I've got a cheap-o coworker who wants to plan his next home theater. He will never fully come to the realization that some things DO cost a little bit of money, but at the same time, he has a nice little setup today.

Anyway, he asked me about some super cheap material he could possibly use in his next theater. Right now he has a 120" 1.78 (16:9) screen that he made using blackout cloth off of eBay about 5 years ago. Gain is rated at 1.0

He has seen my 138" screen and I think that he wants something bigger than 120". I told him that if he doesn't put his speakers behind the screen, that he can get a little higher gain and get some additional "pop" to the image. Something like 1.3/1.4 gain which will really help with the larger screen size.

He does NOT want to paint anything, that is for sure. While he liked DIY, he also wants it to be "easy."

Kind of the best of ALL worlds.

I liked my Carada brillian white (1.4 gain) screen that I used to have, but it would be around $900+ for the size that I think he wants. He is looking at $72 shipped BO cloth on eBay that will get any screen size up to 190", but I cautioned him about the size/light loss correlation.

I did see some pull down screens that were 1.3 gain that he could cut the fabric out of and put into a fixed frame, but they only had enough material for a 110" 16:9 screen, and again, I know that he will want something larger.

Any ideas out there?

I think the home improvement stores still have the Parkland Plastic honeycomb core sheets, but they would be 4' x 8' I believe.

I thought about that too, but it will be too small unfortunately.

WilsonArt Designer White laminate. I can't recall what the gain is on it but I'm extremely happy with it in my light controlled room. About $200 for a complete roll plus a few $ in wood to make a frame. Look on the person in the custome kitchen building shop when I asked to order a roll for myself, priceless.

Cool stuff. It seems like lots of people have used the WilsonArt stuff with great success.

I will pas it along.

I thought it only came in 5x10 foot sheets? I don't think that a 60 inch height gets him where he wants to be for screen size.

I bought a 120" length as my screen size was only going to be 96" diagonal. However, I still have my notes and here is what I had pasted into them from the Wilsonart site. Of course, things may have changed.

Edit: After going to a screen calc, I obviously bought the larger size or my height would not have worked out. Took about two weeks for delivery to the Kitchen store.

Standard Sheet Lengths
96” 2438mm
120” 3048mm
144” 3658mm

NOTE: Not all sizes are available from stock; contact your Wilsonart representative for details on local availability. Minimums apply to non-standard designs and finishes in sizes other than 48”x96” and 60”x144”. Please check with your Wilsonart representative.

Screen calculator tells me that a 120" 16:9 diagonal screen is ~105w x 59h. So, if you want a bigger screen than that, you have to get something besides the Wilsonart. But, dude, more than ~9 feet wide?!?!

Nick, I've typed and deleted something like this a few times now. You are a good friend. I think your buddy that wants 1.3+ gain, 120"+, cheap, easy, no-paint, DIY is asking "too much" of life.

105x59 fits in the 144x60 Wilsonart size. Just barely but if you work your frame correctly, the 1 inch of play on the height should be fine.

Right. But Nick said


As for me, I think the Wilsonart solution is freaking brilliant. And that you're a nice, smart man who probably smells good, too.

Ahem, my screen is 10 feet wide.

Yea, I told him that 120" 16:9 will be ideal for him. That is what he has now.

Yeah, I know, but you're our resident overachiever. And you're not whining about painting (or anything) being "too much trouble".

LOL

For me I just purchased the Dazian material off their ebay store in the size I needed, built a wood frame, and the rest is history, for probably less than $110 if I recall. The vinyl like material used in theaters cleans/dusts very easy.

Yea, I remembered that Randy, but I couldn't find any on eBay.

I can try and look, or try just going to Dazian's website.

No worries. I told him to dig into it a little more on his own.