The official SeymourAV center stage screen thread! - Page 66

Just got my XD material today. I had a buddy come over and help me install it. I have a curved screen and I am using the Screen Tight method. It went relatively well. I thought it would be a good idea to install the screen initially on the outside channel. It turned out to be a good idea, as there were some very minor wrinkles that disappeared when running spline material through the inner channel. What I didn't anticipate was how much we pulled the top and bottom of the screen together. Initially there was some definite sag, but when I added my support braces, it was actually too tight, and the spline started to come out on the bottom. So, we removed the supports, drank some beer and watched the first part of Skyfall. I decided it would be a good idea to leave everything "as is" for a week or two and see if there is any relaxing of the material. Then, I will add my braces back into the equation. If the relaxation of the material isn't as much as expected no biggie - I can hack off a bit of the supports to the point where they won't be pulling out the spline material. Currently there are a few very minor wrinkles at the edges that need to be attended to which amazingly aren't even noticeable while watching a movie. As it stands, the PQ is head and shoulders above my old screen - it is bright, crisp and the sound comes through it loud and clear.

If I were to do it again, I'd probably go with the grommets/o-ring method, but hey, I already had the screen tight installed, so...

I'll post pics in a bit here. Damnit Skyfall does look great on it, though!

.

Damn you - Skyfall isn't released until March 27 here in Aus. Stupid movie studios!

I know that Seymour has the ability to cut their screens at an angle to aid in preventing moire, but the screen I ordered is about 150-156 inches diagonal. Chris told me that was too large to have cut at an angle. I don't know what the largest screen is that can be cut this way, but my size is too large.

I'm hoping I don't have moire issues. I won't have the screen up and projector mounted for another month or two.

Chris,

Can you post a picture of the economy frame in comparison to the premiere frame.

Iso shot. The edges were paint-penned a little along the front so the cross section looks weirder than it is.



Straight on:



Cheers,
Chris

I used visual apex frame from a 120" screen with Centerstage XD without any modifications. As an upgrade this seemed like a no-brainer. But if one is looking for a sturdy aluminum frame without vertical support bars in the middle, VA screens maybe a cheaper alternative to the Seymour "economy" line even at full price. They are only available in 16:9 aspect ratio though.

FWIW.

Sorry for the long delay. My meters and I were overdue for some quality intimate time together.

Here is a general top-down view of the A4K top left, Dazian's Celtic Cloth on the lower left, and Dazian's Coated Celtic Cloth on the right. There were several posts in the DIY forum up until around 2008 as it was a fairly popular DIY AT material. Simply search "CCC" when you have some PTO time to burn off. It was a pretty mediocre material that had low gain and wasn't very A.T. (-3dB started at 8kHz). Still, like the spandex screens they're currently playing with, for small screens where you're sitting up close, it can do the job. Be careful with interpixel light bleed through these types of materials, which can be seen as a haloing effect around something white on a black background. They also must have black backgrounds behind them or else additional light contamination from the back will further reduce the contrast ratio. Typical cost for CCC or spandex screens are about $60 of bulk material, so if you have expectations around the value point of painted screens, they can meet those expectations.

A little bit of the reference target is peeking out at the bottom so I could do a white balance correction. It's perhaps a tad overexposed but the balance is basically there.



Regarding gain, without any scaling or benchmarking to other materials (an unfortunate reality of practice these days - I may start rating things both ways), here are the test results:

Elite A4K: 0.69
Dazian Celtic Cloth: 0.72
Dazian Coated Celtic Cloth: 0.74

A valid question would be what the heck Dazian is coating it with, as nothing was visible to me. No additional sheen or anything, but the meter was picking up a tiny increase in brightness and a more accurate color. The color temperatures of the three materials are hard to see but here's the measurements:

Elite A4K: 6954 degrees, R: 96.5%, G: 97.3%, B: 106.2%. Essentially, too cool a white but I suppose if you're going to market a dim screen material having a slightly cool temperature can make it appear brighter since the eye is more sensitive to blue.
Dazian Celtic Cloth: 6765 degrees, R: 97.2%, G: 99.5%, B: 103.3%. Closer... This shows that while the weave, density and thread size appear identical, the thread itself is better.
Dazian Coated Celtic Cloth: 6593 degrees, R: 99.6%, G: 98.8%, B: 101.6%. Nailed it. This is essentially a pure white screen, which is likely why (along with its cost) it was quite popular in the DIY forums like the Wilsonart laminate.

A little closer shot:



Even closer ...



And a very close one at some angle so you can see how the weave pattern is the same, 100% polyester PFR.



I didn't measure the acoustical transparency of the Elite, as I assume it's similar to the CCC. These kinds of thicker weaves need to be stretched tight so they can open up and the transparency improves. Perhaps for proper sonic transparency Elite intends for their customers to have to stretch the material like this customer's third A4K screen from them:



Long story short, you can have a brighter, more color accurate 4K screen by making a Dazian CCC screen for much less money. I'm also guessing that you could put together a better fitting result.

Cheers,
Chris

Good to know. I'll put that on the site as a resource for those who need the total screen cost to come in even lower than our economy screen but aren't into wrapping wood frames.

Cheers,
Chris

Thamks Chris,

Decisions, Decisions. Looking at a 115" diag screen, contemplating whether to DIY the frame or go with the economy.

Am I crazy or were there no pics of the economy frame up on the seymour website yesterday????

Pics were there when I first stumbled across this last week.

That is a great attitude! I was a little worried if it was appropriate to post the info here.
Respect.

Thanks for the info Chris.

This CCC material is quite impressive for a cheaper DIY alternative.

Did you have a chance to measure the spandex?

I think you would be much appreciated in the DIY forums.

Zheha - that looks pretty cool on the VA screen.

I have a 135" elite sable screen and the clip setup looks kind of similar. I am wondering if the same thing could be done othe Elite frame? Has anyone here tried that?

Why don't you get a free sample from Chris and give it a try? The fabric is fairly thick. If you manage to wrap it around the plastic rod, or whatever is used in Elite frames in its place, squeeze it into the groove and put the clip over then it's a go.

I believe I just might do that. I think I already have a sample around here somewhere. Just gotta find it...

Thanks for putting the idea out there!

Thanks Chris! I really appreciate you posting this up.

I have large samples of XD and Enlightor 4K hanging on my wall right now.


It might be in this thread but I can't find it.... what are your measured gain and color temp readings of XD and E4k?

Thanks

For this round of testing and comparison purposes:

Enlightor-4K: unbenchmarked gain: 0.77, color temp: 6452, R: 101.2%, G: 99.0%, B: 99.8%
XD: unbenchmarked gain: 1.00, color temp: 6596, R: 98.9%, G: 100.0%, B: 101.1%

Cheers,
Chris

Hahaha. I'm not touching that one with a ten foot pole.

Ahem.... my backside is still smoking from accidentally mentioning 'Centerstage XD' over in "MM's forum" a few days ago trying to help a fellow out. I aint never going back over there.

I put together my 140" curved XD screen yesterday.

First, let me say that it is a 1 man job, a rarity these days.
The process is very straightforward and simple, and the unique way that the screen material is fitted via the rubber bands is foolproof. Instant and perfect tension.
My first row is about 8ft to the eyeballs and I cannot make out the material in broad daylight. I have to stand about 4ft to see it.

Perfect!!!

Nice! Let's see some pics!

Shhhhh..He's probably listening in right now.

And by the way, Dropzone, not sure if your avitar is a picture of your girlfriend, daughter or yourself (ya right) but you're going to have to change it. Very distracting to us home theater geeks.
Edited by DavidK442 - 2/15/13 at 5:50am

Sounds great. Some more details please?

Did you build your own frame?

Ha! It's my wife. I can't tell you how many PM's I have received about that. I always let her read them and we have a laugh.

Okay, I changed it. Same wife, different pic.
Edited by dropzone7 - 2/15/13 at 8:28am

Haha, that sounds familiar. I created my "use Seymour fabric on a Jamestown frame" thread there initially (before the fabric was offered by James as an option), thinking it would be an option of interest to those considering DIY because they wanted to save money. Promptly got beaten up by the usual suspects. The folks there provide a great service, but are quite territorial.

LOL. Thought you just change the wife.:p

Remind me again what dropzone7's avatar was. Was it the swimsuit from behind at the beach?

Ha, I would be hard pressed to get a picture of my wife in a bathing suit. She doesn't like the sun or heat which is why she looks like Casper the ghost. If it were up to her we would live in the Arctic. She keeps the thermostat on 62 at night with fans pointed at us and I'm shivering under blankets.