Hi all,

I'm about to go SXRD for the 3rd time (or 4th really counting my Qualia experience). I going to install one in the living room of my holiday house along with the set of M&Ks I just bought. Now I saw an SST the other day at Magnolia in 92" in it's obvious application, light walled room glass side wall, etc. The sales guy wrongly told me at the time you can't get SST in a retractable. My room requires a retractable as it's a living room and there's also no place to mount a fixed. Now as much as the room isn't dedicated, I'm wondering about the facts that I won't do any daytime viewing and all of the walls are a mid tone pine look(ie not overly light, but not brown). I don't have the photos with me or I'd definitely post them for opinions. The other thing is I don't particularly want to spend a whole lot on the screen for this particular install as it's not a daily use environment, more like a few times a months. I have been through Tryg's excellent reviews, but I'm still not certain with this particular install and usage.

Well you should still have lots of choices. At 92" you don't need a large gain but most of us Pearl owners have indicated a good white screen.

That should leave lots of choices for you from low cost Optoma screens in white among others.
Some other folks may comment on those screens they mated with the Pearl. Don't think you need to go with the high gain type Da-lite high power at 92" either.

You can certainly get an inexpensive white retractable screen. Some folks have indicated excellent results with Carada Brilliant White but I don't know if they make it in a retractable.

Good luck and enjoy the hunt.

Well you should still have lots of choices. At 92" you don't need a large gain but most of us Pearl owners have indicated a good white screen.

That should leave lots of choices for you from low cost Optoma screens in white among others.
Some other folks may comment on those screens they mated with the Pearl. Don't think you need to go with the high gain type Da-lite high power at 92" either.

You can certainly get an inexpensive white retractable screen. Some folks have indicated excellent results with Carada Brilliant White but I don't know if they make it in a retractable.

Good luck and enjoy the hunt.

Yeah, knowing the light output limitations of the Pearl vs. say Ruby and owning a Ruby with a 110" Firehawk, I wanted to optimise the screen size for the Pearl. That's good to know that you can get away with a more 'generic' low cost screen and not compromise the picture.

OzHDHT: Using the Vutec Brite white, very nice. But then I put up a sample of the new DA-LITE HP(High Power) Wow, tons of brightness and good blacks. Also I would look at the Vutec Silver Star or some of the Stewart models, anything at or above 1.3 gain will help give the picture some more pop, not that it needs any.

OzHDHT: Using the Vutec Brite white, very nice. But then I put up a sample of the new DA-LITE HP(High Power) Wow, tons of brightness and good blacks. Also I would look at the Vutec Silver Star or some of the Stewart models, anything at or above 1.3 gain will help give the picture some more pop, not that it needs any.

Sounds like good'ol I may be revisting good'ol DA-Lite again for this install. I used to use one with my old VPL LCD models. I'm thinking 93" might cap things off nicely, although I'm still somewhat intrigued by the possibility of the silver screen after reading tryg's review recently.

Edit: I do notice Projector Central talks about some negatives of the vutec silver, like reduced image sharpness, not a positive side effect by any means...

I did some more measurements today at my weekender and it seems that I can get away with up to 96". Using projector central's very handy viewing calculator, everything seems to line up nicely for the screen size, projector mounting and viewing distance. I'm am thinking along the lines of probably a Da-Lite HCCV in the Model B deluxe manual, but they don't a 96" and the HCCV only seems to be available in the electic screens?

Going by what others have said and some local advice, a pure matte white would seem to be the best option. I am checking with Da-Lite now to see if they have stock of the model B deluxe in MW. It maybe be that they only have HC in stock and I need it by next weekend, I should know in a little while when they call me back. If I get stuck I'm wondering if the increase of .1 in gain will make any negative difference in my application? I was told by local manufacturer LP Morgan that all their roller screens are all 1.1 and it makes no descernable difference or hotspotting with their screen material. Their screens are all electric and a bit overpriced for a local option at $US1660. I have yet to check out the other local option, Screen Technics, who offer a manual chain lift, lay flat option screen and also a 96" size option. They, like LP Morgan, don't both to tell you what gains their screen material are(very poor not to). So I have to make another phone call.

Edit: I just called Screen Technics and their stuff is far cheaper, the chain drive 'premium' pull down model can be had for around $US600 and $US650 for the 92" + 96" respectively. Again the gain on their basic white screen is a 1.1, not a 1.0. This is making me wonder why Da-lite offers both 1.0 and 1.1 gains. So depending on Da-lite's response, this could be the best option.

Edit Edit: Ok the Da-Lite I can get for only around $US314 in HCMW 1.1 material and it's in stock. Almost seems too cheap at that price. HCMW material does have an underlying grey base material.