Duratrans without lights

March 8, 2013 10:26 AM

Hung in an office against a white wall, would a Duratrans poster (without lights) look bad, or comparable to a normal poster?

If it clarifies anything, this would be excess product from an entertainment company.

posted by acidic to media & arts (4 answers total)

It would look comparable to a normal poster.
posted by jmsta at 10:33 AM on March 8

Might be better if you put reflective Mylar behind it.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:41 AM on March 8

In my years of looking at these while building printers, my usual reaction was "Huh, that should probably be on a light box." I don't know that I would call it comparable to a normal poster by any measure. Maybe times have changed, though.

In our case, Duratrans printing involved a LOT more ink going onto the media because it had to hold up to being backlit. A piece of trans with "normal poster" ink loads would look really thin on a lightbox. The backlit pieces, when not on a light, looked really dark and muddy.

That would have been five years ago, however, so maybe the process is different now.
posted by chazlarson at 11:43 AM on March 8

I have a duratrans poster and without a light source, it looks sort of flat and cold toned to me. It clearly looks like something meant to be backlit.

There are details that would pop more if lighted. You might try hanging it in a way that it is away from the wall and light could bounce off the white wall behind it. That is how I displayed my duratrans poster, hung with fishing wire away from a wall with track lighting bouncing off the wall. I couldn't get a light box due to lack of funds during my art student days.

Since it is printed so large, my poster still looked very detailed and crisp.
posted by dottiechang at 12:29 PM on March 8