I decided to try a new screen paint mix for my living room wall. Before I had painted a screen area in the middle of my yellow wall. I have been thinking and preparing for my next projector like always. The big difference between each generation of projector is the brightness of black. Every generation it gets a little bit blacker. My Optoma HD70 is a lot blacker than my Optoma H27 was and the next projector will be even blacker. There is a level where the blacks are black enough and you can start to enjoy truly black blacks as far as your eyes are able to perceive. Knowing that I decided to paint the whole wall to create an interesting projection effect which I will demonstrate below.
Also during this repaint I decided to change the mix a little bit. Before I just used Behr Silver Screen which is a normal favorite. This time I used a mixture of around 70% Behr Silver Screen and 30% Behr White Opal Pearlescent. The pearl paint adds an amazing shimmer to the image. It looks brighter with richer colors but it also looks like a plasma television. It has this glow to it like the light is coming from behind the wall. If you get close to the wall you can see all the micro reflectors doing their stuff but when you get back around 6 feet that disappears and it just looks great. I could probably go higher and might at some point. I will probably go paint, projector, paint, projector, back and forth. And now the examples.
Here is an example of normal HD footage. This is the maximum size of the projected image so there wouldn't be any light grey blacks around it.
Now here a commercial. It is a standard definition commercial that is also letterboxed so on a widescreen display it shows up as a little image. With black blacks you don't feel like you are watching a tiny image in the middle of a large screen because the surrounding black pixels are darker than you are able to perceive so the image is small but you don't feel like it isn't filling up the space. It just is the space.
These final images are much better than a commercial. Below are movies shown in their very wide aspect ratio. Once the blacks get black enough you start to see just the wide image like watching a movie in a theater instead of seeing dark grey bars at the top and bottom. This lack of grey bars make the wide movies seem larger instead of smaller which they actually are compared to HDTV sources.
This new paint mixture buys a little bit of time but during dark scenes the blacks are visible painting the dark grey bars above and below widescreen movies. The increased contrast of whatever my next projector will be in addition to the iris that is in most that brings the black levels down so only the minimum amount of light ever leaves the projector for ever frame shown so you never get the waste light visible in the room.
The set with even more pictures is on flickr if you would like to see the out-takes.
The paints used are Behr White Opal Pearlescent No. 751 and Silver Screen 770E-2 that is also called Silverscreen 770E-2
Here is an image of the screen surface up close with a flash to get an idea of the color and reflectivity. It is very neutral.
Those images look great. I am looking to do something similar for my home theater as well. My projector doesnt have quite the contrast ratio about 2000:1, but has a 2100 ansi. So I am thinking i may lower the amount of Opal Pearlescent to make the blacks stand out more. Anyways this may be a dumb question, but what kind of paint did you use? Flat, eggshell, satin? Thanks in advance for you response.
I like flat screens. Your projector is bright enough so you should be able to handle it. Some people prefer a little satin in their paint but their projectors are half as bright.
The Behr Silver Screen paint comes in three shades. It isn't all called Silver Screen but they are all versions of 770E.
770E-1 Quietude (light)
770E-2 Silver Screen (middle)
770E-3 Pewter Mug (darker)
If you wanted to push the blacks down you could stick with 30% pearlescent and mix it with pewter mug or have them make you a paint that is half way between pewter mug and silver screen then mix that with pearlescent. The pearlescent pop is pretty nice so that is why I am steering you away from less of it in favor of a darker base if that is what you are interested in. You can't really go wrong it is pretty easy to go up or down a shade.
You got me excited with the pearlescents. I'm going to give it a shot. Couple of questions though, if youi don't mind. I assume pearlescent is pearlescent. What I mean, you mentioned using Behr, but I usually stick with Benjamin Moore paints and they have their own version of pearlescent. You think that will be a problem?
I'm also curious about hot spotting with the extra sheen. Your pics don't seem to show any, but the angle of you pictures may have avoiding the hotspot.
Thanks.
I think the pearlescent is probably all the same. Hot spotting usually comes when the wall is a little shiny. Mixing the pearlescent top coat in with the paint cuts that down quite a bit to keep the shine down and just have the sparkle part. I haven't noticed anything with mine.
Elvis can you help me?
I just bought an Optoma HD65.70-80% of my movie-viewing will be done at night.I currenty rent and I have a 12x15 room with 4 glossy white walls. What do you suggest for the best picture? I don't have a HD DVD player...just a GE and a ton of regular format DVDs although I may upgrade to PS3 soon,but thats not a defenite.Thought I only have 1,000.00 and a new carpet invested,like anyone else I'd like maximize my pic to be the best it can be.Would you recommend that 70-30 mix? can i use just silver screen paint? Also....can I get away with just a few inch black border with paint around the screen or do I need to pain the entire 15 ft (and other walls) black aside from the screen area.Like I said I have 4 glossy walls but a vast majority or my projector use will be after dark..so does any of this pertain to me? The 70-30 or anything? Help! haha Im new at this and any help would be appreciated. thanks VERY much.
You can just use silver screen or the mix. You can paint the whole wall or just the screen area and a tiny black border (1 to 2 inches) is all you would need to get a big contrast enhancement. I don't use a border as you may have read above. I also deleted your email from the above post because it isn't a great idea to post your email on the web. It will lead to junk.
How r ya. One question I have a sony vpl-hs60 projector could i just use the behr silverscreen 770e-2 only and get awesome pic quality and definition. Thanx
You sure can. That is what I had for a while and really liked it. Adding the pear doesn't do much. It is just an extra pop on an already nice image. Paint a coat more than you think you need for extra smoothness.
Hey Elvis - looks good. Quick question:
How did you do the mixing of the paint? ie. Did you guy a gallon of each then mix it your self in a separate can/tub/pale etc?
Thanks in advance. Reason i'm asking is cause my wall is 11.5 wide and I'm pretty sure a gallon will do it.
I already painted my wall just silverscreen once so I had a gallon bucket that was about 70% full. I added in the pearlescent and then just stirred it for a long time and then again when I did the final coat. So I bought a gallon of silverscreen, used some, then bought a container of the pearlescent which came in a smaller container that was like 2.5 pints or something. I guess that math works out. That would make around 70% and 30%.
I've had my Panny AX-100U for about two years and have simply been projecting it against a rather textured wall onto a 126" diagonal image. There is a huge, 7'h x25w' window behind the projector so I was hoping to get a little help with the light using Behr Silver Screen. What effect would the pearlescent have in such a situation. Granted, about 80% of viewing is done at night where there is little ambient light.
Thanks
I don't think it would help with your window. It would probably make it worse because it makes the wall more reflective. Having the window and the projector on the same wall probably also makes it worse. At night it would look nice.
I'm a newbie to projectors and just bought an Optoma HD70. I plan to go with a 120" diagonal image. I've read that the Silverscreen/Pearlscent mix is very good for color accuracey (vs contrast, but others say just go with Baher Ultra White with no mix. Which direction do you suggest? With the 70/30 mix sounds like you mixed the two at home, not in the store?
Also, can the wall be primed and repainted to cover the Silverscreen mixed with Pearlscent? Is it hard to paint over if I wanted to change colors? Most of the movies will be on DVD and watched at night.
Thanks
I did both and liked adding the pearlescent. When you add in the pearlescent it is white paint with pearl dust so it makes the silverscreen lighter leading to less contrast. Silverscreen is super easy to paint over because it is just neutral paint, anything would go over it.
I was so impressed by your screenshots that I ran out and purchased the same BEHR paints from Home Depot today. I am waiting for my first coat to dry. I hope my Mits HC1500 projector looks just as nice. I was just throwing my image on a white wall similar to yours in texture.Im not sure how I found your blog. Maybe I followed a link from AVS. Dunno. But at any rate, I hope my picture will have that "pop" I'm looking for. Thanks for the idea. Good Job!