Let's say that everything is equal- light controlled room- same Pj_ Does the more expensive screens(stewart,DNP,screen research) REALLY give a better pic and worth the extra money- Putting aside perf/non perf and screen gain-
Just trying to justify spending more money or not-

This is only my opinion for what its worth but its not as much about cost as matching the screen and screen size to the projector and the room.

If to get that perfect match a very high end screen is what it takes then your answer is yes. the degree of “yes” can run between none at all and a great deal.

The best screen in the world is not going to be able to correct for an awful projector in an awful room.

I personally feel if the budget has a limit then invest the money in room and projector foremost and then screen. others will disagree with this logic.
:D

The way I look at it, a screen can be forever. A decent screen will last you a decade (barring radical changes in screen technologies) or longer. You can replace your projector and use that same screen over and over again.

It depends on budget obviously. I stayed under $500 and went with a high quality DaLite HiPower Screen. Great gain, great surface, great build quality. I'd only tried one other screen (greywolf II) and the hipower is significantly better in all regards.

I'm sure there are higher quality screens out there. But the HP always got great reviews on this forum. I would imagine i'd have to shell out a significantly more amount of money (over 1K) to get any noticeable real returns).

I'm also lucky the HP's narrow cone worked in my environment. That's another thing you need to consider. Like Bud said, your whole room environment plays a role. The brighter your room, the more you may want to consider a grey screen. The darker your room, the more a white screen makes sense.
The brighter your projector, the less important gain is (but gain is (IMO) always good). The dimmer your projector and larger your screen, the more important gain becomes.

In my case, I have a narrow, very dark room. A white screen with a good gain will be good for me no matter what projector I go with. You'll need to factor in your own environment.

Let's say that everything is equal- light controlled room- same Pj_ Does the more expensive screens(stewart,DNP,screen research) REALLY give a better pic and worth the extra money- Putting aside perf/non perf and screen gain-
Just trying to justify spending more money or not-

NO!

Price tag does not equal better image. Matching the correct material to you application = a better image

read below

Can someone help me on this. I have a dark room (black in basement) when the door is shut to the room 90% of the time.

I want to upgrade to a new screen and will eventually purchase an RS1 or something newer. I sit about 10 ft back and currently have a crt projector and a 100" screen. I want to upgrade to a 103" screen now with my current projector and then in less than a year buy a new projector

So what is best value and I assume I want a high gain screen that is more whit.

Right now a have a dalite 6 yr old grey screen and any amount of lite messes the picture up

The screen is to a projection video system what speakers are to an audio system. They are the final interface between you (your biology) and all the video components upstream. There are lots of good loudspeakers and the more expensive ones generally tend to offer better reproduction. So too with screens. All screens will reflect light back in some fashion. The better ones -- typically costing more -- will have better uniformity, less color shift, and a diversity of formulations to complement and optimize a variety of potential projectors and room conditions. With loudspeakers, in the absence of comparison, any given set can deliver what seems to be decent sound. Only after experiencing a better set of speakers do we understand what we were missing from the "decent" ones. It is more difficult to compare screens unless you are fortunate enough to witness a shootout where all the conditions are tightly controlled. You kinda have to go by what you read and what the "experts" have to say. The more you look into it, the more defined becomes the pecking order. And, unfortunately, you discover that as with loudspeakers,all screens are not equal and that, while there may be some value solutions, the best screens tend to cost more money. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy a throw-away screen now and invest in a good one later. I am saying that if you can afford to spend more money on a screen, just as with loudspeakers, you will get a better result.