Making Your Own Projection Screen with "Screen Goo" |
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Posted 2012/03 - 3 months after making the screen. Introduction
The title of this article is something of a misnomer. What you'll find documented here is just a personal experience with "Screen Goo", not a comprehensive guide to screen making. Screen Goo is a product for making or, rather, painting your own high quality TV projection screen at a cost much less than that of a similar quality pre-built screen. You do, however, need a flat, reasonably smooth surface such as a wall on which to paint the material. A willingness to deal with some of the mess that goes with painting helps. You can find out all about the product and making your own screen here: http://www.googuru.ca/index.php ... and a YouTube presentation on recommended application procedure here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9Or1HvBy8w The foregoing are links to the Canadian supplier. For other locations, check with http://www.goosystemsglobal.com/indexb73f.html?cont=home The Goo comprises two components:
The Goo layers are applied with a conventional paint roller. You can supply your own according to recommendations but it is much more convenient (and guarantees the roller is suitable) if you simply order the full kit from the Goo Guru. You get two roller cylinders (one each for base and finish coat), a high quality handle and a robust plastic tray along with jars of the Goo itself and some masking tape. You will also find special trim and a pot of black Goo for making a nice border around your screen if you don't already have this. There are product variants. An online guide helps you determine just what and how much to order. When you are finished painting your screen the rollers, handle and tray clean up easily in water and can be re-used to paint your house or barn. So why this article? Well, in my view there is nothing like personal experience to supplement manufacturer claims and instructions. I soon discovered not everything worked exactly as suggested and some improvisation was necessary owing to special circumstances. By all means take seriously the manufacturer recommendations but you may find some of what's documented here helpful.
Preparation
Gird up your loins now, such as they may be, and prepare to "Goo":
Painting
Base/Reflective Coat You should have watched the video by now. Begin with the demonstrated technique. I noticed almost immediately that the roller left some small dry patches in its wake. This was unexpected and alarming. The reason might have been that my theater room is below ground level and rather cool most of the time so the Goo may have been extra thick. For whatever reason there were dry patches. I responded by abandoning the official method and running the roller back and forth in desperation, even horizontally at times. I can see the Goo people going (gooing?) into shock at this but as you will find in the conclusion to this article, a perfect result was obtained just the same and I now recommend the method if you have this problem. The principle to keep in mind is this:
More important than applying it in vertical strips only, as shown in the video, is to ensure you flatten out all of the Goo just applied before the critical 2 minutes expires. With your flashlight or lamp held to the side look for any ridges or bumps left by the roller and deal with these ASAP. So long as you do this it really doesn't matter in which direction you apply the roller or how often you go over a spot. Really. Anyway, always begin with the approved method first, then modify in response to emerging necessity, keeping alert for ridges, bumps, bare spots and any other evidence of non-uniform application. Try to be done with all touch-ups before 2 minutes is up (for each pair of vertical strips). Work quickly and thin-out the coat as much as possible. When the first coat is completed it looks absolutely horrible. Calm yourself. Fight the urge to re-apply the roller. It soon improves and after about 30 minutes you may even start congratulating yourself on just how great it is beginning to look. It "dries down" extremely well. In my case, after the 1.5 hour initial drying, some faint vertical bands were still visible where the painted strips overlapped. This is normal and besides, there's a second base coat soon to come. Tip: While the first layer of base coat is drying, seal the roller in a plastic bag and stretch some Saran wrap over the tray. This will prevent left-over Goo from stiffening and making it more difficult to get started with the second coat. For the second base coat I offset the roller by 1/2 width to the right at the start (working from left to right across the screen with the vertical strips). The results proved this is highly effective in preventing build-up of the overlap zones and ensuring the base coat is uniformly applied. The half width at first unpainted is dealt with using a couple of finishing strokes after the first vertical strips are done. Once again a modified technique was necessary to cover dry spots and work out ridges (Sorry, Goo Guru). No matter. So long as you work quickly and roller thoroughly the Goo will flatten nicely and there's no problem. The stuff is much more forgiving than you might think. The flashlight trick will instantly expose any trouble spots for you to deal with before it is too late. This second base coat looked great right away and within 10 minutes the screen was absolutely beautiful, with the finish coats still to come, sort of like the icing on the cake. It proved impossible to resist turning on the projector for a quick look. There was an immediate improvement in the appearance of images with contrast and color noticeably better. How nice! It was possible now to turn down the brightness of the projector quite a bit which further contributed to image quality by reducing flare in the lenses and "bloom" in the phosphors (this is an old CRT projector). When done, wash out the tray and roller. You can re-use the roller for the finish coat but to play it safe, slip on the un-used cylinder as you know it is thoroughly dry and clean.
Finish/Viewing Coat
The finish Goo is much less viscous than the base Goo. This makes it easier to apply. Again, use the lamp or flashlight off to the side to expose ridges left where Goo is squeezed out the ends of the roller and tidy these up with light roller strokes. While the base Goo is practically odorless, the finish has an unpleasant gassy aroma - by no means a lethal stench but you will notice it. This didn't bother me in the least but someone highly sensitive to such things might want to arrange for ventilation. In any event, each coat takes only a few minutes to apply and afterwards you can go somewhere else while the Goo dries. Take a long walk or go shopping for DVDs. The smell is gone in about an hour, less if you leave someone at home to inhale the remains of the fumes. Seriously, it's not that bad. My wife is hyper-sensitive to chemical odors. While applying the final coat I asked her if the smell was bothering her and she replied "What smell?"
What to Expect The finished Goo screen looks great while still damp but it will improve markedly for a day or so and much more slowly - but significantly - after that. The observations that follow derive from comparison with my previous latex screen which had a rather too transparent backing.
General Comments - Large Screens People not having an interest in the "theater experience" may try to pooh-pooh yours by pointing out that if you want to see a large image, just sit closer to a conventional size screen or TV. In theory this makes perfect sense. No matter what size the screen, you probably want to sit at a distance where you don't have to move your head and your eyes more than slightly to follow the action. That distance is one where the image fills, very roughly, 50% of your lateral field of vision. Anything closer invites a splitting headache. In other words, the field of view you will find most comfortable and enjoyable is independent of the screen size. Bear in mind also that even a high definition image has only 2000 pixels. View this at too large an apparent size and it becomes unavoidably fuzzy. So far, those who fleer at your large screen aspirations are on the right track. So why bother with a large screen at all?
Screen Shot Here's a snapshot of my Goo screen in action with an actual frame from a DVD. Taking a photo in an almost totally dark room at ISO 6400 is no way to win a prize but still, the un-retouched image suggests something of the detail and natural color Goo makes possible. Furthermore, the relatively high gain of the surface means the projector is running with brightness and contrast turned way down. That improves image appearance and may even lengthen the life span of your unit (CRT's especially). The screen's diagonal is just over 10 ft. Its physical aspect ratio is 4:3 so the 16:9 projected here does not fill it vertically. The black felt covered borders can be slid closer together to provide perfect framing if desired. Although the Sony VPH-60Q is definitely a vintage projector it still delivers an excellent picture with a good screen. I have decided for now against spending $5k+ to upgrade. Goo can save you a lot of money and not just in construction of a screen. My talented wife made the red velvet theater curtains many years ago. The lighting is 15 Watts each side and tied into remote power for the projector. We find having some lighting provides a more comfortable viewing experience than a totally dark room. Speakers are Polk Signature Reference Series and like just about everything else in the system, of antique status. Paying for quality is ultimately the cheapest way to go, however. Components such as our Harmon Kardon "Citation" power amp from 30 years ago still sound as good or better than anything new we audition in the stores and it has proved indestructible.
Conclusion
Goo is great. You can believe everything the supplier says about it. It provides a way to have a large, high quality screen at a modest price. I recommend it without hesitation to anyone who doesn't mind messing with paint or, if they do mind, are prepared to make an exception. Cleanup is easy because the stuff is water based. Successful application requires some discipline in reviewing the instructions and in preparation but so what. The entire process is quick and easy. True, you can make a nice screen using just flat latex paint but when you see the difference Goo makes you will know it was worth it especially if, as in my case, the underlying surface is not optimal to begin with. It seems like false economy to spend a lot of money on a fine A/V system and then balk at spending a couple of hundred dollars or so for a top-notch viewing surface. According to many reviews Goo provides a performance comparable to the most highly rated pre-built screens. I'm not in a position to confirm that conclusion by direct comparison but do find that in absolute terms this product produces a superb viewing experience more likely to be limited by the capabilities of your projector than those of the screen. Goo delivers the goods and is an excellent value besides.
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