What colour for walls?

[dunamis]

I'm intending to use my front lounge as a home cinema (when I've got the money). My plan at the moment is to fit a Hitachi TX100 and an Icestorm painted 100" MDF board for the screen.

My wife and I are going to be repainting the room in the next few months and it's unlikely that grey is going to get past the decorating committee (if that is the optimum for a home cinema). We're thinking of a dark ivy green at the moment...are there any implications for viewing that I should be aware of?
Does the colour sound OK or will it not make much difference?

[PJTX100]

Originally Posted by dunamis

I'm intending to use my front lounge as a home cinema (when I've got the money). My plan at the moment is to fit a Hitachi TX100 and an Icestorm painted 100" MDF board for the screen.

My wife and I are going to be repainting the room in the next few months and it's unlikely that grey is going to get past the decorating committee (if that is the optimum for a home cinema). We're thinking of a dark ivy green at the moment...are there any implications for viewing that I should be aware of?
Does the colour sound OK or will it not make much difference?

The darker the better as a rule of thumb but if you can control the light it doesn't have a huge impact.

I too use a painted MDF board and it will do the job nicely, not the most wife-friendly thing though (for a lounge anyway) - does your wife know of this plan?

...PJ

Edit: forgot to add - use matt paint!

[Mr.D]

Darker is better as you'll get less light reflected back from the walls and ceiling ( don't forget the ceiling or the floor for that matter).

Even if you can get the room effectively pitch black for viewing if the walls are light coloured it has a massive effect on the black level.


We went for a dark petrol blue (including ceiling) which I have to say I personally don't like very much but dark red would have been too much like sitting in a blood clot. Dark greens can be a bit muddy looking though and because your eyes are most sensitive to green can zing a little bit on your vision.

[PJTX100]

Originally Posted by Mr.D

Even if you can get the room effectively pitch black for viewing if the walls are light coloured it has a massive effect on the black level.

My walls are marigold (legacy from previous owners), come to think of it though the walls are mostly covered with shelving and combined with the navy blue blackout blinds there's probably less than 30% marigold on view.

Hence it may have a bigger impact than I thought especially if it's the pervasive colour on show...PJ

[Jroz]

not trying to jack your thread, but do you mean your using a painted (white) MDF board for your screen? Ive never thought about doing that. Would that work just aswell as an actual screen. <=== noob question hah

[PJTX100]

Originally Posted by Jroz

not trying to jack your thread, but do you mean your using a painted (white) MDF board for your screen? Ive never thought about doing that. Would that work just aswell as an actual screen. <=== noob question hah

Yes that's exactly what I'm using.

6mm MDF, comes in 8ft by 4ft sheets, local DIY shop cut it to size (16:9 aspect ratio plus 2" border all round, 2"x1" baton frame to brace the back a little, paint matt white, mask off the 2" border and paint matt black. Job's a good 'un, less than 30 quid. Custom built to your own individual size req's

...PJ

[Jroz]

so the actual texture of a screen isnt better then a white painted wall? Like isnt there the wood texture of the mdf after you paint it, or do you do enough coats to hide it. That MDF idea sounds pretty good. anyone have a picture of it done?..i figured you ment you buy the mdf board to support the screen material that you can buy off ebay for like 40 bucks

[PJTX100]

Originally Posted by Jroz

so the actual texture of a screen isnt better then a white painted wall? That MDF idea sounds pretty good.

Decent screen material will produce better results than a wall or MDF, but I've seen so many ripples on pull down screens that I'd rather have something less optimal but flat! I only used MDF 'cause my walls have textured wallpaper on them. If the wall is smooth/flat enough then it would be an option.
Another option is to buy screen material and stretch it over a fixed frame. This will bump up the cost..PJ

[Gary Lightfoot]

I was fortunate enough to attend a Stewart Screen Workshop event last year, and Don Stewart himself said that a good flat wall with something like three good coats of matt white paint will be comprarable to a matt white screen.

If you need some gain, then Goo paint or screen material as has already been suggested will be the best options.

I used white blackout cloth stretched and stapled over a wooden frame as my first screen (pics on my web-site), then when I upgraded to a dimmer projector, went for some 1.2 gain material - I bought it from www.ellie.co.uk and stretched that over the frame like before. It was a little whiter and brighter, but I think it proved that the BO material is excellent value.

The wood and black-out cloth cost around £28 inclusing staples and screws, and the pukka screen material was around £100 on it's own. I think you can get some cheaper stuff elshwere now though, but I don't know how it compares.

Gary.

[yoskiwoski]

has anyone evert tried using a white canvas as it comes matt white when bought from art shops? and is easy to hang? more expensive than mdf obviously but you can pretend you are going to paint a painting by day to the mrs and project on it at night instead!!

[inzaman]

has anyone evert tried using a white canvas

I think instead of this a lot of people use bo material.

6mm MDF, comes in 8ft by 4ft sheets, local DIY shop cut it to size (16:9 aspect ratio plus 2" border all round, 2"x1" baton frame to brace the back a little, paint matt white, mask off the 2" border and paint matt black. Job's a good 'un, less than 30 quid. Custom built to your own individual size req's

That too is what i use, but painted with Goo. I would also recommend probably painting the back as my screen has curled slightly at the bottom.

Does the colour sound OK or will it not make much difference?

You could just paint the screen wall dark and the rest a lighter colour, this will still help absorb some of the light.

[yoskiwoski]

yeah i figured, i just was wondering how it would look as a canvas is painted matte white and comes already stretched on a nice thick frame.