# Theater color input requested



## Captain Rex (Aug 31, 2009)

OK everyone, this kind of goes hand-in-hand with my other thread on ceiling tiles. Hopefully between the two threads, I can come up with a good direction.

First: Is it a must to have a flat dark color for your theater room? I have a 92" projector screen in a room only 134" wide if that matters. The room is 296" long.

Second: If yes to the first question, does this include the ceiling tiles and track?

Third: If yes to #2, does anyone have recommendations on a fairly inexpensive ceiling tile with good acoustic capabilities? (Please see my other thread on that topic.)

What I was thinking of doing is a dark flat blue on the walls and black on the ceiling tiles/track.

THANK YOU!


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## seattle_ice (Jul 12, 2006)

The darker the color, the more the room will disappear when the lights are out and you are watching movies.

The worst offender is usually the ceiling and any walls within the first few feet from the screen. Lots of reflections can show there.


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

My current theater is Behr Sandwash in a dark green. It is a fine sandy texture, not the clumpy sanded ceiling paint). I wouldn't call it flat, but it's not gloss either. I think it works well in the theater because it is not overly reflective, looks good with the lights on, and doesn't have that "chalkboard" effect of some flat paints.

That being said, we went two tone with a flat white on the ceiling and upper part of the side walls (front wall is solid dark green).

I also installed a theater that had a gold and red two tone that was semi-gloss (or satin) and it turned out very well. It had the advantage of absolutely zero light leakage, so the glare/gloss did not matter. Looked really sharp.


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## dradius (Sep 10, 2008)

I'd go as dark as you (and the wife?) can tolerate  I think a dark blue would be fine. My old theater had brown walls and I found that painting a 1 or 2' black border around the screen really helped the image pop. My biggest distraction in my old setup was the light blue carpet. Went with black carpet in the new build and may even go black walls and ceiling this time around (yeah I know it isn't for everyone )


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## rickp (Jan 14, 2008)

I am going with a flat black ceiling and flat dark blue walls. All of the absorbsion panels I am building will either be black or dark blue. The whole screen wall will be black GOM. I have painted the ceiling and finished part of the soffit this last weekend. all the lighting for the room comes from 4" cans in the soffit so even with the lights on, the there is very little reflection onto the ceiling, the black makes the ceiling just dissappear. I love it. I will try and take some pics for you.

Rick


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## Captain Rex (Aug 31, 2009)

rickp said:


> I am going with a flat black ceiling and flat dark blue walls. All of the absorbsion panels I am building will either be black or dark blue. The whole screen wall will be black GOM. I have painted the ceiling and finished part of the soffit this last weekend. all the lighting for the room comes from 4" cans in the soffit so even with the lights on, the there is very little reflection onto the ceiling, the black makes the ceiling just dissappear. I love it. I will try and take some pics for you.
> 
> Rick


Rick, I would greatly appreciate some pictures! Also, what is GOM?


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## rickp (Jan 14, 2008)

See how the ceiling seems to dissapear even with the flash. (Disney, flat, mouse ears)










The blue is not that bright in normal lighting, in fact it is hard to distinguish the blue from the black, you really have to stare at it. I like it that way.









Picture without flash, not very good but you get the idea right?









I should have taken some pics of my equipment room it has the blue on the walls with a black ceiling. I love the color combo.

GOM is an acustically transparent cloth, if I am not misstaken bpape sells it, I will be calling him soon.

Good luck on your project!

Rick


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## Captain Rex (Aug 31, 2009)

Thank you for the pictures! Where did you get the Disney flat mouse ears paint at? Also, what is the light colors showing through your blue paint? Almost looks like the studs....


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## dradius (Sep 10, 2008)

Nice room Rick! So GOM is the blue cloth and the black paint is the Disney?


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## albriscoe (Apr 12, 2009)

:T Depending on how far you want to go with the colour scheme its my opinion that any paint out of a tin will look washed out and reflect light back into the room.

We have very flat (matt) blacks over hear in the UK that look good until you turn the pj on and turn very drab grey while viewing.

My own cinema room is screen wall, side walls and ceiling out to 2 metres done in Devore Silk velvet which does not relflect any light at all and I mean 100% not at all.

The rest of the room is a Dulux Maraschino Mocha 2 which looks very nice imho.

Doing the room with the velvet is the very best way to achieve your maximum image contrast out of your pj, its like I`ve changed my Sim2 for the top model 30 grand one, the difference is like chalk and cheese, honest. 

pics in my thread

cheers Al


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

The wife would never let me do that. LOL!


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## albriscoe (Apr 12, 2009)

Anthony said:


> The wife would never let me do that. LOL!


 Well, have you asked her, you never know.

Admitted it is a problem if you have a shared living/cinema room but as a dedicated HT room there really is nothing better imho.

I have sent a sample of this velvet to razor in Australia so looking forward to his views.

BTW the Devore is acousticically transparent as well :T


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## rickp (Jan 14, 2008)

> Where did you get the Disney flat mouse ears paint at? Also, what is the light colors showing through your blue paint? Almost looks like the studs....


Home Depot, "Behr flat matte". I have made 1"x1" frames and covered them with cloth and attatched them to the soffet. I am using the soffet as a light bar and bass trap. The soffit is stuffed with R30 insulation. The bottom of the soffit will be covered with a black cloth to match the ceiling. Also it was easier and cheaper to make the frames and cover them than to do the whole drywall the thing again and I am thinking I will be getting better sound absorbtion. The frames behind the material are invisable unless you have a light shining directly on it like a flash, without direct light it looks like its painted, very cool.



> So GOM is the blue cloth and the black paint is the Disney?


No, its just plain old cloth. Gullifords of Maine (GOM) will be used on my screen wall to hide all of my speakers and yes the black is Mouse Ears.



> My own cinema room is screen wall, side walls and ceiling out to 2 metres done in Devore Silk velvet which does not relflect any light at all and I mean 100% not at all.


Velvet is the ultimate absorber, but its not acustically transparent or I would definatly use it for my srceen wall.

I forgot, if you look at my build thread you can see the blue paint I used. http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-theater-design-construction/16240-lake-martin-theater.html


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## rickp (Jan 14, 2008)

> BTW the Devore is acousticically transparent as well


If this is true, I just changed my mind on using the GOM! Where can I purchase this stuff?


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## albriscoe (Apr 12, 2009)

rickp said:


> If this is true, I just changed my mind on using the GOM! Where can I purchase this stuff?


 This is indeed true, its 100% acousticially transparent and covers all my 7 MK inwall speakers.

But its main plus is the fact that it is totally *THE BEST * and I don`t say that lightly the best material for use around your screen area. The light reflection is* ZERO* and once again I do not say things that aren`t true.

I`m not sure if its available for retail in the states or Australia but I would be willing to arrange and send you your required amounts if you paid my costs which will be minimal.

I have sent Razor a sample yesterday so looking forward to seeing what he thinks of this material.

We in the UK have done quite a lot or testing different fabrics and the Devore is ahead by miles compared with any other fabric know to us and I personally have sampled literally dozens of different ones.

A favourite over here used to be the Sorcerer Black velvet flok which side by side to the Devore looks positively grey in comparison.

The Devore isn`t cheap mind you, but its better to do it right the first time.

We have a saying over here "Do It Right, Do It Once"

Why not ask Razor to send the sample once he`s done with it or if your willing to pay my postal charges I `ll send you some.

It really is the dogs doodahs this velvet, sorry for my english slang their btw :R

if you look at the pics on my thread take note of the light at the side of one of my panels, the reflection stops dead when it hits the Devore, I even shone a flashlight at it. You can see the beam where it leaves the light but not when it hits the Devore :yikes:, its real proper stuff this :T


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## rickp (Jan 14, 2008)

Thanks Al, I am going to order some tommarrow after I take some measurements. Waleys will ship to the States according to thier websight.

http://www.whaleys-bradford.ltd.uk/product.htm?productID=124


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## dradius (Sep 10, 2008)

please let us know what you think once you get it Rick. I'm also curious how much they charge for shipping to the US.


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## raZorTT (Jan 17, 2008)

Hi guys,

As Al mentioned he has sent me a sample of the velvet. I've got a roll of fidelio velvet for some star ceiling panels, but i'm curious to see how the Devore Silk velvet stacks up against it. 

I had been planning to do my screen wall in black GOM but will consider a switch to the devore for the added light absorption.

I'll take a pic with the devore and fidelio so people can get an idea of the difference.

Cheers,
Simon


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## albriscoe (Apr 12, 2009)

Before I forget and this is important

Whaleys have had different batch no.s of the Devore which give very slight different results.

The current batch which has the approval of being good is *"batch no. 9983"* so please bear that in mind when ordering, this is why I offered to be the *"person here"* to make certain no mistakes are made.

Quoting this no. though should see it all go ok.

cheers Al :T


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## rickp (Jan 14, 2008)

Ordered the velvet this morning, 54 pounds shipping, 20 yards x45" wide 199 pounds, not bad until it's converted to dollars, grand total 410$ ouch! 5 to 7 days on the shipping.

Sorry didn't intentionally try to highjack this thread but every once in a while you just happen to stumble onto somthing good, and for 400$ it better be good!

Of all the colors for HT rooms I have seen I really like the flat black ceiling and the flat dark blue with a hint of violet in it, I am really happy with the color combo. Scattered on my walls will be panels of black cloth and the dark blue cloth in the pics. We are back on track now, right? :yes:


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## rickp (Jan 14, 2008)

Al,

you must have been posting as I was ordering. I just sent Whaleys an email asking for batch 9983 and if they don,t have it I may cancel the order. That was a close one. What is the differance in the batches? I am more concened about the acustical properties than the depth of the black.


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## albriscoe (Apr 12, 2009)

Hi Rick

I had already asked them before I posted if they had any left and they had so no worries.

The difference is only in the appearance tbh, one of the batches was very very slightly not as good somehow, it just seemed to have either been rolled the wrong way or something. Whaleys though were very quick to send out a new order and collect the other one.

Acoustically no difference whatsoever. :T

I really do hope you lads like this velvet or else I`ll be getting some right stick off you :bigsmile:

if I stand in my HT to the side of my screen and look up into the corner where the wall, side wall, ceiling meet I honestly can`t see the corner, I have to feel where it is. :scared:

When I sit infront of the screen its like I can walk into the black hole, round the back and out the other side, now thats scary :yikes:

I`m sure you`ll let us know on here Rick so I`m off into hiding whilst the dust settles :devil:


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## rickp (Jan 14, 2008)

Al,

It's all good, Whaleys confirmed they have enough of 9983 stock to fill my order. Thanks for your help.

Captain Rex, 

I am looking forward to you progress pics.


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## albriscoe (Apr 12, 2009)

rickp said:


> Al,
> 
> It's all good, Whaleys confirmed they have enough of 9983 stock to fill my order. Thanks for your help.
> 
> ...


 great news

I`m looking forward to yours as well Rick :T

and please don`t be shy regarding your thoughts of the Devore


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## Captain Rex (Aug 31, 2009)

I might get some pics up this weekend. Please realize though that this is a pretty humble set-up and not nearly a awesome as some of the things I've seen on here.

Edited for typo.


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## raZorTT (Jan 17, 2008)

Hi guys,

The sample of Devore Al sent me arrived yesterday. I must say it looks very impressive!

In my office with a few downlights on I couldn't really see a huge colour difference between it and the fidelio velvet.

The Devore is definitely more transparent than the fidelio. The fidelio is much thicker and is a much tighter weave. I'll try some listening tests over the next couple days to see if I can pick any difference with it in front of a speaker.

The photos I took didn't turn out well so I will give it another shot this afternoon.

Cheers,
Simon


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## raZorTT (Jan 17, 2008)

Here's a photo of the two velvets.

They are very close. I think the fidelio is a bit more black, but it takes the flash to make the colour difference obvious. The velvet on the left is the fidelio and the right is the devore

velvets

Cheers,
Simon


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## albriscoe (Apr 12, 2009)

Hi Simon

I was waiting while it arrived before saying that it is a very fine weave, its see through if you hold it up to the light. But if you hold it against say a piece of white painted timber then it remains black, try it with the torch test as well.

Would it be poss to send me a sample of the Fidelio if I gave you my address via pm, the reason I ask is you say its blacker, well I wanna see some please for myself :bigsmile:


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