[maxwell4321]

Hi

Is anyone using a bright pj (1800 -2000 lumens) with a glass beaded screen.
If so is the image too bright or any other detrimental effects, I'm about to buy a 120" screen but at that size the manufacturer only does it in glass beaded.
I could fit a ND2 filter would that help or should I go for a slightly smaller size of 106" which is available in Matte White.

the actual pj is a panasonic pt-ax200 (2000 lumens)

any help appreciated

[Harpmaker]

You might be able to use such a screen with a bright PJ by mounting the PJ as far AWAY from the viewing axis as possible. Glass beaded screens are retro-reflective which means they reflect the brightest straight back toward the light source (it's the way road signs and safety strips on clothing work at night). By having the PJ mounted as close to the ceiling as possible and having the screen as close to the floor as possible you would lose much of the retro-reflectivity of the screen and it would perform much like a standard white screen.

Check to make sure the glass beads used in the screen are not too large (the manufacturer should have this info). The larger the beads the higher the chance is that you will see a "grainy" image in bright scenes. This is one of the reasons the old glass beaded screens our fathers and grandfathers used with their slide-projectors won't work well with todays hi-res front-projectors we use in our home theaters.

[AV Nik]

As Harpmaker mentions, many Glass Beaded screens are Retro-Reflective (best for tabletop projection), some offer a grainy image, generally used for office type environment with a narrow viewing area.
With your pj, for best image I would recommend sticking with a matte white surface or you could try a High Contrast grey screen which many people with same projector use in average size brightly coloured living rooms.

Sapphire make a matte white, fixed frame screen with a black velveted frame around the size your looking for. Probably the best 'price concious' or cost effective screen you can buy.
Screen International offer the 'Fat Elastic' fixed frame screens and offer the HC version around 15% mor than the matte white version.
Beamax, Draper and Da-Lite all offer their own versions but once on the wall, it's hard to see the difference between those and the Sapphire screens.
Hope this helps.