I am no expert on video projector screens but I know there are different sizes, aspect ratios, surfaces, and types of screens (portable, rear projection, pull-down, etc), knowing what you need can be confusing at best. The only other thing I know is they can get expensive depending on the need.
We did a youth room redesign this summer and instead of buying an expensive screen that I am afraid will get messed up or hangs and looks clumsy, I justed used the wall that was there. Here are the few tips if you are thinking of trying this:
- We added a reclaimed wood wall and simply squared up a space for a screen.
- We make sure the wall was flat and without pits (basically fixed any imperfections with drywall compound).
- We painted the wall white with a “Flat White” paint. (DIY screen paint is $65 to $300…flat paint is non-gloss and around $25).
- I went to HomeDepot to by 1 1/2″ x 1/4″ flat (no design) trim and spray painted it flat black. This became the bleed area of our screen. HomeDepot had the longest available (needed a little more than 9′ and the other home improvement stores only carried 8′), I paid by the foot, and I could cut it any length (did not have to pay for what I did not need).
There are no magic numbers here, you can use any measurement for your screen and trim as long as you use the correct dimensions(16×9, 3×4?) and the trim looks natural with the size screen you chose. I have never used screen pain, I am sure it is better but $300 vs $25…in the battle of good vs good enough the $25 flat white paint wins.
Are you using a DIY screen? What did you do differently?
Trim that still needs to be mounted
Trim is pretty thin and 1.5″ wide and just about as long as you need (HomeDepot).
The screen without trip no projector.
The screen without trip projector on (Same lighting…the bright screen forced a dark pic).