Dry Erase Television

I've always been irked by the fact that watching sport on TV didn't provide the life size entertainment that it deserved. Back in 2007, with the cricket world cup looming, I decided to finally get a big screen TV.

The LCDs were just about flooding the market then, and the rear projection CRT mammoth was beginning to feel the ice melt from under it. As with any new technology entering the consumer space, manufacturers were looking to make up innovation expenditure as early as possible, with prices that may have as well bought me a second hand car.

Furthermore, the largest of those was still a mere 52 inches! Frustrated, I started shopping for projectors, with the hope of using a wall to watch Sachin and his boys romp to the cup. As it turned out, the wall was a bad idea, and with the projector already having arrived, a projection screen was going to run up a total bill higher than the most expensive LCD, albeit for a larger screen size. 

After mucking around with projection paints without a satisfactory result, attributable largely to poor painting skills, and still adamant not to throw money at a piece of cloth posing as a screen, I decided to try out a dry erase board for a screen. The custom cut white dry erase board now sits in my basement in all its glory, giving me 72 inches worth of live entertainment whenever the mood hits me.

If you were to do this, keep in mind that dry erase boards are glossy, and will reflect the projector light right back at it, giving Paramount's peak an unwanted glaring glow! Fret not, for you can simply use an inexpensive heavy duty picture hanging kit from your local hardware store to mount the board at a slight angle to the wall, to deflect the glare to the ground. Of course, you will also need to adjust the keystone setting on the projector to avoid making your screen look like a trapezium.

The board cost less than $100. Try getting a fixed frame screen for that much (maybe doable in 2012, but not back then, by a long shot). End result? Nirvana!

Happy home theater experiences to all!