Painting the ceiling black?

[Quads]

Is there something to be said for painting the ceiling black in your theater?
Some say it makes a big diff. others say it doesn't do shit.

Talk to me.

[Aust1227]

I like black/brown theatres. They make the screen more vivid and live. Last model home we did we put in a projection system and 100" screen. Entire room was painted a dark brown. Sconce lights were put by the doors on a dimmer. It made for a great show on the screen. Go black, and never come back.

[IgotDANUTZ]

I painted my the same color as the walls. Now im not sure if it makes a difference, i did it partially to hide my drywall screw ups. I also knew i was going to cover the walls with sports stuff so it breaks the color up

[Wedge Rock]

I see a red ceiling and I want it painted black....

I'm painting my exposed ceiling in the basement black...

[Irish]

I see a red ceiling and I want it painted black....

I'm painting my exposed ceiling in the basement black...

I'd very interested in seeing picks of this when you're done. I've been toying with the idea of doing this as well, but I'm not sold on the idea because I have a fairly low clearance down there (~7') and I'm afraid it'll truly make it look like a cave.

[Doctor_XXX]

black on the ceiling > other "dark" colors on the ceiling > white on the ceiling

[Wedge Rock]

Lots of bars with unfinished ceilings will have them painted black... I'll get some before and afters if we do it, but check out bars and retaurants.... It doesn't make the ceiling look finished, but it makes it looks "less unfinished" than a non-painted ceiling. I'm looking to move and don't want to drywall/drop a ceiling in the basement. Especially since I have the main HVAC runs going down the middle.

My basement ceilings are 7' too.

[Charlutz]

I painted my theater "cut out" area. You can see it in my thread in the audio/video forum. Ceiling black, walls a deep wine. Flat or matte paint. It's done to cut down the reflection of the projector. The projector is basically a light cannon and it reflects back off the screen. Because the screen usually reaches much closer to the floor and ceiling than a typical tv, you get reflections which once you notice them, are huge distractions. They take you out of the "theater experience" so you lose the immersion feeling of being in the movie. I also used an area rug to darken the floor area in front of the screen for the same reason. Even with the black paint, I can still see some reflections on the ceiling. Other option would be to add black velvet to the ceiling, and if I had a dedicated theater, I might do it. Because I use the room for other things, it wouldn't look right with the lights on. One man's (or theater snob's) opinion.

[Haps]

In my home theatre(to be built) I won't be doing a drywall ceiling. I'll be doing a standard drop ceiling where you paint the grid flat black.

There are a couple options for ceiling tiles. Paint standard ones flat black. You can by pre-painted black ones. The best option is a fibreglass insulation ceiling tile covered in black fabric. These are also acoustically rated.

But yes it does make a huge difference in the theatre. The light backwash you get across a white ceiling reduces the "punch" of the picture. And in reality 95% of the time I'm in that room It's going to be dark so I'm not worried about the cave aspect of it.

[Quads]

That was the other option I was going to ask about was to use [black] fabric on the ceiling which would kill the light, as well the sound.

[yat]

I've got a few home theatre installers that use our automotive headliner on walls and ceilings
why use headliner? beats the shit out of me, personally I would say it would make the room look cheap.....

[Quads]

If it works in your double wide, why wouldn't it work in a home theater?

[yat]

beats me, I guess it's a fad in Texas, because that is where these guys are at

[Ironforge]

Is there something to be said for painting the ceiling black in your theater?
Some say it makes a big diff. others say it doesn't do shit.

Talk to me.

I didn't paint mine black, but it was a dark blue/grey. It really cuts down on the light in the room. Get less "glow" from the projector screen, not much is bouncing off the ceiling or walls. I made a velvet border for my screen and with the dark wall background the picture looks like it is just floating there at times.

I am using an infocus 4805, yeah I know it's not 1080p, i've had it for a few years. Works great though, just passed 3k hours.

[Quads]

I'm thinking I'll paint it black, and do a sound absorbing fabric (darker in color) on the walls.

[vtpoker]

You should paint the ceiling black, but embed a couple of twinkling LEDs to make it look like stars on the ceiling.

[Ironforge]

I'm thinking I'll paint it black, and do a sound absorbing fabric (darker in color) on the walls.

We did eggshell and it worked out great. Plus less to tape up!

[Ironforge]

I've got a few home theatre installers that use our automotive headliner on walls and ceilings
why use headliner? beats the shit out of me, personally I would say it would make the room look cheap.....

I have read that dow corning 703/705 is real good at sound absorbtion. It comes in 8' foot sheets.

[Haps]

I'm thinking I'll paint it black, and do a sound absorbing fabric (darker in color) on the walls.

You don't want to do the entire walls in fabric. There's a whole science to it but you want some wall and some sound absorbing panels in certain spots in the room. Go spend some time over at avsforum.com to learn up on placement.

[beachtrader]

You don't want to do the entire walls in fabric. There's a whole science to it but you want some wall and some sound absorbing panels in certain spots in the room. Go spend some time over at avsforum.com to learn up on placement.

Can you give a short synopsis?

[Haps]

Can you give a short synopsis?

Just that you don't want to fabric the entire room as it will deaden the entire room. There are spots you want the sound to reflect off of and spots you don't want it to. Those are spots you can put up fabric panels(say 4by2 frame covered with some foam and fabric).

There is info over on avsforum on how to calculate the spots. It's entirely different for every room based on dimensions and speaker placement.

[Dan Cunningham]

Absolutely Quad,

Dark colors are the only way to go around a screen. Have you ever seen a movie theater with any light colors around thier screens? Black is the best way to go.


URL REMOVED.

[Quads]

Absolutely Quad,

Dark colors are the only way to go around a screen. Have you ever seen a movie theater with any light colors around thier screens? Black is the best way to go.

URL REMOVED.

Hello Dan-
Welcome!

Could you do me a fav. and please PM me to figure out something on the commercial links. We're not against them, not my any means, but would like to understand if you're interested in a sponsorship / link exchange of some sorts.

Much thanks-