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Official Optoma Graywolf screen thread.

330K views 2K replies 392 participants last post by  FFWD 
#1 ·
I just got a 106" diagonal Graywolf screen. Right now they only come in pull down form. Anyway I was hoping becasue the material is retro-reflective that I wouldn't be bothered by the waves the non tensioned screens pick up. Well prayer answered, you cannot see waves with video on the screen. I ran every IRE shade of gray with Avia and just saw a flat image.


The screens color is a very dark gray and there's glass beads in the surface to get the 1.8 gain. Watching a few movies I wasn't bothered by sparlies from the surface. Didn't see hot spots either. The material is a great match for the H79 which is a bright projector. It made the video look very 3D w/dark blacks, colors got extremely stronger and the ANSI contrast looked very high.


For those wanting a higher end screen there will be fixed and Electric models in the near future.


Optoma Graywolf - Dark Gray material, 1.8gain, retro-reflective.


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#2 ·
Thanks for the review Tom. Just for clarification, the retro-reflective surface is best suited for tabled mounted projectors?
 
#3 ·
Yes but you still get extra gain punch ceiling mounted. I'll run a test to see what the drop off is.


I'd expect this screen to become a hot item. When Dalite came out with their gray screen tons bought it, mainly for the better blacks. But it had a problem showing waves with video for sure. Plus this new screen has the advantage of higher gain.
 
#5 ·
And does it suffer the fate of the other flat grey screens that punch up the CR but also tend to make colors look dingy or dim?
 
#7 ·
If you go far off to the side brightness goes down, much like the HP. But colors, colors go ten fold, very rich and black goes off the charts. You can see the glass beads if you try but during a movie you tend to ignore it because it's not so profound. This dark of a gray needs the glass for the punch.
 
#9 ·
MSRP on these screens?
 
#11 ·
Using the Graywolf is the most fun I've had lately with my setup. I had a real problem using the HP screen, I was at 34ftl's. Far from the 12ftl's for ideal HT. Much closer now, great blacks, great color, no wave hassels and cheap price.
 
#12 ·
Hmmm....I wonder if they'll make a 120" anytime soon...looks like 106 is the biggest?


Who carries these? AVS?
 
#13 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by HeadRusch /forum/post/0


And does it suffer the fate of the other flat grey screens that punch up the CR but also tend to make colors look dingy or dim?

I loaned my 80" wide GrayWolf to a friend who had tried the High Power with his HS20 and he felt that it did make things look kind of dingy. He also said that people looked a little sickly with it, but he wasn't sure why. There is also a whole thing about gray screens messing up colors that many people have mentioned and I cannot find any physical reason for this (other than lower ft-lamberts throwing people off). So, I ran a test. I discovered that with my Sharp 11k, putting it in the brightest iris choice on the High Power with the Graywolf gives close to the same ft-lamberts as putting it in the dimmest iris choice on the High Power. In my mostly black velvet room I didn't tell my friend which screen was which and had him close his eyes between my changes. In this testing he could not tell any difference between the colors on the High Power and those on the Graywolf with about the same ft-lamberts. He did mention that he could tell which screen was which because the High Power mostly disappears while it is possible to see the surface on my Graywolf and so for that reason he prefered the High Power in this test.


I got the 80" wide one a little while ago and thought about doing a whole review thread here, but figured I would wait for the 92" wide one I ordered. However, when that one arrived it turned out to be a white screen and I need to get it replaced. The model numbers are the same for the white screens and the Graywolf, so hopefully they will fix this as I've heard of other people also getting the wrong screens.


Anyway, I did post some stuff on the >$3.5k projector forum and I'll include some relevant parts from those early thoughts here now thought Tom has this thread:


--- start here ---

- The viewing cone seems to be very similar to the Da-Lite High Power. Basically, it looks to me like the gain at an angle could be pretty well calculated by taking the gain of the High Power at that angle and dividing by 2.3. Even though the High Power is rated at 2.8, I believe its peak gain is closer to 3.3 (and somebody else with some good equipment found about this after I mentioned that I thought it was higher than 2.8 and even than the 3.1 or so I have on a graph). If the High Power is 3.3 peak and about 1.4 at 15 degrees off angle, then that would put this at just over 1.4 peak and 0.6 at 15 degrees off. I believe the graph I have a printout for with the High Power is from measurements that Stewart did of the High Power and I can post some numbers for different angles later.


- The screen has a gray white pattern that I am wondering how to describe. It might almost be like a bird or wolf that is gray, but when you get up close you see that it isn't completely uniform. It looks to me like they sprayed a gray mixture on a white screen and when it dried it left things a little patchy. With my 1280x720 Sharp 11k the resulting grainyness was in the range of the pixel sizes or bigger (like streaks of narrow gaps). Unfortunately, I can see a dirty look that I attribute to this pattern even at over 2x. People should note that I tend to notice things like this that others don't notice at all (I don't like the sheen I've seen with the SilverStar for instance).


- When I first pulled the screen down, besides getting a strong paint smell, there was a piece of plastic covering about the top 1/3rd of the screen. This might be a good idea for protecting the screen, but after taking this off it left a horizontal line that I can see in the images at times. Especially with uniform colors. If this wasn't a mistake on my screen then I think that Panoview needs to fix this and cover the whole screen if they want to do this.


- I tried this in my off-white walled living room and measured higher ANSI CR than my High Power. I also think the depth perception was better with the GrayWolf than with the High Power in there. But, I had to open the iris on the 11k to get enough lumens for this screen, so it is important to have enough for it.


- I've been hoping for a gray version of the High Power and this is close. One great thing about the High Power is that the surface mostly disappears and so this is missing that one attribute for me though.


The main suggestion I have for Panoview is to take care of this issue with the plastic covering the screen surface. Either cover the whole screen or none of it for shipment. And then I would like to know if this patchy/grainyness thing is on purpose or if they could spray more of one layer on there so that the screen would be more uniform in small areas. I could personally give up some gain for less patchiness. I like the screen for certain situations, but think it may be possible to make it even better.

--- end here ---


Also, I have a hardcopy of a graph of measurements for the High Power that I believe came from Stewart. It shows about 3.1 for the peak gain at zero degrees, but I believe that is actually closer to 3.3-3.4 with my High Powers (and someone else who measured for me) based on what some other screens have for gains.


Here are some points off the curve:
Code:
Code:
0 ----- 3.1
5 ----- 2.5
10 --- 2.05
15 --- 1.4
20 --- .95
25 --- .8
30 --- just above .7
35 --- just below .7
40 --- .65
45 --- just above .6
50 --- .6
55 --- .58
60 --- .57
Those are for the High Power, but as I mentioned above, I think dividing those by about 2.3 will get you pretty close for the Graywolf for any angle. Or maybe 2.2 from this chart would work better if the High Power is really more like 3.3-3.4 peak.


Also, please remember that the table mount recommendation for retro-reflective screens is just a guideline. The angles are what matters and having the projector a little overhead tends to work very well (especially since it doesn't take up the best seat in the house or force you to have a projector in your field of vision).


--Darin
 
#17 ·
Tom, does your Graywolf also have the texture Darin describes?. Did yours also come with the plastic covering the top 1/3 of the scrren -- if so did it leave a mark?


For those who own or have seen this screen, is it available with a black case & black pull-down bar? White would really stick out in my theater.
 
#18 ·
I just checked the MSRP on these. Is it just me or are these insanely low prices? People are comparing it to Stewart screens? Aren't they almost 5 to 10x the amount of $ of a Graywolf?


I know that people in this forum want 'the best' of everything - and that is certainly desireable. But for those of us on a budget, the price/performance ratio is important.


What I am trying to say is that - all things considered - is the Graywolf great for the $ for those who can't afford Stewart/Vutect?
 
#19 ·
Mine had the plastic but it didn't impress a line in the material. I've been viewing this screen non stop with the H79 because HP is just too bright for the projector. I'm liking the deepness I got back to the image. Mine is pretty uniform in that it's gray with glass beads mixed. I'm not bothered by the glass beads, it's what gives it it's higher gain power. Hard to describe, sotra like a plasma effect but blacks are dark.


As far as colors they look excellent because I used colorfacts with the Gregtag one/eye facing the screen material for a match up.
 
#20 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jonjandrews /forum/post/0


I wonder how this screen compares to the Firehawk. Specifically, in those fade to black scenes where blacks turn grey, does this screen improve in that area where you can be sold on the black level?


Is the grey material darker than that of the Firehawk?

The biggest difference between the screens (other than price) is that the Graywolf is retro-reflective and the Firehawk is angular-reflective. This means different restrictions and performances under different conditions. If things are setup right I think it can mean better uniformity on the Graywolf (the Firehawk tends to dropoff towards the sides unless the throw and viewing ratio are both large). The Firehawk does have a more uniform surface to my eyes, but I'm hoping this is something that can be addressed with the Graywolf. I like the retro-reflectivity and the fact that it is a pull-down as I can move it between my setups easier. I will probably be selling my fixed Firehawk screen to somebody later this week and using a Graywolf instead when I want to test or use a gray screen. I haven't checked them against each other for how dark the gray base is (this requires not getting thrown off by the different reflectivities). My guess is that they are close, but if anything I would guess the Graywolf is darker just based on my calculations of somewhere in the .43 range for the gray base for it.


As far as the case color, the Graywolf I got came with a white case and the white case they shipped as a mistake came with a black case. I was excited to see the black case with the 2nd screen, but disappointed to find out it wasn't the Graywolf material.


--Darin
 
#21 ·
The info I've seen online says it has a large black border on top. Are the side and bottom borders 2"? Can the roller be stopped so that there's only roughly a 2" border on top? The extra black border would cause me not to be able to use the screen otherwise. Thanks.
 
#22 ·
The upper boarder is 13" when the screens all the way down. I have trouble getting a two inch border. It likes to stop at 4" and 1/2" borders. I'm using the 1/2" spot. Looks ok but painting the case black would be a good idea. Or mabye you could order black


The border is for letting you install the screen flush with the ceiling, cleaner look. With the long drop down your video will be closer to eye level


Here's the screen with the H79 and Oppo DVD player.
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h79graywolf1.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h79graywolf3.jpg
 
#25 ·
bob53, I sent an email asking Optoma if they would send a sample this morning. No response yet. I sent it to the same adress Darin mentioned -- I don't think he ever got a response. I'll post & let you know the response.


I'm still trying to find one with a black case -- anybody know if it exists? I asked this of Optoma as well. I hope they respond.
 
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