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Can't decide on the screen material

1600 Views 13 Replies 8 Participants Last post by xb1032, Jul 25, 2009

maxl

Discussion Starter · Jul 17, 2009

I have hard time deciding on the screen material. Here is what I have - a dedicated 12'x13' room with black everything except the carpet (light brown). The room will be used for films, sports and photo slideshow watching. I want a 106" diagonal 16:9 screen.

The room is light-controlled, so my initial intuition was just to go with a plain matte white screen. However, I had to take into account 2 things:

1. Many of the viewings will be with minimal lights on so that people would at least be able to see their drinks and snacks.

2. I am worried about light reflected from the screen "polluting" the room - the screen is rather big for such a small room, so reflected light can be a significant factor even with black walls...

So should I rather consider some lightly reflective screens to get less stray light and better light rejection? If so, would I be better off with gray or white background (e.g. Da-lite cinema vision or da-lite high-contrast cinema vision?)

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Tryg

· #2 · Jul 17, 2009

read reviews below

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Daniel Hutnicki

· #3 · Jul 18, 2009

with the right conditions (which you definitely have) I like go with a white 1.3 gain screen. I like to keep it simple and that screens works really great. Not a big fan of unity screens and while they work great you basically need a black cave which according to your description you may have. The 1.3 gain is just enough to give you a brighter picture without creating any issues for you

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Jason Turk

· #4 · Jul 20, 2009

Quote:
Originally Posted by maxl /forum/post/16842847

I have hard time deciding on the screen material. Here is what I have - a dedicated 12'x13' room with black everything except the carpet (light brown). The room will be used for films, sports and photo slideshow watching. I want a 106" diagonal 16:9 screen.

The room is light-controlled, so my initial intuition was just to go with a plain matte white screen. However, I had to take into account 2 things:

1. Many of the viewings will be with minimal lights on so that people would at least be able to see their drinks and snacks.

2. I am worried about light reflected from the screen "polluting" the room - the screen is rather big for such a small room, so reflected light can be a significant factor even with black walls...

So should I rather consider some lightly reflective screens to get less stray light and better light rejection? If so, would I be better off with gray or white background (e.g. Da-lite cinema vision or da-lite high-contrast cinema vision?)

Some things to consider...light control has various parameters that make it true or false. Often people think that a room with no windows means light control. While that is part of it, the color of the room makes a big difference. In your case it is what I would call light controlled, the above was more for other readers.

Now, what projector do you have? How is the projector going to be positioned? Once we know those, some calculations can be made to determine what would work best.

All in all based on the info we have so far, I would have to concur with Daniel...white, lower gain probably is going to be ideal.

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maxl

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 20, 2009

Thanks everyone. I am actually shopping for a new projector now, but will be temporarily using Sony HS50 with a new bulb (rated at 1200 lumen on high and about 900 on low, but of course is a bit less bright in most modes). I am planning to replace it with a something reasonably good for under $6K street price by October.

I am free to place the projector wherever. I planned to put it on a shelf slightly above head levels - probably on or slightly above screen normal, but I can change that if it is not optimal. The only restriction is that it will be about 12' from the screen, so I will have to use fairly wide angle to get the screen size I want.

If 1.3 gain white is optimal in this case, would Da-Lite Cinema Vision be a good option? What about Da-Lite's 1.5 gain materials - would they give better ambient light rejection without much compromise in my conditions? I am not brand-loyal to Da-Lite, it is just something I can get fairly easily here in Canada.

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Jason Turk

· #6 · Jul 20, 2009

Have you considered Hi Power? I ask because your description of placement is perfect for it, and it is one of the better fabrics on the market for reducing ambient light reflections.

Tryg has a good write up on its properties.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=773065

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maxl

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 21, 2009

Yes, I have considered Hi-power as the reviews I've seen have been very favorable, but not sure about it because of its high gain. It may be too high for my needs (I can probably use the projector in low mode though) and the compromises (hotspottying, viewing angle loss) may be too significant. Also, I mentioned I will have to project very wide as the projector will be only 12 ft from the screen - I've heard this may be a problem for high gain screens. Does this apply to Hi-Power.

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Drexler

· #8 · Jul 21, 2009

The HP works very differently compared to most high gain screen.

It will be no problem for you to have the projector close to the screen. In fact, it's better the closer you can get the projector to your seating position.

There will be no hotspotting or screen structure. However, there is a significant drop in brightness at high viewing angles.

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Jason Turk

· #9 · Jul 21, 2009

I think a lot will depend on your projector choice, but as Drexler said, Hi Power is a bit different so I doubt you'd have any issues.

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FLBoy

· #10 · Jul 21, 2009

I agree with what Drexler wrote. I will add my opinion that the HP will run circles around the cinema vision and the high contrast cinema vision in ambient light--provided that the ambient light is not coming from behind the viewers.

I have a 100" HP paired with a JVC RS10 in my off-white family room. (I do use dark drapes at the rear of the room.) I generally operate low lighting off to the sides of the room to keep from tripping over our dog and two cats when going to the kitchen for refills. I run the RS10 on low bulb and the lens aperture at the medium setting. My whites are bright, my colors pop, and my blacks are inky. I could not be more pleased.

As to the drop in brightness at large viewing angles, yes it happens; but it is not as severe as it was on my SXRD rear projection TV prior to setting up my FP. The off-angle picture still looks good--just dimmer.

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Jason Turk

· #11 · Jul 22, 2009

As to the drop in brightness at large viewing angles, yes it happens; but it is not as severe as it was on my SXRD rear projection TV prior to setting up my FP. The off-angle picture still looks good--just dimmer./QUOTE]

I'll add that unless one is moving back and forth during the movie, they'll never realize that it is dimmer anyways, so often made a bigger deal of than it needs to be.

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maxl

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jul 23, 2009

Sounds good - I'll go with Hi Power. If it does not work out for the theater, I can always use it as a secondary screen for non-light-controlled rooms or meeting room in the office. Thanks for all the comments.

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notoriousmatty

· #13 · Jul 25, 2009

I originally bought a carada classic white screen. Like you I had a small room (12x16) and only sat 9 feet away from a 96 inch screen. I have an rs2. Now Im going to buy a hi powered da lite myself. The image is just too dim with a 1.0 gain screen and I have nothing to lose going up to a hp. A 600 dollar lesson

Your doing the right thing getting hp

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xb1032

· #14 · Jul 25, 2009

Quote:
Originally Posted by notoriousmatty /forum/post/16884998

I originally bought a carada classic white screen. Like you I had a small room (12x16) and only sat 9 feet away from a 96 inch screen. I have an rs2. Now Im going to buy a hi powered da lite myself. The image is just too dim with a 1.0 gain screen and I have nothing to lose going up to a hp. A 600 dollar lesson

Your doing the right thing getting hp

I really think you'll be happy. I bought a motorized-tensioned Elitescreen and went with a HP DaLite Model C manual and the picture is so much better I've completely forgotten about not having a motorized screen. It's that much better IMO. Hope you enjoy!

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