Screen Goo??? worth it? or just grey paint is ok?
ok. we painted my buddy's wall and framed it in with slightly light grey paint, and the image looks great. the salesguy at a store convinced him to buy Screen Goo or something like that for the wall instead and said it would look 10X's better. anyone used this product? is it worth it? is it SOOOO much better than flat paint? is it worth the 200.00 cost? thanks in advance!!

Screen Goo is a good product, but you can do the same with many of the DIY methods described on the AVS DIY screen forum. I spent years trying various DIY paint methods with paints you can buy at your local Home Improvement store. I've used rolling and spraying methods. Yes you can get a great result that will rival commercial screens costing hundreds/thousands more. However, you need to be willing to put some time and testing and practice to get good results.

My last screen was a AVSforum favorite called SM/MMud (Silver Metalic/MississippiMud) which gave me great results, but not until I spent months practicing my painting methods. If I were you, I would go with a UPW Flat White (Ultra Pure White) if your set on painting. You do NOT want any texture on your walls.

You need to keep in mind that a gray screen should only be used if you projector has poor contrast. Today's newer projectors do not suffer from this, so you really don't need a gray or "high contrast" screen. Actually, you will lose color vibrance the more gray you go. On the flipside, if you go with a high power screen (high gain) you'll have more pop and color to the image, but contrast (grays) will suffer. Your best bet if you get a decent projector, is to go with a Matte White 1.0 gain screen. Matte white has been around in the screen industry for many decades. That is what most theaters use.

There are other DIY options, like building a frame from wood, and wrapping with Black Out Cloth. BO Cloth is rubbery drapery lining that will not let any light pass through it, one side is smooth matte white. Or, if you have a Home Depot or Menards around, go to the paneling aisle and get some Parkland Plastics Durotherm Lite panels. They come standard in 4ft x 8ft x 5/16" thich core. They are very light weight and one side is smooth white and gives killer results.

All your answers are on AVSforum and ProjectorCentral as I've mentioned in prior responses.

One other thing about Screen Goo, if you take that route. You would only use one of their gray formulas if their online website recommends that for your projector. They have many variations depending on the projector your using. They have spent many years developing the various formulas.

So, read their website, check to see what they recommend for the projector your using, don't just go with gray because some wacko guy told you to.

I used silver screen from Home Depot, I think it works great and only costs 16 bucks. Try it, whats 16 bucks!

I forgot about the silverscreen stuff.

ive used both wall and screen, and the wall works just fine. the first wall i used was just some white wall, and the picture was pretty good, then i moved and bought a screen a dalite, i liked the screen a lot.. now i am back to wall, accept witha twist, my wall is tan, a very light tan, not great for projectors but the picture is suprizingly good. Some of the colors are off, but not too much, and having been in my certain contidion that I am now, I will NEVER pay for a 1000$ screen, even if I can afford it. I would say go for it, and paint your wall, whats the worst you can do, waist maybe 100$, I definaly wouldn’t spend 200$ like you said before. Just go to avs and educate yourself, and go from there.

What is this Silverscreen thing? I have a Dalite hi power screen, because I heard long ago it was best for table top mounting. Now I want to ceiling mount my PJ, and I wonder how the hi power will do.

So....what is this Goo...and what is this Silverscreen? Links would be really good.

Thanks for the help...

http://www.goosystems.com

Silverscreen is just a DIY paint method that some guy on AVS discovered. Silverscreen is a Behr brand paint. There are lots of DIY paint methods described on AVSforum in the DIY Screen section.

flat white and flat black. Cheaper than goo and just as good. I have compared it to samples from Goo ,Dalite and Sahara screens and for what they charge! I,m Happy. Money saved can be put to better speakers.

Silver screen paint by behr is good I just found that my white levels went to low but blacks looked great. I'll post some pics of all the samples in use.

I agree, people get all caught up on the screens are this magic thing. Years ago when projectors did not have as good of contrast ratings, a screen with a slight gray tint helped somewhat, but as arcticair mentioned, you will sacrifice in other areas. On the opposite side is having a high power screen will give you more pop to the image, however, black levels can suffer. A "matte white" screen is the middle of the road with a 1.0 lumen gain. It has been around for ever.

I played around with paint methods for a long time. ME (misty evening), ME+, SM/MMud, silverscreen, and good ole Black Out cloth. They all had pros and cons. In the end I just built a frame and stretched some Dazian PVC matte white non-perf material around and attached with velcro. The picture is great.

I also painted my back wall flat black and the side walls/ceiling a dark blue.