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Screen Innovations Slate vs Black Diamond

43K views 90 replies 37 participants last post by  ProjectionHead 
#1 ·
Hello. I'm looking at 120 inch screens from SI. The Slate is about $1000 less than the Black Diamond. Both are 4k ready and have some gain, etc. I'll be projecting an Epson 5030ub or 6030ub from 17 feet and sitting 13-15 feet away. There will be some ambient light at times- watching football, etc. For nighttime movies, I'll black the room out.

Can anyone clarify the justification for getting the Black Diamond?

Thank you!
 
#4 ·
That is correct you have enough lumens to power thru a great picture for sports. If you do 1.3 black diamond you will see lots of artifacts. .08 BD looks the best for ambient light. slate for the win unless your dead set
Ambient viewing first. We sell both and most of our customers prefer the slate. Good luck amazing screens
 
#5 ·
Hello. I'm looking at 120 inch screens from SI. The Slate is about $1000 less than the Black Diamond. Both are 4k ready and have some gain, etc. I'll be projecting an Epson 5030ub or 6030ub from 17 feet and sitting 13-15 feet away. There will be some ambient light at times- watching football, etc. For nighttime movies, I'll black the room out.

Can anyone clarify the justification for getting the Black Diamond?

Thank you!

You might consider getting screen samples of each and taping them up on your wall and doing a test with your projector, prior to committing to a material or a size. Give us a call at AV Science if we can help.
 
#6 ·
Ah there you are Craig. Thanks for the help with getting the SI 100' BD ZE. I finally got the projector working again and i could not be more satisfied with my purchase. Excellent screen with lights on, but love it best with the lights off. I had a small question... why does the screen look grainy? It does not bother me but i didnt see any grain when the screen is off so not sure why that is.
 
#13 ·
I am in the exact same position as you and was literally in my local Sound and Vision store last night demoing both the Black Diamond and Slate. It took all of 30 minutes to make up my mind: I purchased a 110" electric Slate to be used in my family room (it will be lowered in front of my 65" Sony XBR 850 when it's time to bring out the big guns).

Without a doubt you should go with the Slate. The Black Diamond is meant for living rooms with no control over ambient light (open windows, overhead lights, lights from adjacent rooms, lamps, etc). The Black Diamond is amazing, and does an excellent job performing well in rooms with a great amount of light, but it would be overkill to purchase the Black Diamond if you can exercise some control over light sources.

Just an FYI, I am replacing a Firehawk G3 which has performed exceptionally well, but I grew tired of the sparkles and the screen was starting to become wavy over years of use. The Black Diamond blows the Firehawk out of the water, and I would say the Slate is slightly better.

The price was also right with the Slate. For an electric Black Diamond Zero Edge the price was $7800. The Slate was $3600 (after a little bit of negotiating). For about half the price the Slate is the best value.
 
#28 ·
I'm looking to do the exact same setup as you and have a few questions. Is your 65 wall mounted ? did you mount the screen to the ceiling or wall ? how tall is your ceiling and can you post a few pics of your setup with the screen retracted and in the down position.
Thanks
 
#16 ·
I went and checked one 1.2 Slate out on Friday night and was really impressed with it. It's not high gain but I also have an Epson 5030 so lumens aren't the issue so much as some ambient light in what I would describe more as a media room. I was really impressed with how rich the colors were in the picture and when I held up samples of a Da-Lite HD 1.3 and a Screen Innovations Pure White I thought in a room with any lighting at all the Slate was a far superior screen with much better color. You could start to see the "wash out" of the white samples when the lights were turned up and the Slate helped the picture maintain it's black levels. I also felt like the off angle viewing was just fine for my setup and I didn't see any sparkles at all. That screen is a serious consideration for me.
 
#21 ·
Wow this is the thread I been looking for too.
I have the Epson 6020 and I'm stuck on which screen to get
how do I go about getting samples of the 2 so I can put them
on my wall and compare the differences and see which one
I like better.


Epson 6020
13 foot throw
not a light controlled room
ambient light as well.
 
#22 ·
Also looking for help choosing screen...


Setup is:
Sony VPL-VW350ES (4k projector) (1,500 lumens)
No windows, light controlled dedicated room (dark surfaces etc).
Throw (TBD, whatever I choose I suppose, building the room now)
Viewing habits: I am hoping for the best mix for three uses, (I) watching movies in the dark, (II) watching sports with friends (some lights on), (III) wife and kids watching tv (some lights on).
Fixed Screen. Size- say 110"-120" (TBD).


Thinking about from what I have read on this site- about Slate (or BlackDiamond?) or Polarstar (or Darkstar?) or maybe Microlite F2. Sadly, I probably wont have a great way to see these before buying so thank you internet strangers!


While I certainly don't want to waste money, I would happily buy whichever of these will produce the best result.


Thanks in advance!
 
#23 · (Edited)
"Thinking about from what I have read on this site- about Slate (or BlackDiamond?) or Polarstar (or Darkstar?) or maybe Microlite F2. Sadly, I probably wont have a great way to see these before buying so thank you internet strangers!"

So I guess back to the original question I asked.. How do we go about getting samples. I know there have been people that get like small fragments for comparing and figuring out which screen they want. Do they make it simple like carpet.. a 1 foot by 2 foot material? http://www.screeninnovations.com/materials/ambient-materials/black-diamond/ a sample like - how to sell a black diamond in 2 seconds video...

Well I clicked the contact us link on their website and we will see if they get back to me about getting samples. I also gave them this post as a reference.
 
#24 ·
I had the bd .8, slate 1.2, jkp .9, 1.1 & 1.3 in a light controlled living room (not quite a bat cave due to closeness of the walls to the screen and resulting reflections). I was looking for a bit of gain w no screen texture & especially minimal sparkles.


Bd .8 sparkled the most and had color shift. slate was better but sparkles were still very visible @ 13 ft seating distance. jkp 1.3 was super smooth with minimal sparkles and a nice bit of gain (jvc x500 projector in low lamp mode by the way). jkp1.1 had even less sparkles that became invisible at around 7 ft or so. jkp .9 essentially no sparkles but dimmest at around 1.0 gain.


imo for a light controlled room like Tooschaye has, the slate and the bd should not be considered...


ended up w a 133" jkp 1.1, but if I had a brighter projector I would probably have gone w the jkp .9
 
#25 ·
Hi all

I have a similar question. I'm looking at a 120" slate or pure white and what gain used in a light controlled media room. My projector is a JVC 4910.

Suggestions?

Thank you
 
#30 ·
Hi dr_bling,

My television is mounted to the wall and protrudes 3.5 inches outwards. To have the screen clear the television the canister was mounted to the ceiling using the three mounting brackets supplied with the screen. Due to the joist locations the screen is slightly off-center by a few inches, but I am probably the only one who would notice this. The ceiling height is 9ft and the lowest limit of the screen is easily adjustable with the supplied remote.

I have attached a few pictures of my current setup.
 

Attachments

#35 ·
I decided to go with the Screen Innovations Slate 1.2 gain at 110". I replaced an older Stewart Firehawk manual pull down (which I still have in the basement, still trying to figure out what I should do with it.)

I love the screen and its awesome to see the looks on people's faces when the electric motor hums and the screen begins descending. The only thing I would caution is making sure your projector has enough lumens. The gain on the Slate is roughly the same as it was on the Firehawk and the Firehawk was noticeably brighter. When I make the jump to 4k I will be looking for a brighter projector.
 
#37 ·
Yes I am certain I have the Slate 1.2. The screen is noticeably dimmer than the Stewart Firehawk, but not to the point where it has a negative affect upon the image. I prefer a brighter screen and suggest using a brighter projector than the JVC for this screen. I actually created a separate post asking people for advice about how bright the projector should be:

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/23-sc...quired-screen-innovations-slate-1-2-gain.html
 
#38 ·
Yes I am certain I have the Slate 1.2. The screen is noticeably dimmer than the Stewart Firehawk, but not to the point where it has a negative affect upon the image. I prefer a brighter screen and suggest using a brighter projector than the JVC for this screen. I actually created a separate post asking people for advice about how bright the projector should be:

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/23-sc...quired-screen-innovations-slate-1-2-gain.html
That's really strange. In Jeff's report the Firehawk comes in below a 1.0 gain and in the Projector Central report the Slate 1.2 at 1.18. However, Projector Central is reporting "peak gain" while Jeff's reports "on axis gain" so I'm not sure what the difference is. Based upon these reports I wouldn't have expected the Firehawk to be noticeably brighter
 
#39 ·
Yes I was surprised and a bit disappointed when the brightness was noticeably dimmer than the Firehawk. I did quite a bit of research with Projector Central and other sources and was under the impression the Firehawk G4 had a peak gain of around 1.1, which is very close to that of the Slate 1.2.

I am very pleased with the performance of the Slate, but I know I can get a better image using a brighter projector. The image is completely fine, and my wife thinks I am absolutely crazy, but if I put the Firehawk and Slate side-by-side anyone could tell the Firehawk was brighter.

I wish I had some way of mounting the Firehawk next to the Slate and take pictures, but the Firehawk is a pull down screen and that would be difficult to do.
 
#58 ·
Yes, these ALR/light-fighting screens are also really good at minimizing the amount of reflections you'll have on the white walls/ceiling from the screen and also help minimize how badly those reflections affect the screen.
If you can't or don't want to paint the room a darker color (or otherwise tame the reflecting surfaces) an ALR screen can be a great alternative.

You may also want to compare samples of Elite's own CineGrey3D material against the Slate 1.2 because they are fairly similar in performance, but I believe the CineGrey3D is more color-neutral and less expensive.
You may also be able to save more by purchasing only the material from Elite to attach onto your existing frame...I'm not sure whether they offer that or not.

The slate 1.2 is a great option as well though.
 
#59 ·
I know this is an old thread but I thought I'd ask. SI mentions that their Black Diamond screen has gone through many revisions in terms of improving the screen. Have they managed to resolve the fine-grain sand like sparkly effect ?

Comparatively, the dnp supernova 08-85 screen material has absolutely no texture but it lacks the ability to reject light from the sides like the black diamond and needs a much brighter projector to achieve a nice image.

If SI could completely eliminate the texture on the black diamond material and retain the side light rejection without introducing colour shifts to the projected image, it would be the king of the hill.
 
#60 ·
I know this is an old thread but I thought I'd ask. SI mentions that their Black Diamond screen has gone through many revisions in terms of improving the screen. Have they managed to resolve the fine-grain sand like sparkly effect ?



Comparatively, the dnp supernova 08-85 screen material has absolutely no texture but it lacks the ability to reject light from the sides like the black diamond and needs a much brighter projector to achieve a nice image.



If SI could completely eliminate the texture on the black diamond material and retain the side light rejection without introducing colour shifts to the projected image, it would be the king of the hill.


I’ve been testing some SI screen samples both the Slate 0.8 & 1.2 and I didn’t see any sparkle effects. Keep in mind the samples are only like 8x10” maybe even 6x8” point is they are small so may not be big enough to generate the sparkle. The SI Pure Gray 0.85 did have a shimmer to it though so maybe they are big enough. The Slate 0.8 gives crazy contrast and amazing blacks but the whites also looked gray to me. I was doing my comparison with white screens at the same time so that could have biases what I was seeing with my eyes. The Slate 1.2 gave me the best overall color representation. I didn’t get any BD samples to test bc I going with one of the Solo screens and BD isn’t one of the standard screen options for that model. Although I’m sure with enough money it could be possible. It would be cool to compare those samples though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#61 ·
I am looking for a recommendation that maybe you all can help with. Today I have a 70" Sharp TV with a 100" basic 1.0 gain tab tensioned drop down screen. The only reason I have the TV is I don't love watching TV and sports in the pitch black. But I do watch movies in the dark. The room is in a basement and has no windows but as I said, if I got rid of the TV I would watch some content with the lights on. The lights are all recessed can lights. Would it work in my room to do a fixed frame SI Slate for movies in the dark and TV with the lights on?
 
#62 ·
Definitely. A SI Slate will work for movies in the dark and TV with the lights on.
I've owned a Slate 1.2 16:9 120" for 3 years during which it was my only screen, thus used for movies, sports and regular TV programming in BOTH the dark and wiuth some lights on. Just last month, I adding a 2nd screen, which is a Stewart ST130 G3 240:1 153" solely for wide screen movie viewing with lights off.

Both serve their respective purposes admirably.
 
#65 ·
Does anyone know how to get fabric samples? This would be a big change for me. If I do what I'm thinking about I would sell my TV and have a screen only which means I'd be stuck with my decision once I order the screen as I would move from drop down to fixed frame screen. There would be no going back.
 
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