Question How to improve my projector Screen?. Pictures inside.

[Shinji Mikami]

Hi, how are you. : )

I got a Epson EH-TW9400 into a Semi-Dedicated Room. I can completely darken the room with no light from outside. That's the good news.

I got some treatment on walls, floor and ceiling but still there are some britghtness and reflections from speakers, walls, doors, floor, ceiling... but I cannot convert this room in a batcave with black fabric velvet and else because WAT/WAF. This is what it is.

So I think that my only choice to get all the deep blacks and contrast that this Epson is capable to give is aiming to improve the projector screen, maybe changing it for another one in gray color or ALR.

I've not experience nor information about this kind of screens. Certanly I'm lost : ) I wonder if changing my white screen for a grey screen I would improve deep blacks and contrast, absorbing lights and reflections. Or maybe an ALR screen is the right choice, I don't know.


That's my current setup:

Googleing i saw some ALR screens from USA/Europe but they are too much expensive (+1000€/$). I saw other ones from China , cheapest, but I don't know about quality.

I asked myself if exist any chance to DIY an ALR screen painting the current white screen or changing the white screen preserving the current frame wall.

And the most important, I have no idea about Pros & Cons.

So I think my only choice is DIY or bargain (chinese) ALR screen, what do you recommend?


Thanks in advance.

 

[alebonau]

I got some treatment on walls, floor and ceiling but still there are some britghtness and reflections from speakers, walls, doors, floor, ceiling... but I cannot convert this room in a batcave with black fabric velvet and else because WAT/WAF. This is what it is.

looks a well treated room I would have thought, no white walls, ceiling etc.

re speakers... I have seen folk make up some velvet covers for them can just lay on top etc.

are the walls really reflective ? look grey as is ?

improve the projector screen, maybe changing it for another one in gray color or ALR.

am not sure will help here, ALR screens have their own issues as well. and grey screens give up possibility of ever doing white !

not sure these will help unless introducing ambient light in the room ? which doesnt sound like you are doing ? have you tried the laser pointer test ? use a laser pointer with the room dark, nothing on the screen and standing at the screen point the laser around the room see if its illuminating anything on the screen ?

 

[IWC Dopplel]

You will get significant upgrades using velvet (doesn't need to be black, dark blues, browns etc are fine around your screen and covering your speakers

My room doesn't look anywhere near as 'AV' as your room and is very well treated, I have everything within 8' of the screen covered in velvet, some black, some dark blue, windows are light sealed with shutters and a drape over the window near the screen. I also roll out a floor covering over the rug for a film. The centre speaker is velvet wrapped. WAF is fine with some careful work

 

[swiftpete]

Why don’t you ceiling mount the projector? Having it whirring away right in your ear is definitely not ideal.

 

[TB303]

Following

 

[kenshingintoki]

looks a well treated room I would have thought, no white walls, ceiling etc.

re speakers... I have seen folk make up some velvet covers for them can just lay on top etc.

are the walls really reflective ? look grey as is ?

am not sure will help here, ALR screens have their own issues as well. and grey screens give up possibility of ever doing white !

not sure these will help unless introducing ambient light in the room ? which doesnt sound like you are doing ? have you tried the laser pointer test ? use a laser pointer with the room dark, nothing on the screen and standing at the screen point the laser around the room see if its illuminating anything on the screen ?

ALR screens will help.

They just don't help with ambient light but help with light bouncing around the room too, and although he's treated it well, its not MVEL22 black so will still after reflections and galore which an ALR screen would remedy at the expensive of light output (negative gain) and viewing angles.

I'd MVEL22 that room. You've built a beautiful room which just needs to go that touch farther in terms of room treatment. If you can't do it, then waiting for an ALR screen would be a decent upgrade and allow you to use the room with the lights on. I miss being able to do that.

Also a grey/ALR screen will probably ALWAYS provide an enhanced black level for a projector like the Epson 9300/9400 which can't do black as good or anywhere near as good as your JVC . Its the poor mans way of getting a little bit closer to JVC and @Luminated67 pretty much nailed it in his very black theatre and still saw significant upgrades.

OP if you're running a 95''ish screen, I can sort you out with an electronic ALR screen for a great price.

But I'd still reccomend going all-out and MVEL22 that room. I'm planning to do it in my setup. The light reflections are real with the colour grey. On a bright scene you can see the walls of your room which in the god-tier setups like @Luminated67 you can't.

 

[Stridsvognen]

From a reference standpoint, everything other than a neutral gain white is a different kind of compromise, so when you look at ALR screens there is a lot of other issues, go check out if you can live with hotspotting, light loss and other potential issues before you spend the money, or you prefer a cheaper neutral screen and do a bit of extra work on the speakers and obvious 1st reflections.

The Epson is a fairly low contrast projector, adding a negative gain will reduce contrast, as you will have to open the iris up to compensate for the negative gain loss.

I dont see any major alarm bells in your setup, except maybe the speakers, specially the center speaker looks like a potential reflection.

 

[kenshingintoki]

FYI your room looks amazing mate. interior design totally on point. u just gotta make a decision if u wanna go to the 'next level' which is aggressively treating a room.

at the moment i'd say ur room is around peak-performance and peak-style compromise. going deeper down the rabbit hole ur gonna end up with a darastically different room which won't look as stylish.

 

[ShanePJ]

I've got to say the room looks well executed, so you should be proud of your achievements. The only issue I see is the centre speaker needs some attention as this is causing unwanted reflections into the room and onto the screen to which will most certainly create an undesirable in the room

So, here are a few ways you can achieve this. You could either reducing the height of the centre stands, elevate the screen higher or mount the projector on the ceiling. All of these options should resolve this reflective area which I'm suspecting is creating a double reflective issue on the screen when the spot lamps are turned off