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Author Topic: Screen fabric/ material
Jonathan Wood
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 206
From: Oxfordshire, United kingdom
Registered: Jan 2008


 - posted 09-12-2016 03:14 PM      Profile for Jonathan Wood   Email Jonathan Wood   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hi all,
I'm looking for a small amount of screen material, does anyone know a brand name or a generic type ? I know I can go to Harkness Hall etc, but I imagine they must buy it from somewhere ? As ever , grateful for any help or advice !

Thanks , Jon

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Dave Macaulay
Film God

Posts: 2321
From: Toronto, Canada
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 09-13-2016 05:19 AM      Profile for Dave Macaulay   Email Dave Macaulay   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
What's a "small amount"?
You can certainly get sample books from screen suppliers, but the pieces are very small. They will supply larger samples (like a foot or two square) if asked, but we are regular clients.
I've salvaged bits of replaced cinema screens (from physical damage where repair was impossible - slashing or something thrown at it) for small "boardroom" size screens. Most service companies probably have a few bits of screen sheet lying around.
What reflectivity do you want? What perfs? Cinema standard perfs are too big for small screens where the viewer is close.

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Jonathan Wood
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 206
From: Oxfordshire, United kingdom
Registered: Jan 2008


 - posted 09-13-2016 09:34 AM      Profile for Jonathan Wood   Email Jonathan Wood   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks Dave, I'm just looking for enough material to make a 6 foot wide non perf screen. I was wondering if there was a specific type of material that screen manufactures use. My thought being that I could source it direct rather than go through a theatrical supplier. (I'm told home cinema enthusiasts often use white blackout material from curtain shops) I've done a bit of experimenting and noticed that very smooth surfaces tend to look slightly less sharp than material with a fine lines etched into it. This is of course perhaps subjective , but it might make sense that the smooth surface reflects light more widely whereas the finely lined stuff might reflect more parallel light and in some way increase sharpness. This could all be in my head (!) but it does honestly look sharper when examining the fine detail on RP35 ? Jon

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 09-13-2016 10:22 AM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Screen manufacturers actually have the material manufactured to their design spec. And then they do all the coating of the screen surface. So you are really stuck getting it from a screen factory if you want actual screen material. Note that the three screens sold here are all different thicknesses with Severtson Screens being the thickest. I prefer Severtson and then Harkness in that order. MDI is a bunch of assholes, never call the factory to ask any questions! Although the screens are fairly good, they also the thinnest of the lot.

Mark

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Jonathan Wood
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 206
From: Oxfordshire, United kingdom
Registered: Jan 2008


 - posted 09-13-2016 11:51 AM      Profile for Jonathan Wood   Email Jonathan Wood   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks Mark

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99


 - posted 09-13-2016 11:52 AM      Profile for Brad Miller   Author's Homepage   Email Brad Miller       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Jonathan Wood
My thought being that I could source it direct rather than go through a theatrical supplier.
Jonathan - If it was that simple, all of the theaters would be doing it.

quote: Jonathan Wood
I'm just looking for enough material to make a 6 foot wide non perf screen.
Non-perf and 6 foot wide eh? Just head on over to whatever UK's version of Home Depot is and pick up a sheet of white formica kitchen counter top. They will have sample colors, and you want to pick the whitest one. It works magnificently for a non-perf screen, and they are typically available in sizes up to 5x12 feet. The reflective pattern of light is very smooth and great for off-axis viewing, which you are likely to have in a home environment.

As an added bonus, it's also inexpensive and you can run bad movies on it and let your audience throw tomatoes at the screen since it wipes clean easy. [thumbsup]

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Jonathan Wood
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 206
From: Oxfordshire, United kingdom
Registered: Jan 2008


 - posted 09-13-2016 02:21 PM      Profile for Jonathan Wood   Email Jonathan Wood   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks Brad (I think ?!)

I'll be off to Homebase on Saturday !

It will be ideal as I ONLY show bad movies [Wink]

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Marcel Birgelen
Film God

Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012


 - posted 09-13-2016 05:27 PM      Profile for Marcel Birgelen   Email Marcel Birgelen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I know a lot of people that go berserk over non-perf screen material, especially for their home theater and I just don't get it to be honest.

As soon as you have to put speakers behind it or have to do polarized 3D or you're operating at the limits of what your projector can handle, it's getting a bit more complicated. But I've had a wall triple painted with the most neutral/whitest paint we could get at the local version of Home Depot. We had it masked like you would do with a proper screen. It calibrated just fine and without any perforation, it even looked great up close...

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Buck Wilson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 894
From: St. Joseph MO, USA
Registered: Sep 2010


 - posted 09-13-2016 08:14 PM      Profile for Buck Wilson   Email Buck Wilson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Here's my janky setup. I used a piece of some sort of project board. It's like 1/4" thick. Its like plywood, but very smooth. It came primed, I added 2 coats of flat white paint. All masking fabric is black fleece.

Not bad for EXTREME low budget. I still have a couple of finishing touches to do, but it turned out much better than I was expecting.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99


 - posted 09-14-2016 12:17 AM      Profile for Brad Miller   Author's Homepage   Email Brad Miller       Edit/Delete Post 
Jonathan, that was not sarcasm. All through my college years I had a 5x12 formica screen in my apartments. It works really well.

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Sean Weitzel
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 619
From: Vacaville, CA (1790 miles west of Rockwall)
Registered: Dec 1999


 - posted 09-14-2016 12:56 PM      Profile for Sean Weitzel   Email Sean Weitzel   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
White expanded PVC sheets work very well also.

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Jonathan Wood
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 206
From: Oxfordshire, United kingdom
Registered: Jan 2008


 - posted 09-14-2016 03:00 PM      Profile for Jonathan Wood   Email Jonathan Wood   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hi Brad , no worries , I realise that,

I am going to follow your advice and try it out , another bonus is its going to be perfectly flat , so I won't have to worry about tensioning.

This might sound like a dumb question but does screen surface affect perceived sharpness? I ask this because I noticed when I did a side by side comparison of smooth regular tripod type screen material with a more rigid very finely horizontally grooved white pvc material , the grooved material seemed slightly sharper? Cheers Jon

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004


 - posted 09-14-2016 04:11 PM      Profile for Monte L Fullmer   Email Monte L Fullmer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Even a white regular bed sheet works good. Six feet should be a size full sheet.

Just have to iron it first, then mount it on the frame (which you can use PVC tubing and corners) and stretch accordingly to get the wrinkles out. Make you a real nice floating screen this way.

Nice thing about using bedsheets is that sound still passes through the material when you place your speakers behind it.

Good luck - Monte

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Rick Raskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1100
From: Manassas Virginia
Registered: Jan 2003


 - posted 09-14-2016 05:19 PM      Profile for Rick Raskin   Email Rick Raskin   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
When I was in Vietnam in 1967 we had 4 sheets of plywood pained white. 16mm looked fine. Nothing compares to watching the TV show "Combat" while the real stuff was going on nearby. These were taken at a Tropo site in Nha Trang.

I was there in 2010 and there is no trace of the site ever having been there.

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Ian Partridge
Film Handler

Posts: 10
From: Colchester, Essex, England, United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2016


 - posted 09-15-2016 05:56 AM      Profile for Ian Partridge   Author's Homepage   Email Ian Partridge   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
A roll of Colorama 'Arctic White' photographer's studio backing paper may suit for projection. The surface is designed to give an even flat reflection and will reproduce your projected image detail without a hot spot that may occur with a polished surface.

Unlike your standard fold-up screen when it gets a marked or kinked, you can use the other side or replace from the roll.

Ian

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