New projection screen paint
I'm a real home-theater nut and when I built my new house on the lake last year, I built a small dedicated home-theater room on the lower level. I already had a Sony VPL-10HT front projector and a 108” 1.3 gain Da-Lite projection screen. In my new dedicated room I found the screen to be a little bit too large for viewing from the front row of seats (yes, I have three rows of tiered seating!), and I would also have had to mount my projector a little too far back in order to fill the screen.
So I decided to buy a new, smaller screen (90” or so). I was decided on a Stewart GrayHawk screen, which is slightly gray instead of white. This is said to improve both color rendition and black level for LCD projectors. However, that baby would cost around $1500, and that is for a fixed wall-mounted model (double or triple that for electrically operated!)
Just as I was about to plunk down my hard-earned cash on a Stewart, I discovered a new product that sounded too good to be true. This product is called Screen Goo, a special paint designed for creating projection screens. It comes in two tints of gray to help LCD and DLP projectors. They even have a version for REAR projection setups. Initially I was rather sceptical but after reading the rave reviews and seeing that the product is being used by Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, I decided it was worth risking $160 to give it a try. To top it all off this is a Canadian product so having it shipped to me was going to be cheap and fast. I ordered from Goo System's website and had my two cans (base and finish) of light-gray goo 3 days later.
So last weekend I decided to give it a try. I removed my huge Da-Lite screen from the wall, turned on my projector, and used masking tape to mask-off the exact perimeter of my projector's picture. The stuff is really easy to apply with a regular paint roller and it sure wears its name well as it has a much thicker goo-like consistency than regular paint. You first have to make sure your surface is clean and smooth, and they recommend using white primer first if the surface is dark-colored or not in excellent condition. You have to take some care in applying the goo as it dries very fast and you have to ensure that you do not create any “banding”. The simple tips and tricks provided in the instructions made that an easy job, even for me! I proceeded to apply two coats of base, followed by two coats of finish (a special acrylic paint). You only have to wait 1 hour in-between coats, so the whole process took about half a day.
Once the last coat had dried, I fired-up my home theater system, inserted the LOTR-II disk, and turned off the lights. Wow! I was pleasantly surprised: this $160 gooey stuff surpassed my $1400 Da-Lite screen in every way! The image is brighter, the viewing angle is VERY wide, the colors are richer, and the light gray tint definitely does help with the black level deficiencies of my LCD projector. Now all I have to do is finish the edges of the screen with a black fabric frame and some curtains, and I'm all set! Sorry Stewart Filmscreens!
This is the kind of product I love. Well designed, easy to use, affordable, and high-performance! Just the kind of thing we canucks need to keep ourselves warm and entertained on those long winter nights.
Highly recommended: ***** 5 out of 5 stars.
BTW, I have a 108” 16:9 Da-Lite screen for sale :)