CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

hansilili · Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 302 Location: Köln, Germany

redfox001 · Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Posts: 2257 Location: The Netherlands

CasetheCorvetteman · Joined: 09 Nov 2008 Posts: 6326 Location: Australia

I went from a painted wall to a top quality screen and the difference was quite incredible really. Made no real difference for standard def, but for HD it was quite obvious.

redfox001 · Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Posts: 2257 Location: The Netherlands

I had 1.3 gain screen made by a professional with nice framework. The screen had a black back and a pvs titaninum white front.

The linnen cloth I bought was only very little transparent but my wall behind it is painted black. Measurements showed the same gain and it looked a little more even perhaps less spotting. Overal it was the same kind of picture just very cheap and easy to clean. Als this type of paint does not age. After years it is still the same color white. Now I can not imagine what a steward hawk could add to this but i am open to information where the money goes Smile

HogPilot · Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 12:27 pm Post subject:

Geeze, what's with all the hate for drywall-based screens? When mudded/sanded/painted properly, a drywall screen can offer a surface just as smooth as a commercially sold screen at a fraction of the price. There's some threads over on AVS in the DIY screen section for those who have the time and patience to do it. The only down side is that you can't make an AT screen this way, but everything has a trade off, and usually the sacrifice with AT is gain, if that's something you need.

Curt, you keep on keepin' on - it looks like that setup is coming along great, don't pay attention to everyone who wants to nitpick to death based on personal preference Wink

redfox001 · Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Posts: 2257 Location: The Netherlands

Yes and I do remember once buying 5 Marquee 8500 local for nothing from a 3d centrum that they had only painted torus screen walls and this was an university!

CasetheCorvetteman · Joined: 09 Nov 2008 Posts: 6326 Location: Australia

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 1:14 pm Post subject:

1 projector is showing light! Only checked last night to make sure the throw was correct and the toe-in was accurate, and it's bang on. Off to school for the next week to learn about Peavey Mediamatrix programming, so I`ll try and get an hour in tonight to align and focus.

digitalayon · Joined: 02 Mar 2009 Posts: 921

Who's making fun Curt?.....fill in a every damn gap behind that screen with a wall of sound!!!

Mr. Green · Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 9:04 pm Post subject:

Good for you Curt. Looks great! About time you had somewhere to kickback and enjoy a working projector instead of working on one for a change.

I think it was in the screen section of this forum. Didn't someone find Behr Ultra premium white paint on drywall was pretty much bang on for CRT use? I was considering it for a while. I know a guy that used a 4X8 sheet of white Masonite (the stuff they use for white kitchen cabinet boxes) and it worked well. Has just a bit if a sheen so isn't totally flat. Didn't notice any hot spots or glare coming off it. I think you can get in 5x10 foot sheets as well.

garyfritz · Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12088 Location: Fort Collins, CO

I'm sure the drywall screen will work fine, but I gotta wonder why. I would think a simple BO cloth screen would have been simpler, cheaper, probably flatter, and easier to tear out when you want to upgrade.

ecrabb · Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:29 pm Post subject:

CasetheCorvetteman · Joined: 09 Nov 2008 Posts: 6326 Location: Australia

ecrabb · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 3:29 am Post subject:

You guys are making much ado about nothing. It isn't that hard to get framing reasonably straight, and the drywall and mud the same. In fact, if you want to talk about stuff being warped our out of plumb, it's just as possible to have a tensioned screen do the same and end up not entirely orthogonal to the projector. You have to mount the tension frame to something, and often the frames themselves aren't exactly rock-solid.

With a decently well-built frame - yes, even with lumber - there's no reason that anywhere on Curt's screen will necessarily end up more than half a cm out of the ideal plane of focus. If you've ever played with the "index card" focus method, you'll know there's plenty of depth-of-field to accommodate some variation, especially at the longer throw that Curt is using and with the big LC lenses. He'll have no problem getting good, uniform focus. Convergence shouldn't be an issue, certainly not that can't be dealt with a little zone.

To be honest, I'm more concerned that he's not going AT. After being in so many good theaters with AT screens and big sound behind the screen, I can't fathom not going at AT at this point.

SC

CasetheCorvetteman · Joined: 09 Nov 2008 Posts: 6326 Location: Australia

He said why he isnt doing that yet.

But from personal experience, i know that my CineMAX cant get pixel perfect convergence corner to corner, even on my perfectly flat screen. Its got nothing to do with focus, that isnt the issue im raising here, its convergence, and you know how perfect i expect it to be. Itll get so close you may never know, but i will.

There are plently of zones, thats not an issue, nor is the amount of adjustment, its the size of adjustment step and the interaction between zones that prevents pixel perfect convergence. And 5mm will mean the difference between dead on, or slightly off. Slightly off one way means one click is slightly off the other way. If the step sizes were smaller, this would be no issue.

You may have a higher tollerance with very slight misalignment of convergence than i do, and thats fine, but there is no denying the fact the issue will very likely be there. If this was an XG you could slap it on any old wrinkled up screen and still get string line perfection with not even half a dot out of place, but this is a Barco, and you cant always achieve such perfection in less than factory ideal conditions.

And im not saying that Curt wont achieve pixel perfect alignment of all three colours across every inch of his screen, but i will certainly want to see some nice clear shots if he does, because im yet to see it with my own eyes.

I think you may be taking what im saying a bit the wrong way here too, i have no issues at all with his choice of screen design, its a very good method, but there are some short commings ( gain or lack there of is certainly not going to be one of them with two 909s ) and id love to see him prove it possible.

Jeremy112 · Joined: 28 Sep 2006 Posts: 2649 Location: Fond du Lac, WI

Curt it's looking awesome, get that 2nd Barco hung Mr. Green

Is that a Denon AVR I see in the top left rack? Very Happy

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 1:45 pm Post subject:

So I spent about 45 minutes aligning the projector to a) make sure it worked, and b) to see what potential I have here.

I`ve got some focus issues, seems the right side isn`t as good as anywhere else. I know the 909 can do better, but after 8 hours of software programming training, I wasn`t up to snuff. Still, I see lots of potential here. May need to rotate the projector very slightly to the left, as I see the slight wear pattern of the green tube on the far left of the image, but only if I`m looking for it.

Overall I`m happy, but I`ll still do some playing, and I need to change out the Denon in the rack and put in an HDMI switching Onkyo.

gotta find another decent green tube for the second 909, it should go up this weekend.

HK-Steve · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 2:28 pm Post subject:

looking good Curt.

Jeremy112 · Joined: 28 Sep 2006 Posts: 2649 Location: Fond du Lac, WI

Very nice curt. I'm sure the picture doesn't do it justice, it looks good from what I'm seeing though Thumbs Up

And yeah, was going to say, that Denon looks a bit old there Razz

Melifluonze · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 3:24 pm Post subject:

Awesome, Curt!

There should be a pile of speakers in the front ('cause you have them there already), and then a pile of projectors in the back... 'cause you have them there already as well?

Cool to see the originator of so many home theaters working on one!!!

- M