Help me pick screen, Please (Pull Down w ceiling mount PT-AX100)

in exactly the same situation O_o except I can have it almost pitch black most of the time when really watching! so please give us some reccommendations! I mean the PT-AX100 is bright enough to not need a high gain screen when you can have the room really dark right? I am a fan of deep blacks and a bright colors though I really hate to see how on many screenshots from people with high gain screens the picture is all bright and pretty but to bright even, where the highlights get burnt! Anyway i dont know jack about screens and I cant test many out since I haveto get everything shipped overseas =)

I recently purchased a Da-Lite Video Spectra 1.5 gain screen to use with my Panosonic 900U. I had been using a DIY screen that was basically a matt white screen. I requested sample from the screen companys and compared them. I found it was worth it since I am please with the video spectra's performance. Colors bright, whites aren't washed out, skin tones are good (not darked by gray screen) and the blacks didn't seem to suffer. Now the blacks are not as deep as on a gray screen but in testing samples I noted the gray screens darkened the whites, colors and skin tones. Colors look cleaner and more accurate IMHO. The gain was just enough to add some punch to the colors but not too much that might cause other problems. I still notice it eveytime I use it.

I just recently replaced by 92" Graywolf with a 92" Accuscreen Matte White Manual Pulldown with a 1.0 Gain.... I got from Newegg for less than $100 shipped...

All I can say.... Best HT decision I made for 2007 so far. The Matte White beats the Gray screen in every catagory.... for my environment.

9'+ Ceiling
HD70 Ceiling Mounted
Room 90% light controlled

Wrong projector though.........

OK. I was minutes from buying a Graywolf II but read some scary threads about ceiling mounted projectors and how "horrible" the picture was on the 1.8 screen when the projector was mounted anywhere but at head level.

My projector is to be mounted in the basement at about 6'6" height (only have 7" ceilings down there). I imagine most people will be watching the screen from a seated position so head height will be roughly 4' or so (?). Is the 2 1/2 foot difference between projector height and eyeball height really goign to make a difference? It's starting to sound like you might as well have a single chair for a high gain screen because everyone else will have a crappy view! :-(

FYI, I am sold on having a high contrast gray screen (deep blacks is my #1 priority, next to good contrast), and was 99% sold on the GW II until reading these recent threads. I have a 3 year old Panasonic PT-AE100 (so obviously not high powered or super bright) projector, but have excellent light control in the basement most of the time.

I am so confoozed... I was sure that the GW II was the screen for me (that or it's close cousin, the elunevision HD gray screen)... but now I am not so sure.

The GWII is a very good screen. I had a 106" and now have the 120"

While it's true the best picture is achieved the closer the projector is to your eye level, that does NOT mean you get a crappy picture anywhere else. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I have the projector mounted on a table 2 feet high. Seated, I'm probably about 4 feet high. The second row is about 5 feet high seated. the picture looks great from all seats and it looks great standing up too.

Maybe it looks 'greater' while seated, and maybe you won't realize 100% potential of this screen if you go with a ceiling mount, but it's still a GREAT screen. The gray material helps with the black level. The screen being 1.8 gain may be less gain depending on how you mount the projector, but I doubt you'll lose all the gain. With a matte white, you only get 1.0 gain and none of the benefits of a gray screen.

i have a ax100u on the way and need to purchase a screen as well. after brousing so many threads here i think i'm going with the matte white. my basement is light controlled. i'm considering an elite tab tensioned screen, either 106 or 120". worth the $700 for tab tensioned? or just go with a 3-400 non tensioned electric?

assuming your are going to keep the 2000 lumens, you may want to go with the Dalite HC Matt which is the equivalent of the Greyhawk. If you are going to calibrate the projector and lose alot of the lumens, then go with the Dalite HCCV which is the equiv of the Firehawk

Well, I was happy with my 106 GWII, but it wasn't big enough.

The 120" is bigger - which is better - but I have 2 problems with it...

1) I see two horizontal lines across the screen - really bad in white scenes, unnoticable anywhere else, but the screen I have is flawed. I moved the projector and the lines didn't move. Definetly a fault with the screen. I could return it for a replacement GWII, but...

2) With the 106, I didn't notice it nearly as much but with the 120, I can see the screen surface, and it's bugging me a little bit.

I'm thinking of now going with a white screen. I DO want a high gain screen as I want to get a lot of punch out of this projector. My wife also wants me to ceiling mount this thing (and I've got power and conduit run to a perfect ceiling location. If I ceiling mount, the GWII isn't the best screen.

I may need to look at the high power. Main thing is I want at least a 1.5 gain (more if possible) white screen, 120" pulldown, for around $500 (or less).

Any recommendations are very appreciated!

i just got an ax100u and am trying to decide whether to go with 106" or 120". seating is 13-16 feet. i think i am going to get one of the Elite tab tensioned screens. they seem to be the biggest bang for the buck. it is going to be recessed in the ceiling and have a wall trigger to unroll. they can be found for just over your $500 price point.
anyone have one of these screens? any thoughts?