I’ve been researching screens for a few months now and think I’ve got it figured out……I have the 900 au. It’s too bad I didn’t wait a few months and get the 100, it looks like one hell of a projector. The stupid 900 sat in a box for five months before I hung it on my ceiling, right about when the 100 started selling. Oh well……

The ranting aside, don’t worry too much about gaming and TV / Sports with a projector and the lights on. Not everyone with projectors like to live in bat caves, myself included. There are a few things to consider though.

First off, don’t put any lights between the projector and the screen. After all, a projector is sending a beam of light to be reflected back at you, and any lights between it and the screen will only degrade what you see on the screen. At a minimum put these lights on a dimmer or a separate switch. Sure wish I would have thought about that before I hung the sheetrock. I have some lights without bulbs……..

Screen choices for bat caves are easy. Just go for a white screen unless your projector has a pitiful contrast ratio, then go for a high contrast grey.

Screen recommendations for use where there is ambient light start to get contradictory. You will see over and over again where grey screens are best because they reject ambient light, and they also improve contrast by bringing out the blacks. You’ll see this everywhere and that if you have a projector with “low” contrast, you’ll always be told to go with a grey screen. So what is “low”?? I asked this over an over again and couldn’t get a straight answer. Everyone just told me that I had one and that even though the 900 has a pretty high ‘advertised’ contrast, in actuality it isn’t. The guys at Stewart told me to stick with a grey screen unless my ‘real’ contrast was above 3000. The 900 tests out at around 2000.

So that’s the grey side of the argument for use with a lit room. You will also see over and over again where folks tell you to go with a high gain screen so that in ambient light it will reflect back to you more light than what the projector is putting out. Makes sense to me, ambient light, need more reflective light to see better…..hmmmm unfortunately, high gain screens are mostly white, or brilliant white, so that contradicts what the grey screen guys recommend. Catch 22…….

Fortunately for us, there are some screens out there that in theory should work for us living in the light. They call them high gain / high contrast screens. They will be grey or silver and have a rated gain of one or higher. Normally, a grey screen will have a gain of .8 or lower. And when tested, they tend to be lower than what the manufacture claims. There are a few of these high gain / high contrast screens available, but each one comes with its own little “issue” you have to contend with, so make sure you do your homework.

Stewart makes what they call the Firehawk screen (plus the GreyHawk and special order 3D silver). They have two versions of the Firehawk with two different gains. You need a minimum throw ratio of 1.6 for this screen to work best (projector throw distance divided by screen width). It is also an angular reflective screen which means the projector should be ceiling mounted so the image is reflected to the person sitting down. Stewart screens are one of the most expensive out there. Be sitting down when you get the quote. http://www.stewartfilmscreen.com/product_information/projection_screens_2.html

Vutec makes what they call the Silverstar screen. This screen has an amazing gain of 6.0. I didn’t look too close at this one because it comes as a ridgid sheet. It can not be shipped rolled up. You get a big assed box. Living in Alaska, this can be a problem. Big boxes don’t fit into planes very well. Make sure you get a quote for this screen AFTER you hear the Stewart price. I think these suckers go for about five grand. Not positive, didn’t check. http://www.vutec.com/silverstar.htm

Da-lite makes several different screen types. They have a couple HC/HG screens. I don’t know much about Da-lite. They are not quite as expensive as Stewart, but they aren’t far behind either……. I figured what the hell, I'm already into this deal for a lot of coin, so what's another two hundred. I ordered a Stewart. http://www.da-lite.com/products/selecting.php

Another thing to consider with ANY high gain screen is the viewing cone. What the hell’s a viewing cone?, I asked one salesman. Well, in short, it means that there is a “cone” in which a person can sit and view the image without some sort of image degradation. The “cone” is actually the angle from the screen into the room where viewers will be sitting. Why the hell they call it a “cone” instead of an angle beats me. Everything else is some sort of friggin angle, but oh no…..let’s call this something different just to confuse these poor bastards as if they aren’t confused enough. Anyway, high gain screens have a smaller viewing cove than standard screens. You’ll need to figure that out too……

Or, you can go the DIY route. I made the screen I’m using now and it works outstanding. I was going to make another one in a 2.35 ratoi, but I ran into troubles finding a mirror big enough to make the one I wanted to make. Plus, I can’t spray paint worth a crap so I decided to forgo the stress and just buy a damn screen. But if you’re interested in going the DIY route, I’d make the black flame. You can either mix your own paint, or buy it pre-mixed. After running around finding the different paints needed to mix it, I think buying it ready to go is well worth the price. http://www.xtreme-fusion-screens.com/home.html

If you are going to go the constant image height route, that’s another five hundred word discussion. But figure that out first, because you don’t want to go threw all this crap twice.

In summery, after having a big honking image on my wall for a month or so, I'd rather deal with the issues of projectors and have that big image than not.

It would apear that I've written a book.......crap, I've got things to do. Later......