I was just thinking that since my pj is relatively bright as far as CRTs go (1000 lumens) if I could use a gray screen to darken up my black levels in situations where I have a little ambient light present. It seems to perform relatively well already on a white screen as long as theres no hard light on the screen (its just a little sunlight thats escaping around my blackout curtains in the daytime). Since its not ANSI lumens though (peak white right?) would it still be to dim and murder my contrast and color and muddy up my whites?

Depends on how gray the screen is and how large. Maybe try a graywolf II. It's gray and 1.8 gain. Not sure how well it'll work with a CRT though. If you go gray go very light gray. Very light gray can very noticeably improve blacks and contrast in some shaded ambient light. Building a torus will give you good reults.

As for a gray cheap material, check out the gray pvc at www.mjtrends.com. That might work and probably has a little gain too. $9.00 a yard I think. Worth a shot. You could always sell the material for a small loss should it not workout.

When I watched my CRT in ambient light I usually pushed the contrast a bit higher and upped the brightness a bit to retain some dark detial. Gamma correction is a must as well.

I was actually thinking about one of those Graywolf screens but they're glass bead and I don't remember why but I remember someone saying glass bead screens aren't good for use with a CRT, should I not worry about it? Also whats the highest gain screen I can probably use before I start getting hotspotting?

glass bead screens are retro-reflective, i.e. they will only work for floor projection setups, plus they have a tendency to hotspot and/or colorshift.

If you want higher gain with a CRT, then the only option is a torus imho.

I didn't realise you could have high gain grey screens. I thought by nature grey screens reduced gain, silly me. :o

So if you have a >1.0 gain grey screen, your blacks will be improved but your whites will still have the same/more light output?? If so, doesn't this improve your contrast ratio?

Gino, all light output is raised equally, but the gray base color and reflective beads keep light that bounces off of light colored walls from lowering the ANSI contrast as much. It's almost like blacking out your walls was with a high gain white screen.

Go with white, I could see no reason for a gray screen with a crt. I don't know if it is still available but I use a parkland plastic screen there was a monster thread in DYI screen section about it. It is reference quality? probably not... But it shows a pretty damn good picture and if you can find a piece it will cost you about 15 bucks.

The only reason I would ever consider replacing it would be for an acoustical transparent screen.

Go with white, I could see no reason for a gray screen with a crt.

Like I said in situations where theres a little ambient light present I thought it would be good to darken up my blacks and increase my contrast. My concern was it would suck the life out of the colors and murder my whites, but I thought since my pj is pretty bright as far as CRTs go and the screen size is only like 60" it might counter that.

Like I said in situations where theres a little ambient light present I thought it would be good to darken up my blacks and increase my contrast. My concern was it would suck the life out of the colors and murder my whites, but I thought since my pj is pretty bright as far as CRTs go and the screen size is only like 60" it might counter that.

I don't think it would work that way if you have ambient light you need more gain or as bright a screen as you can get. In any case be sure to put a black frame around the screen it will completely change the perception of brightness and contrast.

Maybe you could just test your idea with gray piece of paper?

No, gray definitely helps. My very light pale gray wall is a clear improvement with my digital over pure white in a shaded ambient light environment. Actual gray would further improve things. However, the best ambient light screen will be a silver torus.

A CRT doing only 60" should have no problem with a light gray screen. If you really want to find out go buy a white posterboard and a can of light gray spray paint. Paint it and project onto it. I'd make one big enough for the whol image, because you never want to compare to different color screens at the same time; Your eyes will adjust for the white level on the brighter screen and possibly prefer it (maybe not so in ambient light though).

Maybe you could also mix gray and silver to get a little gain or silver and white. Get experimental. It's fun! :D

No, gray definitely helps. My very light pale gray wall is a clear improvement with my digital over pure white in a shaded ambient light environment. Actual gray would further improve things. However, the best ambient light screen will be a silver torus.

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A grey screen will always improve the grey level of a Technicolour Flashlight (digital PJ) but even then you won't get the black level of a CRT PJ.

Trying to compare the difference a grey screen will make between 2 different PJ types is the old apples and oranges argument. :rolleyes:

A grey screen will always improve the grey level of a Technicolour Flashlight (digital PJ) but even then you won't get the black level of a CRT PJ.

Trying to compare the difference a grey screen will make between 2 different PJ types is the old apples and oranges argument. :rolleyes:


I've used a gray screen with CRT before. It's not apples and oranges at all. If you want a good ambient light pic with a CRT you use a light gray screen (though a silver torus would be best) and raise the black level (brightness). It also helps to bump the contrast a bit higher than normal. In the presence of any shaded ambient light even the lightest gray screen out there will make a big difference compared to a pure white screen and the brightness you lose isn't as much as one would think.

We are talking about ambient light viewing, not dark viewing anyway. A gray screen helps improve the black levels of ANY projector including the black levels of a CRT in a room with light colored walls, because it improves ANSI washout caused by reflections, thus giving you higher ansi contrast. Not everyone has black walls. A gray screen will improve the blacks in ambient light or the dark and will improve ansi contrast in ambient light or in the dark for any projector, except those in a dark room with dark walls. Though halos might be reduced.

A gray screen definitely won't give you the black level of a CRT. You are right about that, but a gray screen also won't give CRT the black level of a digital in mixed contrast scenes either. :p

Ok, I think I may experiment with the gray screen then, whats this silver torus you're talking about?

Edit: I'm also trying to avoid fixed frame so I assume I'm not gonna be able to use a DIY method so would you recommend a Graywolf II?