Advice choosing a projector screen

Hi all,

Looking for advice in choosing a projector screen please. There are SO many choices, electric, tensioned, surface material etc etc

With my projectors throw ratio and mounted distance, the projected image will fit on a ~235 x 132 106" 16:9 screen with a few cm's to spare.

The projector is an Optoma HD141x if it makes any difference.

I was looking at this but was not sure on the quality of it for the cost?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Luxburg-106...ords=electric+projector+screen+16+9+tensioned

Any advice and suggestions are appreciated please!

Thanks in advance

I always suggest painting a big, white 16:9 screen on the wall and experimenting before settling on a size. If I had done the same it would have saved me 1000s! Choosing the right pj is easy - the right screen is the hard bit. Get the size you want sorted first.

Ha

To be honest, after watching a film just now... I'm actually really really impressed with the quality as it is, just projecting onto the wall.

I am debating (at least for now) just projecting onto the wall and maybe painting the wall a more projector friendly colour, but not sure which... Some people suggest matt white but some suggest a grey

Do you have any advice with regards to painting a wall instead of a screen?

Thanks!

Apparently there is a paint mix called 'Black Widow' which is meant to be the best. If you google 'Black Widow Paint UK' you'll find what I mean.

I too got a HD141X from the recent rainforest deals, managed to get it for £350~ after 5% student discount! I might buy a 100~ inch Foamex PVC thing and hang it on the wall.

Can I hijack this slightly? Exactly the same from me (projector, looking for 106" screen). However, if I was to wall mount it, does anyone know of any brackets that I can get to extend the screen from the wall say 4 to 5"? I'm not sure about mounting it to the ceiling at I think my joists don't run in the right place and really dont want to just mount to plaster board!

On the face of it that Luxberg screen seems okay, but reading the reviews tell another story.

There's a tonne of cheap screens on the market and they all share the same problem: They have to cut a lot of corners to hit the sort of price points that grab buyer's attention. The most obvious issues are screen rippling and edge curl because the material it thin. It's thin for cost and weight saving reasons. A lighter material is easier to roll back in to the case which then means they can get away with poorer quality spring- or motor-mechanisms.

Other less-obvious issues are the reflective qualities of the surface itself. That's not the same as 'screen gain', but the two things are related. Good screen surfaces are generally made in two parts; there's a backing material (PVC or some type of glass-fibre composite) on to which an optical coating is applied. The better the screen then the better the properties of all these elements. PVC is a useful backing material because it stretches. The type and thickness of the PVC determines those properties. For example, a fixed frame screen uses a very compliant material in order that it can be stretched taut to make a perfectly flat surface. A good roller-type screen will use a thicker PVC with enough compliance so that it hangs flat when pulled down by the counterweight bar, but not so stretchy that the screen edges curl over too much. Thinner PVC bases are naturally stretchier, and this is why screen rippling and edge curl are a bigger problem with budget screens that economise by using a lighter-weight material to save money. At the other end of the spectrum are the glass-fibre reinforced screens. These are much stiffer than PVC alone. These will produce the flattest surface with the least amount of edge curl before going to a good tab-tensioned screen.

Tab-tensioned makes sense where it's a step up from a good PVC surface. Sticking tabs on a floppy and thin surface is just going to make is taut in some places but not in others.

Optical coatings: A good screen coating scatters light uniformly, and in the process it doesn't change the colour of light or reflect it in a way that creates hot spots. Decorating paints rarely have to cope with the intensity of light that a screen surface does, nor are they designed to maintain the colour purity of the source. Paints that have these properties such as Screen Goo are almost the price of a decent budget screen. Having said that, if your budget means that it's a toss-up between a couple of tins of Dulux or a cheap screen from Ebay then I'd be tempted to go for paint. Once above this price point though I'd look at proper screens with a 1.0 gain. They'll work well in a wide variety of applications.

It's probably a bit more than you want to spend, but Sapphire make some decent budget screens. They are equivalent to what Beamax used to be before that company folded.


Phoenix211; the Sapphire screens have wall/ceiling brackets that can fit anywhere along the length of the screen case. That means the bracket positions can be adjusted to suit the joist positions as long as the joists run perpendicular. If they run parallel to the screen then Sapphire also makes the sort of extension brackets you were thinking of originally.

Lucid, your a legend. So this one might be a good one?

http://www.richersounds.com/product/projector-screens/sapphire/sws240wsf-asr2/saph-sws240wsf-asr2

with these brackets (my joists run parallel)

http://www.sapphireav.com/Extension-Brackets_c_106.html

azibux1 said:

Ha

To be honest, after watching a film just now... I'm actually really really impressed with the quality as it is, just projecting onto the wall.

I am debating (at least for now) just projecting onto the wall and maybe painting the wall a more projector friendly colour, but not sure which... Some people suggest matt white but some suggest a grey

Do you have any advice with regards to painting a wall instead of a screen?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I've run the gamut when it comes to projector screen paint! Black Widow, Screen Goo, various other custom mixes, and tbh start with Dulux Light and Space Absolute White and see how you get on. It's the cheapest, least hassle option, has some gain (reflects a bit more light), and you'll get nice results (I've bought screens with a worse picture). It's not the most colour accurate but good enough. Especially if you're not calibrating the pj.

This is the only pic I have of it!



This was about 5 years back and I've since moved on through 4 or 5 other increasingly large, fixed options (if I'd started with a massive painted screen I would have settled on my current much quicker and saved a bucket load of cash!), but this was my favourite painted solution and I actually preferred it to the Black Widow it replaced - altho BW is a decent grey option.

Phoenix211 said:

Lucid, your a legend. So this one might be a good one?

http://www.richersounds.com/product/projector-screens/sapphire/sws240wsf-asr2/saph-sws240wsf-asr2

with these brackets (my joists run parallel)

http://www.sapphireav.com/Extension-Brackets_c_106.html

Click to expand...

Yep, they'll do.

Wish I had room for a big projector (would just paint the wall)
Cant wait till I eventually buy somewhere with a big basement I can convert.
Having a big empty basement is one of my criteria for a new place to live!

Sorry there are some replies here I completely missed

Thanks again Lucid for the detailed response, much appreciated!

I think by the sounds of it I might go for Dulux Absolute White for now and then save for something like this:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/projector-screens/sapphire/sews240rwsf-atr/saph-sews240rwsf-atr

The only thing slightly putting me off is that I'd want all the features such as 12v trigger, electric operation etc... Which means I'm looking at spending just over what I spent on my projector itself haha... I guess it will be worthwhile however if it increases the quality of the image by a large amount

Lucid what do you think of the above? As mentioned due to positioning, it has to be electric and 12v trigger is a nice addition to that haha. EDIT: Just realised it isn't tensioned, but I think the point you're making is that tensioned screens are not so necessary at this price point as the screen material itself is higher quality? I assume curling at the edges would be covered under the warranty maybe?

I may be best off asking sapphire or richer sounds, but by any chance do you know if the trigger (or remote control) operation will auto-stop at a set point? Saves doing it each time. Or will it roll all the way down revealing all the black 'space' at the top? If so, that may end up being too low for where I have the image projected currently

EDIT: I also see it can be had for a more sensible price (a little under £400) from projector point, still comes with a 5 year warranty from them, compared to the 6 year from richer sounds

Sapphire screens come with a 3 year swap-out warranty from the manufacturer. Anything additional will be added by the retailer, so you'd need to talk to them about any differences in the warranty cover.

Screen triggering: Firstly, every one of the electric screens I have ever installed all had adjustable end stops for both the bottom and top park points. Once the limit stops are set then the screen with stop at those points every time.

Second, I'd think carefully before committing to relying on a 12v trigger for a couple of reasons. First, think about warm up and cool down. The screen will be down for however long it takes for each of those phases before and after picture. Second, there may be times when you need or want to put the screen up without switching off the projector, or you might want the screen down without the projector being fired up. I know that the Sapphires have a built-in IR control but I don't know whether the 12v trigger overrides this.

lucid said:

Sapphire screens come with a 3 year swap-out warranty from the manufacturer. Anything additional will be added by the retailer, so you'd need to talk to them about any differences in the warranty cover.

Screen triggering: Firstly, every one of the electric screens I have ever installed all had adjustable end stops for both the bottom and top park points. Once the limit stops are set then the screen with stop at those points every time.

Second, I'd think carefully before committing to relying on a 12v trigger for a couple of reasons. First, think about warm up and cool down. The screen will be down for however long it takes for each of those phases before and after picture. Second, there may be times when you need or want to put the screen up without switching off the projector, or you might want the screen down without the projector being fired up. I know that the Sapphires have a built-in IR control but I don't know whether the 12v trigger overrides this.

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Great thanks again

I've contacted a couple of retailers to confirm a few details. I'm tempted to get the screen after all and set it all up in one go

I've done some reading also and it seems the stops are adjustable which is great!

What is your view on that specific Sapphire one I linked to? With regards to it not being tab tensioned?

Also any advice on these (below) would be great if you have any :

http://www.cyberscreens.co.uk/electric-projector-screens.htm

Thanks, really appreciate all the advice

The Sapphire sounds like it has the right kind of screen material construction to lie flat. You really need to have a look at AV Forums and get some opinions from owners who have had there's some time.

Ditto the Grandview screens. The case construction looks very much like the mid-range Beamax screens of old.

lucid said:

The Sapphire sounds like it has the right kind of screen material construction to lie flat. You really need to have a look at AV Forums and get some opinions from owners who have had there's some time.

Ditto the Grandview screens. The case construction looks very much like the mid-range Beamax screens of old.

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Okay I'll try find some owners on AV Forums Thanks!

I bought a matte white Luxburg tab tensioned 100" screen... It was about £120 at the time though... prices gone up considerably by the looks! :-/

I personally love it and find it better than some other cheaper non-tab tension screens I've had in the past.
100" was as big as I could go with the housing being larger than the screen itself obviously.
Was tough to put up by myself but with some kiwi ingenuity I got it up and running ok!
Never looked back since... Movie night is something special!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iejcfPlfLVM

It's not perfectly flat but what waves still occur aren't noticeable when watching a movie unlike the days of old with past screens...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmXd7Hpzc5w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHWeS0DN2Gs

Thanks for the links, I think it kind of puts me off though if it is tab tensioned and still doesn't sit flat (despite the affect on the photo not being obvious)

I have some info back from a retailer about the sapphire if anyone is interested... With regards to the drop adjustment and remote control overriding the 12v trigger

The increments are within 5mm in terms of changing the screen drop so its pretty accurate. The remote control will override the trigger if you wish and the model you've asked for does come with a 12v trigger.

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Bought the sapphire

Useful info about the remote vs trigger, thanks

lucid said:

Useful info about the remote vs trigger, thanks

Click to expand...

No probs

Thanks for your help too!