Ok, i need something very light weight to act as a screen.. suggestions?

[TheDarktrooper]

Basically my situation is this, i'm at university so i'm renting a house with some people, i recently bought a panasonic ae900 (awesome) and will be going back up to uni in the new year..

Because i'm renting, i cant buy a decent screen and screw it into the wall, and i cant just paint it with that screen goo stuff, because again i'm not allowed (and the wall is bumpy anyway).. which means i need something light weight to hang from the wall effectively like a really big poster..

So, does anyone here have any suggestions? i didn't know if something like that thick artists paper you can get would work, or even comes in sheets big enough..

Any help would be appreciated, thanks

[Anim]

Find a papermill and ask them for some very smooth slightly grey card to fit your 16:9 dimensions. I used to work in a papermill up north and people came in all the time asking for odd cuts.

I say grey because its usually matt where white would probably be to reflective.

Or, you could buy one of those little £20 ikea roll down Blackout blinds that some people use as permanant screens. If you cant attach it to the wall (two little screws) then just cut out the screen material and try stick that on the wall somehow.

Anim

Edit: You should move this thread to the Projector Screens forum so you get better responses.

[TheDarktrooper]

Oh sorry, how do you move it? i couldn't see the option to move in the edit options etc..

card would probably do the trick.. i would have to try and find out where a papermill is around here..

i thought about using black out material ( we have a **** load left over from when we made black out curtains for my room at home) but it seemed like it would be difficult to make it smooth on the wall because its fabricy..

Other suggestions still welcome though.

[cyberheater]

You could go for a pull-up screen. These are portable screen solutions that sit on the floor and you pull-up the screen.

[PJTX100]

Do a search on "foamex". I believe it is extremely light and white.

[fallwood]

Originally Posted by PJTX100

Do a search on "foamex". I believe it is extremely light and white.

Foamex it fantastic for screens but its not flexible enough to be rolled up for transport, if you can manage to get some 1mm you could stick it to the wall with double sided tape as a 6 ft screen in 1mm weighs hardly anything. The best place to purchase foamex is from a sign making company as it is widely used for billboards etc.

[TheDarktrooper]

ah i had totally forgotten about foamex.. i just phoned up a sign making place locally and they deal in it, they only have 5mm thick not 1-2mm, but they have a piece 70x40" which is what i'm looking for..

they said it would be around £45.. does that sound right? or is that expensive.. i also don't know how much 5mm thick would weigh for this material..

[fallwood]

Originally Posted by TheDarktrooper

ah i had totally forgotten about foamex.. i just phoned up a sign making place locally and they deal in it, they only have 5mm thick not 1-2mm, but they have a piece 70x40" which is what i'm looking for..

they said it would be around £45.. does that sound right? or is that expensive.. i also don't know how much 5mm thick would weigh for this material..

Place I get mine from an 8x4ft sheet in 5mm is about £20, 5mm is quite heavy though I dont think you'll get away with using double sided tape to hold it up.

[TheDarktrooper]

oh hum, that's kinda lame, twice the price for less.. guess i'll keep ringing around..

did you get you'rs off the internet or from a local dealer?

ps: I'm from cornwall so if anyone knows anyone good places here let me know.

[TheDarktrooper]

ok, thanks for everyones help here, i've found a palce that does 8x4ft sheets of 3mm for £21+vat, which looks to be my best option.. going to go pick it up this afternoon along with some black velvet for the edge.

[Marty_McSly]

How did your screen turn out? I am looking to do a similar thing - either buy some foamex and hang it, or get some screen fabric from DRH screens and construct a frame for that. My screen area is going to need to be roughly 10 feet by 6!

How is the finish of the foamex, slightly textured? Does it give bright hotspots to the image at all? You could always paint it with some colour bond paint I guess.

Let us know how you get on! Pictures would be great if possible!

Cheers!

[TheDarktrooper]

it actually turned out surprisingly well.. i cut 2 foot off the side so it was the correct size for my screen (just used scissors, it was surprisingly easy to cut), peeled off the protective layer and was left with a totally smooth white screen, i'll take some pictures in a minute so you can see, at the moment its just sitting on top of a wooden box thing and not properly on the wall, but you get the idea. I've ordered some "Sorceror Velvet" as per the instructions on the screen board which should hopefully arrive before christmas so i can edge it with black.

And i apologise for my stupidity but, what are "hotspots"? i watched episode 3 last night on it and it looked fantastic, i assume its something like areas where its brighter or something? i personally didn't notice anything like that, just smooth all over.

One thing i did notice is that with the screen, colours etc (inc blacks) are much better, because its not hung on the wall yet, theres about 5" where the image comes over the top of the screen, and you could see a definite difference in contrast etc, looks alot better overall.

[TheDarktrooper]

Ok, heres a quick snapshot i could try taking a photo later on with a film on it.. but i couldn't say how well that will turn out untill i try.

and before anyone comments, yes i do take all that stuff off the top before i watch a film

[xavster]

Where did you get it from? How did you transport it- looks too big to fit in a car!

[TheDarktrooper]

i got it from a plastics company locally (penryn plastics to be precise.. though i doubt you're in cornwall), it actually rolls up very slightly, so we were able to get it into a car and drive it home..