut MDF to 48"x83" - this will give a 1.5" perimeter border leaving 45"x80" final screen window with a 92" diagonal. Put whatever border you'd like on it.
Spread Titebond III glue all over one side.
Stick it on the wall(assuming wall is covered with sheet rock)
Paint with primer, then with blend mixed with 8oz pearlescence.
Not much construction, Home Depot cut the dimensions for me so I didn't even have to cut it.
Less than $50 and it works great!!
hitesh @ Aug 13th 2007 8:26PM
What color you used? do you have name/number? Thanks
sracer @ Aug 30th 2006 9:44AM
That's a nice simple plan for a movie screen.
I did something similar, though I used dry-fitted 1.25" PVC pipe as a frame so that I can remove the side rails and roll the whole thing up to store it away.
We don't have a dedicated room for media, so we quickly and easily covert our living room and kitchen island into an instant home theatre whenever we want to watch a movie.
I installed 3 plant hanger hooks on the ceiling where I want the screen to be, unroll the screen, insert the side rails and then hang the screen from those hooks.
We have an Optoma MovieTime all-in-one projector... (DLP projector, progressive scan DVD player, powered speakers all in one unit). We sit in the coffee table and we're good to go.
Within literally 3 minutes we are ready to watch a movie on a 7 ft. diagonal screen. When the movie's over, the projector is put away, the screen is unhooked, rolled up, and stored. The only trace remaining are the 3 hooks in the ceiling. :)
Chuck Haskins @ Jan 25th 2007 3:30PM
do you have pictures of this? I want to do the same thing with spandex to create a large portable rear projection screen for our church gym.
THIL1 @ May 21st 2007 2:18AM
Hi. If you happen to have any poictures of this set-up and how you've implemeneted it, I would greatly appreciate it! Also using an Optoma Movie-Time setup. Thanks!
Regards,
Tom
thomas_h01@yahoo.com
Ryan Carmody @ Aug 30th 2006 10:56AM
The "easiest" screen, not necessarily DIY is a motorized drop down. Thats what I am doing and building a window box around it with a couple can lights. That way you put a piece of art on the wall with lights on it and noone will know there is a screen hiding in there until you press the button and voila you have a 103" screen.
lifix @ Aug 30th 2006 11:37AM
@Sami: It's "The Fifth Element"
macona @ Aug 30th 2006 11:38AM
Sami: Fifth Element. Near the beginning.
I still would like to try some of those paint recipes on avsforum. I have a Infocus ScreenPlay 5000 I have had since last december and now have about 1500 hours on it. It just projects onto a flat white wall. My room is hard to conrol light in the afternoon so something with a bit more reflectivity would be nice.
Ken @ Aug 30th 2006 11:44AM
2 liters of Screen Goo Digital Gray Lite base paint, and 2 liters of the Screen Goo Digital Gray Lite topcoat make for a *beautiful* 9-foot by 4.5-foot screen. After painting the rec room wall, we then framed it with brushed steel curtain rods and 12-foot curtains from IKEA.
For the overall effect, you can see our home theatre at:
http://innospyre.com/v3.0/archives/2006/08/playing_in_our.html
As said in the above comments, you'll get much better return by using a semi-reflective paint than using a cloth that wasn't meant for projection. You're losing some of the lumens put out by your DLP projector as they're absorbed and scattered, rather than seeing them reflected back for the full quality and clarity of your projector.
I'm pretty happy with the Infocus ScreenPlay 4800, and I'm looking forward to upgrading to the Infocus ScreenPlay 5705 or another 1080 projector once the PS3 comes out.
Ken @ Aug 30th 2006 2:11PM
Not sure about CinemaScope and 2.35, but I've been using 16:9 for everything. In the case of 16:9 and 4:3, you can keep the projector in one location, but you going to have some wildly varying projection sizes as you switch video sources and screen ratios.
In my case, I'm using an Infocus ScreenPlay 4800, a 9'x4.5' projection wall, and fixed location of the wall & projector. I changed the settings on my video sources to use 16:9 (widescreen in DVD and on the PS2). With standard-definition coming off the DishPVR, shows look a little stretched, but I quickly came to like it.
Eun Yang of NBC4 in DC looks a little hefty at 16:9 off an SD signal. :)
Chris @ Aug 30th 2006 2:32PM
Been there.. did that. 92" Diag. 16:9 fixed screen for $88.00 for a hard screen I can wash and it is paintable! I looked into a fabric screen, but I wanted a sturdy screen. The Next update, A High Contrast paint.
http://www.grossmeier.com/blogs/cgrossmeier/articles/HOWTO_Theater_Screen.aspx
Bob @ Aug 30th 2006 2:41PM
I did a similar screen with a wooden back and painted the screen an off-shade of white. The frame is covered in black felt to absorb light. I also made some detachable blinds for adjusting the screen size between 1:85 and 2:35. Here are some photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shieldss44/sets/72157594165801536/