Projecting onto a non-white wall

slowlydownwards

Hi all,

Afaik there are two types of homeowners / people renting in Eire: Those whose internal walls are painted in magnolia and those whose walls aren't. I'm afraid I belong to the former.

Am thinking of getting a home theatre projector. The image will be projected onto a wall (eeeerrrr magnolia wall), probably at about 130inches diagonally (can only place projector at the back wall / ceiling mount is not an option).

Well, I know for certain that colour accuracy will be off, but by how much? I'm by no means an AV purist, but still would like to know if I will be able to get away with it, so to speak, or is a trip to woodies for a bucket of brilliant white an order of the day?

Was anybody else in a similar circumstance?

Btw, am not considering buying a screen.

Thanks for any advice.

eddiem74

I project onto my wall with a custom paint mix, called BWUK (i.e. black widow 'UK version', developed originally in the US).

In terms of colour you tend to need to use White or Grey, screens are also developed in those colours. I went with grey for better blacks, and the fact I would get some ambient light issues during the day.

You could always start with your existing colour, and I am sure someone you know has some white paint knocking around which you could paint onto something to compare with your existing wall colour while projecting and make a decision from there.

I am by no means an expert in all this, just went with that paint mix cos I came across it at the time, and didn't want to shell out for a screen.

Good Luck !

andy1249

People in the know , use this :-)

http://www.goosystems.com/screengoo/

vandermeyde

I have a ceiling mounted Panasonic AE1000 projecting onto a Magnolia wall...Had planned to get a screen/or use the paints mentioned above but just never got around to it. Wifey wasn't too happy at the prospect

If you can get the room nice and dark the picture will be fine, i've never had any complaints.

Not ideal, but does the job perfectly well.

eddiem74

andy1249 wrote: »

People in the know , use this :-)

http://www.goosystems.com/screengoo/

An option for sure, but many who dabble in the DIY paint mixes will argue the same results can be obtained for a lot less cost.

A link to the original Black Widow thread in the US for anyone who might be interested.

slowlydownwards

@eddiem74

BWUK grey for deeper blacks + sparkly aluminuim bits that will get the picture to "pop". Seems great. And I particularly like the idea of using grey in order to counteract light "pollution" during daytime viewing. Didn't get a chance to read up your link on Av Forums, but if BWUK isn't too dear would love to try and test the paint in my computer shack before "redocorating" living room.

@andy1249

Man, there is a whole science behind this!!! And if you can think of it, someone out there is bound to have it for sale.


@vandermeyde

Think I'll try and project onto magnolia wall first. Definatelly agree with you on the SWMBO issue, am in the same boat.


Thanks to all, appreaciate it, boarders rule.

Ghost Train

What I've found it will add a bit of tint to the image, but you can adjust the colour levels to conteract it. As has been white or grey shades best for getting proper colours

you'll probably get better black levels like a grey screen gives, than you would get with a plane white wall, so not all bad

eddiem74

Well when I started projecting it was on to an off-white wall which had been there for a couple of years. We were blown away even with that going from a TV to projector.

Then I got into the whole mind boggling area of screens (fixed, pull-down, electric, DIY, gains, etc) I was just on the brink of spending serious cash on a screen from the US, when I came across the BW thread, and somehow got into it to see what the results would be.

It was a HUGE improvement over the existing off-white wall.

I then added a DIY frame covered with some black velvet and was blown away, that really made a huge difference also.

I am not by any means an expert but was well impressed by the crazy effort those guys put into BW, and for a DIY solution it ain't bad.

jimbling

I set up my projector on a magnolia wall and have no problems at all. I had planned to map out a screen and get some of that special paint etc, but just never got around to it. Mainly because it's pretty much perfect as is.

As others mentioned, most important thing is darkness in the room. After that, you can play with the colours until it suits.