Curved Screen

[Andrew 737]

Hi Guys

It would be brilliant if as many of you as possible contribute here:

Do you guys Build/Buy your curved screens?

If you build - what do you line them with?

If you buy - where do you buy them from!

As ever sincere thanks

[AVIATor-Olav]

I built mine. I used 4mm MDF, filler and matte roof Paint. By far the hardest part of my build thus far! MDF is a pain to Paint. It absorbs it like a sponge! Had to put on 4 layers, and it wouldn't hurt with a few more!

[Trevor Hale]

I built mine using 3 - 1/4" X 4' X 8' drywall sheets.  I never got around to filling the gaps before I changed directions. Worked a treat though.

[tennyson]

Andrew,
There is really wonderful thread on this forum about building curved screens using a projector screen material from a called Carl. I think he calls his business Carlofet or something, someone will correct me, I'm sure.

It is relatively inexpensive and easy to make and from all of the accounts, it is the cats pyjamas for projecting on to.

Apparently, Carl will cut and make your screen according to your sizes and send you the finished article, ready to hang.

Hope this helps,



Frank Cooper

[blueskydriver]

Frank is right. That was my post a good while back and it still stands today. Go with screen material from Carl's Place here:

http://www.carlofet.com/

John

PS. Call Carl and explain to him what you're doing because he already knows about us sim builders, and yet his prices are very good.

[HarryZ]

Andrew,

I use FRP board which is a very flexible white material which looks very similar to the white board they use in schools. It comes in various thicknesses. For my 5' x 20' screen, it was 1/8" thick. FRP has two types of surface, rough (not needed) and smooth. The smooth side is very shiny but one uses the other smooth dull side and paints it with very inexpensive Sherwin Williams PRO white latex paint after using a primer.

FRP is sold in places like Home Depot and Lowes but only in 4' x 8' sections normally used in construction.  This is kind of useless for a projector screen so I found the manufacturer in Quebec Canada and they cut me the one piece size I required.  It rolled up to a tubular width of about 1 foot and they placed that in a large cardboard sono tube for shipping by truck.

FRP is very light and I used wooden studs and mirror clips to hang it in a 135 degree viewing curve. The entire screen project cost under $ 500.  I could have had the same size screen commercially built...they wanted about $ 3500 to do it!!

Harry

[Flying_Fox]

Here are the details of my screen build from  3 particle board sheets 4 x 8 feet.

http://www.cockpitbuilders.com/community/index.php?topic=1821.msg17641#msg17641

Hope it helps.

Nick

[Andrew 737]

Gentlemen

Thank you all very much, this post is very helpful - when I make my choice I will report back to you all.

[Andrew 737]

Andrew,

I use FRP board which is a very flexible white material which looks very similar to the white board they use in schools. It comes in various thicknesses. For my 5' x 20' screen, it was 1/8" thick. FRP has two types of surface, rough (not needed) and smooth. The smooth side is very shiny but one uses the other smooth dull side and paints it with very inexpensive Sherwin Williams PRO white latex paint after using a primer.

FRP is sold in places like Home Depot and Lowes but only in 4' x 8' sections normally used in construction.  This is kind of useless for a projector screen so I found the manufacturer in Quebec Canada and they cut me the one piece size I required.  It rolled up to a tubular width of about 1 foot and they placed that in a large cardboard sono tube for shipping by truck.

FRP is very light and I used wooden studs and mirror clips to hang it in a 135 degree viewing curve. The entire screen project cost under $ 500.  I could have had the same size screen commercially built...they wanted about $ 3500 to do it!!

Harry

Hi Harry

Do you remember the company?

Thanks

[HarryZ]

Do you remember the company?

Thanks

Company is called Agro and is in Granby Quebec.  Have no idea if there are companies in other parts of the world that handle the product the same way they do.

Harry

[fsaviator]

I also used the dull side of FRP board, painted with flat white paint.  I built the frame out of plywood and two-by-twos.  Total cost about 150 Euros

[Andrew 737]

Hi Gentlemen

I have a satisfactory solution from Carl (Carlofet). The price is very competitive 

I am going to make a new post about the math - my head is hurting!!!! 

[HarryZ]

I also used the dull side of FRP board, painted with flat white paint.  I built the frame out of plywood and two-by-twos.  Total cost about 150 Euros

Warren,

Was your FRP board cut to custom size or did you have to purchase the standard construction size units?

Harry

[fsaviator]

I used two 4x8 foot sheets that I brought over from the US in my stuff.  My screen is 4ft high and 16ft long.

[HarryZ]

I used two 4x8 foot sheets that I brought over from the US in my stuff.  My screen is 4ft high and 16ft long.

OK...that would work out. I'm fortunate in that the company in Quebec will cut any size I want in one piece. Makes it easy!

Harry

[tennyson]

Warren,
When you say FRP, are you talking about MDF? I just came back from Bunnings and Masters (two biggest hardware stores in Oz), they never heard of FRP.

Does that stand for Fibre Reinforced Plasterboard (Gyprock here in Oz) or is it Fibreglass Reinforced Plastic?

I found 4mm 4 x 8 sheets of MDF, which look to be suitable, but I would like to blend mine all together, so no need to buy one big sheet.

This is a very interesting convo, considering I'm right in the middle of doing it, too.
Thanks Andrew for starting this thread,

Frank Cooper

[fsaviator]

It's the stuff that looks like white dry erase board on one side (shiny), and my stuff was brown on the other side (dull).  I painted the dull side.

The material is the same as what is used for peg board (to  hang tools off of etc).  It is thin and flexible.

Here is an older photo of the stuff I bought at Lowe's in the US:



Warren

[riche543]

I bought a sheet of 3mm sintra a long while back,my sim build is on hold for a while so only done very quick test with projector on the sheet .looked ok to me and curves well., it has a finish like a proper projector screen.  http://www.tri-dee.com/Sintra%20sheets%20information.htm
Dunno if this is something you guys are after,
Cheers
  Riche.

[HarryZ]

It's the stuff that looks like white dry erase board on one side (shiny), and my stuff was brown on the other side (dull).  I painted the dull side.

The material is the same as what is used for peg board (to  hang tools off of etc).  It is thin and flexible.

Here is an older photo of the stuff I bought at Lowe's in the US:

Warren

The FRP board I purchased is described in this link but I was able to get a 5' x 20' piece cut.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/4-ft-x-8-ft-White-090-FRP-Wall-Board-MFTF12IXA480009600/100389836#.Ud1tn20sacw

This example shows what the rough surface looks like but I had the option of getting the smooth surface.  It really didn't matter since you would not use the "good" side since it's too shiny.  The other side in my case was a dull white in colour so painting it was easy. 

Harry

[Andrew 737]

It's the stuff that looks like white dry erase board on one side (shiny), and my stuff was brown on the other side (dull).  I painted the dull side.

The material is the same as what is used for peg board (to  hang tools off of etc).  It is thin and flexible.

Here is an older photo of the stuff I bought at Lowe's in the US:

Warren

The FRP board I purchased is described in this link but I was able to get a 5' x 20' piece cut.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/4-ft-x-8-ft-White-090-FRP-Wall-Board-MFTF12IXA480009600/100389836#.Ud1tn20sacw

This example shows what the rough surface looks like but I had the option of getting the smooth surface.  It really didn't matter since you would not use the "good" side since it's too shiny.  The other side in my case was a dull white in colour so painting it was easy. 

Harry

Thanks Harry

[Ridgenj]

Very nice contributions. currently I am planning my curve screen and hope to finish it by end of July. I have a room 12 x 14 feet with 10' high. My base is 8X8' and will get the FDS nose. I decided to use three BenQ 1080 ST and now I am trying to decide on the size and shape of the screen. I now many of you have gone gone thru the pain of this exercise. Can someone please advice me how to get the best out of the available space. More important, how to figure out the arc of the screen. I admire the work and ingenuity of many in this forum and the willingness to share. I am not so gifted but would share anytime...
cheers

[tennyson]

Luis,
I've just been thru the exercises with the Benq 1080ST. I have a room that's 3.2 metres x 5.6 metres and a ceiling height of 2.4 metres.

Length ways the 1080ST has too short a throw, so I've had to turn the whole shooting match around. I got lucky and was helped by a bunch of the guru's here and one in particular, who came to my help.

I opted to go for another projector with a .6 throw. I'm now in the process of building my screen, so I agree with you, this thread is mighty handy.


Frank Cooper

[HarryZ]

Very nice contributions. currently I am planning my curve screen and hope to finish it by end of July. I have a room 12 x 14 feet with 10' high. My base is 8X8' and will get the FDS nose. I decided to use three BenQ 1080 ST and now I am trying to decide on the size and shape of the screen. I now many of you have gone gone thru the pain of this exercise. Can someone please advice me how to get the best out of the available space. More important, how to figure out the arc of the screen. I admire the work and ingenuity of many in this forum and the willingness to share. I am not so gifted but would share anytime...
cheers

The dimensions of your room should be more than adequate.

The BenQ 1080P projectors use the 16:9 aspect ratio as opposed to the normal 16:10 of other ST projectors. This will make a difference in your final calculations.  The 1080 also has to be placed further back from the screen than other ST projectors to get the same sized image.

What degree of viewing do you want?  What flt sim are you using?  If FS X, then its optimum view area is 135 degrees (3 x 45) but you can get 180 degrees if you wish. You will have to calibrate your blending software carefully to allow for this.

When setting up the image size, you have to figure it out based on an approx 20% overlap between projectors 1 & 2 and again, 20% between projectors 2 & 3.  If you use a 6 foot arc radius (that radius being the distance from the pilot's eyes to the screen)  then that will require an approx 20 foot screen (6 x Pi (3.14)   But you first have to get the image size by figuring out the distance from the screen your projector has to be to give it a certain size. This is where you need to obtain the chart distances for the projector you are getting.  It will tell you how far back your projector has to be positioned. 

From memory, I believe placing a BenQ  1080P projector 7 feet back from the screen will throw an 8 foot horizontal image.  For 3 projectors, that will give you approx what you want (24 feet) which would give you the 20% overlap for image blending.  But be careful because the charts give approximations and the distances and image sizes can be slightly out.

There is a formula once you get this figured out as to the height of the screen you will need.  I am commercially involved in this kind of project (announced on this forum earlier in the year) and sell the Warpalizer software.  PM me if you wish.

Harry
Flight Plus Software LTD
London, ON Canada
Toll free North America-1-866-662-0985

[Ridgenj]

Very nice contributions. currently I am planning my curve screen and hope to finish it by end of July. I have a room 12 x 14 feet with 10' high. My base is 8X8' and will get the FDS nose. I decided to use three BenQ 1080 ST and now I am trying to decide on the size and shape of the screen. I now many of you have gone gone thru the pain of this exercise. Can someone please advice me how to get the best out of the available space. More important, how to figure out the arc of the screen. I admire the work and ingenuity of many in this forum and the willingness to share. I am not so gifted but would share anytime...
cheers

The dimensions of your room should be more than adequate.

The BenQ 1080P projectors use the 16:9 aspect ratio as opposed to the normal 16:10 of other ST projectors. This will make a difference in your final calculations.  The 1080 also has to be placed further back from the screen than other ST projectors to get the same sized image.

What degree of viewing do you want?  What flt sim are you using?  If FS X, then its optimum view area is 135 degrees (3 x 45) but you can get 180 degrees if you wish. You will have to calibrate your blending software carefully to allow for this.

When setting up the image size, you have to figure it out based on an approx 20% overlap between projectors 1 & 2 and again, 20% between projectors 2 & 3.  If you use a 6 foot arc radius (that radius being the distance from the pilot's eyes to the screen)  then that will require an approx 20 foot screen (6 x Pi (3.14)   But you first have to get the image size by figuring out the distance from the screen your projector has to be to give it a certain size. This is where you need to obtain the chart distances for the projector you are getting.  It will tell you how far back your projector has to be positioned. 

From memory, I believe placing a BenQ  1080P projector 7 feet back from the screen will throw an 8 foot horizontal image.  For 3 projectors, that will give you approx what you want (24 feet) which would give you the 20% overlap for image blending.  But be careful because the charts give approximations and the distances and image sizes can be slightly out.

There is a formula once you get this figured out as to the height of the screen you will need.  I am commercially involved in this kind of project (announced on this forum earlier in the year) and sell the Warpalizer software.  PM me if you wish.

Harry

Harry. many thanks for the response and the disclosure. i am fine with it and will also give business to my sim fellows.  I use P3D and x-plane but since I have tons of add-ons, P3D is my main sim. I haven't acquired the BenQ's and I am open to hear other suggestions. I was looking at 200 but I think the BenQ delivers 75" at 3 feet which will put me at 180 max.

I will PM you tomorrow since I am on the road today.

Luis,
I've just been thru the exercises with the Benq 1080ST. I have a room that's 3.2 metres x 5.6 metres and a ceiling height of 2.4 metres.

Length ways the 1080ST has too short a throw, so I've had to turn the whole shooting match around. I got lucky and was helped by a bunch of the guru's here and one in particular, who came to my help.

I opted to go for another projector with a .6 throw. I'm now in the process of building my screen, so I agree with you, this thread is mighty handy.


Frank Cooper

Frank, probably I should follow your decision and buy something else. I was blinded because of the HD capabilities.

Any suggestions?

Cheers

[HarryZ]

I will PM you tomorrow since I am on the road today.

I've added my company name and toll free phone number to my signature.  Most of the time I find it better to discuss this kind of project on the phone rather than several e-mails.  It's up to you if you want to e-mail or call.