Hey I came across this:
http://www.gemmy.com/MovieScreen/

Could have some possibilities!

Greg

I've only seen them on Ebay. Not a bad price though, about 300 bucks. It sure would make the process a whole lot faster for hubby :).
2 thoughts... How loud are the fans that have to constantly run and how can the screen material be kept nice and taught?
Anyone brave enough with extra cash kickin around gonna buy one?
If they were sold locally Id go today (well, Id send hubby)then just return it if it was a piece....

Marye (lurking for months and months)

I talked with Gemmy about this product. The initial run was 1200 pieces. Most went to skymall.com They are less at skymall than on ebay. Walmart wanted this item by May 15th, but 1200 pieces was not enough for them. Walmart is expected to have the next run, the end of June. If it is priced like the other Gemmy items walamrt sells, it should be about 50% less then everyone else.

Does skymall still have any. I just found this today and I totally want it for this weekend... but it seems ebay is the only place and it's suppose to take 2 weeks to arrive :-(

any idea of when in june walmart might get them?? (duh... it says end of june!)

~Kirstin
Newbie

funny ... I just saw this in the skymall catalog today on my flight to Chitown

The only one online from Skymall is done by Improvements catalog, it just doesn't look quite right... and it's got a very poorly superimposed image on it...

~Kirstin

But when I called Wal Mart like they (gemmy) suggested they had nothing in the system listed for that number. Gemmy said they had no way of knowing where Wal mart would be distributing the screens. Bummer!

Marye

I've thought about trying my PJ out this summer on my porch, but I'm worried that the bright light will attract too many bugs and damage my projector. Anybody have any past experience with outside use / a soultion? I imagine drive in movie theatres must project through windows or something to eliminate this problem.

How's the noise factor?

Has anyone got a quote for these screens ???? JUST WONDERING

they are pretty loud.. 63 dB from 6 feet and 53 dB from 18 feet...

Also in case you didn't know the one on the gemmy site is the same one you get when you order it from skymall, they just got the measurement wrong and said it was 120" inches. The picture must be a prototype. So I would just order it direct from skymall, search for some coupons typically skymall has a 20% off one floating around.

I'm working on a review for the backyard theater forum right now. (sorry it won't let me make a link :-(

~Kirstin

I've thought about trying my PJ out this summer on my porch, but I'm worried that the bright light will attract too many bugs and damage my projector. Anybody have any past experience with outside use / a soultion? I imagine drive in movie theatres must project through windows or something to eliminate this problem.

There are a couple threads on this question over on the "backyard theater forum". I cant post a link here, but if you search backyard theater forum you will find it. Great bunch of people. All of us are outdoor movie night lovers. Enjoy :)

Hi everyone I am new here and wanted to share some good news with you about the Gemmy Outdoor Airblown Movie Screen!! It's Awesome and Huge! I have got a great place for you all to buy them at ! I don't know if he has posted them on his site yet but I do know that he is getting 200 of them in and he is probably the cheapest price around ! I will leave a link on here for you to go to I think you'll love it if you buy one they have 2 motors and they are not that loud that you can't hear your movie I use mine with the Epson Movie Mate 25

I jsut wanted to let everyone know that the inflatable screen is just wonderful! I have been having shows almost everynight and the screen is incredible!! Don't miss out on getting on we are going to take ours to the lake the weekend!! What a hoot!!

1.6:1 aspect ratio?!?! Where do people come up with their measurements when they are designing this stuff?

I jsut wanted to let everyone know that the inflatable screen is just wonderful! I have been having shows almost everynight and the screen is incredible!! Don't miss out on getting on we are going to take ours to the lake the weekend!! What a hoot!!


Hey buny,

Do you have any screen shots you care to share with us? How hard is it to get the screen taut with the velcro and the clips?

Thanks Marye

No I don't have any shots but I will try and take some tonight and as far as setting it up I do it by myself and I am only 5'2" and the only velcro is on the zipper covers on the bottom! Putting the screen on is very easy but the more you use it the better you get at setting it up right! I simply Love it and would highly reccomend buying it ! the link I am sending you all too has the cheapest prices I have found and a good warranty as well!! Oh yes the bag that it comes with is just wonderful and it has two side pockets for the tie downs and anchors!Everything fits back into the bag just fine!!

I am not much of a photographer but here goes a shot I got up close I don't know if that is what you wanted

Hey everyone I have been on vacation but I wanted to let you all know that I took the Screen to the lake and what a blast that was! It was easy to set up and everyone there enjoyed it too! If you haven't tried it or seen one yet you need to this is a must for the weekends !!

What boggles my mind there are other similar size ones where sellers and sites have them listed at two or three thousand dollars and 14-16' wide ones for $5k or higher. Am I missing something or have they just been trying to rip off people?

Why would you pay $2-$3k for a 12' wide inflatable when you can buy one that looks nearly identical for $189.95?

Gemmy Airblown Canadian Distributors?? Do you think Walmart or Costco will carry these. I really hope they do, at a good price too!

Anyone knows just PM me or post something quick I want one for when my HD 72 arrives in august! By the way, how do you deter bugs and the such from your projector when the light is so bright and attracting them?

What boggles my mind there are other similar size ones where sellers and sites have them listed at two or three thousand dollars and 14-16' wide ones for $5k or higher. Am I missing something or have they just been trying to rip off people?

Why would you pay $2-$3k for a 12' wide inflatable when you can buy one that looks nearly identical for $189.95?

You are missing something. While I cannot comment on the 12' wide ones directly, I can comment based on my 24' wide screen.

First off, the Gemmy is 10' 5" wide. While close to 12 feet, it in fact isn't 12 feet. The 12' wide screen will have a 32.7% larger surface area. This is kind of a bad stat anyway since the Gemmy isn't using a standard aspect ratio. It is using 1.6:1 which I don't see anywhere outside of digital still cameras or 16x10 computer monitors like the 1920x1200 LCD panels and direct view CRTs.. I think it would have been much better to run 1.78:1 which is HDTV. Either way, when comparing HD content, the difference in screen size will be even greater than the 32.7% since the Gemmy screen will have some surface area unused.

My screen came with 2 blowers, as does the Gemmy. I would assume that the blowers for my 24' screen are larger, but that is just an assumption right now. Either way, coming with 2 blowers is the way to do it and Gemmy got that right. Kudos there. Mine did come with a repair kit. Gemmy's does not. I think the repair kits are fairly cheap as a throw in for an expensive screen, but maybe not for a tight price point. Either way, a repair kit would have been nice.

Now, major differences with what I got and what the Gemmy is/has. I cannot comment on the "other screens" you mention because I don't know which models - you mention no names.

I have a DS-Pro. It has a detachable screen. The screen is also interchangable so I can put in different styles of screens should I need a different one. The screen I got with mine is acoustically transparent so I can run with my speakers behind the screen where they should be. (I haven't run tests yet to determine how acoustically transparent they are). The screen material I have is also somewhat wind resistant since it allows air to pass through.

Should I decide not to run the speakers behind the screen, I can use the same rig for rear projection. The frame on the DS Pro doesn't block any of the light path for the projector. I have seen many screens that can do rear projection, but you lose the last 1-1.5 feet of the screen on all sides due to the frame blocking the light path.

So, the DS in DS-Pro means Detachable Screen. The Pro means it is geared for the rental market. That means this screen is flat out as tough as they come. There is a masive durability factor here. I don't have a Gemmy, but my guess is that it is geared towards the home market crowd and not the rental market. Anything rental in this arena is just built to a different standard in durability. Thicker canvas tarp materials are more expensive to purchase, ship, work with, etc. It also lasts much longer.

One final note is economies of scale. If there were shipping hundreds or thousands of 24' wide screens per month, they would certainly be a lot cheaper. The reality is that smaller sizes are going to be produced in much, much larger quantities. They don't have to have as much engineering going into them and that engineering can be ammortized over more units - a double savings. Nothing is custom so template costs are also ammortized over a larger number of units.

It is very similar to when HDTV sets first came out. They were $10K and plasmas were $20K for 42" and not even HDTV resolution. Now, with the production in massive numbers, they are substantially cheaper. In that market, waiting has been a boon financially to new buyers.

In this market, however, waiting isn't a benefit. Materials are going up since it is petroleum based. My 24' screen went up $1,000 since I bought it. Unlike Gemmy who is ramping up production and trying to sell one of these to every house in the nation that has a back yard, what is the worldwide market for 24' wide or larger screens? You cannot put them in your yard unless you live on an estate sized lot. They take 2 people minimum to set up and take down so they are not really convenient (although massively convenient for their size compared to fixed structures). They also require one hell of a lot of lumens so standard projectors need not apply. I don't see economies of scale driving the prices on these down to really low numbers. Even if they did, this screen should pay itself off between now and then by making money as a rental or being used for other paying gigs. Remember, it is geared towards commercial use where it can generate revenue. The Gemmy, while nice for a home use, isn't really something that can be used for truly large audiences that would have the impact of a much, much larger screen.

If you are worried about bugs, get a commerical 3-chip dual lamp DLP. I think the bugs will burn to death before they get close. ;)

I have a question for users of the gemmy and the epson movie mate 25- are you using additional speakers or just the epson movie mate??? thanks :)

Using a projector speaker is worse than using TV speakers...

I talked to costco, and their website buying team is looking into it! You guys need to keep mesaging them if you are in Canada to get em to stock them for us at a good price, enough people messaging will gaurentee stock!

well, bought one of these today at Wally World to check out. Also grabbed the Screenplay 5K from woot today. Another expensive day, but should be fun come Friday night when I finally get to play with this stuff. My big question is, anyone know anything about Gemmy thing using this as a rear projection screen? I've never been a fan of front projection for outdoor stuff due to several factors, mainly related to kids and location. Thanks for any input!

Murph

I need to show a movie to 200 to 400 viewers. Does anyone know what the gain is of this screen?

Someone quoted 63 decibels for the loudness of the fans. Is it really that loud?
my viewers will be 20 feet away. For a subtitled movie "The passion of the Christ" don't we need to keep fan noise down to about 45 db?

Any other ideas for a quick way to make a 9x12' screen (or larger) cheaply for a non-profit?

I need to show a movie to 200 to 400 viewers. Does anyone know what the gain is of this screen?

Someone quoted 63 decibels for the loudness of the fans. Is it really that loud?
my viewers will be 20 feet away. For a subtitled movie "The passion of the Christ" don't we need to keep fan noise down to about 45 db?

Any other ideas for a quick way to make a 9x12' screen (or larger) cheaply for a non-profit?

Welcome to the AVS Forum, Marcus! :)

Here's a Forum section where you will find more information on the Gemmy and other large screens:

Outdoor Theaters (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=159)

Garry