DIY Projector Screen

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A couple of weeks ago I saw someone getting ready to throw away a projector. Being cheap, I quickly stopped them and asked them if I could have it. In the weeks following, I have disassembled and resembled it about three times to make it work better. when I got it the image was very weak and horridly spotted purple and green.

Who Cares! I have a five foot screen!

The free projector... Quite a beast.

After lots of cleaning, the image is brighter, I can watch it comfortably at night, and the purple and green images are almost gone. Plus the image is clearer and sharper.

So to best view my new projector, I decided that I needed a screen. After looking around online for one, I noticed that they are pretty darn pricey, especially to pair with my free projector, so I decided to build my own. After looking around online for plans online, I couldn't find one that I liked.

The projector screen had to meet four criteria:

It had to be dirt cheap (not more than $20)

It had to be able to roll up for easy storage

It had to be able to be hung from the wall quickly and easily without damaging the wall

And it had to block out light from behind it, since I plan on hanging it over my window and want to use it during the day.

First I had to figure out what material to use. One black to block out light from behind and one white to display the image on. I decided on cotton bedsheets because they were cheap, $5 a sheet. Folding the sheets in half would give me a thicker sheet and almost perfect size for my screen. Then putting PVC pipes in the top and bottom would allow me to hang it and keep tension in the screen, with some wire out the edges and some Monkey Hooks in the wall. The pipe was just over a dollar for them both, and I already have some wire and the monkey hooks.

Its looking good for under 12 bucks!

The other day, with the help of my awesome Mom, I ironed all the wrinkles out of both sheets and she sewed the sheets in half, so they are two-ply. Now all we need to do is sew the two pieces together and the PVC pipes into the fabric, creating a nice looking black border, and hang it. Hopefully we'll work on that some more tonight.