Carada Brilliant White vs Elite Cine White

I have a Carada 96" screen in CCW that I'm looking to replace with a larger screen. I just received samples of BW material from Carada and Cinewhite and Cinegray from Elite. I'll be comparing all of them shortly, but my first test of BW compared to my CCW was underwhelming. It was tough to see a difference, but maybe my light walls and white ceiling were to blame. I'll keep you posted when I have my shootout!

I'm using a Viewsonic Pro8100 pj. I do have good light control, but I have light colored walls and a white ceiling, which takes a toll on perceived contrast. I'm trying to darken the room, facing opposition from the other half. I don't know why women have such a hard time accepting flat black ceilings!

FLpoolboy,

Any update on your testing? Im really curious to see your results.

I did a visual test of the Cinewhite, Cinegray, and Brilliant White against my Classic Cinema White screen. Based on viewing alone, no measurement equipment involved. I found I didn't like the gray, too dark and no pop compared to the whites. I may have been able to adjust my settings to optimize the gray, but I didn't bother. The BW material was only marginally brighter than my CCW screen, and the Cinewhite was too close to really tell. One problem is that the Carada sample was letter size, while the Elite samples were tiny in comparison, maybe a third as large. Tough to tell with small samples, but I now think that the Cinewhite would offer much the same picture as the Carada, at a reduced price. The Elite material is black-backed, while the Carada is not. I've enjoyed my Carada screen, but I'm thinking a 106" Elite Cinewhite for under $400 would be a real bargain. The Carada Precision in BW would be over $700.

Very interesting, floridapoolboy. I have been looking at the Elite Cinewhite for my Viewsonic Pro8100. I also have been looking at Vutec Elegante, another budget screen, but I can't find many reviews on. I'm digging the Viewsonic and am ready to get a screen. I'm in "analysis paralysis" and need to make a move. Thanks for your insight.

I've been facing this same decision on a 100" screen. I can literally get the Elite for less than half the price but if there is enough difference in gain with the Carada I can run my projector in econo mode I might be able to make that that $300 in bulbs over a few years.

Decisions... Decisions...

Good point. The Vutec Elegante is even less expensive with a 1.3 gain, but I find few reviews and have no response to my post two days ago.
Vutec??? Anyone??? Anyone???

No way the Carada is that much brighter than the Elite. The Cinewhite and the Brilliant White were too close to call in my room.

I have a 92" brilliant white carada screen for sale (16:9 ratio). I just upgraded to 118" same brand. I am running on an epson 6500. Picture is still bright enough.
Tony

I had the exact same opinions when testing materials with my Pro8100. Right now, I'm still debating fixed frame screen or paint. I'm currently projecting onto 3 coats of Kilz Premium primer, and it looks pretty darn good. I received screen materials from Elite, Carada, Da Lite, and Draper. Of the materials I received, I didn't really like any of the gray materials. Matte White surfaces tend to work best with this pj, and the Cine White looked every bit as good as the more expensive samples.

Good info. I went with the Elite EzFrame 110" CineWhite (hope to get this week). I found the Vutec $67 cheaper, but I went with the better known product.

I went with a 100" Elite the price was just too tempting.

Well, I ended up biting the bullet and bought a 120" Elite Silverframe in the Power Gain... the price was just too good to pass up at under $300 shipped. The verdict? I got the screen on Saturday, and I am FLOORED at how good it is regardless of the price. Factor the price in, and I'm amazed that I like it better than several screens that I was considering at 3x the price!

The sample didn't do the material justice at all. It must have been too small, because I just wasn't seeing a big difference between the Cine White and the Power Gain. It's probably also worth mentioning that I have none of the material problems that others have posted in regards to lines or texture with the Power Gain. The gain may be a bit overstated at 1.8, but it is a fair amount higher than the metallic Delta paint mix I was playing with. I can comfortably go down to Eco mode on my Pro8100 in daytime, and still get a good picture with a reasonable amount of ambient light in the room (16' throw). Even on regular mode in a totally dark environment, I'm seeing no hotspotting or sparklies, and the viewing angle has virtually no fall-off in my 20' wide room! I've thrown a bunch of different content at it in the last two days, but I can't find a single thing to fault. It has upped my blacks while maintaining excellent neutral color reproduction that has amazing pop.

Probably my only nitpick with the whole package is that I wish the black inner border on the Silverframe was a bit larger. It does a great job of absorbing light spill, but it's only 1" wide. I wish it had an extra 1" or so. The Silverframe is very classy looking though, and I'm not getting any reflections off it whatsoever. It's funny, my neighbor came over to check out my theater room and I didn't tell him it was a pj. His first comment was that he didn't know they made flat screen TV's that big

Posted some screenshots here for anyone interested: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...4#post17471324

Very nice screenshots. Sorry if I missed it, but how do you have your projector mounted - table / shelf / ceiling?

From the samples that I received I really liked the Power Gain with the CinemaWhite a close second but I'm a little worried about hot spotting with the PG. I want to do a 2.37:1 ratio with a height of 47" on one of their PrimeVision DreamWindow frame. I wonder if I can buy a screen with both the CinemaWhite and the PowerGain material and from who?

My Pro8100 is shelf mounted in a separate room (projecting through a cutout in the wall) that is directly behind the theater room. The height to the center of the lens is 75" and it's throwing a 120" diagonal image from 16'9". Viewing distance is right at 14'.


I liked both materials as well. The clincher for me was the ability to be able to run in eco mode with the Power Gain versus normal mode with the CineWhite for extended bulb life. I haven't seen a single sign of hot spotting, and my viewing cone is quite large. In fact, I'm only seeing a slight dropoff at extreme viewing angles in a 20' wide room. The PrimeVision DreamWindow is Elite's high end custom installer line. You're most likely going to have to call a local custom installer or contact Elite directly. I would probably recommend starting with the later approach, as Elite should be able to work something directly or at least hand you off to someone who can.

I've been in contact with Elite Screens and they provided me with a local distributor which I called and was told that they stopped carrying Elite Screens. Now I'm waiting on Elite Screens to see if I can work directly with them.

Is ordering a screen with two different screen material something that can be done?

Update: I received a quote from Elite Screen on a Premier Vision DreamWindow screen 2:37:1 AR with 48" height in their PowerGain material for $1069 plus $55 for shipping. What do you think?

If the price includes both CineWhite and Power Gain material, I'd say that it's probably a very good deal, since it's their top of the line screen. If it only includes one material, it's still probably a fair price. However, because it's only available through custom installers, it's hard to do any real price searches.

I'm really confused. The power gain isn't even on the Elite website but instead they have a bunch of other materials that nobody talks about.

Also, I can't seem to find any Elite materials with gain in 135". In fact I can't find any gain materials larger than 121" whatsoever.

That's because Elite just went live with a new website that shows their 2010 lineup which axed the Power Gain material and the Silverframe screen. They can still be had at some dealers, but quantity will start to dry up quickly. If you can't find the SilverFrame in a 135", you should be able to buy an EzFrame in CineWhite in that size and add the PowerGain material separately.

Thanks. I really would like to but the problem is that I can not locate the Power Gain material in 135". I don't think it was ever available.

I'm using a 120" EZ Frame with the Cinewhite (gain = 1.1) material in combination with my 6500UB. Its in a fully light controlled room with a black ceiling and dark walls. The picture is certainly bright enough for movie watching running the 6500UB in high lamp mode and with it calibrated starting from the default 'natural' mode. When I have people over to watch sports I run the projector in the brighter 'living room' mode that has been calibrated to bring it somewhat closer to ideal (but still not on a par with the calibrated 'natural' mode). In that brighter mode I don't need to keep the room lights at the 'bat cave' level I normally use for movie viewing.

It is sad that we are all buying or considering buying the Elite brand which is a brand made in Taiwanese and less expensive and the Carada brand is made in the USA is more expensive. That is the only difference in the two screens. From what I read no one can really tell the difference between the two screen (brilliant white and cine white) but I am sure there is since cine white is 1.1 gain and brilliant white is 1.4 gain. I wish Carada would lower their prices and give the same quality so we an support the American made brand rather than the foreign brand. I think I will go with the American brand since in the long run I can save lamp life using the high gain screen in eco mode and I will be supporting the American economy. lol.

The Carada screen represents great value even at the current pricing. Compare it to Stewart or Da-Lite, not a foreign company.

Carada has to deal with OSHA, Workers Compensation laws, minimum wage laws, Family Medical Leave Act, Title 7, Equal Pay Act, Age Discrimination Act, the due process clause of the US Constitution, etc, etc. All of these are admirable ideas and do protect the american worker. At least the ones who's job hasn't been moved overseas as a result of the cost of this protection. If Carada was subject to the same labor laws and governmental regulation as the Taiwanese, well I expect they'd be able to offer their protect at a lower price.

This is a good way to look at it which is very true. Also, the frame on the Carada is beveled which makes it look a lot nicer. I just wonder if the black backing on the Elite screen will make any difference on the picture quality. I guess I can always paint the wall black where the Carada is going to go and give the same effect, if any.