Dedicated Cinema Room - Light Control and Wall/ Ceiling Treatment

Alexxxx

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Hi, I am currently in the process of building a dedicated cinema room and was wondering if I could get some advice.

The room would be as close to completely black as it could be, very small window with blinds and thick black curtains, so vitually pitch black.

The room is 3mx4m with 2.6m ceilings, which will accommodate 100 inch projector screen. Minimal ambient lighting will be present in a form of 2 very dimm ligthts attached to the wall or 2 small light strips, not 100% decided on that one.

I was considering painting the walls and ceiling dark grey or even potentially clad the walls in black/dark material. If the walls are clad with fabric, what do I do with the ceiling? What material would you recommend? Would painting the walls dark grey suffice and how dark is dark enough (don't want to paint the ceiling completely black).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT 03.02.2020:
After careful deliberation, here are my top fabric (my personal opinion).

1 Micro velvet £6.49/m
#BST Fabrics w=112cm
Product Page

#2 Stretch velvet £7.64 for 4m<, £6.50 for 10m<, £6 for 25m<
melebinltd w=145cm
Velvet Fabric, Luxury High Quality Craft Dressmaking Stretch Material 57" | eBay

#3 Micro velvet £8.99/m
Cheap Fabrics w=112cm
Micro Velvet

#3 Micro Velvet Black MVEL22 BK £7.99/m
TiaKnight w=112cm

#5 SILK/VISCOSE VELVET BLACK (DEVORE) £30.43/m 3m<, £25.35/m 1-m<, £20.6/m >10m.
Whaleys - Bradford w=unknown

#6 Cotton Velvet Fabric (EUF285-X321-E26B121) £7.99/m, £7.67 for 15m<, £7.43 for 25m<
EU Fabrics w=112cm

Cotton Velvet Fabric
 
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dedicated cinema room
how dark is dark enough
As dark as you can make it, velvet is your friend for dedicated rooms and you really don't want any lights on when watching movies. I personally have used and recommend mvel22 but I know some people @Luminated67 have used some self adhesive stuff to great effect (affect?)
 
Do read the long and historic threads on light control. It’s an interesting read the challenge we all have is managing the light that bounces off the screen and reflected back on killing contrast. Those who haven’t experienced this and seen the benefit of velvet fabrics and panelling the ceiling near screen won’t understand. It’s key to a good picture. In my current room I have dark velvet 8’ out from the screen, ceiling floor and walls I wasn’t happy with less in a dedicated room with zero external light ingress (light sealed shutters on windows)
 
RU44tH.jpg


Radiator and window have been covered since I took this photo, mine is roughly 10ft back from the screen. As others have already said until you have experienced the difference of true light control you don’t understand what a difference it makes.
 
Any specific type of velvet I should look out for?

I also have a lot of dark grey foam panels I was planning to install to absorb some of the sound reflections, I assume that would affect light reflections to a degree?

Don't really want to paint my ceilings black and can't see an easy way of attaching fabric to it, any suggestions?
 
Any specific type of velvet I should look out for?

I also have a lot of dark grey foam panels I was planning to install to absorb some of the sound reflections, I assume that would affect light reflections to a degree?

Don't really want to paint my ceilings black and can't see an easy way of attaching fabric to it, any suggestions?

This post, but also the thread in general:
 
Any specific type of velvet I should look out for?

I also have a lot of dark grey foam panels I was planning to install to absorb some of the sound reflections, I assume that would affect light reflections to a degree?

Don't really want to paint my ceilings black and can't see an easy way of attaching fabric to it, any suggestions?

I take it your room will be multi-purpose to a degree, it’s a heck of a commitment to do everything black so I fully understand why you don’t want to go down that route.

There are alternatives you’ll be glad to know, though this one only works if you have flush ceiling light fixings. Curtain rails about 6ft long, run along the top edge of the wall, get enough fabric to run up the side wall, across the ceiling and down the other side wall about 6ft deep, this way you can put it out when you want to watch the projector and when not it’s stored tightly in the corners and along the edge of the ceiling.

The link provided above is a good start to finding the appropriate material though none of these are particularly cheap.

If you decided you want to go down my route then here’s the link to where I bought the stuff along with the thread I created about my room.


 
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Here is the original thread Maximising image contrast. and if I recall where all the measurements were made comparing various different materials, no magic here really dark velvet is number one, there are various different options, depending if you need acoustic transparency, personally I like the cotton velvets as they are aesthetically nicer and measure within a hair of the best velvets. Any dark velvet is streets ahead of other materials which are ususally significantly ahead of black matt paint

I have obtained 90+% of the benefit of doing the entire room and roll out velvet in front of the seats for a film. I used cotton velvet in Blues and black


Cinema velvet 3-9512212.jpg
Cinema velvet 4-9512222.jpg
 
I take it your room will be multi-purpose to a degree, it’s a heck of a commitment to do everything black so I fully understand why you don’t want to go down that route.

Fedicated cinema room, no other use, for now.... I just don't want to paint the ceiling 15 times 2-3 years later when we decide to turn my cinema room into kids play area :)

Also I've noticed quite a few images of people using velvet only on the wall where the screen is and partially on the adjacent walls and ceiling. I know there are supposed to be critical areas, but is there any rule of thumb of some sorts?

Thanks to everyone for advice
 
The lighter the colour, the greater the reflectivity nearer the screen the worse the contrast.
 
Fedicated cinema room, no other use, for now.... I just don't want to paint the ceiling 15 times 2-3 years later when we decide to turn my cinema room into kids play area :)

Also I've noticed quite a few images of people using velvet only on the wall where the screen is and partially on the adjacent walls and ceiling. I know there are supposed to be critical areas, but is there any rule of thumb of some sorts?

Thanks to everyone for advice

You could buy 1/2” thick polystyrene and screw it to the ceiling, there’s little to no weight and all you’ll have to do once removed again is fill to holes left and repaint. With this option you could cover them with the self adhesive material I used.

Really all you need to come back from the screen is about 6ft as this is where you get the most affect from the reflection. Then use the curtain method along to sides.
 
I’m just going through same process. I also use the room as an office so have kept the colour of walls reasonably light.
1. mounted the screen. Wanted a 2.35:1 to maximise image. ideally a projector with lens memory or shift would be require.
2. Mounted the projector on ceiling and projected image onto screen to find which areas were affected by the light. I found that light spread seemed worse when the projector was on a table on its feet as the light affected the ceiling more than the floor.
3. Identified areas of light I needed to eliminate/minimise. These were mainly above and below the screen. Used Devore as recommended elsewhere on the forum. Although not cheap it works! Made up a couple of wooden frames an covered with Devore.
This is enough light reduction for my requirements after making the room a dark as possible first With blackout blinds etc
hope this helps
 

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With this option you could cover them with the self adhesive material I used.
How easy/difficult it is to peel off?

Used Devore as recommended elsewhere on the forum. Although not cheap it works! Made up a couple of wooden frames an covered with Devore.

Share a link please
 
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Share a link please

[/https://www.whaleys-bradford.ltd.uk/silk-viscose-velvet-black-devore
just used PVA and a staple gun
 
How easy/difficult it is to peel off?

I haven't tried as I don’t intend to remove any time soon, but if you were to line the room or area you want to cover with lining paper and stick the velour to that then it should come off very easy and all you’d need to do is strip the remainder of the lining paper off the walls/ceiling and repaint.

I bought a 25m roll of the fine flock which cost £150 and covered everything I wanted to cover. If you decide to go down that route the only advise I can give is make sure you have help mounting it as it’s super sticky, oh and buy a small rubber roller.
 
ordered some samples of velvet materials
Share a link please

[/https://www.whaleys-bradford.ltd.uk/silk-viscose-velvet-black-devore
just used PVA and a staple gun

That is one pricy fabric. Staple gun and glue is something i considered.

If you decide to go down that route the only advise I can give is make sure you have help mounting it as it’s super sticky, oh and buy a small rubber roller.
Hmm.... I think I'll get some regular velvet material samples and experiment.

What about skirting boards? Covering them in velvet is gonna be tricky :)

Also need to figure out to do with the door as it is on the same wall as the screen.

btw. found a great fabric for the screen for only £8 per m.
 
Hmm.... I think I'll get some regular velvet material samples and experiment.

What about skirting boards? Covering them in velvet is gonna be tricky :)

Also need to figure out to do with the door as it is on the same wall as the screen.

btw. found a great fabric for the screen for only £8 per m.

I didn’t actually cover my skirting, though I did cover the door because like you it was on the same wall as the screen but in my case my screen is always hanging on the wall and only very occasionally do I ever need to take to screen down to get into the store room behind.
 
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I have obtained 90+% of the benefit of doing the entire room and roll out velvet in front of the seats for a film. I used cotton velvet in Blues and black
View attachment 1229152

just noticed that your door is white, do you cover it in something before you turn on the projector?
 
Yes, I have velvet covered MDF panels on the ceiling and floor (9mm MDF) and I then Velcro curtains around the screen end of the room, one of those curtains drops over the door when closed. So when watching a film there is velvet projecting 8' from the white screen, I cover my wooden centre channel in velvet as well if I dont I can see the impact when watching a film
 
Got my first sample of velvet yesterday, looks a bit shiny, ordered about 10 different samples so far...

Another question regarding the fabric, does it absorb a lot of sound? Would it be a lot worse than acoustic foam?
 

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Velvet will look shiny one direction and Matt the next. Best put a bit on the side wall and see which direction looks Matt when viewed side on. One thing i will tell you is the stuff I used looks matt no matter which angle it's viewed from. ;)
 
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do it cheap and do it twice

Devore is the king here, read the thread posted above and you'll learn a lot

Allan ;)
 
Got my first sample of velvet yesterday, looks a bit shiny, ordered about 10 different samples so far...

Another question regarding the fabric, does it absorb a lot of sound? Would it be a lot worse than acoustic foam?
Hi Alex - I’d be really interested if you find a good velvet that is also fire retardant.

Thanks. Bill
 
Hi Alex - I’d be really interested if you find a good velvet that is also fire retardant.

Thanks. Bill
Will do, I think only 2 of the samples I ordered are fire retardant
 

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