Holy Crap CHECK THIS OUT!!!! A SCREEN THAT enables front projection in lit rooms!!OMG

"but until we get some face time with this enlightening panel to determine marvel or gimmick, you're probably better off left in the dark."

"I have a doubt. " The Prez, Fifth Element.

Planar isn't a small operation that needs to overhype a product, so I have some hope for this product. That's not to say it isn't overhyped, but I've no doubt that there isn't something to this product.

Hopefully they'll be at CEDIA so we can hear some firsthand impressions.
-- jaydillyo

EDIT: Man they're pretty heavy. 141lbs for a 100 inch screen.

Sony came out of similar screen in 1/05. Problems are expense (over $1K) and size of screen (smaller usually): http://www.projectorcentral.com/news_story_767.htm

Yeah, look up "Black Screen". I think it was at CEDIA last year if I'm not mistaken.
The other problem with it is that it's only for fixed mount screens at this point, not retractable.

Yeh, there is one onther screen on the market. It reflects light directly on it. Works great except for the cost $$$$ and it is a fixed screen. I'm sure we will see this at Cedia.

Well if these work as good as marketing claims then I'm sure a lot of people will love these products.

However for me, I want the sitting the dark movie experience. But... I'm thinking could screen tech like this be used to overcome the black level problems inherent in digital projectors?

- Rick

MMMM $5000 for the 100ins screen. not exactly cheap.

There is also the dnp screen, which apparently is coming out in a retractable version. Again, not cheap. See here.

There is no evidence that this screen performs any better in the dark than any other screen of similar gain (which we don't even know yet regarding this screen).

The Supernova black screen pretty much looks like a 2.0 gain screen in the dark and it hot spots a bit too. This screen isn't going to make anything look more crisp and clear than it does on any other screen. It's possbile the picture will be brighter and have more punch than a regular 1.0-1.3 gain white screen in the dark though.

A screen isn't going to perform magic and give you clarity and resolution that isn't already there to begin with. In the dark it will either give you a brighter picture and slightly higher black levels (high gain) or less bright picture and darker black levels (low and negative gain screens). It will not improve on/off contrast EXCEPT in the presence of ambient light. In the dark ANSI contrast will be marginally improved for those with white walls.

The gain has not been mentioned, so it's unclear what kind of screen this will be for the dark compared to other screens. It's main abilty is to produce a better ambient light picture and that does not necessarily mean that it will knock your socks off in the dark compard to a regular screen.

Hopefully at the very least it'll be an improvement of the Sony Black screen and the Supernova/Mirage. in ambient light and in the dark.

It's very unlikely this screen will out perform a SilverStar in the dark. In ambient light it will blow the SilverStar out the water though.

This seems very neat!!

Hi,

Thank you for your interest and web inquiry for our Xscreen product line.

Xscreen currently comes in 4 sizes, 60" 70" 80" and 100" (diagonal).

Retail pricing is:
60" -$1399
70" - $1699
80 - $1900
100" - $2799

Availability:
First shipment into the US will arrive the first week of September. We will start shipping product at that time.

How to buy:
We are in the process of finalizing our distribution network. We will be in contact shortly with local dealers in your area for demos and sales. If local demos are not available, how to buy from Planar direct.

Here's the website to our Xscreen main page: http://www.planar.com/hometheater/


In the mean time, please contact me with any questions.

Kind Regards,
Alan

Alan Woodward
Planar Systems | Sales Operations
Specialty Home Theater
office 503 748 7093 | fax 503 748 4662
email alan_woodward@planar.com

I was looking for a review of the Planar Xscreen and could not find it ANYWHERE on the web?!? Any of you guys seen one? thanks

Hope it works better than the Sony 'black' screen because it is not that impressive . I have seen the Sony screen first hand and while it helped a little with the lights on it was not enough to justify the $2000 price tag IMO .

------ Jason

DAMN I would have to pay more for the screen than I did for the projector.

With those prices you might as well buy a light cannon for day use and a hometheater projector for night use.

Unless the light source is directly behind you...from my experience the dalite hp is very good in ambient light situations. It's available in pull-down and fixed frame and they're not nearly as expensive as any of these "wonder" screens.

Saw it at CEDIA - this is not an RGB filter screen like the Sony BlackScreen is the impression I got.

Since I have a SilverStar of that size - it is what I compared it to. Take a SilverStar narrow the viewing angle so it rejects ambient better as well as a filtering layer of some sort, put a glass front on it so kids cannot ruin the rigid surface, add a glossy frame so the WAF lets you put it over the fireplace, cut down on the sheen that the SilverStar has - and finally put it out at a competitive price to a SilverStar.

So i would disagree - based on what I saw it outperforms a SilverStar in a dark room with modest ambient (no way would I pair side sconces with a SilverStar). And the removal of the sheen and a glass front - is a big difference! Real gain is more like 2.0 is what they said. I was impressed - but then they had it in a dark room with side sconces on - not out on the flourescent show floor. I have no doubts that it will not perform as well as that photoshopped ad you see!

It is likely more expensive than your projector - so you really are not the target market for this screen - anymore than the SilverStar which is rarely discussed in this forum. Especially since Planar sells to customs installers only - not online - their entire company is about serving niche dedicated markets needing high service and support (like medical LCDs - etc.). They just started their HT division - so don't expect to find any dealers - that is what they were doing at CEDIA - looking for dealers. And unless they have a dealer network they won't be sending stuff out for reviews - so don't look for that either!

In comparison a DaLite Cinema Contour with HighPower in the frame retails for about half in similar sizes. But it can have it's own install issues with too narrow of a viewing cone, and retroreflective that lights up it's ceiling. It also has no capability to filter out ambient lite like these does - HighPower just rejects it from the sides because of it's viewing angles.


Anyways that is all I know about it - don't know any more technical details about how it works.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Screen Innovations Visage. There's plenty of reviews out there too:

http://www.google.com/search?q=scree...+visage+review

Screen Innovations had their booth setup so you walk around and can see each of their screens setup in a little HT. I had no clue which one was the Visage...seems like I should have been able to tell with a casual walk by! The Visage is even more expensive than the Planar.

A couple months ago when I was screen shopping Screen Innovations was kind enough to send me a small sample of the Visage. Cost wasn't really so much of a concern as I'm a believer that a screen, like good speakers, is essentially a fairly long term investment and will last me a long while.

That said, the biggest reason I chose the high power over the Visage or Silverstar was size limits on those screens. There is a bit of "metalic sheen" to the visage as well. In my room the hp seems to have similar ambient light rejection as the Visage. BUT keep in mind...I'm only looking at a small sample.

I would think the price on the Visage should be dropping; SI is a small company but they are booming (I'm in Austin, TX, where SI is based) and they'll need to stay competetive. I've got their 1.1 gain motorized matte screen and it's great.

I already got the Xscreen 80".. must say I'm VERY impressed with the picture quality even with plenty of ambient light. All in all- worth every penny. It's one of the best investments I made this year.

Must be a trend.

Here is one that does the same thing. Promises a uniform image from any angle day or night:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-CT36...&s=audio-video

I thought I'd drag up this old thread to see if anyone else has seen the xscreen. I recently bought a 100" xscreen and I love it. I will say that all screens have their trades offs. The xscreen does not look great with direct sunlight hitting it or the overhead can lights on full intensity. With moderates lighting - especially with side wall sconces - the image looks great. For movies, especially dark ones, I would still try for a light controlled environment and this screen is impressive in the dark. I think for those of you who don't want to paint your walls and ceilings dark or would like to watch TV with a moderate amount of light then this screen is for you. Oh yeah, and the viewing cone is narrow so a wide seating array won't work. In fact, if you move from one side of the screen to the other you can see some slight dimming of the image on the other side of the screen. It's the type of thing that someone doing a review would likely criticize, but if you are sitting in one position you are not likely to notice it, and the 2.0 gain delivers a bright image with very good CR. After scrutinizing the pros and cons of this screen for the first few days, I've come to the conclusion that it is the right screen for my theater and I can see it driving front projection applications in rooms that have restrictions in terms of lighting placement, color, decor. BTW, the xscreen looks great...like a 100" plasma on my wall!

at the cost of that thing it should.....when you enter the cost of the projector you could find an lcd or plasma for around the same cost.

Uhhh.... how do you figure? If you know where I can find a 100" LCD or plasma for under 10k please do tell.