Flat finish for doubling up as projector screen

marcosscriven

Planning on replastering my chimney breast, which will be painted with a white paint specifically designed to use for a projector. Currently we've chipped off the plaster down to the brick.

The essential thing is that it's as flat as possible. So what would be the best method? Would simply plasterboarding + skimming be best?

Chimney is 1.7m wide.

Richard C · Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 11:48 am Post Subject:

A decent spread should be able to get it flat & smooth enough but a friend of mine had something similar which was very disappointing. The projected image was of very mediocre quality; OK for playing pop videos at a party but hardly in the realms of HD for viewing. It rather depends on the quality of your projector & what sort of picture quality you’re after I suppose; I would be more inclined to go for a high quality concealed projector screen or get yourself a 60 inch HD Plasma/LCD panel.

I don’t know what sort of fire you have if any &, hence, what sort of temperatures are involved but you need to be aware that conventional gypsum plasters & plaster board products are only good for continual heat exposure up to 49 degrees C; go much higher than that & it is very likely crack & blow. I would advise a sand/cement/lime based render for the base coat & if the temperatures are high, a special heat proof finish plaster but I’ve no idea how they polish up.

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Richard C

trowelmonkey1 · Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 6:20 pm Post Subject:

agree RC2, projectors don't come close to plasma TVs for definition and cost wise they are better value than projectors when comparing image quality.

if you are determined to go for a projector though OP try and get a DLP variety, this isn't a manufacturer but a type of image processor and is better for video.

also bear in mind the fans on these things can be a little noisy, the projector will need decent ventilation as the lamps get hot and on the subject of lamps, check how much replacements cost as they don't last forever, and if you get power cuts etc while it's in use its possible you'll blow one.

don't get me wrong though, i'm not anti-projector at all, if done well it could look sweet.

marcosscriven · Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 6:49 pm Post Subject:

Thanks guys

I should perhaps expand - I've had a 50" plasma since 2006, when it cost a small fortune. It's a 720p model, and it's still going strong. Would probably be a 5th of the price now, ho hum.

However, now I'm refurbishing my place, I've decided that mostly I watch movies and documentaries. The rest of the stuff I tend to just watch on my laptop via iplayer/itvplayer/4od etc.

I've heard amazing things about the Panasonic AE3000, which is 1080p, and has amazing brightness, apparently.

I just think with my refurb I want a really sleek look. Using the chimney breast would allow me a screen of 100" diagonal, and with ceiling speakers, and a the projector hidden in the ceiling with a high-quality flip-down mirror, you'd hardly know it was there when not in use.

So, essentially I'm set on doing this

I just want to know the way to make the best of the compromise

trowelmonkey1 · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 1:23 pm Post Subject:

sounds nice marco!

a decent plasterer will give you a surface flat enough for projecting onto, like Rich says, if there's going to be any heat involved you may want to steer clear of plasterboard.

caffreys · Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:53 am Post Subject:

I've just done this myself on a full wall

First i took all the old plaster off - then i battoned the wall so i could run cables behind it - fitted plasterboard and spent a long time prepping the wall
used easyfill and sanding

then painted the wall matt white

I use a optoma hd700x and its stunning the screen size is 120" diagonal

- only problem is that now i seem to not see much daylight.........