The official Carada screen thread.

Interested in opinions on the Cinema white with Panny 900 which seems like my top choice at this time. Was going to get the BQ 7700 until lamp failures sent me away.

Wil be getting a 16:9 106 inch for a 20 x 19 room with seating at 9.5 and 14.5 feet.

I'm interested in hearing the answer to this as well, as I'm looking at the Panasonic AE900 as well, in conjunction with a 142" Carada Classic Cinema White. Its a big room, so we need a big screen.

thanks,

tranzlucent

I just bought the classic cinema white 96" and the Panasonic 900. Haven't received them yet, but I'll let you know when I do. Of course, I'll have nothing to compare it to, and I'm a serious novice.
Jim

Look forward to hearing your review. Good luck with setup. Hope it goes smooth.

Ozzie

I have the same screen but with an AE700. In a dark room, there's a real possibility you'll never leave.. it's that sweet. I think you'll do great with that combo!

PS: Like any projector, it'll need a dark room, darker the better. Search the threads in the sub-3500 forum for tips on light control.. it's more than just blinds / drapes.

Tranz,

I own a carada 144" diagonal(2.35) screen with the AE-700 and it looks great. My room is
light controlled(dedicated) @ 23x17x10. I ordered the CCW @ 128" but my wife wanted
bigger so david made me the 144"(12ft) I ordered the new one in BW but the CCW looked
good also. There is a screen shot of I Robot from my theater in 2.35 forum.

I have also ordered the 900 and looking at the Carada Screens ( either 92 or 100). Just curious why did you go with the CCW instead of the BW material?

My Room is 15 X 21 X 9 - dedicated room. When not watching movies, I would like to have the boys over to watch a little football, and enjoy a few adult beverages. Would going with the BW produce to much glare or reflection with background lights on?

Martin

OK, got my Pany 900 and Carada CCW 96" screen. Theater room is dedicated, in basement, and 100% light controlled. I calibrated the projector (using basic adjustments only) with the Avia disc. The picture is really breathtaking. Now, this is my first projector/home theater setup so I have little to compare it to. I cannot believe the absolute detail in the image. I had no idea it would be so clear and the colors so vibrant. I've only tested with DVD movies. I'll be getting HD cable next week. By the way, the Carada screen is really awesome. The frame is precision made, very sturdy, and installs like a well-built piece of hardware. My hat goes off to Carada.
Jim

I am ordering what will probably be a 150" 2.35:1 BW for a Sanyo Z4(Maybe the 900 though). My theater will be light controlled but I am still worried about the brightness. Skeets is helping me believe I can go with the 150". I may have use high lamp mode with the Z4. Any problems with brightness Skeets?

At first David said he couldn't do over 144" but that was only a box limitation and that I would just have to accept a sort of homemade box to fit the 150". This is definitely good news as I doubt that I could get a 150" for anywhere near what David is offering screens.

Jim,

Congrats on your setup. What size is your room? Also curious regarding brightness on the Panny 900 in this setup. I was originally thinking of the CCW but I've heard the 900 has only 300 lumens when setup on cinema 1 setting. Thus maybe the BW screen might be a better match. How doe it look when some ambient light is in the room?

Ozzie

I have'nt had any brightness issues so far even though I have been burning it up watching
movies. The reasoning behind ordering the CCW and then re-ordering in BW was to help
compensate for the loss in light to my bulb over time. I am also using an anamorphic lens
which lets me use my full panel on the projector which in turn I get a 33% increase in picture
quality and brightness. My panny is mounted about 18ft from screen and as you can see from
the screen shot,barring the two lights shining on the side, the picture is fine.

My Carada is very nice product and I highly reccommend them to anyone. David goes out of his
way to ensure the customer is satisfied even if it means making a homemade box.

I ordered the exact same combo of the 900 and a CCW 96", my screen has just arrived after ordering it on Friday - thats 4 business days to Canada ! I have to say the customer service at Carada has been excellent, unfortunately my PJ has yet to arrive so I will post comments after I get it. I will be projecting at about 19' in a light controlled basement room.

Ozzie,
Sorry, been awhile since I've read the forum. Anyway, I got HD cable...WOW!! It's tough to go back to regular TV. I'm getting dimmer switches on my lights soon. When the lights are on in the room (pretty bright) the image suffers pretty dramatically. The room is about 18' x 18' and is dedicated, so I'll rarely need light on for anything else. I even have my lamp output/power (or whatever) set to "Low".
Jim

I'm going to order my Carada screen pretty soon. Can't decide between the CCW and BW though. I have an NEC HT1100, room is dedicated with total light control and is 14' X 18'. Any suggestions?

I'm using a Sanyo PLV Z3 in a 19 x 14 dedicated HT, fully light controlled. The Z3 has a slightly lower ANSI lumen rating than your HT1100 does in eco-mode. I'm currently using a 110" DIY screen (Glidden "Misty Evening" painted on drywall).

I did a good job on my DIY screen, but the gain on this painted wall is undoubtedly lower than the CCW. Despite this, with ~ 400 hours on the lamp, this screen reflects a very nice image with the Z3 in one of the least bright lamp modes ("creative cinema"). As the lamp ages, it will undoubtedly grow dimmer, and a better screen will be required.

The Projector Calculator at ProjectorCentral.com says you'll get a fairly bright image (20 foot-lamberts) with your HT 1100, and a 110" screen with a gain of 1.0. Mine is probably ~ 13 fL with my lower-gain screen.

If you're planning to buy a screen that is 110" or less, you normally view in a completely dark room, and your walls are dark, it's very unlikely you'll need the BW. I think you can stick with the CCW unless your screen is much larger than 110" or you like to view with a light on.

I would like to contact Carada about my screen choice. All they have listed on their website is 3 e-mail addresses. I tried to send an e-mail address to each one but I got delivery failures. Does anyone know of another way to contact Carada about choosing the right screen?
Thanks

Hi mach76,

I'm sorry to hear about the email failures! I've received (and answered) a TON of email messages today, so I'm not sure why you were experiencing delivery failures. In any case I sent you a Private Message through the forum with an alternative email address. Please give that a shot and if you're still getting rejections, let me know via PM.

Thanks!

David Giles
Carada, Inc.

Thanks for the reply Ricketty. I think I am leaning to the CCW. I viewed the samples and the grey was way too dark for my taste, but the CCW and BW were in-line with what I prefer. I originally was biased toward the BW just from the forum posts, but having seen it in person, I think I am leaning toward CCW.

David,

What do you suggest?

93vette, that's an easy one. Go with your gut. Since you found that you prefer the Classic Cinema White after checking out the samples, that's the one you should go with.

David Giles
Carada, Inc.

93vette - I finally got my AE900 setup with a 96" CCW and my room size is about the same as yours plus your PJ outputs the same 1100 lumens. If your room is light controlled then the CCW will be great even with a larger screen, I'm totally blown away with the quality of the picture and the materials used in the construction of this screen and the CCW has the added bonus of being a little cheaper !

Additionally the service from Carada was fantastic from start to finish.

Just to add to this thread, I have bought a Carada High contrast gray screen for my new Sim2 C3X.

Those not familiar with this pj I will tell you, its bright! Very bright. I am seeing about 50 footlamberts from my current BW screen. The blacks look great but there is always room for improvement. I would say the blacks on this new pj are about half as bright " read as twice as dark" as my old JVC HX1s blacks were with about 3 times the white brightness. I am going to use this new screen to bring the entire image down to darken absolute black and bring the white level down also to around 18 to 26 footlamberts depending on who you believe about the actual gain of this screen.

I will post about how this pj does with this screen. I am expecting great black levels with a bright appearing picture as I have the lumens to light up this dark screen.

later!

Hi!

I'm from Denmark. I got a room 4,5 long x 3,6 meters wide and it is completely darkened. I have a 104" pull down high contrast screen 0.8 gain and a Z2. Used to that is. I have bought a Z4 and I am very keen on getting a Carada screen.

Sitting 3.5 meters from the screen could any suggest screen size and which screen material I should get? Always having the projector in eco mode and scaling the picture to 720p, I was considering the brilliant white material.

Regards
Flemming Kristensen

I JUST GOT A 118 INCH BRILLIANT WHITE CARADA IN THE CENTURION (3.5 INCH BEVELED FRAME). This is mated to my optoma h-79 dlp projector, i also have a dark room (black cieiling, front wall, & carpet, with dark red side & back walls. This has a great picture, no sparkles or rainbows, also the picture does not wash out w/ rear can lights on. all i can say is SWEEEEEEEET!

Saw a Carada screen around 100" diag 16:9 and was impressed. Any chance you'll come out with an acoustically transparent screen? That would be way cool . . .

Does Carada have a Hi-gain fabric in the works?

Anyone have the High Contrast Grey??

I have the gray fabric paired with a Studio Experience Matinee 2HD (Sanyo PLV-Z2) in a non-dedicated light-colored room . I originally ordered the Brilliant White but exchanged it for the gray. I couldn't live with the black level I was able to obtain with the white fabric although it looked great otherwise. I'm pretty happy with the gray! It certainly has less "pop" than the white but is better balanced overall.

As above, I have the HC gray pared with a high lumen 3 chip DLP. I push 1500 lumens at the screen and the picture looks great. I feel like I have brightness to spare.