blackout cloth screens

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Quick (and probably dumb) question for those of you using screens made from blackout cloth: which side do you project on, the rubberized side, or the fabric side? To my highly UNtrained eye, images projected onto either side seem to have about the same brightness/sharpness/color, though the vinyl backed side looks like it would have a higher gain.

Thoughts? Experiences?

(sorry I should have added this to the existing screens thread instead of starting a new one... thats what i get for operating a computer while in dire need of sleep..)
 
black out

it is obvious that ou need the rubber or vinyl side.


by the way, do not that this is the end, check out some guys who have treated their cloth with gesso or special super bright paint , mixed or not with some extra products.

J-P
 
Re: black out

uvodee said:
it is obvious that ou need the rubber or vinyl side.


by the way, do not that this is the end, check out some guys who have treated their cloth with gesso or special super bright paint , mixed or not with some extra products.

J-P

That's how i had my previous screen, vinylized side out. I brought this up while building "v2.0", because I noticed initially, a crappy ntsc image seemed to look a bit sharper and brighter fabric side out. After switching over to the PC, it was obvious the imperfect fabric surface blurred each pixel too much to be ideal.

I know there was a mention or 3 in here about gesso, and as I recall there wasn't really a consensus as to how much it improved the image.. I just checked out the AVS forum and those guys seem to think it's an absolute necessity. I think I'll give that and/or a light grey shade a shot.
 
gesso

OK, I tried a couple nice heavy coats of Liquitex white Gesso on my screen. It is DEFINITELY an improvement.. I don't know if i would agree with the AVS guys that it dramatically increases the brightness/contrast, but it most certainly brightens and deepens colors.. whites are much whiter, without affecting the black levels. Yellows and greens looked "dirty" and dark with the untreated blackout cloth (either side), now they look bright and vibrant.

I would definitely recommend giving it a shot for those who haven't.

BTW, I bought the ~$20 size, which if memory serves me (I'm not at home at the moment) is a quart. It was way too much for my 72" x 54" screen. The next size down (I guess a pint.. it was half the size of what I got) should be enough for a screen that size.
 
interesting

I'm affraid to cover the cloth, that now has a certain tension on the frame, would stretch or get stretchmarks or loosen because of the wet paint...

i really would like to see the result from this before i try it myself .. hehehe

J-P
 
Unfortunately I don't have a digicam to provide a screenshot.. it wouldn't be of much use without "before and after" shots anyhow.

I don't blame you for not jumping at the chance to fix what's not broken. I felt the same way so I took a spare piece of the blackout cloth and painted that first, then tacked it on top of part of my old screen so I had a side-by-side comparison of image quality. Just use your own judgement as to whether or not the quality improvement is worth the effort.

BTW, don't worry about messing up the screen with the gesso - I applied the paint in a fairly sloppy and half-assed manner with a 3" foam brush (rollers did NOT work well for me.) There are a ton of brushmarks and other imperfections, but they are not at all visible with an image on the screen.
 
I've been hunting for a pull down screen, I want a big one...something like 10 or 12 feet wide. Today I was given a 10x8 foot case and roller, brand new but dented so not saleable. It doesnt have the screen in it ...that was sold. I've looked at blackout cloth but all I can find is 54 inch wide, somewhat less than 8 feet huh? The guy at the AV place asked why I dont just do what the old drive in theatre guys did...use sail cloth.
Speechless! I've owned several sailboats ranging from 15 feet to a 24 ft'er then the 36 I was building....so I've seen a BUNCH of sails.
I think this fellow really has a great idea, anybody know what the drive in screens were covered with? Some of the sails I've owned were really quite attractive as a potential screen I think. The material can be found in many textures and "weights" is strong, washable and comes in a variety of colours. Oh and did I mention? It's available in really LARGE sizes if you need.

Any thoughts?

zardoz
 
I believe the guys at AVSForum say to use the 'fuzzy' side.

I think another alternative to the Gesso is Behr Ultra White 1050. I have some and some blackout cloth, might be assembling it this weekend.

I wanted to note another link I found to 'real' fabric: dazian.com (look under 'fabrics' then 'projection screens')

It's real projector screen material, and comes as wide as 120"! You only need 3 yards, it's 120" WIDE 😀
 
Hi everybody,

I've been following the debate on screen material for projectors (provided that not everyone can afford the perverse sums of money for fabric)...

One thing that seems to pop up in every thread is the ude of blackout curtain material. I know this may sound dumb (hey, I'm new to this 😀) but what colour should the fabric/coating have?

Jennice
 
Blackout cloth isn't a piece of (whatever) cloth used to blackout light, it's a specific type of fabric. It's roughly sort of like window blind material.

I'm using a piece of the Dazian fabric for my screen and it's been working great. I bought 3 yards (unlike what the prev. poster said, they do sell less than the whole roll). It's acoustically transparent so I have the center channel behind the screen. It's great!

== John ==
 
Hi JQWinner,

Now I'm getting really confused. I tried to search google or "blackout cloth", and apart from DIY home theatre sites, the results I came across were all related to photogaphy.
If it doesn't have to do with light, what's the use for it in photography?
I'm not trying to be a wise-crack, I just don't know what I'm going to ask for at the local fabric outlets (given that I'm not living in an natively english-speaking country)... 🙁

Some people have mentioned it as fabric that is coated on one side. What's the use of that coating?

Any help is highly appreciated.

Thanks-
Jennice
 
It's John Gwinner, btw (no Q)

Blackout cloth is used to go 'behind' curtains so that they block more light. It's almost exactly the same material as window blind material (the rollup type of blind).

My wife bought some 'strips' of blackout cloth that was used to line a sliding glass door curtain, for example. It's got a lot of uses.

If you are "Trailer Trash" you don't use blackout cloth, you tape up aluminum foil on the window <G>.

At the fabric outlets you ask for ... "Blackout cloth". It might be called something different in another country, I have no idea.
 
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