Choosing a Screen Surface for the Soul

People find that when shopping for a projection screen, they are often confused by which screen surface would be best for them and their use of the projector. That's easy. The best screen surface for most installations is Matte White. Try Matte White or Da-Mat by Da-Lite Screen Company. The next time you see a screen in a church, business, or home it more than likely will have a Matte White surface. It is the most versatile and least expensive screen surface. Ninety percent of all the projector screens on the market are Matte White surfaces.

Other screen surfaces are available in special colors and levels of reflectivity (called gain). One of the basic misconceptions with screen surfaces is that everyone needs a special screen surface to get excellent image quality from a projector. If you just bought a projector within the last year or so the picture quality will be superb on a low cost matte white surface. Projectors on the market today have the brightness (lumens) and contrast that you need to give you an outstanding picture on a variety of surfaces.

Maybe you're thinking "Why do I need a projector screen then?" Well there are several reasons why you want a projector screen. The main point is that a projector screen offers a uniform surface with the fewest possible distractions from the perfect clarity of your image. Projection surfaces like a plain white wall, butcher paper, bed sheet, or whiteboard have the advantage of being available nearly everywhere. However each of these surfaces has its own issues with surface texture, discoloration, transparency, and glare that an audience would notice in the bright light of a projector.

So there you have it. A Matte White projection screen offers the best projected image under most circumstances at a low cost. At even lower cost, there are items in most homes and offices that can serve double duty as projection surfaces. Each of these surfaces has its own issues with texture, color, transparency, and glare. As a third option, screens made with special colors and gain are available. These screens are designed to make the projected image as beautiful as possible in certain rare situations. Here is a discussion of how to choose a screen surface with the right color and gain to fit each situation.

Understanding Projector Screen Gain

There are some inherent qualities that make up the differences in projector screen surface types. The first is gain. Well what is gain? Gain is the reflective quality of the screen material. Gain affects your image by making it appear brighter. Back in the old days they would use shards of glass in the screen (glass beaded surface) to make the overhead transparency projectors brighter. Since then the screen manufactures have developed other alternatives for higher gain in screens. The downside to a surface with more gain is that your viewing angles become narrower. Viewing angle gives a sense of how clear the image will look to a person sitting beside the as compared to someone sitting in front of the screen. As the viewing angle becomes narrower, the audience should be placed more directly in front of the projector screen in order to see the projected image.

There is a give and take to getting a screen with increased gain. If you get a screen with too much gain for your situation it can produce a hot spot in the middle of your image. A hot spot will be a blue circle in the middle of the screen, and who wants that, right? "Then when would I need a screen with higher gain?" You need a higher gain screen when the lumen output (brightness) on your projector is not adequate enough for your room. Though a higher gain screen will help if you have an older projector to increase the brightness remember there are limitations to what it can do for your image. Sometimes the only solution will be to fork over the money and upgrade your projector to get your desired results.

Understanding Projector Screen Color

The other question that is asked "Do I need a grey screen as opposed to your basic white screen?" The grey screen came about because the early models of LCD and DLP projectors had poor contrast. This was especially true for the home theater enthusiast. The black levels were more grey than black. That is not the case anymore; a majority of the projectors being sold now have adequate to superb contrast in the projectors. If it is a home theater projector bought in the last year or two then it will definitely have adequate enough contrast. Most of those have a minimum of a 5000:1 contrast ratio. That should be adequate for most but if you are a home theater enthusiast who still desires the deeper blacks the grey screen is good alternative. People notice that projecting onto a grey screen darkens up the overall image, not just the blacks. If your projector is not very bright, it can make the image hard to see and who wants that? I would recommend getting a grey screen if you have at least 1800 to 2000 lumens on your projector.

For the non-home theater application (churches, business, education etc.) I would strongly suggest a matte white screen instead of a grey one because you are typically displaying to a wide audience (viewing angles) and the display screens are much larger than a home theater environment. When displaying on a large projection screen you are more than likely pushing the projectors brightness and getting a grey screen would only enhance the dimness of the image. If you go down the grey screen route, I would get a grey screen with a gain of 1.3 - 1.8 to offset the grey surface. Da-lite has a screen surface for their tensioned screens that handles this task nicely, the High Contrast Cinema Vision Surface.

Understanding Ambient Light - Special Considerations

Another question that gets asked is "What screen surface works best with a lot of ambient light in the room?" Well our suggestion is to buy some curtains. That could be rather pricey. For many churches curtains are not really an option for their stain glass windows. Also realize there is no AV equipment designed to combat ambient light. Mother Nature will win that battle every time, but here are some suggestions to choose screen material that offset some of the effects of ambient light. You will want to go with a low gain screen, because the higher the gain the more reflective the screen. You do not want the screen reflecting ambient light in the room. Also remember that the only light that you will be concerned with is the light around the screen area. The lighting in the rest of the room will not affect your image all that much. So maybe installing some dimmer light switches for the room or the lighting zone above the screen area can help as well.

Conclusion

"So which screen surface is the safe bet if I'm not sure?" The answer is Matte White. Ninety percent of all the projector screens on the market are Matte White surfaces. Most screens used in churches, businesses, and homes have a Matte White surface. Selecting the right projector screen surface is easy because a Matte White screen surface delivers excellent performance at low cost in most situations. Choosing a good projector screen surface for unusual installations is possible with an understanding of gain and color. Using gain and color to make the best use of unusual projectors and lighting conditions is an art form. With study and luck, I think you will be pleased with the results.