What's the best way to block out area of mirror that doesn't have a monitor behind it?

fribse

The mirror I have is bigget than the monitor, so I need to block out part of the mirror, so it isnt transparent.
I was thinking of using some black spraypaint, but anybody that can recommend a good product?
I can’t use black paper or something like that.

I’m also going to mount LED-light strips besides the monitor, so that it will light the object in front up from behind the mirror.
Therefore I was thinking that a good paint for it would be good?

Fozi

@fribse hmmm…I’m not sure if painting is a good option, because it will be difficult to apply the paint accurately and evenly. I took some black foam matte that in which my mirror was wrapped in. That can be cut very accurately. May I ask why black paper or cardboard is not a viable option?

fribse

@Fozi Hi there, my hope was that I could make this somewhat frameless, because the mirror by nature is going to be rather fat, it might look less dominating if its frameless. So there is nothing ‘behind’ the mirror to hold the paper.

fribse

@fribse I’m going to try with foil, you know, the kind for windows. It should be doable, and get a good result without bubbles, I’ve done that for our frontdoor, It’s going to be tricky, but if it succeeds, it should be good.

bhepler

I use black construction paper and tape it to the back of the glass. It sounds like the challenge is to get the paper attached without visible adhesive.

You might be able to use a spray adhesive. There are a couple types that are designed for attaching wood laminate. A light & even coat could work. You would have complete blackout with the paper instead of additional reduction in transmission like you would with the window foil.

Hubschra01

Hi,
I use black folie like oracal foil. It’s quit good.

you don’t pause your work at the mirror to wait for the paint it´s dry.
you can use the space behind the foil for wires, the raspsberry …
you can adapt it very quick to another display if your actually is broken or you decide to put a bigger one behind.

TerryB58

@fribse I just used some 'blackout’cloth.

fribse

Great, thankyou for the suggestions, I definetely have something to go with now.

fribse

@bhepler What is ‘construction paper’? But, yes, the adhesive needs to be invisible.
I got some black foil for windows, I’m going to try and mount that, and put a flashlight to it, to see how well it does. The oracal foil mentioned by @Hubschra01 is very expensive, but probably also of better quality, I think I’m going to try that next.

bhepler

@fribse said in What's the best way to block out area of mirror that doesn't have a monitor behind it?:

@bhepler What is ‘construction paper’? But, yes, the adhesive needs to be invisible.

That may be an Americanism. It’s a thick paper used in craft projects that comes in a variety of bright colors. I was first introduced to it when I was 5 or so, cutting it up with safety scissors to make family portraits. It’s roughly the thickness of business card stock, but it comes in large sheets.

If you are familiar with the cartoon South Park, they use construction paper to make the characters and then animate them (or at least they did in the beginning).