Backyard drive in operators...

[Ghoste]

and I know there are a couple, what advice do you have for doing this?  A buddy and I decided tonight that before the summer is over we wanted to host a small drive in one night out at his place.  We have a projector and sound system but what do you recommend for a screen?  We were thinking a bunch of sheets would work.

[Orange_Crush]

How big are you looking to go with the screen? 

[Orange_Crush]

Another thing...what is the resolution of your projector?  Is it HD?  In fact...just tell me the make and model. 

[Ghoste]

I don't know, my buddy has it.  They use it at the school where he teaches and he's going to borrow it for the night, he called it an "in focus machine".  What is a reasonable size for a screen?  We are talking about a show for 20 cars maybe.

[Orange_Crush]

Well, The projector I have is an InFocus, but InFocus makes projectors for several different applications. 

The type of projector will dictate the kind of image it throws which will determine what would be best to make your screen.  Also, the size of the image will, in part be determined by what kind of "throw" your projector has...i.e.  how far itwill project an image.  The farther away you can get, the larger your image will be.  My Infocus will throw a +/- 100 inch image at 13 feet so you will probably not have a problem. 

Now...for your screen...depending on what you're planning to watch, I have found that a sheet of sheetrock makes the best screen there is.  A 4x8 sheet makes a great 1.78 to 1 (16:9) screen and a 4x12 makes an awesome 2.35 to 1 which is the ratio that many of the better movies are made in.  If you have any question about the aspect ratio of the movie, check the back of the DVD case and it'll tell you.  Some widescreen movies have been adapted to 4:3 TV screens...stay away from them.  Make sure the back of the DVD says at least 16:9 or wider. 

If you want to go larger than that...you can use sheets, but I don't know where you'd find one big enough.  If you have any smooth white or slightly off-white surface will make a good screen.  Use your imagination.  I have a 100 inch Carada screen that I paid 600 bucks for and a buddy has a sheet of sheetrock he painted white and, to be honest...I can't tell the difference.

[Ghoste]

Cool, that is probably as much info as we can expect and use for the throw together we're doing.  That helps a lot, thanks a bunch.