AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Screens › Looking for a budget fixed frame screen
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Looking for a budget fixed frame screen

post #1 of 9
7/26/12 at 10:46am
Thread Starter 
I'm hoping to pull the trigger on a Sony VPLHW30AES very soon. I'll probably be going with Mike from AVS for that. I'm looking for a budget friendly 110" screen to match with it. The room is a large rectangle for the most part. With little to no ambient light. There is a window in the room but we will have blackout shades on it, although I wouldn't mind leaving it open once in awhile or having the lights on during football games. What material and gain would be best for the most "pop" and vibrant colors when watching 2D HDTV sports, Movies and gaming? 3D is kind of a bonus but I don't think we'll be watching a lot of it.

Screen Wall
Height: 93"
Width: 172"
Seating distance: 13'

I've been looking at an Elite Sable fixed frame screen on Amazon for under $300. Ideally I'd like to stay close to that but I could go to $500 or $600 depending on the relative increase in quality of the screen...

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 9
7/27/12 at 8:01am
Thread Starter 
Just throwing this back up here, plenty of views but no ideas yet...
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 9
7/30/12 at 5:25am
Thread Starter 
Little more info on the screen I'd ideally like to get. I don't need an AT screen, ceilings are white, screen wall will probably be a deep red with the rest of the walls being a light charcoal color. Seating and throw distance will be about the same ~14'. I'll be watching a lot of HD sports and gaming. With probably 20-30% movies.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 9
7/30/12 at 6:26am
My favorite screen material is Da-Lite's High Power as long as you can mount the pj close to eye level. The 2.4 gain will give you plenty of pop for sports, gaming, and 3D movies. Da-Lite's fixed frame models cost about double what they charge for their manual pull-down Model B however. If you're set on a fixed frame, look at Da-Lite's Perm-Wall model 94341. Da-Lite's Model B (part number 78672) would keep you within your budget. Email Da-Lite to get a sample of HP fabric to see how it compares to the alternatives you're considering. Once you know what you want, give Mike Garrett or one of the other AV Science sales reps a call to for pricing. They may be able to beat what Amazon advertises & they'll take care of you after the sale if the screen has problems.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/773065/high-power-a-review-part-1/0_40

Your interest in watching sports with some ambient light is a bit unrealistic with most screens. Unless you get an expensive specialty screen like SI's Black Diamond, watching with ambient light will wash out the image.

Good luck!
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 9
7/30/12 at 9:26am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the info, much appreciated. I don't think the ambient light will be overpowering, there is only one window in the basement and it faces east so after about noon it's mostly shaded down there. My projector will be ceiling mounted about 8-12" from the ceiling so it won't be eye level...would the 2.4 gain still apply? Viewing angle won't be a problem. All seats are close to centered in the room, it's a rectangle with the screen on one of the shorter walls...
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 9
7/30/12 at 6:39pm
The HP material sends light back towards the light source. You'll get 2.4 gain if you wear your projector as a hat. If you mount your hat on the ceiling, the house fly sitting on it will enjoy an awesome image while you may get unity gain or less. Download the "High-Power Screen Gain Calc" from post 566 in the "Da-lite Hi Power New or Old what did you get?" thread & plug your distances in to see the gain you'd get using different projector heights:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1213577/da-lite-hi-power-new-or-old-what-did-you-get/560_40

If you can't use a longer drop pole to lower the pj closer to eye level, the HP may not be the best screen for you...
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 9
7/31/12 at 6:13am
Thread Starter 
Henrich,

Thanks for the info, I'm a novice when it comes to gains and such. With the values I input it shows my center gain would be 1.67 with a 2.4 Gain HP...if I'm reading it correctly.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 9
7/31/12 at 7:38pm
That's still a nice bump up in brightness over a matte white. Later on if you're able to do a more optimal pj placement you can get another step up in gain. Request a fabric sample from Da-Lite to see how you like it.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 9
8/3/12 at 10:22am
110" Vutec Elegante would run about $450 - $500. I think it's offered with white or gray material.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Screens

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Screens › Looking for a budget fixed frame screen