Home Theater Setup and the Cheap Screen

02/18/2003

After putting it off for the longest time, my wife and I finally took the plunge and decided to setup a home theatre. It’s based on a Sharp LCD projector, Denon 1805 DVD/CD/MP3 player, and Denon AVR 2802 Receiver through five Definitive Technology speakers (awesome speakers, by the way). But the real fun came from building the screen. Motorized, professional screens were just too expensive, but I found an amazingly cheap solution on the net. For the full scoop, go to avsforum.com and look in the screen section, but here’s the summary: Parklandplastics.com sells a material called PLAS-TEX Polywall, it’s a waterproof panel used in building construction. There are two sides; a shiny side and a matte side. Use the matte side to project on. It’s available over the web, and at some home supply stores. The SKU numbers are given as:

HD SKU: 179 646 * Lowes SKU 724 05 * Doitbest.com SKU 118 702 I got mine over the web. Here are the materials you will need: Materials: * Parkland 4×8 Poly board * 2 Sheets of 3/16×4x8 Foam Board (Art supply store) * 3 Lengths of 3/8×96” Alum C Channel (Home Depot) * 3-M Spray Adhesive (Home Depot) * 3” wide packing Scotch tape You make a sandwich of the foam core and Parkland material, using the spray adhesive as directed. The trick in construction is to slightly “crush” the edges of the foam core slightly, so that the C channel will fit. The foam will re-expand a bit afterwards, making a very tight fit. It helps to apply some tape along the edge to hold the “crush” and prevent tearing when you tap the C channel on. I mitered the C-channel stock using a simple mitre box and hacksaw, then sprayed the stock black using a non-reflective textured gas-grill paint (flat black). Result: an awesome, lightweight screen with no hotspots.