A Small, Portable ScreenOne Screen Does It All

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Screen Set-up #1 and #2

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My first portable screen was built for a Condominium Open House held inside a small clubhouse.
The screen, made with PVC parts and a sheet, was designed for temporary, one-time-only use - sort of a "throw away" screen.
It measured 5 X 7.
It was to be placed in two different locations in the clubhouse, and had to be modified on the fly to work in both places.

The PVC/Sheet Screen sat on a shelf, resting against a wall. It provided a place to project video games.

A few hours into the Open House, the room was rearranged in preparation for a movie. The legs, which were inserted into tee-fittings at the lower corners of the frame, were cut to different lengths because of the fireplace hearth.

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Screen Set-up #3

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The screen can also stand independently with additional pvc support. I plan to cut the diagonal supports in half and use a coupling to connect them, as they are ten feet in length.

I used 1-1/2 inch PVC pipe and a white sheet for my first attempt at making a portable screen. This screen has worked well in the above two applications. I've yet to use it in a stand-alone position. My only worry is wind. Tee-fittings were permanently glued to each of the two side frame poles. In addition, the top elbows are glued to the diagonals and a 2-inch PVC piece, as shown below. I've yet to determine whether I'll hold down the bottom red pipes with spikes or sandbags. Perhaps I'll use both.

The supports, originating from the top of the frame, are not glued, and therefore, they can swivel closer to or farther away from the front of the frame. This helps to position the screen parallel to the ground, regardless of the height of the ground back of the screen.

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Screen Set-up #4

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With football playoffs underway, the screen was made ready for hanging. Holes were drilled in the top two corners of the frame to allow eyebolts to pass through the corner fittings and the horizontal pipe. The frame was hung without the ropes interfering with the screen.
The ambient light was a problem in the early afternoon (below left), but by 5 p.m. the picture was full of color (below, right).

Since Super Bowl XLVII had a 3:30 kick-off time (in California), I ordered a 5'X 9' ready-made BOC screen from Carl's Place. At this point, the portable screen went from a Throw-Away Screen to a Stow-Away Screen.

The top and bottom horizontal bars consists of two pipes joined together with a tee-fitting, rather than a coupler.

This allows the use of a PVC stretcher bar that stands away from the screen fabric.

The plastic windows on both of the pull down drapes had to be covered. Black garbage bags, taped on the outside, did the trick.

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New PVC poles will need to be cut for the stand-alone configuration. I've yet to see if the BOC's additional weight will adversely affect the frame. At the very least, I imagine that I"ll need to switch out the Tee-fitting on the bottom horizontal bar with a 4-way connector so that a middle leg can provide support in the center.

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