To complete your screen you will want to create a black border or frame. We do not supply these materials, as there are so many variations and personal tastes. But a black border is important to absorb the often-rough edges of the projected image. The most common and very simple option is to use a common trim or edge molding as you would find around a door. Paint it flat black and install it around the screen like a picture frame.
What size screens do you make? I can’t find the sizes listed.
Very simple- any size up to 150” diagonal in any format. If you want a larger screen you will need an additional screen kit. Format refers to the ratio of height to width of the image. The older slide projector used to be square so the height and width were the same. Today there are various formats that include NTSC Video and HDTV. So for example the ratio for Video format is 1.33 to 1. So if you want a 100" diagonal image then you will have an image that has a dimension of 60" high X 80" wide. But here is the good news for a DIY customer. With the traditional fabric or plastic screens (that wrinkle and sag over time) you must find a dealer and order a screen and know exactly what size you want before you even have your projector set up. And then wait for it to ship. One of the great advantages of a DIY Theatre screen is that you do not have to give size a thought. Here is why. You mount your projector in it's permanent location and project it on your wall. The image will not be very good but you will find out how big you want the image. Zoom in and out and lower and elevate the image until it is exactly the right size for you. Exactly the right size for your theatre. Then you will mark the edges and apply the DIY screen surface. You do not have to be held to a 96" or 100" diagonal that the old style factories make. If you want 98 3/4" diagonal - fine. Want 104 1/8" no problem. So do not worry about size - with a DIY screen - you are in control.
Do you have contrast screens?
Yes – in fact we offer you a no contrast option or 3 levels of contrast enhancement. Light, medium or high. See the illustration below. This is available for all of our optical surfaces. Our most popular choice is medium contrast closely followed by our light contrast option. There is no additional charge for your contrast selection.
* Contrast levels represented will vary by monitor and are reproduced to the best of our ability.
Refer to Gain Contrast PDF to determine the Gain and Contrast level ranges for each product.
What makes your screens so different?
You can find a more detailed answer to this question when you visit “SO WHAT IS THE BIG DIFFERENCE?" But here is the short version based on feedback we have received. The most popular difference is the cost. Not only is the retail cost much less expensive but also there is no electric wiring and construction or installation costs. Second is the huge difference in the way a DIY Theatre® Screen is made. You apply it to your wall or other rigid surface and that means you can decide the exact size, location and format at the last minute – after you install the projector and see the perfect image area you like best. And since you applied it to a rigid structure your screen will not sag or wrinkle over time. Variable gain levels that you decide and multiple contrast level options put you in control of your screen performance. DIY Theatre® Screens have been engineered and formulated to perform much differently that traditional screen surfaces. This includes reflectivity from a broader light spectrum and use of only recently available non-interference pigments. More details at “SO WHAT IS THE BIG DIFFERENCE”.
What is the gain (brightness) of your screens?
The Australian Opal® will offer a gain of .7 to 1.4 and you will decide that gain level at the time you install your screen depending on the level of contrast enhancement you selected and the amount of optical activator you add to your screen coating. This will be explained to you in the instructions you receive. As a benchmark the most popular gain levels are from 1.0 to 1.2. Refer to Gain Contrast PDF to determine the Gain and Contrast level range.
Do you have HDTV or high definition formats?
We support any format you choose. Your screen can be square, video format, HDTV or letterbox. You can even have a multiple format and use drapes or a masking system to make the change.
Can my DIY Theatre® screen be cleaned?
Sure. We do not recommend cleaning for the first 3-6 months as the screen surface completes curing. Included in all DIY optical formulations are Microspheres‘ that add nothing to the optical performance but are included to repel dust and to enhance the durability of the surface. Cleaning instructions will be included with your shipment.
Can I use rear projection in my home theatre?
Sure you can and this can work very successfully. However, we are sorry that DIY Theatre® cannot yet help you here. We say not yet as we are in final testing of a rear projection screen that will not only substantially reduce the cost but also offer impressive performance. Those are the key principles for all DIY products. Send us an e-mail or check back in the future to see if we have this available. Rear projection is a great alternative and often preferred to front projection if you have the proper space and layout. Just be aware of the large differences in price and performance on the market today. Buyers beware. And be very wary of mirror and frame systems – DIY will never recommend their use even when our product is available. They are expensive, fragile and can contribute to image distortion and loss of light.
Is your product safe?
DIY products have all been made with safety and environmental compliance in mind. All our products are water based and can be cleaned up with soap and water. Our products are not combustible. We cannot know if there are sensitivities we are not aware of and so we recommend that any exposure to the eyes or skin be flushed with water. As with any common household product keep out of reach of children and pets.
You will have unused materials since we provide an excess to make sure you have plenty of material to install your screen. As for disposal of unused product please follow local laws and ordinances.
Do you have a product return policy if we change our mind?
Yes we do. Unopened boxes returned within 12 calendar days of shipment will receive full credit on the credit card used to purchase the screen solution kit less a 15% restocking charge. If the boxes are opened but the bottles still have the security seals in tact and the box is returned within 12 calendar days of shipment full credit will be posted on the credit card used to purchase the screen solution kit less a 25 % restocking charge.
Do you have a warranty?
Yes we do, but it is limited to the solution itself. This is a "Do It Yourself" product and we cannot control how you use it. DIY Theatre® projection screen solutions are warranted to be free from manufacturing defects and will be delivered within DIY Theatre LLC's manufacturing specifications. Each production lot is subjected to quality control review. However, due to varying conditions beyond our control, such as surface preparation, application procedures, conditions of the substrate and curing conditions, DIY Theatre, LLC does not warrant the resulting performance of the product. DIY Theatre, LLC does not assume responsibility for external materials or labor. If the solution itself is found to be defective, DIY Theatre LLC's liability is limited to replacement of the screen solution only. If you believe one or more of the solutions to be defective, please contact customer service. Be sure to follow all instructions provided. If you do not have a copy of the instructions, please contact customer service before use of the product. Product with security seals broken or removed can not be used and will not be accepted for return.
Technical Concepts
What is gain and why is it important?
Gain is the concept of a relative ratio of brightness between a sample and a standard (magnesium carbonate). Gain used to be a very important issue because projectors had low lumen output. The Gain of 2 would be twice as bright as the standard (which looks similar in appearance as a sheet of paper). Since the light is reflecting back to the audience in a front projection screen, the higher the gain is the closer one has to sit directly in front of the screen, whereas if you had a lower gain screen you might be able to sit off axis as far as 40 to 60 degrees and still have a quality image.
Today, however, gain is losing its importance. With the higher light output projectors (lumens), a lower gain of 1.1 to 1.3 is quite pleasing to a viewer. In fact, high gain screens can make the screen too bright when sitting in front of the screen and too dark at the sides and often hot spots (circles of very bright light) appear.
What gain do I need? How do I decide?
You are now ready to decide on the screen gain or reflectivity performance of your screen. You will be determining the level of gain when you mix the top coating or active screen solution, which we will explain later. This is a huge advantage you have over the old style screens where you have limited options and must decide weeks or months in advance how your screen should perform. Now you are asking what is "gain" and how do I decide how much I want for my screen. This depends on several factors we will explain for your consideration. But in the end, you must use your judgment. The factors include:
- brightness level of the projector in lumens
- level of contrast you selected with your screen
- uncontrolled light from windows or adjacent areas
- controlled lighting in your projection area
- the configuration of your room
This is our recommendation to determine the optimum gain level for your application — keep in mind that this requires judgment on your part for most steps.
1. Projector brightness or light output. In our opinion many projector manufacturers overstate the performance of light output so we will work with ranges. Start with a 1.0 gain level. If lumen level is:
- 700 or less multiply by 1.2
- 750 to 1000 multiply by 1.1
- 1100 to 1300 multiply by 1.0
- 1400 and greater multiply by 0.9
So if you have a projector that is rated at 1000 lumens you would want a screen gain of 1.10. But we are not done. Just remember you want to increase the gain by .1 based on the projector lumen rating. Now let’s go to Step 2.
2. Uncontrolled light from windows or adjacent areas. First you should consider any adjustment you can make to control this light. You will be glad you did. Curtains and other window coverings that eliminate all light are best. Maybe you do not even have any windows in your theatre area. In this case you need no additional gain added to your screen. Perhaps you will not be using your theatre during the time of day when bright lights will be present. Again in this case you would not need additional gain enhancement. However, if uncontrollable light is unavoidable, follow this guideline when the projector is off:
- some light but can not read the print of a paper at arms length no addition to gain
- medium light can read the print of a paper and see most items in the theatre add 0.1
- strong light — gain will not help, condition not recommended for projection environment
3. Controlled lighting in the projection area. Since it is controlled you should take steps to minimize the amount of light. You may desire low light levels as many people feel it is more comfortable to the eye. In this case a low level of area lighting will not require gain enhancement. 9 Maybe you have a lighted hall or staircase you do not wish to darken. Perhaps it is a kitchen or pool table or entertainment bar. If these lights seem to be bright enough to reflect off the screen and surrounding wall then you need to consider adding gain.
4. The configuration of your room. This is very important. It is all about the viewing angle for your audience. Peak gain is measured when you are viewing the projection from the center point – either directly behind or below the projector. The maximum viewing angle is just less than 90 degrees, which would be with your head pressed to the same wall as the screen. If you will have viewing from an angle greater than 60 degrees we would recommend that you do not exceed a gain of 1.3.
5. The level of contrast you selected for your screen. Depending on the contrast you selected an adjustment must be made for to achieve your optimal gain level. As a general guide we suggest the following change to the target gain:
- No Contrast - reduce by .1
- Light Contrast – no change
- Medium Contrast – no change
- High Contrast – increase by .1
6. Adding it all up. These are only rough guidelines. As you can see a lot of factors can play in the decision of how much gain you should apply to your screen. But one point is critical – this is not a “more is better situation”. Now is not the time to get heavy handed! In most installations a gain of .9 to 1.2 is used. We do not recommend a gain of 1.4 or higher unless you have professional advice or total confidence in your decision. We provide the capability of a gain up to 2.0 as some installations are used in restaurants, exhibit or entertainment venues that require a higher gain due to uncontrolled ambient light. The negative effect of excessive gain can be a bright area (hot spot) in the center of the screen when viewing from directly in front of the screen and a resulting darker image as you move off axis to either side.
Many believe more gain is always better and that is not at all the case. For more insight into this discussion, we recommend the article that appears in the Home toys e-magazine on this subject, "Running Interference - Not All Projector Screens are Created Equal."
What is my viewing angle?
The viewing angle of your screen will depend on the gain you choose for your screen. This is true for all screens from any manufacturer. Projection screens cannot “make” light – only reflect light. But some of the older style screens can absorb light or rather not reflect back all the light the projector sends to the screen. At DIY we are proud of the efficiency our screens reflect. Have you ever taken a good look at the “big screen” TV’s the retail chains offer? Stand in the middle or straight in-front of the big screen and move around to the side. Notice that it goes from very bright when you are straight in front and in many cases the image is almost black when you move around to the side. This is a narrow viewing angle. You need to sit straight in front to enjoy a good picture – the rest of the people in the room do not have a very good experience.
This can happen if your screen has a very high gain. More of the projection light is reflected straight back and not to the sides. We do not recommend a high gain screen under most circumstances.
What is rear projection?
Very simply it means that you have the projector located behind the screen and project through the screen, which is diffused, or Fresnel or a combination of both. We are sorry that DIY Theatre, LLC cannot yet help you here. We say not yet as we are in final testing of a rear projection screen that will not only substantially reduce the cost but also offer impressive performance. Those are the key principles for all DIY products. Send us an e-mail or check back in the future to see if we have this available. Rear projection is a great alternative and often preferred to front projection if you have the proper space and layout. Just be aware of the large differences in price and performance on the market today. Buyers beware. And be very wary of mirror and frame systems – DIY will never recommend their use even when our product is available. They are expensive, fragile and can contribute to image distortion and loss of light.
You use the term “non-interference pigment” what does that mean?
DIY Theatre, LLC has developed a new screen technology that includes a non-interference pigment. This is used in all of our screen products. Some refer to the luster of the non-interference pigment surface as a fleur-de-lis due to its elegance. To our knowledge this is not used in any other screen product. Traditional pearlescent screens use an interference pigment which is a larger flake and is fairly translucent. This is the reason that screen performance is lost due to color shift. Old style screens are painted with black on the back so you can not see all the light that is lost as it passes through the screen surface rather than reflect back to you –the viewer. See the illustration of the optically active layer below.
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Traditional Pearl Pigments
Notice how the light ray is split when it strikes the old style pearl pigment flake. Some of it is reflected back as it should be and some of the light travels through the pigment and lost in the back of the screen while another part of it is reflected back at a different angle. As multiple pigment flakes are layered this negative effect is compounded. Some of the light ray is totally lost and the rest is split in fractional directions which is the primary cause of color shift due to screen performance. This type of pearl pigment is not a defect - in fact that is how they are designed. Their use is for automotive coatings and packaging materials and it gives the appearance of depth due to multiple layers and color shift looks good on a car. But not on a movie screen.
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DIY Theatre® Non-interference Screen Pigments
The latest generation of screen pigments made for DIY Theatre® screens reflect very differently. They are opaque particles rather than translucent flakes. When the light ray strikes the non-interference pigments, it is then directed back in a single reflection and provide a much greater color intensity. The non-interference pigments are a very new technology previously unavailable.
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Pearlescent pigments used in many of the common projection screens were developed in the 1960’s long before digital projection sources or light sources with UV light were developed. These old pigments work well for cars but not very efficient for a projection screen. The non-interference pigments in our formulations are only recently available and greatly change the active performance of the projection screen surface. The fine grain size (5 - 30 µm) of these pigments and narrow particle size distribution allow our projection screens to perform with greatly reduced or totally eliminated color shift and a greater amount of the projected light to be reflected back to the viewers. This is a huge technological improvement that no doubt other manufacturers will love to copy after our patent expiration. Color shift will affect your performance – if you do not want this then DIY can supply you the screen surface you desire.
Installation
How do we decide the size of our screen?
One of our favorite questions because it highlights one of the great advantages of a DIY screen. Build your home theatre and mount your projector in the permanent position. Then project on the surface where you want your screen. Now play around with the zoom and focus – maybe raise or lower the image a little. Once you have found the exact height and size that looks best to you then you have just decided your screen size. The alternative method from the big box screen manufacturers is to try to figure this out weeks or months in advance, track down a dealer and wait for shipment. But the catch is they only offer a limited number of sizes like 72”, 84” 96” and so on. If the size that looks best in your personal theater is 98” or 103 5/8” your big box screen will not be right.
What tools will we need to install a DIY Theatre® screen?
Great question. You will need a paint roller (we supply custom made roller covers) a paint pan and painters tape. The only other thing you may want is a drop cloth. We supply all the rest. However, we do not recommend using the old paint pan and roller you have in the garage. And we do not recommend the cheapest you can find. We have learned with lots of testing that the cheapest rollers are cheap for a reason. A higher quality roller is available at any hardware store and will be more rigid and roll better. The other important difference is in the wires that support the middle of the roller cover. The better quality will provide for a better quality application.
Also choose your painters tape carefully. We prefer one with medium adhesion and at least a 7-day safe release. We also recommend the wide roll, as you will want extra room for your roller to roll off the screen area.
You have really good instructions that came with the product – but we have an unusual question. Who is the best to contact for an installation question? Contact Tech Support — they can help you with all your installation questions. And if it is a common issue we will likely post it here.
DIY Frequently Asked Questions
A DIY Theatre® 
