MississippiMan's blunders

The latest in the MississippiMan (Maurice/Maury) debacle... The guy just doesn't get it. He's worse than a politician. Take a look at this thread at avs (there's a lot of good people there - unfortunately the site is so mismanaged and poorly run it's like Armageddon there):

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1151097

In this thread Maurice blatantly taunts his commercial endeavors while posting it in a forum at avs to which this is not allowed. A recap of the first line of the rules again:

The DIY Screen section is for discussion of screens made from materials not originally intended for projection screen use. This is a DIY forum for people to share DIY ideas. If you are a full or part time dealer or installer of home theater screens, this is the wrong forum section for you - please do not post here.

And yet Maurice is allowed to post his commercial endeavors yet again. And that's not even the most shocking part. That's reserved for the fact that he actually thinks this screen, for which he was paid to build, performs well. He is called out publicly in numerous twists of the truth and back peddles his way to he being the greatest and everyone else is wrong. First he states numerous things regarding the pictures that are fabrications - like that's new with Maurice. Then he jumps tot he fact that the pictures don't tell the real story and that 'you'll just have to take his word for it'. No thanks Maurice! Your life has been one big fib. From the start of your twisting of reality and your perception of reality to your fabrications. And I have to admit that I really do think that he fabricates things because he doesn't know them. Such as gain. He fabricates gain readings for his mixes based upon his eyeball comparison to something else. At times he will even state that prof55 (aka Garry Stoner) did his gain readings for him. Even though recently prof55 stated that he didn't have the capability to do gain readings anymore. Something which he has stated he was capable of in the past. Maybe he fibs too.

A brief history of Maurice shows a a small man whom cannot makes ends meet except by badgering people into sales in the diy screen forum at avs. You'll note that numerous posts of his show many connotations to personal mail messages sent and received. If one were really in it to help, why not state these things publicly to benefit one and all? And then there's the photographs... photographs which really don't show us much since there is no comparison.

First there's this shot:

You can clearly see that there's an attempt to show that there's a lot of ambient light in the room. There is. No one can question that. But what can be questioned is why there is no cheap $20 meter measuring the amount of light reflected off of the floor or walls back at the screen? I say the floor and walls because clearly none of the light, directly from the lights, is reaching the screen.

I've outlined the path of the light from the fixture and you can clearly see none hitting the actual screen surface.

The thing that makes me wonder is that folks actually thought this was amazing. I can tell you now it is not. This screen is being hit with 50+fL of light from the projector. That's over 4 times the recommended amount. I think we could have used gray cardboard and done as well.

Notice how he uses the lights to hide the performance of his screen?

Even with the lights off the screen doesn't 'wow' anyone except for the ill informed. By the way, this is the vaunted Light Fusion stupidity that I tested at the Shack. While the jury is still out on whether or not it actually adds to the image, my money is on no for Maurice. I think there is a way to do it. I just don't think Maurice knows how! ;)

There was a time when he actually posted a picture of a screen he was paid to do that was taken with a flash. He boldly stated "that no screen out there could do as well as his poo poo in a bottle on a mirror". So I went to the theater and tried it out. This was with my Fashion Grey laminate screen at the time. You can click on the image to see it full size.



Fashion Grey laminate from Wilsonart blows away anything Maurice did, does or will do. Why? Because he really doesn't care about you or your screen. He just wants the cash money. And let's be honest. Nothing is really being blown away. But things are performing as well or more than likely better both cheaper and easier. These folks try to pass themselves off as a Da-Lite or a Stewart. Trolling the forums fishing for catch phrases to use for their poo with no data to back it up.

Finally, the funniest thing of all, outside of someone paying him to spray a screen for them, is that good ole Maurice popped in to the UK forum that I frequent and tried like the dickens to get someone to talk to him. No one bit!

Here's a link to the Iowa Secretary of State's database entry for Liquiscreen. Liquiscreen is owned by Garry L. Stoner. The same Garry L. Stoner is prof55 at AVS forums. prof55 is the moderator of the diy screen section at avs. In summary, an owner of a for profit company is moderating the forums at avs. Conflict of interest? To say the least....

Maurice, aka as MississippiMan, is the major contributor to avs. He is the owner of Invisible Stereo. You know, those speakers that you bury in your wall and are sub par to the lowest form of non-invisible speaker? Go take a look at that site and see that he's still dealing in the diy paint business. When it opens, click on view and source in your browser's menu. Under the meta tags you can still see these listed:

black flame
light fusion
black flame light fusion

Obviously Maurice is still trying to screw people over by charging them a small fortune. They (pb-maxx aka Pete is still involved) like to state that they are professional mixes. But let's face it, they don't have the money to mix up a large vat of their poo and sit on it for many months. The original mix sold so well they had to cut prices 50% shortly after opening up shop. Then, after business continued to boom (that's tongue-in-cheek ;) ), they had to supposedly drop their online business so that Maurice could schlep his silver tongued wares to the unsuspecting at avs.

So what is so wrong about their mix? I think that will have to be a post by my friend wbassett! ;) Suffice it to say that it's not just the loads of prismatic mica that are included in the mix. Or the large quantity of color shifting over time polyurethane. It's something so simple that neither the carpet bagger of our time (Maurice) or the artist (Pete) can figure it out. What does that say about these two individuals? Don't get me wrong, Pete is a smart cookie. However one has to question who he associates with.

Harpmaker recently said it would take no more than a couple of weekends to fix Silver Fire into a usable mix. I think it would take a day. These guys (Maurice and Pete) have changed the formula no less than 4 times and they still can't figure it out...

DIY Home Theater Front Projection Screens

The internet is awash with varying methods of Do It Yourself projection screens. It is also awash in contradiction and silliness. In the upcoming months, I hope to put to rest some of the silliness and contradictions.

I started out in this back in late 2005 when I decided to set up my unfinished basement as a Home Theater. One of the first things I started researching was how to get the most bang for my dwindling bucks in a projection screen. Little did I know that this would become a hobby of mine!

I began my research at a forum called AVS. Which I have since denounced as nothing more than a forum of disinformation and the main source of downright silliness. AVS' DIY Screen forum can pretty much be summed up in a post made by someone at a different forum back in 2004.

Be wary of the DIY screen forum at AVS. You can get some great advice there, but there are an awful lot of obsessive crackpots that must have been alchemists in a past life ("Add just one teaspoon of Heinz Ketchup to your white paint to counteract the green shift in your lens. We call this Pennsylvania Paste. Then buy eight cans of silver spray paint. Now alternate a spray paint layer with a layer of Pennsylvania Paste, for a total of 58 layers, over a silver hand mirror. Sand each layer in a way so that the total thickness of all layers is 5". You may need to do this several times before you get the thickness right. While doing this, stand on one leg, while swinging a dead cat in your left hand, in homage to Grzboken, the patron demon of Home Theater. And whatever you do, Don't forget to stir each can of paint exactly 167 times!!!)"

Little did I know how true the above was when I signed up there! Suffice it to say that the forum has gone from a forum of helping folks to a forum of personal interest. I say personal interest because there's a chap there who, while being a commercial installer and a commercial paint dealer, is allowed to post there. Even though the rules clearly state that it should be otherwise.

The DIY Screen section is for discussion of screens made from materials not originally intended for projection screen use. This is a DIY forum for people to share DIY ideas. If you are a full or part time dealer or installer of home theater screens, this is the wrong forum section for you - please do not post here.

How can that be? More than likely it has to do with the moderator of the forum being the owner/operator of his own screen paint business. According to the Secretary of State's office in his own state this is still a fact.

So what exactly is the motive of these individuals? Help people get their DIY screen up or get more customers?

So where do I play in all of this? I'm a moderator at the Home Theater Shack and have started up a crusade to put all of the disinformation to rest buy actually using industry standards to test screens. I was asked to join by my fellow moderator and good friend wbassett and have rarely if ever looked back.

If you looking for good information on DIY projection screens I suggest going to the Shack. There is actual hard data - acquired via industry standards - on screen options. Not wild claims made in order to draw customers.