[Dylan Charman]

Perhaps someone can help me out here


On the Da Lite site, they list their viewing angles of between 35 and 50 degrees

http://www.da-lite.com/Home-theater/...selecting4.php


But on the Stewart site, viewing angles are listed as being between 120 and 160 degrees.

http://www.stewartfilm.com/home_cine...theater_3.html


Is this correct? How can there be such a differential between the two manufacturers. a viewing angle of 35 degrees seems really small to me.

 

[Blake Brubaker - Da-Lite]

Dylan,


Your question is a good one and one that is asked many times.


You see at Da-Lite we list our viewing angles by the industry standard. That standard is to list them as the 1/2 angle. For example, when you are talking about our 1.1 gain Da-Mat material we list a viewing angle of 50 degrees. What that means is that your viewing cone is double that or 100 degrees. That also states that at 50 degrees from the center you will have 1/2 the brightness that you have at screen center (or on axis).


Now, that does not mean that after 50 degrees you lose the picture. On the contrary, after 50 degrees in most applications you still have a very acceptable picture. We are just trying to adhere to what has been considered to be the industry standard for many years. We do not embellish our numbers as others may.


This is not unlike the way that different projector manufacturers list their brightness and contrast measurements. You may see one with a listing of 1500 peak lumens but another with 800 ANSI lumens. If you were to put the two side by side you may find that they are either very similar or in fact the 800 ANSI projector appears brighter.


I hope this helps. The basic thing to remember when comparing screen surfaces is that if the gain is the same then the viewing angle must be very similar. The reason is because, unless you introduce things such as lenses or other alterations, there is a direct relationship between the gain and the viewing angle. That relationship states that as you increase the gain you decrease the viewing angle. After all, a screen cannot magically create more energy, it can only reflect, scatter or refract what light you provide it with.


Thanks,

 

[KFung]

Let me just add that the gross discrepancy in viewing angle between the Da-Lite and Stewart screens comes from different definitions of viewing angle. Stewart defines it as the total viewing cone and Da-Lite uses the angle off the centre line of the screen. I believe Stewart also uses the half-gain standard. So, to compare the numbers you would want to multiply the Da-Lite viewing angle by 2. (or divide the Stewart number by 2)


Regards,


Kam Fung

 

[jamoka]

Better check your math, KFung.

 

[KFung]

I never said that they would give the same number, I said the "gross discrepancies" were from the different ways Da-Lite and Stewart define viewing angle.


LOL, I like the quote in your signature.


Regards,


Kam Fung

 

[jamoka]

You're no fun anymore.