Because projection screens in dedicated home theaters tend to be big, often filling up most of the wall, this doesn’t tend to be an issue in a lot of rooms (but it is a big deal for flat panel TVs). The shape of your room and spacing of your seats can determine what screen works best in your room. The larger the number, the larger the viewing cone before the brightness drops by half from peak brightness. When looking at screen specs, look for the half gain number. Some screens will focus their reflected images in a narrow cone toward viewers directly in front, while others cast a wider image. A wide room he says, will require a screen that allows for a wide viewing cone. Harry Blanchard, of Hi Fi House in Broomall, PA, first looks at the shape and size of the room, when recommending a screen. The company recommends that screen gain should never be greater than the lens ratio. Stewart suggests that users should also be aware of lens ratio when selecting a screen, because it can impact uniformity and hot spotting. A high-gain screen can also help boost the performance of a dimmer, less-expensive projector. Sometimes, Haas says, a very high-gain screen can be a good option in an ambient light situation, but not all high-gain screens are good at rejecting ambient light or reproducing strong contrast. The downside is those screens may have a narrow viewing cone. However, to make selection easier people, Stewart recently launched a new brand of screens called Cima, which includes two materials: Neve, a while material with a wide viewing cone appropriate for light-controlled rooms and Tiburon, a gray screen meant to boost black level in rooms with more ambient light.ĭavid Rogers of Elite Screens agrees that screens which selectively reject light can work very well in “light infested” rooms because the screen’s reflective under layer only returns light coming from the direction of the projector. Finding that screen is a matter of evaluating the room’s variables, the projector and your expectations (and budget). “We were founded on the principle that there is a perfect screen for every application,” says Dave McFarland of Stewart Filmscreen. There isn’t an all-around best screen-one that works perfectly in all situations-but some basic guidelines can help you get the one that will work best, most of the time, in your room. In one home, he found that light coming in through a window in the back of the room was hitting the screen at just the right angle that the screen essentially treated it as if the light was coming from the projector, while light from other parts of the room didn’t create a problem. For instance, light rejecting screens are designed to turn away light at very specific angles while accepting light that comes from the direction of the projector. “We take into account the screen gain, the light output of the projector and the ambient light in the room,” he says.įor rooms with a lot of ambient light, he’s installed screens with a light rejection surface (also called angular rejection), which can work very well, but there may be situations where even that doesn’t solve all problems. The truth is that screens will behave differently in different circumstances, so you have to carefully consider what your room needs and what you want out of it when selecting a screen.Įric Haas, technical specialist at Current Concepts in Coopersburg PA says he recommends screens on a case-by-case basis. There isn’t one screen that will work for every situation. The material you aim your home theater projector at plays a big role in the image, but choosing a screen isn’t always simple. Here are some basic guidelines for dealing with light in your theater or media room. There are other factors that help ultimately determine the picture experience, including the home theater screen, ambient lighting control and room characteristics. We talk a lot about home theater projectors–how bright they are or what kind of contrast ratio they offer, but the projector is just the device that delivers the light.
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