[joe999]

My projector has a relatively high output of 1800 lumens and I've been browsing for 120" screens, however, the only two options in my price range are the two extremes: low gain (for projectors with low contrast ratios) and high gain (1.8). I was going for the 1.1 to balance between the two but its too expensive. Will I regret buying a high gain screen for video games and movies? Thanks for any input.

[wiatrak]

What's type of PJ you have? And what is the distance between PJ and the screen? I think you might have good results with 0.8 gain screen, but with minimum possible distance to screen (max zoom). With high gain it is much safier with brightness, but you might get some loss in black level. Would you regret? That's depends on your preferences, if you not too much for "inky" blacks, then no...

Image brightness is measured by foot-Lamberts (fL). To calculate foot-Lamberts, the formula is: fL = lumens * screen gain / sq foot of screen. Recommended is 16 (minimum 12) fL.

But as always, there is one catch: lumens in specs are maksimum, for unusable in home cinema settings (with some exceptions, sometimes manufacturers specs are not far away from reality). If you set correct grayscale then you might get even twice or three times less lumens as in max. Brigtness also depends from zoom setting ,especially in LCD PJ with wide range of zoom.

You might find some review of your PJ, where the ANSI lumens measurements for cinema mode are posted, and calculate fL by yourself.

Are you familiar with Calculator Pro on Projector Central? It also shows foot Lamberts, but they claim it is for 75% (for lamp ageing) lumens from specs. Calculator shows also how image brightness is affected by zoom setting.
Projection Calculator Pro - Projector to Screen Distance

[Zone]

Moved to screen forum

[AV Nik]

I'm sure the Sapphire screens have a 1.1 gain?
I can recommend the quality verses price.

[IWC Dopplel]

Be careful when you do the maths

12ft-20ftL is the target. But most PJ's calibrated and over 100 hours will show lumens about 50% of their rating, most screens come up below the gain quoted.

[Harpmaker]

Hi joe999,

A lot of good points have been brought up in this thread, but I would also mention that the main problem with higher gain screens is that there starts to be a visible viewing cone, meaning that there will be a discernible brightness difference in the screen image depending on how far off-axis you are viewing the image. In simple terms, the folks setting on the ends of the couch see a dimmer picture than the person setting in the middle of the couch. The higher the gain of the screen the more difference in brightness will be observed, it's just simple physics and there is no escaping it.

Also, not all screens that have a gain of 1.0 will appear the same; a 1.0 gray screen may have a discernible viewing cone while a 1.0 white screen would not.

We would have to know more about your PJ and HT before being able to give you more than general advice.

What PJ do you have?

What color are your walls and ceiling (light or dark)?

Do you intend to watch your PJ in a totally dark room or will other lights be on, or will daylight be a factor?