HIGH POWER a Review! Part 1 - Page 114

the 2.4 material is invisible. Now with your nose less then an inch from it, and no light projected onto it, you'll see the weave of the material. But as for seeing sheen, or textures on the material itself while viewing movies and stuff.....ain't happeneing. It's as much of an invisible material as you can get. The older 2.8 gain material has a slight paisley effect to it during bright scenes, and even then it depends on the individual screen and how it was painted, manufacturing differences and so on. But you can not get the 2.8 material anymore so it's irrelevant.

Is the new HP 2.4 as less prone to waves as the 2.8 was ?

Only time is going to tell ... the material of the 2.4 is thinner and lighter in weight than the 2.8. So if the wave is caused buy the roller sagging, less weight would be helpful to prevent this.. Neither fabric stretches so in that respect they are the same.. Owners of 2.4 what are you seeing.. it's been a year for some of you?

My 110" Contour Electrol HP 2.4 is quite flat.

Have you compared them side-by-side in regards to the sheen/paisley effect? If you normalized the brightness between them I wonder if they would start to look similar.

Some 2.8 material is available on the used market. Not sure if it will become a cult classic or not though

For anyone who may be buying a pulldown HP to cut out of the housing and put in a DIY frame, I finally got around to doing what's underlined above.

I've stapled an HP to a DIY frame several times with a nail gun (the cheapest way) but always ended up with waves in it to varying degrees. I finally bought some Velcro and it worked like a charm. Tight screen and easy to apply/reapply to get it right. Highly recommended over stapling.

Congrats! The hp screen material is a bear to work with. What type of glue did you use to apply the velcro to the screen?

Yeah, I'd love to hear some more details on attaching the HP material to a DIY screen. Did you glue velcro to the back of the screen and to the front of the frame? Or, did you glue the velcro to the perimeter on the front of the screen and velcro to the back of the frame? Did you use anything to stretch the material? What materials did you use for the DIY frame? Thanks, I'm about to jump on board with the cheap Model B and hopefully create my own fixed frame.

So I received a 122.5" wide scope HP screen contour electoral w/black case for ceiling mount. The box was damaged in shipping, and the end cap had some small crack which HP sent out right away. Got the screen hung, wired and rolled it down only to find some spots in the picture attached along the bottom 1" of the screen in 5-6 spots along the screen.

Not sure what could have caused this, but I was told not to clean it and Da-Lite is air shipping a replacement. Glad they are so good to work with.

I am however still enjoying the screen mounted. I have noticed a few things you HP experts can help with. I have this paired with an RS50, hanging about 24" from a 9ft" ceiling (not ideal but no choice), I am about 32" eye level from the floor, and the screen is about 17'ft. away.

The spots are visible only in bright scenes if you are looking for them. I have noticed waves however and I am wondering if this is usual for a new screen and if it settles down over time? It is distracting only in pan scenes thus far I can tell.

Hopefully the new screen has none of the above issues, but I am wondering if anyone else has the wave issues.

Calibration:
I am waiting for UMR to come out here in April, but until them I attempted to use the Spears and Munsil disc to calibrate the RS50 in Cinema mode. I found it impossible to get black/white levels accurate without turning on "Super White" in the projector and enhanced HDMI on in the BDP-93. Once I enabled these settings it looked good with test patterns. Is this what others are finding with this screen material? Is it the combination of components?

Basically a $100 Elite screen I had from Fry's temporarily was easier to calibrate than the HP, that's not what I was expecting.

Of course I know UMR will likely calibrate the biases out but just curious what others have experienced.

Overall I am looking forward to CIH w/HP screen even if my viewing angle is less than ideal, just hoping the waves are not an issue with the new screen (and there are no spots

^ Those black spots are where the beads inside the screen have come loose from the screen material. Nothing to clean or fix. It is broken there. If the fabric gets torqued or creased the beads come loose. Good thing you have a new screen coming.

I have 116" wide Cosmopolitan HP and works great with my two year old RS10.

Well, the trucking company just delivered my 159" HP Da-Lite 2.4 gain. Major excitement, I am hoping to have some help to put it up tomorrow. Old screen-Elite 150" Maxwhite 1.1 gain bye bye!

I have read alot on the forums here and I am hoping I can still retain the "film" look for movies. I am aware that this can be very similar to the smaller Plasma look (or DLP) but I hope it also is good for retaining the look of film.

I'll post after I use it a few hours with some test blu's on my JVC RS50, some reg. and I'll try some 3D.

I don't know about plasma look at 159" unless you have some high end 3DLP projector... But it will look way better than that old screen if you have your projector mounted in the proper location..

No I have the new JVC D-ila RS50 3D model not a DLP, just got it 2-3 months ago. My situation, as mentioned previously is perfect for HP. Projector is on a dresser directly behind the center recliner, only 11" or less above head level, and I will be able to use JVC's recommended throw distance. The projector will be straight back from the very center of the screen. No tilt or angle. Using the screen gain calculator I got a gain of 2.2 from the center chair. I was amazed when I put up the HP sample (12" x 12") that Da-Lite sent onto my old Elite and viewed a few discs. I thought I was viewing white on my old screen, next to the HP white looked like a beige/gray. I can't wait to get this thing up.

Well TAKE YOUR TIME! Get it right the first time and get it level and square! I would guess that is going to be a 3 man job for sure!

Thanks airscapes. Yeah, I figured about 3 of us, so I have 2 friends coming over tomorrow. Funny, I've been saving all my new movies on Blu-ray, I've just watching Dish HD stuff lately, saving all the new Blu's for the new screen hehe.

Man this box is LONG.

I have the same setup with a 133" scope, just got my replacement HP today, shipped overnight by Dalite Got it up and watched 3:10 to Yuma. I am waiting on a lens, but so far with zoom it looks sweet.

I am hanging from a ceiling 24" and I tried standing up at eye level and sitting down and the drop in brightness is barely noticeable.

I think it looks sweet even if my gain is under 2.0. I just find it very hard to calibrate with the JVC without turning on superwhite and setting the screen type.

Does anyone have the SCB-200 and the Net-200 adapter with their HP? If so what can you do to control the screen over IP, what commands are available?

I'd be interested in this too. My pulldown is going to be converted into a fixed screen too and any help/suggestions would be much appreciated.

I started a thread for just this purpose, please post all info related to HP DIY fixed frame here -> Master HP Fabric on DIY Frame

On the Velcro, all I did was stick it to the back of the frame, then stuck the other part to the front of the screen that would make contact with the frame. No glue, nails, or anything else to help it stick. Laid the frame down and stuck the material to it.

Looking back, it would have been easier to just lay the material down on the floor and set the frame on top of it, but I did it the other way. I did it by myself since my wife was in bed, so I know it'd be easy with another person.

Once hung, the screen rests flat against the wall so that keeps the Velcro from either pulling off its other half or from the screen itself.

was all set to place an order for a HP. I spoke to a friend who has 30 yrs of experience in audio video.

He said... "the HP picture might look good compared to a Matt white but you may find over a period if time that it is just "too bright" to see comfortably for a long period of time like a 2 hr movie.

He also said it's like walking to a audio video store and comparing a plasma to a LCD. He said the LCD might look brighter than the plasma but you realize with time tat the Plasma colors are are natural and easy on the eyes.

He said the Matt white us like a plasma and the HP is like a LCD.

Does any user of the HP feel that it is just way "too bright"....?

I never found it to be too bright or tiring on the eyes. Then again I was using it on a 14' wide screen.

And on the other end of the spectrum, I have a portable which is only 65" wide.. AND I have the 2.8 gain.. No, not to bright.. projector is on eco mode with iris closed.
To get the gain as you may or may not have read in this and other threads, the projector needs to be fairly close to seated eye level. If the image is to bright the projector can be moved up, away from eye level reducing the brightness. But I assure you, as the person on AVS that discovered Dalite had stated selling 2.4 in place of 2.8 over a year go.. the 2.4 WILL NOT be to bright..

Once you go to a HP screen you will never want a matte again. The matte will be dull and dim. You can always lower your projector settings on a HP screen for your liking but you can't raise the settings on a matte if you want the same good picture.

He sounds somewhat ignorant of several issues related to front projection and especially the HP. I could enumerate, but suffice it to say I wouldn't take his advice.

i just spoke to da-lite customer service .... i asked him what kind of customer the HP was designed for....

he said it's made for "The High Power is for a projector on the same eye level as those viewing the screen. It is good with a low lumen output projector.

now i understand the retro-reflective properties and the need for the projector as close to the eye level as possible.

but when i asked him if someone has a medium or high lumen output projector then can he use the High Power still...?

He said... "You will run the risk of hot spotting and wash out."

He told me that Matt White would be a good choice for me.....

i'm supremely confused now.... :-(

Again... I've never heard of anyone who has actually SEEN one in operation complain of either malady.

Also, his statement suggests the screen does not behave in a linear manner, a complete impossibility for any screen.

@mntwister - Any first impressions?

Unfortunately dalite customer service reps are not very knowledgeable, or at least the one you just talked to.. I would guess you could have a problem using a 4000lum projector, but we are in a Home Theater forum..

Trust your guy and the Dalite rep or the several hundred happy forum members that post in this and other treads.. It is not for everyone.. matte white will work and you can ceiling mount your projector and have a wide viewing angle..

I guess I don't understand the theory behind "same eye level." If you have a screen at the same eye level behind you, it will not project without you seeing your head on the screen, and if it is in front of you it will be in the way, so I have never understood that theory.

I just got my high power 159" Elite 2.4 gain put up today. I spent the day watching. It was fantastic. I saw whites for the first time. My old Elite Maxwhite seemed light beige in white areas compared to this. Brightness is astounding.

I have my projector (had to move it further back, because I had 150" and this one is 159") at just above 15 feet from the screen. It is right behind the seating area, on a 5-drawer bedroom dresser which is about 12" above my head. Any lower and heads would show on the large screen. Luckily I have the projector directly back from the very center of the screen.

I did try the seats to the right and left of my center seat and noticed a slight loss of brightness but it was still much brighter than the old Elite. 2 seats away from the center chair it looked like my old Elite. So everyone has a decent view and the 3 people (center, left 1 and right 1) get the boosted brightness.

I love it! Can't believe the crispness and the 3D was so much better as well with the JVC RS50!!!! I tested my favorite 3D disc Polar Express (someone is borrowing my Avatar disc). The scene when they stop the train and the angled front of the tran comes out into the room was very dim before, now the front of the train that's in your face seems much brighter. All around everything just looks better. I tried some of the programming of of my Dish external hard drives (older and newer movies, previous Academy Awards and Tony Awards shows, ect) and everything to me looks much better. I am also dealing with 9 extra inches so I am sure that has some positive effect on the overall experience, but as far as picture quality, everything I tried looked better. In my opinion it was not only brightness but detail as well.

The first movie I chose to break the screen in tonight was The Sound of Music (Blu-ray)my all-time favorite. It was truly an amazing experience and looked much better than my old Elite 1.1 gain which was taken down this morning.

Thanks everyone for all your comments which made me go for this one. I love it!