Front vs Rear Projection

[Peter Hogan]

The main reason I chose to use my bare wall to project on is because I am still deciding on what material to go with? The Da-Lite Hi-Power was at the top of my list, but now that I have my projector mounted I don’t think the Hi-Power will work. The Hi-Power is a 2.8 gain silver screen that is retro reflective, it can give you that plasma look (bright vivid colors) but at the expensive of a little of your projectors black levels. Being that the Hi-Power is retro reflective it will beam the light straight back at the projector, so its best for table mounted, or ceiling mounted projectors with a drop bracket. The Hi-Power has a very narrow viewing cone, so your best to have the projector mounted at head height, and on axis pointing straight at the screen.

My problem is the stud in my ceiling, I have to mount the projector too, did not allow for the projector to be in line with the center of the screen. The projector is about 8” off center, so I don’t know if a silver screen will work? My 2nd concern with it being off center is hot spotting; I may get a hot spot because of the projectors lens shift. The best way to answer these questions is to get a sample of the material and try it in my set up and see.

I have seen the Fire Hawk material paired with the HS51 projector at my dealer and it did look good, but for critical viewing its best to stay with white or silver screen. If I was going use my setup with a little light in the room then yes I would go with a gray screen, if I had a lot of light in the room then a black screen. But white or silver is my favorite, no crushing of black detail or murky whites. Black and Gray screens do have their place in home cinema but for me I found it hard to look past the crushed black detail and the dark looking whites.

My first choice is the Da-Lite Hi-Power, 2nd is the Stewart Warner UltraMatte 150.

Hi,
I am using the Da-Lite Hi-Power screen, and it works very well. I am using a Panasonic AE700 projector, and first got the Da-Lite Hi Contrast Matte White (HCMW). This also worked well, but was a bit low on overall brightness, unless the room was VERY dark (the projector is rated for 1000 lumens, and I'm throwing a 120" picture).

Once I swapped the HCMW for the Hi-Power, there was MUCH better brightness, and overall 'punch' to the picture. I have the projector mounted on a shelf , centered, at the rear of the room, about 6 feet off the floor. You do notice a bit of brightness dropoff as you move to the side of the room, but even there it is brighter than the HCMW screen was.

HTH,
Peter

 

[tsd2005]

Robin,

A black screen should only be used in a situation were ambient light is a major concern. Black screens are not good for critical watching, the picture will look good with lots of light in the room, but then you turn off the lights you black and white detail will be crushed. A space scene in StarWars will have no visible stars, someone warring a black shirt will have no detail in the shirt, it will look flat black with not textures for buttons. A black screen is good for a person that wants to watch their projector during the day or at night with the lights on.

If your looking for a screen that can do double duty, and offer you a watch able picture with some ambient light, and with no lights. Go for a “Gray” screen like the FireHawk, a gray screen is designed for digital projectors because the material can give your DLP, LCD, SXRD, Etc. front projector darker looking blacks. The problem with Gray is it also can crush blacks, but that the price you pay for darker blacks.

Silver and White are the best for critical viewing, but wont do a damn thing in a room with ambient light. Again see this thread for comparisons of these four different types of screen materials.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=262466


W = White material , G = Gray material, S = Silver material.

As a dealer for Stewart, Da-Lite, and Sony let me say....


There is no better screen for any circumstance than the Sony Blackscreen. It flat out has a better picture than Stewart and Da-Lite. The ISF tech we have on hand was floored with the picture quality from the blackscreen.

Light, dark, etc. doesn't matter. Under both conditions the blackscreen outperformed the Da-Lite and Stewart.

The downside: It only comes in one size: 80 inches. Which is small for a lot of people who have dropped $$$$ on a Front Projector.

The reason the size is small imho: its not a normal screen. Its like a white dry eraseboard covered with a black erase board. Its really hard to describe. It is however a solid screen. You can't roll it up. Shipping issues are likely one reason that currently its only 80 inches. The Sony reps have promised a 100 inch and 120 inch screen for the future.

When those come out I'm getting one. The colors, etc. are amazing. I don't know how Sony did it... but it works.

 

[tsd2005]

As for the original topic:

Front Projection if you have the room for it.

DLP prices have dropped dramatically. You can get a 720 DLP projector for around $2,500 right now, and thats better than the Panasonic you're looking at. The Sony is better than the Panasonic imho, and worth the money. However with DLP prices down, its hard to ignore them.

 

[Reverb2009]

As a dealer for Stewart, Da-Lite, and Sony let me say....


There is no better screen for any circumstance than the Sony Blackscreen. It flat out has a better picture than Stewart and Da-Lite. The ISF tech we have on hand was floored with the picture quality from the blackscreen.

Light, dark, etc. doesn't matter. Under both conditions the blackscreen outperformed the Da-Lite and Stewart.

The downside: It only comes in one size: 80 inches. Which is small for a lot of people who have dropped $$$$ on a Front Projector.

The reason the size is small imho: its not a normal screen. Its like a white dry eraseboard covered with a black erase board. Its really hard to describe. It is however a solid screen. You can't roll it up. Shipping issues are likely one reason that currently its only 80 inches. The Sony reps have promised a 100 inch and 120 inch screen for the future.

When those come out I'm getting one. The colors, etc. are amazing. I don't know how Sony did it... but it works.

You’re a Da-Lite dealer? Care to cut me a killer deal on a Da-lite Hi-power cinema contour screen?




Sony’s screen does well for what it is, but the black crush bothers me. I don’t like loosing detail but that the sacrifice you make for blacker blacks and being able to use it with ambient light. The casual viewer will love it, the critical watcher will find it hard to watch.

Being that you’re a Stewart Warner dealer I am sure you know that they have been working on there Owen black screen for a few years now, but they wont release it until they feel it as perfect as black screens can get. Even Stewart film screens have said that black screens are great but should not be used for critical viewing.

There is no such thing as a perfect product; you just have to find the one that has the flaws that you can live with.