CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[Jim Shonk]

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[dturco]

I finally finished posting the pictures. The last photo I circled the "blowout" which you can see during movies, only on full white screen images. Even then it's barely noticeable. I doubt I will do anything further about it.

I think it turned out fairly well, of course if I were to do it again I would do things differently as I posted. Overall I'm satisfied with the outcome and I love the picture quality of the DW.

http://s955.photobucket.com/albums/ae34/dturco/?












Moded ~AR

[LOTREE]

The deed is done, I ordered my 4x8 Wilsonart D354-60 today before work!

My day off yesterday was spent driving around the city sourcing products and comparing the chip sample to similar surfaces including one listed as Designer White D354-60 with a slight difference in color and higher in reflection/hot spotting. I originally thought white painted hardboard by GoodFellow(ClosetMaid/Do-able are not available here) from Home Depot would work as it's less reflective than Melamine particle board. The difference between the hardboard and Wilsonart is still substantial. The texture combined with the matte finish appears to make the Wilsonart one of the best available from anything white I saw from laminate, plastic, painted wood or currently my painted screen.

Since it would have to be special order at HD I went straight to their source/supplier as they suggested to get a better price. I just missed their Tuesday weekly order and I had to check another place today on a price. $94.77 for the last one in stock in the Montreal warehouse and they could order it the same day plus not have to pay upfront. I paid $4 more but overall it's more convenient and I'll get it a week earlier. If I didn't take that it would be a 4 week wait shipped from the US to Montreal to here. I should have my screen in a week.

[Spanky Ham]

What are you using for a painted screen? If you are willing to paint, then you can do better than DW.

[LOTREE]

The current screen is 59" wide 4:3 made with 2x2 and drapery backing/canvas stretched, stapled then painted with Berh UPW. I may have mixed another white paint with it, I don't remember. It came out great but for durability not so much. The gain is certainly lower than the DW. Having family over with small kids it attracts dirty fingers like crazy or can get marked easily by accident. The fact I can't wash it and I put the paint on a little thick as it has cracked in a few places due to the screen flexing when moving it around was enough for me not to make another one.

I'm thinking of making a 72" 16:9 so I'd have to buy more lumber ~$10, canvas ~$30-40 and paint ~$40 or more depending on the mix. Aside from making an aluminum frame for $40 to mount the laminate to the Wilsonart is much more durable for the small space and it's washable and has shown to be a great option. I'd rather not tinker with the unknown with paint anymore. Is the gain good enough, do I have roller marks, crap another hair fell in it, nice... now it's cracking, WHERE did that finger print come from???

[Spanky Ham]

Hey, I understand. The durability and the non-painting factor was the reason I recommended the Wilsonart laminates a couple of years ago. Clarence was the first one to buy a full screen and loved it, because of the durability. I already had a painted screen that was superior, so I didn't buy a full screen. My only problem with Wilsonart is the variability in the gloss, which if it is to high it can cause hot spotting. I should mention that the gloss is the reason the gain is higher than the Behr.

Anyway, it sounds like you should be happy with Wilsonart. I just saw that you had a painted screen and wanted to make sure you knew that a good painted screen is better than the laminate. If you change your mind or anyone else wants to paint, then head over to hometheatershack. The guy I first recommended the Wilsonart to went balistic on screens and has done a lot of work regarding them.

[LOTREE]

That's definitely one thing I noticed between the 3 color chip samples of the DW, the color or reflection was slightly different. If the screen wasn't on the wall of my 12x10' livingroom where someone may damage it I'd consider making a painted screen again. It wasn't difficult building it, just cumbersome with the painting aspect. I almost bought a Hurley screen so I guess we'll see how this one works first.

I did compare it to a Da-Lite Boardroom 1.5 gain here at work with a DLP displayed and the Wilsonart gave very little reflection back with washed out detail which I assume is due to the texture on the laminate. I hope this isn't the case with a CRT.

[LOTREE]

I posted this in the screen shot thread but thought I'd share it here since I picked up my Wilsonart DW screen today!

It actually arrived on Wednesday but I never had a chance to get it. I spent tonite after work, 4hrs in total, moving the projector back and tweaking EVERYTHING, all but the G2 and flare controls. Love the material so far, well controlled hot spotting. All images are DVD's with unsharpened mask turned on in ZoomPlayer MAX, 768p. I'm impressed for what this quaint projector can do but I know I can get more out of it yet.

Astigmatism and Bias Focus on the RGB tubes adjusted. Lenses refocus and aligned, overall convergence done 3x. R1 and R5 pots adjusted on the Waveform Generator board to correct red color shift on right side of screen. Remaining pots R2-R3, R6, R7 adjusted for better grey scale. Still a lot of tweaking to do and adjustment with the G2 power controls. I won't be doing that until I get a grey scale calibrator.

I have yet to build a frame, for now all 4x8' of it is propped up on 2 speakers off the floor and held back with a chair on one side and a box on the other.

All are 70" wide