Any advantage to a Matte White Screen V.S. Grey High Contrast 1.8 gain Screen 4 a personal theater projector?

Question

I have a projector for my home, with 2000 Lumens, 6000:1 contrast, 720p (native) and a greywolf 1.8 gain grey screen. It's Fantastic for day time viewing, but at night I can see the Silk Screen Effect (SSE). Those crystal like images that some of us unlucky ones notice. I was thinking about a second screen being matte white, but I noticed that I was loosing a little detail. However, the viewing angle is MUCH better for those viewing from the sides? Anythoughts? Basically I was thinking that if they made a grey matte screen that might be the bast idea...but I wasn't too sure if the loss of setail was the matte, or the color of white?

Answer 1

For a projector that bright, you should definitely go for a low-gain screen (1.0 or less); you will get a better viewing angle and I think a more pleasing picture. I think you really mean SSE, not SDE, since the former comes from the screen itself, not the projector. I use a Stewart Greyhawk screen (gain = 0.8) and get good results with a projector of lower contrast ratio than yours, no SSE whatever.

Answer 2

im assuming when you say silk screen effect, you are referring to the mesh pattern that all LCD projectors exhibit. A matte white screen wont help you to hide this. The only thing that a grey screen does is increase the contrast ratio because all LCD projectors suck when it comes to displaying black. I think your projector is too bright, and unfortunately turning down the brightness wont help. I wouldnt go using any other type of grey matte screen as this will destroy the color rendition and make the whites look dull. On my old projector I had a lens called an optical doubler, this screwed on the front of the lens and helped to hide the mesh effect. The best type of projector for home theatre is one of those old 3 gun CRT types. If you get one set up correctly, with a line doubler and a glass bead screen it looks almost as good as film. LCD or DLP just cant compete.

Answer 3

High Contrast Grey Screen

Answer 4

A few comments.

The Greywolf screens are not generally rated as good as some other brands, such as Carada, Da-Lite or Stewart.

I'm not familiar with SSE ... do you mean "screen door effect" (SDE)? If so this is unavoidable except by moving further back from the screen. With many projectors a viewing distance of 2X the screen width is recommended to reduce SDE. A way to test that would be to sit further back or shrink down the image a bit with the zoom and see.

That said, a 1.8 gain screen is likely more than you need given the bright projector (although if you are using on a very large screen (say 10ft wide in eco (or low power) mode it may not be.

You say the screen works well in the daylight so I'm guessing you have a fairly bright room (windows). This puts quite different demands on a screen and projector. It is doubtful you will be able to use one setup for both daylight and night viewing ... and you will need to consider this.

As noted by others the choice of grey or white really only impacts on contrast (grey is better for (most) LCD projectors since they are more likely to be "contrast challenged". But your model has a claimed CR of 6000:1 so grey likely doesn't do much for you. Any slight colour shift due to the grey screen should be correctable with projector controls. Similarly, your comment about colour difference for a white screen may indicate a need to adjust colour controls if you switch screens ... but is not, in and of itself a reason to reject white if it provides other benefits you are looking for.

The viewing angle can be an important consideration if you view with a number of people. In general, brightness drops off quicker off centre on higher gain screens. This is indicated by the angle at which brightness is reduced by 50% ... and is a rating provided by most manufacturers. In addition, higher gain screens are more prone to colour variation or "hot spotting" (althogh this shouldn't be a problem at 1.8 gain if the screen is well designed).

One option you might consider is borrowing a screen, or requesting samples of various screen materials from screen manufacturers to test in your setup. Carada, for example are very helpful in this regard (and can also advise on screen selection).

So ... where are we?
- You probably don't need a 1.8 gain screen.
- the choice of white or grey is likely more a personal choice than functional
- If you are seeing SDE, you need to view from further back (or use a smaller screen)
- A lower gain screen would possibly improve the picture for viewers off to the sides.
- trying alternate screens or screen samples may allow you to make an informed choice.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Well, most anything, as long as it's white, flat and big enough for the job, yes. A white wall would work well, or a big white sheet, as long as you secured it, perhaps to a wooden frame to make it taut. We've used our hallway wall on occasion to view slides on a slide projector, unfortunately it's woodchip, so it's not the best. Flatness is the key here. Surely projector screens aren't that expensive though? I'm guessing the new-fangled electric ones are, but an old one would do the job very well, and the advantage with a projector screen is that it's taut, and can be rolled back up very effectively. Well, anyway, whichever avenue you go down, good luck :)

Answer 6

2000 lumens is very bright. If you turn the brightness down and project onto a white matte screen it should look a lot better. Of course this is only a suggestion as i am no expert when it comes to screens.

My own projector is only 700 ansi lumens and it is very bright on a white screen (in a darkened room)

Hope this has been helpful
Cheers,Rob.