Where can you hide your projector screen? These screens tend to be quite cumbersome to lug around, so it pays to conceal it when not in use. The most obvious route to traverse involves putting in a drop-down mechanical or manual screen installed on your ceiling.
Just use a remote to pull the screen down or pull it back up while hidden away. However, such installations tend to be on the expensive side. Is there any other way to hide your screen?
Why You Need to Hide Away Your Projector Screen
The appeal of the projector screen rides on its largeness. However, anything large tends to be cumbersome as well. It gets in your way, especially if you have an HDTV centerpiece. You also have to take into consideration storage.
Should you leave your screen behind on a wheeled blackboard or should you use the nearest wall as your screen instead? Some blackout window curtains or blinds can double as projector screens too, giving you the dual service of blocking ambient light and giving the projection image a home.
Hidden Projector Screen Ideas
You can hide your projector screens to make them invisible when not being used. Here are some ideas to do it.
1. Get a Mini Screen for a Mini Projector
A mini projector, you can easily install and then remove when not in use. Some have the size of a handheld device like a smartphone or MP3 player. Others have the size of a lunchbox or even a game console the size of a Nintendo Entertainment System.
In turn, a mini screen should be about the size of an HDTV. They work well with mini projectors, particularly the ones with mini projections and ultra-short throw (UST) features. This means you can place them right beside the screen and still get a large image.
2. Drop-Down Manual Projector Screen
Another means of concealment for projector screens involve the drop-down manual projector screen. These screens work like the roll-up blinds. You install them on the ceiling or wall. When you need them you pull a tab to bring the screen down and then attach the tab to a hook on the floor below.
The same way your blackout blinds work. Such a projector screen can easily be hidden by unhooking the tab and letting the screen roll back to the mount from whence it came from. The tautness and flatness of the screen comes from the tension of the hook that keeps it from flapping back in hiding.
You can avail of the remote control version below.
3. Drop-Down Auto Projector Screen
Like how a roll-down window of an old car differs from the push-button window, the auto projector screen differs from the manual projector screen because of its mechanized motor that brings the screen up and down. This screen doesn’t use hook tension to work.
Instead, it’s stretched across a frame that can be brought down or back up with the push of a button. Just like your car window in modern cars. The obvious detriments to this mostly involve the wear-down of the moving parts and the malfunction of the motor.
When the motor stops functioning, that should keep the screen from dropping down. The manual version can get stuck too, but it’s less expensive to fix.
4. Store It Behind the Wall
You can also store your projector behind the wall to conceal it instead of bolting the screen to the ceiling in a permanent place like a blackboard or whiteboard for a college classroom. The screen tends to dominate the space when put front and center, with your home entertainment shelf behind it.
Better to put it behind the shelf full of media devices, only to roll it up at the front on its wheeled stand when you need to use it. Sure, it requires constant readjustment in light of projector placement, but this minor inconvenience allows you to conceal the thing when you’re done watching your movies.
You can handle the middling annoyance for the storage convenience.
5. Hide It Behind Curtains
You can also do as the cinemas do and hide your wall-mounted picture-frame screen behind lovely curtains. You can then jerk the curtains away once you’re prepared to watch your own personal cinematic matinee of sorts on your not-so-silver screen.
The curtains on the wall adds a bit of classiness to the design, even though you have to wash those curtains every three months to six months due to dust accumulation like you would your window curtains.
At the very least, it keeps your huge screen out of sight and out of mind until the next screening.
6. Turn the Wall into a Screen
The perfect way to hide your screen is to turn your wall into a screen with reflective screen paint. When not in use, your wall screen simply serves as an ordinary wall you can hang pictures with or hide with your moveable shelf full of game consoles and media player devices.
Other homeowners have the wall screen front-and-center while the rest of their entertainment system including the HDTV remains on the side. You can place the whole thing back when the wall isn’t in use. A wall serves as a great screen because you require fewer adjustments to fit your projection image.
Also, everyone has walls in their home. Not every wall offers the best screen quality though. You might need to sand it down to get the full 4K HD experience.
How to hide a fixed projector screen?
There are a few ways that you can hide a projector screen when it is not in use. One option is to find a large piece of artwork or a poster that is the same size as the screen.
You can then use small clips or magnets to attach the artwork to the frame of the screen. Another option is to create a frame cover out of fabric or other material.
This can be decorated with an image of your choice, and it can be hung on the frame of the screen when not in use. Whatever method you choose, make sure that you have a way to securely attach the cover to the frame so that it does not blow away in windy weather.
DIY hidden projector screen
In a Nutshell
Concealing the video projector screen is almost as important as concealing your projector so that they don’t jut out like sore thumbs in your living room or home entertainment setup. You can place the screen behind the HDTV then take it out when it’s needed.
You can also invest in short throw or ultra short throw projectors you can hide inside drawers or cabinets when not in use. There’s also the drop-down or pull-down blinds option near the window or installed to the wall or ceiling.
References:
- “7 Cheap Projector Screen Alternatives“, HomeTheaterAcademy.com, Retrieved September 9, 2021
- “3 Ways To Hide A Projector Screen“, PureTheatre.com, Retrieved September 13, 2021