The official SeymourAV center stage screen thread! - Page 57

Emails replied to. Catching back up from Easter break...

Cheers,
Chris

I will be using sunglasses -- for 3-D.

I'm looking at a 96" screen. If my wife gets rainbowed out with the DLP I like, we'll swap it out for an Epson 3010. And the Epson guys are talking about deploying Neutral Density filters with screens under 100". Having seen how bright that guy is on a 190-inch wall, I can see why.

However, to me it makes more sense to darken the screen than to throttle down the projector. You end up with reduced light in either case, but the darker screen will be -- well, blacker in response to ambient or reflected light.

My guess would be that if you used a thinned-down gray enamel spray on the xD, you might only need to punch the Treble pre-emphasis shelf up one tick to compensate. Maybe I'll ask for a small sample to test this, as I doubt there are enough customers in the sub-100-inch-with-light-cannon category to warrant actual production runs and inventory.

The E4k Material with a black backing gives the screen a grayish tint. I wouldn't spray the XD material. That sounds insane

Is that material available, or do you have to buy the whole shebang? I thought I read that they're only selling it as assembled product.

I wouldn't dismiss it as "insane." I would think of it more as -- well, to coin a phrase, AV Science.

Someone in this thread mentioned they were able to get it from Screen Excellence but I'm not sure. I would just order a 20x20 piece of the XD material from Chris and test it against your projector. I don't think the Epson will be too bright to be honest. If you had a DPI projector, then maybe.

It would be an interesting (AV) science experiment, both from the transparency test perspective as well as how to best apply a spray coating. I don't see the use of rattle cans as a way to get a uniform coating. Maybe get a auto body shop to do a professional spray job in a booth. But then, could the resulting fabric still be flexible enough to roll? As far as testing the result for its transparency properties, looks like you'd need a sample large enough (bigger than 2' square) to put in front of a speaker and measure with an RTA.

I fear, we've wandered into the DIY area.

For starters, I would have to assume painting the XD material will totally destroy the weave. Which would defeat the purpose of an AT screen.

If you insist on trying to paint it I would look at something like SEM Color Coat. It is made for painting automotive interiors. You can paint plastic, leather, vinyl, carpet, you name it. Key is you do is in light coats on plastic so you don't loose the grain that is embosed into the plastic. Same should apply to the screen, light coats so you don't fill the weave.

As long as it is a fixed screen, it doesn't need to be a special paint. Unfortunately, I think any paint is going to effect the acoustical properties of the material like Tony said.

I probably should have posted on the DIY section, but the xD commentary seems more active over here these days.

Again, the rationale is to "convert" a smallish AT screen from single-chip DLP to light cannon.

IMHO the trick is to get the spraying applied evenly. Don't want to reduce the reflectivity too much, so a lighter shade of gray would be sufficient. A thinner coat should have less effect on the acoustical properties, and will have less visible hot spots.

Which brings up another question: Isn't the xD material reversible? If so, you might be able to have two screens in one, or at least get a second crack at the spray application (spray bleeding notwithstanding).

Although it might further the science aspect, I don't think test gear would be necessary for an acoustical evaluation -- just A/B between a small treated sample and an uncovered speaker. I'm reading about -2dB VHF reduction currently with xD; I would expect another 1-2dB or so (maybe lower HF corner freq), which would be no big deal to equalize with a simple Baxendall-type pre-emphasis. Just get the FM radio unmuted interstation (white) noise to sound the same, and you're there.

Why not put an ND filter in front of the projector lens?

A ND filter just reduces the brightness of the projected image. It will not reduce the reflected intensity of non-projected (i.e., ambient) incident light which is polluting the projected black areas and reducing image contrast and "pop."

Hi All. I just replaced my old Seymour electric 16:9 with 2.35 scope. I noticed that i got a new remote. instead of the 2 silver pebble sized one, I now got a somewhat bigger white remote. Are they the same, and how do I operate it? It does not come with a manual and I cannot find it on Chris website... On the website, it seems like there is a black and silver, but mine is white.. so I am scratching my head here...
I haven't put my screen up yet, but I just want to make sure so i don't have to send it back... Thanks in advance!

That's the new remote for the new Gen5 motors. It will work with your new screen for sure, but not your old screen. It's still a simple up/stop/down combo that you'll surely figure out. We'll get the new pics up and clean up the remaining references soon.

Cheers,
Chris

Thanks Chris. How do I program the stop position?
I try the old way to press STOP+DOWN, but it does not work (also, therei is no LED now on the screen case, so I don't know when I get it in or not).

It seems like if I just press STOP for a while, it will beep and seems like I am in program mode. But then, I don't know what to do next, and how to exit etc.

Thanks,

Thomas

There wasn't enough room below my screen for the sub to entirely be clear of the bottom of the frame, and that was having an impact on sound, so I has to move my sub up so its entirely behind the screen fabric, on top of a hefty concrete block. the front of the subwoofer about about 3" from the screen fabric (front firing sub)

In normal movie situations, sitting 11'-ish away I don't notice anything. But getting up close to the screen (ie 1' away) on a heavy bass rumble I can see the screen vibrating.

I'm sure moving the sub back would eliminate the visible vibrations, but I'm too tight for space to see how far back.

How did you test for the impact the screen frame was having on the sound?

I have two 15" front firing subs behind the EN4K frame and screen and the screen frame is in front of the subs, some screen above and GOM below. I haven't noticed any difference from before I put the larger screen in where the frame crosses the sub driver.

The RF-Gen5 motor limits are mechanical using the little hex tool that was included with the screen. To adjust the limits, look up in the motor head and identify the arrow indicating which roller direction's limit you're adjusting. The pot next to each arrow has a + and - direction. You'll need to actuate the motor to its limits each time to see how it's changed, which can be done with only a few inches of travel.

You shouldn't need to program the remote unless assigning a new one to the motor. However, if you do the procedure is:
* Hold "up" button for 2 seconds with the screen unpowered.
* Plug in the screen while still holding the "up" button. The motor will chirp in confirmation.
* Release and tap the "up" button again within five beeps (a few seconds).

Cheers,
Chris

Here's to my knowledge the second most powerful subwoofer setup behind a Center Stage XD screen. He upgraded from that little CRT to a nice big screen, while keeping his acoustic configuration in its best sounding location. Like any proper audiophile would.

No reported issues with screen (or bowel) movements.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2rJSZKZsyQ

OK. I found the adjustment in the roller head.
It seems like the upper hole is for adjusting UP, and the lower hole is for adjusting DOWN. Since I will be adjusting the DOWN limit, I will use the DOWN hole.
And I see a + on the right and - on the left. So, + means increasing the limit (so in the case of DOWN, it will extend more??)

i also do not see the HEX tool.. I assume it is inside the white package, but all I got is the remote, a pen, a keychain and a registration card.. Can you send one to me?
I hope it is short and may be angled enough, because that part of the control is sort of "covered" by the panel, and it is extremely hard for me to even see inside the hole. Spacing is maybe at most 2 inches....

I'm still waiting on my shipment from Chris. I am so excited. Ordered last Saturday, was supposed to ship Monday, but there were some issues with production that has greatly delayed shipments. :-( Here it is Friday, we've got people coming over this weekend to check out the new theater, and no screen. It is as much my fault as any for not ordering sooner, but when I heard that it would ship this past Monday (and I am a quick 2 hour drive from Chris), I foolishly made my plans.

I guess they will just have to deal with projecting on a brown textured wall. LOL

Oh well, things could be worse. I am just wanting to get to the next phase of my theater completion.

I have received my samples of the XD material and the 4K for my 174" Diagonal Curved Screen, one thing I noticed with the XD material was that it got brighter as I moved off axis. Did I have my sample sideways or is this a feature of the XD?

John

Just an update on my order as it may relate to others out there, but my screen material should be arriving today. I called Chris yesterday to find out what was going on, and he told me that it was shipping yesterday "for sure". Well, it did. A week late, but at least it is coming. Now hopefully FedEx didn't trash it in the 2 hour drive from Seymour to me.

At what size is a seam introduced to an AT Centerstage scope screen?

I would say that it depends on if you use the material "straight" or at an angle. (Angle if there is any chance of moire.)

For a straight cut, you are at 98" vertical max, but that doesn't allow for attaching to a frame. Depending on your attachment method (grommets with rubber o-rings should yield about as much of that 98" as possible, but still losing about 4" in height)...

2.35:1 at 94" vertical is 220.9" wide (18.4 FEET wide) or 240" diagonal
2.40:1 at 94" vertical is 225.6" wide (18.8 FEET wide) or 244" diagonal.
That is with my quick math anyway. MASSIVE screens no matter how you slice it.

Am leaning toward one of these screens but had a question about what can be seen behind it...will speakers with gloss or piano black finishes cause problems? Looking to get B&W CM9s but haven't honed in on a finish yet.

If you do have issues you can put the black backing behind it. I have speakers with white cones and can't see them at all with the black backing, never tried it with out the backing.

True dat. I'd add to not worry about the tilt number. Our standard practice is to angle the cut at 20 degrees but then shallow that out as the screen size gets larger. Once the angle gets down under about 8 degrees we then just do a regular cut. It's worked 100% of the time.

If the giant sizes Nick calculated aren't large enough for your should-be-commercial theater, you can step up to our S-SE Enlightor screens for up to 20 foot tall screens. We have yet to actually need to do a seam although we're set up for it as needed.

Cheers,
Chris