Need help choosing screen material

First off, neither material is considered "DIY" on this Forum because both are Mfg and sold specifically as a "Screen Product". On this forum we take consummate pride in creating DIY Projection Screens from materials not considered as being mfg. for "Screen use".. Both of the linked to Companies could advertise on AVS if they wished, but their activity would be confined to the "Screens" forum where all such "manufactured Screens" belong.

All that being said, both refer to only the actual screen material itself...not any of the other needed materials and components to effect a well made screen, DIY or otherwise. So the costs you see are wholly misleading.

Of the two, I selected what would be your best choice and PM'd you a link to be at least helpful. However please re-post onto the Screen Forum should you still want to garner any opinions as to the actual quality of, and experiences that people might have with such. You won''t find any such references on this Forum excepting references toward the use of Black-Out Cloth material.

......and thank you for understanding what we aspire to. There is a truly high degree of satisfaction involved in achieving excellent results at the lowest cost possible, and using materials that would otherwise not be considered as being used.

Black Out Cloth is exactly that...and simply serves the other purpose because one side is white (coated side), relatively smooth, and it's somewhat inexpensive. It can also be had in "out-sized" proportions. However it remains a "low performance" option in the raw compared to being painted upon...and the construction of a suitably rigid frame can be a daunting task to some.

Spandex is MUCH more easy to work with...cost about the same as Black Out Cloth...and is much lighter in weight. A Frame need not be made nearly as sturdy since the degree of stretch pressure is much less. Spandex mostly finds favor amongst those who want a Acoustically Transparent Screen to place speakers behind, and want it to come at a extremely reasonable budget. Say...5x less expensive. Now some have taken Spandex to breast because it is simply an easier Build than Black Out Cloth, and in the Silver metallic form, offers performance BOC cannot.

Myself...I prefer painted surfaces because they can be ANYTHING I wish them to be, and ideally configured to ANY PJ & viewing circumstances. That's important to me...and many others because compromise does not have to go hand in hand with "less expensive", and when you can achieve high performance levels at an extremely lower cost, your satisfaction index soars...and it all seems to have been all the more worthwhile an endeavor.

The Matte Moleskin Silver spandex will offer better Blacks...but less gain than the other stuff.

But with the 705's Lumen output....you have no worries in the Gain dept.

Just be certain to use a white surface as backing...either a solid White board or White Spandex, so you won't lose excessive light via absorptive Pass-through

One thing to keep in mind is that the manufacturer's published lumen is useless, unless you want to torch up your room with the brightest mode in your PJ.

If you're after a more accurate picture, you're most likely running the PJ in natural/cinema/theater mode. At which point, lumen is significantly reduced. And once you calibrate the PJ (if that's something you intend to do), you'll probably end up with half of the stated lumens on your Epson PJ.

NEVER choose a screen based on the published lumens, which I often see being advocated in these forums.

Choose your screen based on the most accurate default settings provided by your PJ, and calibrate it to get it even closer.

My Epson 8100 has 1800 lumens. Once I calibrated it in 'Natural' mode, my lumen output is closer to 600. Just to give you an idea.

Edit: Btw, for a quick DIY screen with great results. Do yourself a favor and go pick up a can of SW Extra White and piece of 4x8 melamine from local big box and you get yourself a pretty nice looking screen for cheap. But don't take my words for it. Someone who reviews PJs for a living comes up with it.
Edited by smokarz - 11/10/12 at 7:13pm

Good luck.

I am sure you would like the spandex.