Projection Screen Paint - Is It Worth It?
What are Your Options?
You don’t necessarily need to spend your money on dedicated projection screen paint, as standard interior latex paint is more than enough to take care of your needs in most cases. There are many cheap DIY solutions that may work as a substitute to the screen paints; however, if you’re looking for the very best, nothing can serve as a workaround for Da-Lite or Firehawk.
If you have a cool projector like the Benq PE8700 and a small room that’s totally packed up, sheetrock wall painted satin white may be an ideal choice. However, there’s no point in contemplating any screen paint and calling it good.
Suggestion for Getting the Best Looks
A flat white is something that almost every other person would like, but a flat gray may look little trendier; however, you may encounter little difficulty in finding good shades of grey.
You may want to try out 2-4" flat black paint border around your screen, or even try velvet as well.
Another nice idea is to hang theater-style curtains on your white satin wall.
However, it is crucial to protect the painted surface, when it’s not in use; otherwise you’ll end up spending a considerable amount of money unnecessarily on getting your projection screen repainted.
Top Choices
Moving on to the top choices in the market, Da-Lite, Goo, and Firehawk have been extremely popular for quite some time. But, many custom made projection screen solutions like Black Widow are also gaining a fair deal of popularity too.
Here are the top choices -
• Da-Lite on white screen
• Firehawk on Satin White
• Flat Grey Paint on White Wall.
• Mississippi Mud
• Goo Paint
• Flat Quart SS with White Opal Pearlescence
Black Widow is custom made projection screen paint for giving improved image projection in ambient conditions; ideal for cases when room can’t be blacked out fully. It is pretty popular in UK. And, the Parkland Plastics with Behr Silver-screen is also fairly popular as well.
Projection Screen Paints for Residential Usage
If the primary usage of projection screen paint is at your own theater room, then you may want to try out the Digital Theater Paint. Not only is it inexpensive and easy to apply, but also suitable for any type of environment.
You can get stunning results, and use it for creating projection screen of any desired size; absolutely no fuss, no-strings attached!
Projection Screen Paints for Commercial Usage
You may have an oversized arena projection to be painted, or require a custom size screen for commercial usage. In such cases, 3DHD Silver Screen is an ideal deal as a projection screen solution for 360 degree simulators. It can be easily applied to even the hidden custom installations, and it adds that brilliant 3D visual element to your projection screen.
With HD Projection, you get additional 120+" viewing display in comparison to the flat panels. Effectively, you end up spending 80% lesser, and getting 4X more!
Is It Worth It?
Having seen the good and bad about the usage of projection screen paints, and the various options available at your disposal, it is totally up to you to decide further. If you’re not satisfied with the latex interiors, a high-quality projection screen paint is the way to go.
Depending upon your personal taste, choice, and budget considerations, you may pick the paint, look at combination of various colors, and try many extravagant things. If you’re running on low budget, a plane white, or satin white glossy finish may serve the purpose.
Last but definitely not the least, you must consider the lighting and other aspects, before choosing a projection screen paint. Remember, if the room can’t be totally blacked out some of the screen paints may not produce good results.
Therefore, it is tough to draw a conclusion whether projection screen paint is worth your money; it totally depends on your choice, specific requirements, budget considerations, and several other aspects. It is as simple as this - you can have it if you enjoy it, otherwise you can learn to be happy with what you have at home, or at your workplace.
