[DIY] Silver screen!

[jeremymcmurray]

I had some GREAT success with some 2X4's, a few L-brackets, Painters canvas, sray primer, and a gallon of silver metallic spraying paint. All together cost me less than $60 USD.

I doubt I will ever pay $600+ a screen, because I get really close to professional results with this one. My screen is 72X96 inches. I got a few quotes and the average cost was $610. So I saved beyond enough money to justify making my own.

[Croccy22]

I've not tried any of this so I may be on completely the wrong track but when I first started messing wih DIY projectors many years ago I found a good screen was as follows: Get a sheet of clear perspex and spray the back of it with a silver paint, this way you end up with a completely flat silver surface when looking at it from the front.

Not sure how well it would work with polarised light as I don't have any filters or anything yer to experiment with.

Any thoughts?

Matt.

[Tril]

I've not tried any of this so I may be on completely the wrong track but when I first started messing wih DIY projectors many years ago I found a good screen was as follows: Get a sheet of clear perspex and spray the back of it with a silver paint, this way you end up with a completely flat silver surface when looking at it from the front.

Not sure how well it would work with polarised light as I don't have any filters or anything yer to experiment with.

Any thoughts?

Matt.

Regulars mirrors are back surface mirrors. They look blurry because you look through the glass. That's why you can also get front surface mirrors. It's less scratch free but there's less distortion. I think such a screen would look blurry because you look through the perspex. It might be best to spray paint the front but I think it requires more skill for the paint to look uniform.

There are companies selling that type of screen. I know there's a company called Screen-Tech that makes one. I tried a sample a few years ago and it worked well. It was too expensive for my budget at the time so I did not buy it.

[ProjectIn3D]

Hi guys I have been reading this thread looking for DIY solutions to silver screen. I have found so many ideas so far and have decided to do some experimenting with lots of different materials to put some of the ides to rest. I liked the sanded aluminum idea and will be trying in the next few days with a small simple piece. Check out my website where im posting all my results at http://www.projectin3d.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks and i will let you know how it goes.

[mAchiNE]

Hi there, on this racing forum they have been experimenting with using aluminum sheets as silver screens:
http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/polariz ... 6-130.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
They have had good results from a thin sheet of anodized aluminum, its a long thread so the link I put goes straight to the page with the info about the anodized aluminum sheet he is currently using.

[AntiCatalyst]

Wow, that seems great! Will probably try that out sometime.



EDIT: I've done some looking around, and the only price i could find is 1600 crowns(~$255 USD) for a 3x1250x2500mm piece. that's a lot for a 100" DIY screen, but if PQ really is as good as it sounds, it's probably worth it.

pros/cons i can think of:

+ should be somewhat flexible so it could work for a curved screen, and its rigidity would eliminate the need for a complicated fabric spanning frame
+ no fabric to come loose
+ locally available, so no shipping time from Germany or something
+ "slippery", insensitive surface, easily cleanable

- heavy (100" = 25Kg)
- one solid piece, difficult to ship or move
- difficult cutting to size(but they do come in 2.0 aspect ratio, so they're ready for CIA - constant image area projection )