CHEAP & LIGHTWEIGHT DIY PROJECTION SCREEN

This section describes how you can build a simple, lightweight fixed screen that can easily be moved and repaired. For ready-made rolldown screens check out my amazon store here

Screen mounting points :-)

The Surface
The projection surface of this screen is made of elastic light-blocking curtain material, which was provided by Ladage Stoffen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It is sold on a roll and has a width of approx 1.50m, which leaves just enough space to fold it around the frame and fix it using some staples.

The material is very cheap, elastic and can easily be fixed on a frame as if it were painters canvas. The material regains its original form quickly, so if you accidently place an object against the screen forming a small "dent" it usually will be gone after an hour or so. The only drawback of this material is that the surface, which contains a very thin layer of a rubber like material cannot be cleaned easily and will dissolve when rubbed too hard. Feel free to replace this material with whatever you like. Some online stores now sell original projection screen material such as the Projecta Matte White stuff in any size you like. The material i used is matte white, has no ligh-gain and evenly distributes light without showing any hotspots due to the three tubes shining light at different angles. More importantly it is very cheap (approx 7 euros/m) so if my cat kills the screen with his nails (he has done so on more than one occassion), i can simply replace the surface material without going bankrupt.

Frame construction

The frame is made of thin wood and held into shape by two diagonals that have been screwed together in the center. It will take a little math to make sure that the edges are at exactly 90 degrees, but once you've done that putting the whole thing together should be no problem. I did not put in any vertical bracing, because the frame will be mounted in such a way that it will tighten the fabric through its own (limited) weight. The total thing weighs so little that you can lift it with one hand and easily move it around.

Frame corner with stapled surface

To strengthen the corners i used small metal corner strips that can be purchased at virtually any hardware store.
When i watch a movie, i hang the screen onto two small chains in front of a black roll down curtain which blocks all sunlight coming in from the window. The cool thing about the used projection surface material is that the screen itself will also block any light coming from the back if necessary.

The chains allow me to mount the screen at any height (using an additional black curtain this allows you to make any aspect ratio you like). The black rolldown curtain in the back provides all the black border i possibly need :) The cool thing about this design is that any "excess" light, caused by image overscan will fall onto the black curtain past the screen, containing a tight border that does not have the "fuzziness" around the borders of most normal screens.

Before i forget, the total cost of this screen, including the surface material was around 70 euros.

Finished result

Flexible height :)