[J-Man]

Trying to set up a rear projection so that viewers can't see the projector light. The problem I'm having is that this will be a ground level window that people will be able to walk right up to. I've tried placing the projector high, low, and off to the side but the beam source is always visible. Using a fairly thick white bed sheet for the scrim. Any ideas?

 

[Woodsy]

The old style home theaters I used to install sometimes used a mirror to bounce the image off an onto the back of a screen when space was tight. That would be your only way of hiding the light. Hope that helps.

 

[J-Man]

Thanks for the suggestion but if the projected image is reflected off the mirror, so is the light source. You won't see the projector light directly but you'll see it in the mirror.

 

[Slider]

Unfortunately, the only surefire way to achieve this is with an actual rear projection screen. There's a diffusion layer to evenly distribute the light, then a layer that is infused with darker material to soak up the projector light.

You could try putting a dark colored scrim or screen door material between the projector and the sheet which could tone it down, but I don't know if it'll be completely effective in your case.

If you have room, the answer usually is to mount the projector high or low, then skew the image so that it appears square on the sheet.

 

[J-Man]

Thanks for the input Slider. Unfortunately there's not enough difference in elevation between the projector and the eye level view from outside the window. Placing the projector at the ceiling or the floor doesn't hide the light source. I'll try placing a section of window screen in front of the projector and see if it helps. Thanks!

 

[victor-eyd]

The problem is the material used for projection- its just too opaque and as a result you see the beam. Try something else, like white (not frost) shower curtain instead. If it improves, see if gets better if you double it.

Victor

 

[foolishmortal42]

Try a white shower curtain liner from Walmart. I have a ground floor window that people walk by and you don't get hotspotting. Don't use a frosted curtain.

 

[JCO]

Try a white shower curtain liner from Walmart. I have a ground floor window that people walk by and you don't get hotspotting. Don't use a frosted curtain.

Exactly right. You could also add a very sheer fabric like black chiffon, tulle, etc between the shower curtain and the window. I've seen that actually improve the image in some cases, too. Anyway - shower curtain, not bed sheet. I had Zombie Invasion blasting out of a 2800 lumens projector at waist level 10 or 12 feet behind the screen last year and there was zero hot spotting. If that doesn't work, I don't know, you may have to ditch the idea in that location.

 

[J-Man]

Thanks for the input guys, I'll try a white shower curtain and let ya know.

 

[J-Man]

The white shower curtain worked PERFECT! Thanks for the tips guys. I actually used a white shower curtain LINER from WalMart for a whopping $2. I picked up 2 of them, one medium weight and one light weight. They both worked great but I'm going with the light weight, yields a slightly brighter image and absolutely no hint of the projector beam, even when you're right up to the screen. I'm giving this entire setup to an older friend of mine for a gift (projector, Solid State Media Player, Zombie Invasion, scrim) and I wanted it to be perfect, now it is. Thanks again for the input! BTW, a great method for getting all the fold marks out of the shower curtain is to tumble it in the dryer on low temp for a couple minutes, hang it up as soon as you take it out of the dryer and it's good to go.