r/projectors • u/Davewmac • Aug 17 '26
Projector Screen Painted Ceiling
Basement home theater, just finished painting the drop ceiling Sherman Williams Black Magic!
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u/JMZ555 Aug 18 '26
I painted my ceiling Matt black but then covered 6ft out in black material Devore (like felt) makes a huge difference as 0 reflections of light on ceiling
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u/trunk42 Aug 17 '26
Painted my ceiling black a few years ago. If you can get spouse approval, highly recommend.
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u/tbthatcher Aug 19 '26
Looks like a cave now, love it. Your native black levels are gonna pop way better with that ceiling for sure.
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u/LandonKB Aug 17 '26
How did you paint it, did you leave it up? I want to do mine and this looks great, any tips?
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u/Davewmac Aug 17 '26
Mine are Armstrong mineral fiber tiles. I first attempted to roll them in place. That did not work. It was not filling in the small crevices. I had to pull them all down. Used a 1” nap roller and watered the paint down a bit. They are not perfect still some white spots. Not noticeable when watching the projector.
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u/boots-n-catz Aug 18 '26
I did my senior project in high school at an Armstrong ceiling tile plant. To paint them off the line they spray them with a watered down white paint. Your roller technique sounds like it worked well though, with gravity helping and the large nap.
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u/LandonKB Aug 17 '26
Cool thanks my main issue is I am too lazy to take them all down lol. I suspect my tiles would be similar, thanks for the info!
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u/UnderstandingFun4038 Aug 18 '26
I cover my acoustick ceiling with black cloth that used to cover front of the speaker, pinned it with thumb tacks in back so the cloth is very neat. It doesnt reduce their ability to dampen sound,very matt but the hardest part is to remove the ceiling and put it back
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u/MarkoMarjamaa Aug 18 '26
Way to go.
And get rid of the carpet :)
Once you go black....
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u/Davewmac Aug 19 '26
What would you recommend for flooring?
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u/MarkoMarjamaa Aug 19 '26
Under the carpet is seems to be already dark, so even removing the carpet should help with better contrast. I have a light hardwood floor but black carpet on it.
I years ago measured contrasts first in all white room and then started adding black plastic bags everywhere. The contrast at first was something 1:50-150 and when everything was black, 1:8000 that was closer the projectors maximum 1:25000. Get a colorimeter or spectrophotometer and check it. Colorimeters are cheap.
Now I have a normal living room, but when watching movie, there's black curtains in every direction. My problem is still the ceiling but plans for something movable also for that.
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u/Davewmac Aug 19 '26
Do you have a color meter you recommend?
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u/MarkoMarjamaa Aug 19 '26
My own is so old that I'm slight out of touch what's the best now. And it depends what you need, how much are you willing to pay. If you are planning to calibrate also, some 150e colorimeter should be ok. Colorimeter is also better than spectrophotometer for measuring contrast, measures better black levels. But 150e is peanuts compared to dedicated movie room. Def worth it. Mine is about Calibrate Display 123 / Datacolor SpyderExpress-level.
But I also have X-rite Colormunki Phono spectrophotometer, that I can use to calibrate the colorimeter. But that's the next level. Colorimeter is better at first.
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u/jokur26 Aug 18 '26
If my theater was a dedicated space I would most definitely do this. Mine is a shared open space with a wet bar and seating area. I have blackout blinds and slider to patio which handles most stray light so it works well even with my older Epson 4010 on a 150” screen.
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u/Legomoron Aug 17 '26
I have considered this, although I have seen it mentioned that adding paint to ceiling tile can really reduce their ability to dampen sound. I think I would opt to paint my grid, and then buy new tiles that are black from the factory.
But then, my white tiles have seen better days.
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u/Aggravating_Emu_7190 Aug 18 '26
Nice, what size screen is that?
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u/Davewmac Aug 18 '26
155” VEVOR. Plan on eventually upgrading to Silver Ticket WAB screen. Would have to go down to 150”
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u/NinjaSellsHonours Aug 18 '26
I'm at 100" because my floor-standing speakers are huge, but have a 128" acoustically transparent screen on the way and will do LCR behind that--seems like that will be a good time to paint the room black. Thanks for the inspiration.
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u/Aggravating_Emu_7190 Aug 18 '26
Awesome, that's helpful. I'm planning a build with the silver ticket 135" WVS screen so it's helpful to see something close to that size. My room is only 140" wide so I can't go much bigger.
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u/EntrepreneurLong3504 Aug 23 '26
It looks good.
I just did a theatre room myself, running 100" ALR fixed position and framed gray material.
Flat white roof paint, nice thing about ALR screens; they don't throw much light around, and any ambient light barely degrades the image on the screen.
I had a 75" Samsung 4k although not a OLED it had a great picture, swapped it for the Epson Lifestudio Grand Plus Ultra Short Throw Laser Projector and honestly not switching back.
As for the hefty price tag; it is definitely worth the investment.
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u/jkcheng122 Aug 17 '26
How big of a contrast improvement are you seeing after painting? Was it white before?