# Painting the room Black, just seems wrong.



## jmtenthusiast (Jan 23, 2016)

Right now I feel certifiably insane. Anyone remember the first time they bought black paint and started painting the room Black?! This just seems wrong for some reason. All my life I have painted rooms white, cream, almond, ... and tried my best to make them look super nice like a model home. And now I find myself painting over the white walls I so carefully painted about a year ago, all because I caught the projector bug! So out comes the TV and in with the 120" AT screen. Since this is my first build, will you help me with a question I have? I don't have access to rigid fiberglass. I want to put some on the wall behind the screen. What else can I use? I read that someone used Roxul? If so, do I need to cover the Roxul with black fabric? Can I use the pink stuff? I can go about 12 inches thick.


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## bcarver0267 (Nov 27, 2015)

I hear ya on that. I couldn't go all black, so I choose a blueish/gray that looks dark with the lights off.









I did make my acoustic panels black tho...so maybe I'm insane also.


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## jmtenthusiast (Jan 23, 2016)

Ooooo, I have panel envy!


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## DqMcClain (Sep 16, 2015)

I work in a theatre, so black walls don't feel as foreign to me as that do to others. But the first time most people get themselves into a space that doesn't have light-reflective surfaces, it's unnerving. 

The black panels on the powder-blue walls look really nice. I like the contrast there. Perhaps this throws me into the crazy bucket with the rest of you, but I think darker panels look better than lighter ones... even if it isn't a high contrast with the background color. 

Question for the OP: Is that a gloss black, or is the paint still wet in those pics?


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## jmtenthusiast (Jan 23, 2016)

The paint was still wet. It's Flat Black. Things are progressing, slowly but surely. I picked up some black burlap today to cover the Roxul.


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## bcarver0267 (Nov 27, 2015)

My panels are 6" thick. I used this stuff from Lowes.









I use 1x6 to frame them and bought some cheap fabric from hobby lobby. I have heard about people using the pink stuff. But I went with this. It has helped...but mine appear to only work down to about 60 hertz.


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## Dolus (Jul 31, 2013)

The old time cinemas and theaters were always dark/deep red. Walls, seats,carpets, lights just about everything, because next to black, dark red is the least reflective and gives a nice inviting warm fuzzy feeling.


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## jmtenthusiast (Jan 23, 2016)

I love that feeling. Good to know about dark red.


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## cwc329719738 (Apr 28, 2014)

The LCR too high，Especially the middle center speaker ,If you sit on the sofa ，Tell me，How high are your ears from the ground?My ears are 1200mm from the ground.Remember, Don't wrong，I mean the height of the speakers' tweeter


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## enigami (Sep 18, 2017)

Was scared of the black being glossy and reflective, but your progress shots look better. What's the final product look like?


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## Gdaddy (Oct 29, 2016)

Very few people have the courage to paint black. Most people live in a conforming world of beige or white (yuk). The black will look WAY better. Use some cool lighting tricks will be very unique. Halogen down lights will give you puddles of light on the floor to see where your walking. I would not use any scatter lighting at all. Keep it dim and dark.


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## Alan Brown (Jun 7, 2006)

_'The Importance Of Viewing Environment Conditions In A Reference Display System'_
http://cinemaquestinc.com/ive.htm

Best regards and beautiful pictures,
Alan Brown, President
CinemaQuest, Inc.
SMPTE, THX, ISF, Lion AV Consultants

"Advancing the art and science of electronic imaging"


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## davimill (Sep 20, 2009)

I agree that black is an unattractive color for a home theater. When I built mine, I searched the Internet for a suitable paint and found Munsell flat gray water-based vinyl paint. It is specially formulated to have a spectrally flat response without any color bias. It won't change the color of the image on a movie screen (no tints in it; only black and white in the mix). It comes in three shades of gray: light, medium, and dark. I chose the medium shade (Standard Gray Neutral 7), which looks great. It is rather expensive, though; about $95/gallon.


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