Beamer: How to find the right wall for movie nights at home

There is no space for a screen in your home cinema or your budget no longer allows the purchase of a screen? Then you can alternatively point your projector at a normal wall in your apartment. But you should keep the following tips in mind in order to get the best possible picture.

1. Wall must be flat

2. Choose the right wall color

3. Alternate canvas color

Not every wall in a room is suitable as a canvas. Color, texture and furniture play an important role. So what should you watch out for?

Wall must be flat

First of all, it is important that you choose a wall that is as smooth as possible. For this, the wall should be finely plastered. Walls with woodchip wallpaper are strongly discouraged. They overlay the image like a watermark.

Many walls have a wavy surface that is not immediately obvious. This then causes a distorted image display and blurriness. That is why high-quality projector screens are made from stretched cloth. The flatness of such screens cannot be achieved with a normal wall.

You can use a flashlight to check if there are bumps in your wall. Simply place the flashlight parallel to the wall and see where shadows appear. Alternatively, you can use a long, straight metal rod placed flat against the wall to look for bumps.

Choose the right wall color

The wall color also has a major impact on the image quality of the projector. You should choose the color depending on the brightness of your room and the luminous flux of your projector. Normally, a matte pure white is the best solution. In completely darkened rooms with an additional, very bright projector, we recommend a matt gray wall.

Colors like “wall white” are not recommended. Many conventional wall colors have color casts and thus falsify the color reproduction of the projector.

Some modern devices such as the Samsung projector “The Freestyle” guarantee an optimal viewing experience even with colorful walls. A smart calibration simply adjusts the color in the background.

Alternate canvas color

There is also the option of painting the wall with a special projection paint. These canvas paints are designed to reflect light evenly, giving a superior image when compared to a “normal” white wall.

However, the coatings often consist of different layers. When applying, it is therefore important that the colors are applied absolutely evenly. In terms of price, however, such colors are many times higher than conventional wall paint.

Projector under 1,000 dollars in comparison: 6 buying tips for your home cinema

Also, if you want to know how to use your projector in daylight, we have some advice on that too. And if you are still looking for a suitable projector but don’t have much space available, then please take a look at our selection of good ultra-short-distance projectors.