Paint on Projection Screen

I am a huge movie buff and always wanted the home theatre experience! I found an excellent projector now just needed a screen. A screen can go anywhere from $500-$2000. I figured I would try a paint on kit which still can go as high as $500! I started looking around and see if i can do it myself, and that is when I found the pro classic paint. This screen cost me around $40 and produces an excellent picture for both movies and live sports!

1) obviously you will need a projector. find one that suits your needs. I like this Epson as it produces a good image inside and outside!

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/epson-home-cinema-1080-3lcd-1080p-home-theatre-projector/15130989

you need to buy what suits you best.

2)ProClassic Waterborne Interior Acrylic Enamel

1 quart will do, satin finish

this paint is key! you can read the reviews on it but will get many mixed as many people do not how to paint and will end up making this worse!

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/products/proclassic-waterborne-interior-acrylic-enamel

This paint is a self leveling paint and brings the saying 'less is more' to reality! more on this later

3) paint roller

4) painters tape

5) drywall compound/spackling

6) sandpaper/block

Decide where you want your projector to go. I choose to mount it from the ceiling as seen above.

Once you settle on a location, you will know where your screen will end up.

Turn your projector on and you will get a good idea of how big your screen will be and where to fix the wall.

Before you paint any project you always need to patch any holes and gouges. Because the projector will be on a wall means even finer wall imperfections will need to be fixed. The key is to take your time to patch and sand all of the wall imperfections! Have the projector on and repeatedly step back to see any big flaws. This may be tedious but will pay off when the screen is finished!

*A good trick is to shine a flashlight or lamp from the floor up the wall, this will point out even minor imperfections!

Once you are happy with your wall fixes, it is almost time to paint.

First you need to tape off the screen. I use Frog tape as it seems to be the best from preventing paint bleed (paint going through the tape) in my experience.

I found the best and easiest way to get your screen perfect is to tape off the projected image. Turn on your projector and your other room lights off. You should see the perfect outline of where the projector throws the image. Take your painters tape and outline this image. Keep the image inside your tape. Once you have one row of tape, you may want to put a second wider row just to make the tape boarder thicker and prevent any white paint getting on the rest of your wall.

As mentioned above The paint being used is special self leveling paint. This will produce a smooth screen which helps your projector image!

The key to this paint is less is more! You will have to do 3-5 coats to get a great screen but definitetly worth it!

Using a paint roller begin on one side of your screen and work your way over. Make sure to cover from tape to tape and spread it evenly. Every coat will enhance the look until the perfect screen is reached!

Many of the problems people have with this paint is the drying. As it begins to dry it will look super streaky! This is perfectly normal, DO NOT go over it again trying to fix this. It will only make things worse. Wait until it is fully dry and then recoat. Picture above shows after a coat how streaky it looks!

After each coats drying time, test the screen so you can see the progress and know when you have reached the screen you are looking for!

Once the painting is complete, carefully remove the tape pulling away from the screen.

Congratulations your screen is complete! Sit back and enjoy the big screen!