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#1 ·
Post your questions and answers related to Carada screens to this thread.

Please no sales or marketing. These posts wil be removed. Thank you.
 
#1,430 ·
Welcome to the club.
 
#1,433 ·
Hi all. I recently picked up a Sony VPL-HW40ES projector when it was on sale and went with a white Silver Ticket screen off of Amazon. From what I've read, these are very similar to the Elite Sable/EZFrame screens. The frame is very nice but I must say, the screen seems to have excessive texture that harms the sharpness. I am probably going to return that one and very much considering the Caradas.

My question is, what makes the Caradas superior and worth 3x - 4x as much the price - is the screen smoother and therefore produces a sharper image? Also, how has everyone's experience been with the gray Caradas? This projector is one of the brighter ones and while I do have the ability to control the light in my room for movies, I know more than half the time there will be some ambient light when having gatherings for football and whatnot. The black levels are decent on this model, but I feel with it being bright and occasional having ambient light the gray screen may be the way to go.

Any thoughts are appreciated and thanks in advance.
 
#1,438 ·
the customer service is amazing. i haven't bought mine yet, but i'm going with them for sure. they sent me samples and i had them in my mailbox 2 days later! I'm trying to decide what material to go with. probably gray or classic white. the gray makes blacks look better (watched the dark knight) but bright Disney movies look better on the white. I can completely control ambient light (except the wife who likes lights on). Right now I have unpainted drywall and the blacks seem washed out on the white. using epson 2030 for projector. any suggestions or experiences?
 
#1,439 ·
I told them that I might have light coming in, but I will be watching movies at night. We work days and also in the winter it is dark at 5pm. They said that I should go with the brilliant white as projectors over time loose a bit of light? I am installing French doors today and they are glass as I did not want solid doors. I hope I can get some kind of shades for them that look nice. I hope I made the right choice with the brilliant white.
 
#1,441 ·
Carada was launched 11 years ago today! The AVS Forum, and its awesome member base, has been a huge part of our success, so I just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone here. :smile:
Congratulations! I've had my 118" 16:9 BW (with DIY masking) for many years now and I'm still loving it.

Wished I could afford a new Masquerade!
 
#1,444 ·
Believe me, I wish we could sell Masquerade systems for just a few hundred bucks. Heck, every front projection theater should have one!! :D But unfortunately they contain expensive components, they are very labor intensive to build, test, calibrate, and package, and they are incredibly expensive to ship.

But in celebration of our anniversary, they are fair bit more affordable right now than ever in the past. So if you really want one, now's the time.... :cool:
 
#1,450 ·
Well I finally got off my hemming and hawing and pulled the trigger. Have a brand new 118", Carada 1.0 gain Criterion frame on the way. I wish I could have afforded the Masquerade masking, but I will have to delay that purchase.

I am very excited to replace my current Elite Screen pulldown with irritating waves in it. I'll report back on my impressions. This will be the fourth screen I've owned.

Previously, I have had a Da-lite model B High Power, a 2.05:1 Stewart Firehawk, an Elite Screen piece of garbage, and now a Carada Criterion. I'm anxious to compare the fit and finish between the (memory I have of my) Stewart and the Carada.
 
#1,451 ·
Well I finally got off my hemming and hawing and pulled the trigger. Have a brand new 118", Carada 1.0 gain Criterion frame on the way. I wish I could have afforded the Masquerade masking, but I will have to delay that purchase.

I am very excited to replace my current Elite Screen pulldown with irritating waves in it. I'll report back on my impressions. This will be the fourth screen I've owned.

Previously, I have had a Da-lite model B High Power, a 2.05:1 Stewart Firehawk, an Elite Screen piece of garbage, and now a Carada Criterion. I'm anxious to compare the fit and finish between the (memory I have of my) Stewart and the Carada.

Welcome to the club. Did you get brillant white or classic cinema? I went with BW and love it.
 
#1,452 ·
I chose the cinema classic 1.0 gain. My projector is already too bright for the space and I almost got the gray one.
 
#1,461 ·
So I've found a deal on a used Carada that I'm really tempted to buy, but it's a little less than ideal for my space. It's a 114" cinema white , and my space has a fair amount of ambient light during the day , that I'm just not willing to block completely , so I was leaning toward a gray screen to help fight that. The other issue is that the 114" is going to end up only 3 1/2" from each side wall . I really don't want to project more than about 106" , speakers have to be above screen due to doors on each side of screen wall , projector can't be hung lower than where it is now , etc. etc.
My questions are , how silly will this look with side and bottom masking somewhat permanently mounted to drop the 114" to 106" ? Has anyone done this?
Secondly , does anyone know if Carada will sell their gray screen without frame , so I can switch it out?
This deal seems to be great enough to give it a shot , so I might do it even if I don't get a response before i get too jazzed about it, but I'd like some feedback on whether or not I'm nuts for thinking about it. I might even go totally crazy and cut the frame down to 104"-106" size before ordering the gray screen so I don't have to worry about masking. Thanks
 
#1,462 ·
Carada will sell the screen without the frame but the savings over just buying a whole new screen is minimal.
 
#1,464 ·
Looking forward to receiving my Carada -- ordered a Criterion 92" 1.78 in brilliant white yesterday. Will be paired with a Sony HW30ES from about 10.5 feet...
 
#1,467 ·
I received and put up a 100" Criterion screen with Classic Cinema White material five days ago. I'm pairing it with a recently purchased Epson 5030UB and it's my very first projector setup.

Assembly and installation was dead easy. It took me about 90 minutes and I did it all myself. I second the suggestion made by another poster to put up the assembled frame to verify that everything fits before attaching the screen material. Also, it would be nice if measurements rather than instructions for taking measurements for lower bracket placement were provided. I was lucky and got it right the first time but I can see how someone could easily misunderstand the instructions. Overall it was really simple and hassle-free though.

Since I have no experience with this type of setup I didn't really know what to expect in terms of picture quality. However, I must say that I'm very impressed. I was originally going to go with a Stewart Cima Neve screen but ended up buying the Criterion due to its gap between wall and back of screen (which I needed). After having watched a variety of content on the Criterion I'm having a really hard time imagining what the much more expensive Stewart screen could possibly do better.

Long story short: I'm a happy Carada owner :)

Picture attached in case anyone's interested. As you can see I could have gone a little bigger but my viewing distance is only about 8 feet, and 100" seems like a good choice.
 

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#1,470 ·
You have the right screen size with that distance. Looks great.
 
#1,469 ·
David Giles (owner) recommends the BW. I have the BW in a light controlled room and love it.
 
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#1,471 ·
I just wanted to put in a good word here for Carada.




I recently purchased the 118" Brilliant White Criterian Series in 16:9 (1.78-1)




I am not overly handy around the house. Installation was incredibly easy and well spelled out in the instructions.


It took me all of about 5 minutes to assemble the frame and that was mostly because of taking it out of wrapping and moving around the floor. Installing the screen was also incredibly fast and easy on the frame.


The wall Brackets were very easy as well to install. I first marked all the studs on my wall and ended up putting a center hole in the upper 48" bracket and once I did that I had almost every other hole align in a stud. This all took me maybe 10 minutes (aside from finding studs). the bottom bracket was somewhat more difficult, but only still took 10 minutes as I was nervous my measurement was off and I had to make sure like three times. :rolleyes:


I had a friend help me lift the screen up to hang it, again very easy. Popping it on the bottom bracket made me somewhat nervous but I just followed the directions and pushed down and it snapped right on.


As for how it looks with my Sony HW40ES?


Incredible. I swear I would think it was a 118" wall mounted tv, it's bright vivid and looks incredible.




I wasn't sure with going Brilliant White, but that was the recommendation and I took it. My throw is just at 15' and it's incredible.


VERY VERY happy.


I have no idea why anyone would spend $3000 for a different screen in a light controlled room. There is absolutely no way, it would give 4x the performance for that cost.


Thank you Carada for a great product.
 
#1,473 ·
I just wanted to put in a good word here for Carada.
I recently purchased the 118" Brilliant White Criterian Series in 16:9 (1.78-1)
I am not overly handy around the house. Installation was incredibly easy and well spelled out in the instructions.
It took me all of about 5 minutes to assemble the frame and that was mostly because of taking it out of wrapping and moving around the floor. Installing the screen was also incredibly fast and easy on the frame.
The wall Brackets were very easy as well to install. I first marked all the studs on my wall and ended up putting a center hole in the upper 48" bracket and once I did that I had almost every other hole align in a stud. This all took me maybe 10 minutes (aside from finding studs). the bottom bracket was somewhat more difficult, but only still took 10 minutes as I was nervous my measurement was off and I had to make sure like three times. :rolleyes:
I had a friend help me lift the screen up to hang it, again very easy. Popping it on the bottom bracket made me somewhat nervous but I just followed the directions and pushed down and it snapped right on.
As for how it looks with my Sony HW40ES?
Incredible. I swear I would think it was a 118" wall mounted tv, it's bright vivid and looks incredible.
I wasn't sure with going Brilliant White, but that was the recommendation and I took it. My throw is just at 15' and it's incredible.
VERY VERY happy.
I have no idea why anyone would spend $3000 for a different screen in a light controlled room. There is absolutely no way, it would give 4x the performance for that cost.
Thank you Carada for a great product.
Your experience sounds great! I bought a 134" BW Criterion but just now painting the walls. I have a Sony 40ES. I'm about two weeks away from hanging the screen and projector. I just need to figure out the best throw distance for 134". I have the option for any distance, using the calculators I'm thinking 15 or 16 feet. I can't wait to get it up and working.
 
#1,477 ·
I've got a Carada High Contrast Grey screen, not yet hung on the wall. While examining the screen surface with a flashlight I noticed that it lets through a fair bit of light. This makes me wonder if backscatter from my light-colored wall will affect the image. Anybody got an opinion on this? Is it worthwhile covering the portion of the wall that will be behind the screen with a black cloth before I hang this thing?
 
#1,484 ·
Depending on how critical you are about seeing screen textures, there are almost no screens that are entirely "texture-free."
Some people will not notice texture on the most "sparkly" screens, while other super picky people (like me) will notice it on even the most neutral screen surfaces.

That said, if you are looking for as little texture as possible in a screen surface, the Carada screens are among the very best choices. They show very little screen texture for the vast majority of image content.
 
#1,486 ·
The one thing I don't like about my Carada screen. It looks SO nice up on the wall, that everyone who sees it is compelled to walk up to it and feel the felt material.

I just think "please don't put your greasy paws on my screen... I might have to get a rope barricade or something.
 
#1,487 · (Edited)
A sign would be equally effective.....do not touch unless you want a donkey punch......

I told my 8 yr old daughter to never ever touch the screen the day it was installed. Maybe an hour later, the installer told me he caught her running her finger along the screen and he did not even have to say anything as she ran out of the home theater.....priceless.
 
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