Electric Projector screens are screens that work on a motor, which makes the screen rolling and unrolling possible with the touch of a button. They are more comfortable than portable screens which require manual pull down of the screen. An electric screen also saves space since it can be easily rolled back into its casing when not required. The freed space can then be better utilized. Since all this happens at the press of a button, it turns out to be a great product in homes where space is a constrain.

In a previous post I had commented about 2 important technicalities to consider when buying a projector screen. They are: Projector Gain and Viewing Angle. Electric Projector screens should have a high viewing angle, typically greater than 120 degrees. Mostly, a gain around 1-1.5 should be enough. The screen should also provide a mechanism to hold the unfolded fabric in flat and sturdy conditions so that no image distortion occur.

1:1 Aspect Ratio

These screens are square in shape and traditionally used with standard overhead projectors. These would fit in most of the offices and conference rooms where the screen is mostly used for presentations and other non-video purposes.

4:3 Aspect Ratio

This kind of aspect ratio is mainly required for viewing standard video and playing a DVD on a projector. These screens are rectangular in shape and 4:3 is ratio of width to height of the screen. Video projections can also be done on a screen with 1:1 aspect ratio but the image size would be constrained by the width of the screen.

16:9 Aspect Ratio

This aspect ration is required for HDTV in widescreen format. Latest laptops can provide 16:9 pictures but whether they can output using one of the standard ports should be the criteria for selecting these widescreens

Some of the widely known electric projector screens are :

These screens typically come with diagonal dimension of 100, 106 and 119 inches. These projector screens provide excellent picture quality and a wonderful home theater experience. The motor used to control the screen does not make noise and enhances the overall experience. The screen comes equipped with a RF receiver which can be controlled with the help of a remote control so that the screen can be lowered and folded back with the touch of a button. This screen does provide good value for the money spent.

These screens come with two types of remote control. One type of remote uses Radio frequency to control the screen and the other uses infrared to control the screen. Infrared remotes have a smaller working radius and require the remote to be directed right towards the receiver on the screen. The RF remote can be directed anywhere and it would still work within 25-30 feet of the screen.

The Elite screen can come in two types of screen material. The Matte White screen material distributes the light evenly across the surface and is the most used for video or movie viewing using a DLP projector. On the other hand, High Contrast grey is used for high output projectors. This color provides excellent results with video or movie on LCD projectors.

This company provides one of the largest electric screen variety. The screens can be bought in various forms and all electric screens have a great finish and extremely silent motor. For example they provide high quality screens which can be concealed in the ceiling so that it can blend perfectly with the surroundings. Furthermore, the screens can be configured with the help of Da Lite electric to view it at a particular level. It can be rolled back within the enclosure with the touch of a button. All this ease and quality do come at a price and Da-Lite electric screens typically cost more than $600. Better the screen quality more is the price.

A Trigger is a device which moves the projection screen up and down automatically based on whether the projector is on or off. Please note that this funciton would only work with a trigger capable projector. The trigger wires need to be connected to the appropriate slots in both the projector and the screen. However, with the latest technology the trigger can also work  with a wireless link. In this case, the screen should have a wireless receiver to synchronize with the projector, which in turn should have a wireless trigger functionality.