By Carl Laron on September 5, 2011 in
While bigger and bolder flat panel LCD and plasma TVs are now available, if you want a breathtakingly large home theater picture at a price that won't have you reaching for some smelling salts, nothing beats a home theater projector. As our newly updated report finds, performance has never been better, and costs have never been lower. But while using a projector can create a home theater that will leave your neighbors green with envy, it takes a little bit of work on your part to get the best results. Part of that is finding the right screen. Here are some helpful hints.
Finding the perfect projector screen
As Greg Robinson at Electronic House magazine points out, for a home theater rather than a well-lit conference room, the goal is to provide enough contrast without making the image so bright that eye strain is inevitable. There are lots of ways to attack that problem. One is to lower the light output of the projector, if possible, but note that changing the light output can also affect picture quality in other ways. Another is to enlarge the size of the projected image, though in some cases the home theater room will limit the maximum practical size. Evan Powell at ProjectorCentral.com notes that viewing a screen size that's too large for its viewing distance can also be eyestrain and headache inducing. "The last thing you want is to get weary of your own home theater because you overdid the screen size," he writes.
You can also control image brightness by picking the right screen material. The amount of light that screens reflect can vary greatly. Almost all commercially made screens have a gain rating, measured relative to a flat, white board. A screen with a gain of 1.2 will reflect 20 percent more light than that white board. A screen with a rated gain of .9 will reflect 90 percent as much light, and so on.
Robinson also notes that using a high-gain screen to make up for a dim projector or a room with less than ideal light control isn't the best idea for a home theater. The problem, he says, is that the highest gain screens typically have narrow viewing angles -- how far off center someone can sit and still see the best brightness. They can also introduce artifacts such as color shift and hot spots -- not a big deal for a conference room presentation in most cases, but definitely a no-no if you want to watch a movie or other entertainment in its highest quality.
Buy or paint?
While lot's of projector screens are available, including some pretty pricey performers, Powell points out that with some nice projectors now available for $1,000 or less (some examples are cited in our report), it's getting tougher to justify laying out big bucks on a screen. The alternative, he says, is to paint your screen onto a wall, and his site outlines the steps in creating a good performing and attractive painted-on screen for less than $100. Powel does note that there are some drawbacks to this D.I.Y. approach, including convenience and portability. He also admits that those that are budgeting for a high-end projector might not want to scrimp on the screen if they want to get the best possible picture quality from their home theater set up.