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What maskable screen should I get and why???  

post #1 of 17
8/25/00 at 10:29am
Thread Starter 
I just called Stewart Filmscreen and talked with Peter, who knows Alan Gouger, owner of AV Science, well!

Stewart has an 80" wide 1.3 gain screen with variable masking at the top and bottom good for any aspect ratio, including HDTV 16:9, 1.85, 2.0, 2.35, etc. Works by a wall switch. Or extra with a remote.

Stewart also has a 16:9 screen with 4 way masking system, meaning masking both from top to bottom and side to side. With this screen, leave the side masking alone, and use the top and bottom masking to mask from original HDTV 16:9, to 1.85, 2.0, 2.35, etc. Or leave the top and bottom masking alone, and use the side masking to go to 4:3 or anything else. This would be real nice with local OTA broadcasts, as some of them stretch the picture just a bit, beyond 4:3 somewhat.

Now this has got me to thinking. With my DTC-100 and its OTA digital/HD tuner, I haven't thought much about this lately. But I mostly watch 4:3 stuff now on the OTA digital channels, and they send out signal blanking the sides to the 16:9 borders. Doesn't this mostly alleviate my concern about 4:3 stuff causing CRT burn-in. Hey, I think maybe I'll go all the way
for a 4 way mask.




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Steve Bruzonsky

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post #2 of 17
8/25/00 at 8:49pm
Steve,

Good luck with your new screen. It is a beauty. I saw one at the 1997 CES in vegas.

Lee

[This message has been edited by LeeAntin (edited 08-26-2000).]
post #3 of 17
8/25/00 at 9:46pm
Thread Starter 
I have sold my Dwin HDP-500 CRT projector and Transcanner and I am replacing them with the current/latest models, the HD-700 and Transcanner 2.

I still have my Stewart Studiotech 1.3 gain screen, 4:3 aspect ratio,
80" wide.

I am staying 80" wide with my new stuff. I am staying 1.3 gain.
I want masking, so that video, whether 16:9 HDTV, 1.85 DVDs, and 2.35 DVDs, are perfectly masked with black felt to the top and bottom of the screen. This means for me a movable mask, apparently motorized.
(Guys and Gals, I am lazy - I'm not gonna build the mask stuff myself like Guy Kuo did (to his absolute credit), I just wanna replace my screen with one that does this for me.)

I'm still debating the screen being 4:3 vs 16:9. I've had a pretty darn nice 4:3 picture over the larger size screen. With a 4:3 screen, the screen is 80" W by 60" H, or 4800 square inches. But with a 16:9 screen and the 4:3 centered within, the 4:3 part will be 60" H by 45" W, or 2700 square inches. The latter is a 44% smaller screen! I understand that by keeping the larger 4:3 screen, I can avoid CRT burn-in, much more likely to occur is say 50% of time I watch 4:3 material centered in 16:9 screen. And I can still do a projector memory if I want squeezing picture size down to that smaller
2700 square inches 4:3 picture frame if I want, blanking the sides left and right.

Also, its my understanding that if I get a 16:9 screen,then the masking will only be from the top down the sides to get a 4:3 screen within; I don't think I've seen any 16:9 screens with masking at top and bottom to aspect ratios of 1.85 and 2.35.

So what screens do you folks recommend and why???


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Steve Bruzonsky
post #4 of 17
8/26/00 at 12:16am
9'000 Thats what he tips valet parking attendents.
post #5 of 17
8/26/00 at 10:30am
Thread Starter 
See what you guys started? Hugo hasn't see me tip yet - I stick to 15-20%, as anything left over goes into my home theater slush fund!

Now does anyone have any substantive input on the screens question??!???

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Steve Bruzonsky
post #6 of 17
8/26/00 at 11:22am
Steve how about adjustable curtains and if you have a Stationary back screen and a adjustable black screen in the front, you could then adjust screen to fit aspect.

Hey Laurence
I'M from Miami but live in AZ.
That dose not make me a bad guy Huh?

Hugo

[This message has been edited by Hugomed (edited 08-26-2000).]
post #7 of 17
8/26/00 at 3:53pm
Hugo, as Will Smith sings, Miami rocks!

Get back here and steam with the rest of us!
Heck, we just dodged a hurricane.

Steve, it's ok to joke off-topic if you do it? http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/wink.gif

On topic, just get a Draper M2500 and wear sunglasses.
post #8 of 17
8/26/00 at 8:19pm
Thread Starter 
Laurence, you are my da video man. So seriously, do you have any screen suggestions?
When I come to visit you in Florida, I will bring my sunglasses and my personal dehumidifier/air conditioner.

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Steve Bruzonsky
post #9 of 17
8/26/00 at 8:50pm
I hear youi brother.
post #10 of 17
8/26/00 at 9:29pm
"9'000 Thats what he tips valet parking attendents."
____________________________________________________________ __________________

Eh? Say what?
Are you a Steve Bruzonsky buddy. Who picked up the lunch tab?

Must be one of those Gilbert, AZ, inside jokes.

(And to think Bruz' pal uses Miami in his email address) http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by Laurence (edited 08-26-2000).]
post #11 of 17
8/27/00 at 2:04am
You made a good point Steve when you said "I understand that by keeping the larger 4:3 screen, I can avoid CRT burn-in, much more likely to occur is say 50% of time I watch 4:3 material centered in 16:9 screen"

I use full raster and watch 50/50. I just turned down the purchase of a very low hour NEC XG-135 because the seller used 16:9 and caused burn in even though he was extremely careful with contrast and brightness.

I don't use masking, although it is a bit nicer cosmetically. I use constant width and variable heighth and it works just fine. I like a larger screen for the wow factor so my width is 104". Your Dwin HDP-700 is very bright and you can afford to go larger. Besides, a rich lawyer like you can afford to retube ever 5000 hours (although I would seriously doubt that you's need to).

My suggestion is to go to 96 inches wide. You have a black room with total light control so you won't need to drive your CRTs hard to get a bright picture and consider a slightly higher screen gain than 1.3, although your Dwin may not need a higher gain screen. You don't have to marry Joe Kane's theory any more. Projectors are brighter and screens are better than when he started his gospel.

The Draper M2500 will give you candy technicolor and the very deepest contrast, ask Deniz. It is formulated that way. Forget the crap about hot spot and color shift, it's not that noticeable with that screen.

You always sit in the sweet spot of your HT and you will be more impressed with the eye candy of a 96 inch screen than the RPTV sized image of an 80" screen.

Steve, you have outstanding acoustics, and ironically (to recall an old adjective once used to describe my first subwoofer), a "puny" screen.
You chose a softer projector over the noisier but much sharper Electrohome, so you compromised resolution for audio integrity. I know you'd be happier with a bigger screen and so would your Wife and daughters.
post #12 of 17
8/27/00 at 5:37am
Quote:
Originally posted by Laurence:

The Draper M2500 will give you candy technicolor and the very deepest contrast, ask Deniz. It is formulated that way. Forget the crap about hot spot and color shift, it's not that noticeable with that screen.

[/b]
Steve, Larry makes a good point. However you may want to also ask Jim Ferguson and Bill Lucas their opinions of my M2500 screen since they have both been over to view my system.
post #13 of 17
8/27/00 at 12:41pm
I have a M2500 sample arriving soon from Draper. It will be interesting to compare with the Studiotek 1.3 currently in viewing room. Maybe the results will be helpful here.
post #14 of 17
8/27/00 at 3:01pm
Thread Starter 
How soon???

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Steve Bruzonsky
post #15 of 17
8/27/00 at 3:17pm
Hi Guys,

There are some things about the Draper 2500 that are very nice. The colors are very vivid. There was a little bit of a color shift with the 3-CRT projector, but only on large bright scenes. The thing that I liked the least was the hotspotting. It wasn't terrible, but I'm the kind of person that would find it distracting even if nobody else ever noticed it.

I've been using a Da-lite 1.3 gain for about a year whose main fault is the darn "sparklies" from the embedded glass/mirror particles on the screen. Not only does the screen sparkle, but it lends an unnecessary graininess to the image.

I've had a Stewart Studiotek 130 gain screen on order from AVScience for a month or so. Hope it shows up soon http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/frown.gif
post #16 of 17
8/27/00 at 9:26pm
Thread Starter 
And thanks guys. Whether I agree or disagree, this is the type of substantive comments I want to consider.

I had browsed over the Screens forum for the past nine months since it started, and I saw some contradictory stuff about the Draper M2500 screen, re color shifting and hotspotting. Here's an example:
http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/Forum9/HTML/000106.html


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Steve Bruzonsky
post #17 of 17
8/27/00 at 10:25pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks, Jim. I'm afraid that having lived with a 1.3 gain Stewart screen for 3.5 years now, I probably qualify to win the picky awards.
I respect opinions of friends here on the forum who prefer larger screens with at times some higher gain screens, but as with audio one size/gain don't fit all.
Again I must say I would rather go smaller with better detail and color. However, as both Guy and Stacey have Dwin projectors, if they try out a larger screen, higher gain, and they are satisfied that they're not appreciably sacrificing that photo 3D picture depth and detail, then I reserve the right to change my mind!!! (reserving the right to change one's mind is part of The Tweakers Manifesto.)
_

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Steve Bruzonsky
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