projecting in a white room - any suggestions?

[richard plumb]

So our room is very light coloured - we're redecorating and the wife wants white walls, we have a white rug, the units behind the projector screen will be gloss white, the curtains are white - you get the picture.

This clearly isn't very good for using a projector, as the whole room lights up in bright scenes, reducing contrast massively.

Does anyone have any suggestions to improve it? I know that many with dedicated cinema rooms paint it really dark, but thats not practical in a shared lounge/cinema.

Anyone tried something with roller blinds, or long curtain track to pull round and darken the main bit around the screen?

[inzaman]

Richard i have moved this to PJs as you should get more response from there

[richard plumb]

Originally Posted by inzaman

Richard i have moved this to PJs as you should get more response from there

doesn't look like it :P

[Mac Man]

I have the same issues at the moment and I've also thought about putting some curtains around the screen area and the side walls... but not got around to it yet.

I posted a similar question on another forum and somebody suggested a 'suede finish' paint that Crown do. Comes in whites creams, beiges and browns. Aparently it soaks up the light a lot more than traditional paints - see here for more details...

http://www.crownpaint.co.uk/colourex...reative/suede/

I was thinking of painting the wall behind the screen in a darker tone.

[Avi]

Originally Posted by richard plumb

So our room is very light coloured - we're redecorating and the wife wants white walls, we have a white rug, the units behind the projector screen will be gloss white, the curtains are white - you get the picture.

This clearly isn't very good for using a projector, as the whole room lights up in bright scenes, reducing contrast massively.

Does anyone have any suggestions to improve it? I know that many with dedicated cinema rooms paint it really dark, but thats not practical in a shared lounge/cinema.

Anyone tried something with roller blinds, or long curtain track to pull round and darken the main bit around the screen?

Richard

What sort of PJ are you consider and what size screen ?

Some suggestions-

1) Specialist screen material such as Stewart Firehawk, Da-Lite Hi Power or Greywolf may help reduce the affect of reflected light and help with contrast in ambient light situations. There are limitations and potential side effects to consider as well.

2) Dark coloured velvet curtains at the side of the screen area say 4'-6' may help limit some reflection. Possibly some sort of ceiling treatment directly in front of the screen may help.

3) Light coloured fabric tends to reflect less light than light coloured paint. Consider a light fabric finish wall covering as opposed to paint.

AVI

[redknag]

Originally Posted by Chris Lamle

I have the same issues at the moment and I've also thought about putting some curtains around the screen area and the side walls... but not got around to it yet.

I posted a similar question on another forum and somebody suggested a 'suede finish' paint that Crown do. Comes in whites creams, beiges and browns. Aparently it soaks up the light a lot more than traditional paints - see here for more details...

http://www.crownpaint.co.uk/colourex...reative/suede/

I was thinking of painting the wall behind the screen in a darker tone.

Anyone know if this works?

[richard plumb]

I have an AE900 which I'm likely to have to keep for a year or two before upgrading again.

Wall immediately behind my screen will be gloss white doors(!)

Walls either side likely to be very light. Interesting about the fabric paint - is that like the suede finish stuff linked to?

Although it might be a separate DIY project later on, what about somethign like a pelmet around the front half of the room (covering our viewing angle) with some kind of drop down dark material? Rollerblinds, somethign like that?

Sounds like nobody has really done a transforming lounge/cinema - you're mostly going for the dedicated approach..

[Mac Man]

Originally Posted by redknag

Anyone know if this works?

Ask this guy who responded to me here...

paint colour suggestions for loung/HC room


There's some pics of his HC set-up

[Mac Man]

Originally Posted by richard plumb

Although it might be a separate DIY project later on, what about somethign like a pelmet around the front half of the room (covering our viewing angle) with some kind of drop down dark material? Rollerblinds, somethign like that?

Sounds like nobody has really done a transforming lounge/cinema - you're mostly going for the dedicated approach..

I'm with you on this Richard. I don't have a spare room for a HC and TBH wouldn't want one either. I love the fact that I'm slowly building a lounge area that transforms itself into a HC. Like the idea of pelmets to hide blinds. Roman blinds might work best as these would look nicer than roman blinds and can be easily made to fit the size you want. TBH though... I think if the room can be the right colour to begin with it just makes it easier. I'm going to go with the darker colour behind the screen and then a mid(ish) beige colour on the walls. But if looks to gloomy I'll consider the curtain/blind treatment.

[Critters]

Just to rub it in I have convinced my wifey to go from this:

To this:

It's photoshopped ATM, but will be decorating next month.

[Nickiniquity]

I had a simlar problem... my wife demanded a white-ish colour in our front room. My screen delpoys in front of a chimeny breast which leaves some space behind it where it overhangs the chimney breast. (it is ceiling void mounted, so that it could be wider than the width of the chimney breast part) I used a pair of Lv downlighters in the alcoves which are behind the screen. These are switched on dimly when the projector is used, and work in a similar way to the amusing Philips ambilight. Having the only extra light in the room behind the screen gives the impression of better blacks on screen.

To be honest, the white room isn't as bad for PQ as I thought it would be. (although I'd kill for a dedicated room )

Laters

Nick

[Avi]

Originally Posted by richard plumb

I have an AE900 which I'm likely to have to keep for a year or two before upgrading again.

Wall immediately behind my screen will be gloss white doors(!)

Walls either side likely to be very light. Interesting about the fabric paint - is that like the suede finish stuff linked to?

Although it might be a separate DIY project later on, what about somethign like a pelmet around the front half of the room (covering our viewing angle) with some kind of drop down dark material? Rollerblinds, somethign like that?

Sounds like nobody has really done a transforming lounge/cinema - you're mostly going for the dedicated approach..

The least impact on your room would be the change in screen material. The Hi Power and Greywolf are relatively cheap and may be worth looking into. The fabric I mentioned is a wall covering (think more like a wall paper) but the suede effect paint may work better than normal matt.

AVI

[Russ]

HI Richard
I think this is a problem in most UK homes family where there just isn't the option of a dedicated HT room. So a dual use room is what we have to live with.
My lounge has a white ceiling and very light cream walls (called Calico) The sofas are also cream and the carpet is light too.
BUT I had some great advice from Gordon and my family is very happy using the Stewart Firehawk screen with my Sony VPL-VW12HT (soon I hope to become a VPL-VW50HT dreamer though i may be). The set up doesn't have any hot spots (that I can see) and does allow some ambient light (candles the wife likes !)
I also have some really nifty blackout blinds fro summer use. These are a Concettina style with metallised backing and work very well !
R