edwinr Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 Low Cost Cinema Wide Screen. For information of those of us who want the true cinema experience without spending a lot of money. The picture below is of my combined home theatre and music room. After you view this picture, my next post will tell you how this feat was achieved on beer money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted July 31, 2004 Author Share Posted July 31, 2004 Most DVD's as we all know are 16:9 or other widescreen format. I didn't have the money to purchase a native 16:9 DLP or LCD projector. So I bought an NEC VT540 4:3 switchable to 16:9. I paid run out sale price. The only problem with these projectors is that even switched to 16:9 mode, the 4:3 outline is still highly visible - it needs to be blacked out in some way. Commercial 4:3 screens with such blacked out panels are expensive. So I made my own. In the above picture you see what appears to be a commercial 100 inch diagonal wide screen. In fact it is a piece of compressed fibre board, sprayed with several layers of ceiling white matt paint. The board was cut to exact size by the local hardware store. Each layer was sanded before the next layer was applied. The screen was then bolted on the wall at a suitable distance from the projector. My wife purchased some black cotton material, gathered the material on a sewing machine, and using an inexpensive curtain rail, affixed the curtain behind the screen. The projector is ceiling mounted. RGB cable is used into the back of my Toshiba 900E DVD/A player. Two channel only, I'm afraid folks, via a Jolida tube JD202B (soon to be replaced by a Jolida 302B tube amp) and then to the trusty and lusty Klipschorns. Prior to buildimg and painting the screen I spoke to NEC technical support who told me that a carefully built custom screen would offer about 85 to 90% of the performence of a commercial screen. You could tell the difference only with a side by side comparison. I'm leaving all the technical arguments over the superiority of commercial screens verses painted walls out of this. Overall I'm happy with the result. The black curtains almost completely absorb the 4:3 projection outline. Friends who have seen the setup have said: 'Wow!' My kids love it. I'm the only one who knows the compromises of my projection setup, but for much less money than a 32" widescreen crt tv, I don't care. 4:3 projectors are really inexpensive now. When I'm more financial, I'll buy a native 16:9 projector - probably DLP, and a commercial widescreen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troostj Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 Very Nice!! How much did you end up spending? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy81 Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 Edwinr: Nice job. I have made two screens thus far. One was made with a product made by Parkland and the latest has been a rather successful attempt at making a "silverstar" clone. Several others have taken my ideas and also had good success. My Silver clone totaled about $150 plus my time to make the frame. The picture on my system page is the old Parkland. Anyone iterested in the projects can see the development thread at: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4070416#post4070416 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 i am very impressed by what you did.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted July 31, 2004 Author Share Posted July 31, 2004 My projector cost me $1500 Australian. In real money, I'm not sure how that relates. Most U.S. products sell in Australia for around 2 1/2 to 3 times U.S. market price. I know there's some sort of 'goo' you can buy to apply to a custom screen surface, but I rejected that idea. I'd rather put that money to a proper commercial screen at a later stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 Nice - and very creative. Thanks for the photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.