DIY Screens

I have found a UK dealer that sells sheets of Matt Coloured Melamine Faced MDF (2440mm x 1220mm x 4mm ( 1 Side Only ), 6mm, 9mm, 12mm, 15mm, 18mm and also 2550mm x 2050mm x 18mm

I will be making a 7 or 8 foot 16:9 screeen when I move next month.

I will be using the new Tosh TDP-MT5 projector.

I will post pics when its finished

Pip

dont use a Melamine covered screen

I did, gave me terrible hotspots on my CRT, plus low contrast etc

just paint some MDF, far better solution.

Thanks for this ... its quite expesive too

[Gary Lightfoot]

I made a screen using 70mm x 18mm wood and 'blackout' cloth (the shop girl will know what you mean - she did in my case). The cost of materials was about £28.

I made a wooden frame that was 84ins x 47.25ins with a center brace to stop bowing, and glued and screwed it together. I then stretched the blackout cloth over it using a staple gun to secure it. Gain is about 1 to 1.3 according to those over at avsforum.

I got the wood from B&Q (2.7m lengths @ £7 for 4), the cloth can be found in most good curtain shops (I got mine from Alders) and it cost me £5 per meter (3m = £15, but probably cheaper elsewhere). The rest of the cost was for (long) screws and staples for my Argos staple gun (£8 IIRC).

There's a bit of a knack to stretching the cloth (middle outwards), and it needs two people. Most people use the white cloth side of the material. Pics are on my web page if you want to see.

HTH

Gary

[paulsa]

Hows the screen fairing with use gary ?? i like it i have almost the same shaped room (with exactly the same shaped roof !!) as you have for my home cinema, but with a big problem,my `screen wall`is in the same position as yours,but.....my `wall` is a balistrade overlooking my lounge so i need a screen that can be put up and taken away after use...so has to be light ,your idea might just be the solution i am looking for

[Gary Lightfoot]

Hi Paulsa,

The screen is certainly light, and if you can take it down and put it somewhere it could be the cheapest solution.

It hangs on the wall like a picture - two pieces of wood either side screwed onto the wall are all that I used (each one centrally placed either side of the center brace).

You could easily hang it in place using string or something.

Failing that, a manual pull-down or electric screen may work, providing it won't look out of place.

I'm very pleased with it, and can't warrant spending 10 times as much on a proper screen that I doubt will give ten times the improvement over it.

Gary.