Partial batcave? ALR screen?

[howieeb]

If it's easy to have one row on the ceiling it'll be easy to have two

Sounds like a good plan. I actually think a room with a blacked out velvet end looks very attractive aesthetically if done neatly and wouldn't be suprised if your better half was ok with them being up most of the time. I would have the wall panels match the ceiling tho in terms of how far they come out into the room. Clean lines and it will look smart!

 

[CalabiYau]

I hope so. I will try to do a clean job

 

[iamsludge]

I’m in a similar situation, I have white walls and a 120 inch wide image with white ceiling and one side wall very close.

I hang black devore velvet across my ceiling and down both side walls.
This makes a massive difference.

I also hang further pieces of devore along both side walls and this improves things even further.
Basically, the more steps you take and the closer to the screen the better.

I have considered a second roll of devore velvet to double the ceiling width, but not done it (yet).

I also have dark/black rugs too to cut down on reflections off the wooden floor.

It takes me less than a minute to put up the velvet and even less time to take it down - it hangs off white hooks near the ceiling that are painted white so they blend in with the white walls.

 

[CalabiYau]

Thanks! It is good to know that this approach is more common than I thought...
BTW, could you detail how do you hang the velvet in the ceiling? If you just simply use the hooks, the fabric would sag, doesn't it?

This is the reason I am considering extra light foam with magnets... But if there is a better solution...

 

[CalabiYau]

@iamsludge Actually I have been thinking about your setup and I am amazed! It is so simple, that I will change my plan and try to replicate it.

Not only the DIY process seems much easier (just a big roll of fabric and the hooks instead of preparing several foams with fabric stapled and a bunch of magnets) but more important the preparation is much quicker (just expand the fabric instead of attaching 4-5 foams plus the side velvet).

And also it is so compact when stored compared to several huge foams... Just the 1.5m roll of velvet.

Having the hooks is not a problem at all considering all the benefits...

Wow, thanks a lot for your idea... It is like trying to use a square wheel and then watch a circular one... Eureka!

I'd really appreciate if you could show me some photos of your setup... PM if you prefer... I'd like to know how to make sure that the fabric doesn't sag in the ceiling. I guess you have used the exact amount of fabric to have it tense between hooks. Anything else?

So happy to have asked this in the forum...

 

[CalabiYau]

@iamsludge I have found two posts where you detail your setup:

Projector Screen - paint whole wall or make a screen?

hi, ive been searching through the Screen forums and getting more confused by the minute! were about do redecorate a spare room up as a living room which will house a Benq W1070 projector, room is 5mx5m and walls are 2.3m high projector will only be used at night for movies and live football...

www.avforums.com

Bat Shade

Okay chaps, some of you asked so here's some more detail on how I used Devore in my living room that has white walls and white ceiling. This was all inspired by Kelvin's bat tent by the way. I drilled and inserted 4 Rawl plug metal anchor bolts at the top of each wall either side of my...

www.avforums.com

I will study this thoroughly to replicate it!

Thanks for the hint!!!

 

[iamsludge]

Cool, let us know how you get on…

 

[kenshingintoki]

If it's easy to have one row on the ceiling it'll be easy to have two

Sounds like a good plan. I actually think a room with a blacked out velvet end looks very attractive aesthetically if done neatly and wouldn't be suprised if your better half was ok with them being up most of the time. I would have the wall panels match the ceiling tho in terms of how far they come out into the room. Clean lines and it will look smart!

can u share some photos for inspiration mate? im trying to find examples of it looking good to convince ppl to help me decorate it like that

 

[CalabiYau]

Cool, let us know how you get on…

Let me some questions if you don't mind...

Did you sew all on your own? Sewing is not one of my best skills There are professionals that can do it but then I should mark the position without the trial and error...

It looks like that sewing the ring with the reinforcement hemming is specially critic. Is there any special way / advice to ensure that it is sturdy enough?

What is the ring diameter approximately?

One idea to avoid the fabric sag is using a small bungee cord or spring to join the ring with the hook. In this way, I guess there is an extra force between these points and therefore the velvet should be more tense... Just a guess...

Thanks!

 

[iamsludge]

Yeah I used simple needle n thread by hand, my eyes are going at my age but I still manage - it doesn’t need to be neat as it’s not to be seen - it’s more important to be strong than neat so don’t under-do the sewing.

For the rings I just made sure I went round and round - or through and through - to make it thicker.
I think you’re right the reinforced hemming is critical to strength due to weight of fabric.

I used D-rings about 1 inch long.

If the slight material sag bothered you you could try having a few hooks on the screen wall - this would likely make the fabric angled slightly (lower fabric nearer the seated position than the screen wall) - that might add a little to the image quality too as it would effectively extend the workable distance of the ceiling material by a small amount.

 

[iamsludge]

I just looked back at the links to my older post and it appears I use both d-rings and round ones - so I guess either is fine. I probably just used what I had to hand. I just checked and yes the round rings are about 20mm diameter - so slightly smaller than the d-rings. I have round rings on the strip that goes across the ceiling and d-rings on the side wall pieces.

 

[linnasak]

In my other room I tried press studs, but the force was too much so ended up using wood screwed to wall to hold studs on. Not issue as permanent. Still slight sag! Don’t under estimate the weight of the fabric and force on each hook.

Check the g/sqm, then work out weight and load per hook.

I still quite like your foam idea. Got 18x 60cm x 40cm x 2.5cm for £20 from Amazon, Scalextric layout, When not in use, could store in box they came in, perhaps disguised as coffee table! Basically go for more smaller tiles.

Kevin

 

[linnasak]

Also my black material initially was not as black as Devore, , but only £4 per metre from Amazon. Although not that cheap now.

 

[CalabiYau]

In my other room I tried press studs, but the force was too much so ended up using wood screwed to wall to hold studs on. Not issue as permanent. Still slight sag! Don’t under estimate the weight of the fabric and force on each hook.

Check the g/sqm, then work out weight and load per hook.

I still quite like your foam idea. Got 18x 60cm x 40cm x 2.5cm for £20 from Amazon, Scalextric layout, When not in use, could store in box they came in, perhaps disguised as coffee table! Basically go for more smaller tiles.

Kevin

Thanks for your comment.

TBH the problem with the foam is that the installation is much more time consuming. For a few times a year this would be perfectly fine and then I agree I could enjoy a sag free velvet. But doing this a couple of times a week is a deal breaker.

The hook approach is much quicker. But I guess it maybe has some flaws. As for the sag, I could glue some magnets in the ceiling fabric to avoid it... I'll see if it sags too much or I can bear it...I don't look for perfection specially as it is not a permanent setup.

I am planning to use 6 hooks per side (fabric will be 150cm wide). All with a nice fixation (the wall is concrete so a duopower fischer 6x30 should be more than enough). Anyway if the hooks doesn't support the fabric weight, I could increase the number of hooks and also use a 8x40 fixation, but honestly I think it won't be necessary. I have seen that most velvets are around 300gr/sqm2, and I'd use around 15 sqm2. So around 5Kg distributed along 2 walls and the ceiling...

All this is pure theory... We'll see when I carry it out...

 

[CalabiYau]

First stage of room treatment completed.
Black velvet in the first 2m, ceiling and side walls. (walls 2.7m high, ceiling 3.6m wide)

Several changes from my initial idea. Instead of a single piece covering both walls and the ceiling, I decided to cover one wall with a permanent curtain, and use the hook system for the ceiling and the other wall.

In this way, I can have light from that windows if required without removing the ceiling fabric (i.e, I can have it longer without causing a huge conflict)

Also it makes the fabric handling much easier. a 9x2m fabric is quite heavy and with a huge volume. Reducing one third approximately helps.

I have to polish a couple of things. For example the sag is around 10cm in the center. Not too bad but I'd like to reduce it as in a near future I'll use a PJ that could zoom until the ceiling limit itself. I'll probably use some magnets in the center axis.

But so far my PJ has 10cm offset, so I can use it even with this sag.

And now my first impressions...

It is a MASSIVE difference. I knew it was going to improve but hey, not that much!

High contrast scenes are finally watchable. Very nice.

But even the typical dark scenes with dim lights are now much more tridimensional with much more saturated colors (as it happens in a photo when you fix the contrast).

Amazing.

Somehow my old PJ is a different beast and I am considering to extend its life and postpone its renovation (although it is 1080p, it has a 500 ANSI contrast, and 2300-2500 native, so pretty decent and 4k is not a priority considering my viewing distance)

Just a couple of photos comparing with/without treatment. But I insist that even low contrast/APL scenes are now much more pleasant and enjoyable... Anyway these photos are not even close to the feeling when you watch the screen, and perceive the differences (I guess is due to range compression in the iPhone camera)

Thanks for all your help and inspiration...

 

[Luminated67]

^Until you actually experience for yourself you just don't understand how different it can look.

 

[CalabiYau]

^Until you actually experience for yourself you just don't understand how different it can look.

Yes! I was expecting an improvement in black levels. But to me the most striking has been the general pop and saturation that all kind of APL scenes have now...

It is like having a new projector...

 

[Luminated67]

Yes! I was expecting an improvement in black levels. But to me the most striking has been the general pop and saturation that all kind of APL scenes have now...

It is like having a new projector...

It's the same thing when you change your projector to something with best blacks, not only does the blacks improve but the colours do too.

 

[iamsludge]

Glad it’s working out for you!

My old JVC X3 in my similar environment still amazes me with blu-rays.