Screen “delamination” ?

[Geoffrey Hudson]

New to the forums and looking for some advice.
We have a ceiling-retracting screen manufactured by Da-Lite. We recently unrolled for the first time in over a year snd noticed something odd. There is a sort of residue in long patches across the whole screen. Those areas are shiny and reflect differently. When projecting on it, it looks like horizontal bands of different brightness. The effect for viewers almost looks like a digital problem you might see on a flatscreen monitor. We have been told by Da-Light that this is “delamination” of the screen material and can happen on screens older than 5 years and possibly aggravated by being rolled up for so long.
Just wondering if any others here have had this situation and can recommend solutions. Can this stuff be cleaned in some way that won’t worsen it or cause damage to the screen?
We are a small independent theater and replacing the screen would be a rough bill to pay after 14 months of closure.

[Steve Guttag]

Yes I've seen it (any screen that is rolled for prolonged periods, especially any with a painted gain surface can/will do this). There is no fix other than replacement. While I do recommend that roll down screens remain rolled up for most of their lives (they stretch when unrolled), they still need to be rolled down periodically to avoid such things.

[Marcel Birgelen]

It's hard to tell if the damage to your screen is repairable, as many of those screens are extremely fragile. If de-lamination is already occurring, then starting to rub on your screen is usually not such a good idea.

That being said, you should take a closer look at the affected parts of your screen, to see what is happening: Has the back of the screen deposited stuff on the front of the screen? If so, you may be able to ever-so-gently rub off this layer. If this fixes the problem, you could try to stop further de-lamination by applying some kind of non-abrasive, thin and flexible plastic sheeting to the back of the screen.

But if it's the other way around, as in if the front of the screen has de-laminated and part of this layer is now stuck to the back of the screen, I don't see an easy way to repair the damage.