Panoview Gray Wolf II Screen Shots

stubie_do

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As it is difficult to get demos of screens, especially manual pull down ones I have attached some images of the new Panoview Gray Wolf II. In the shots I am using the screen with a ThemeScene HD72i, Denon 3910 & Sky+.

Was a little sceptical of the 1.8 gain & Grey but it seems to worth quite well together for Sky and DVD's. Have convinced the other half that she can watch the TV during the day on it with the curtains open now! :)

Gay_Wolf_II.jpg

Gray_Wolf_II_DVD.jpg

Gray_Wolf_II_Sky.jpg

If you need pics of the fixings then let me know and I will post them here.
 
Wow, impressive photos!

I ordered my GW2 from KrishAV yesterday - should be here tomorrow :)

What's the white crush like in a blacked out room because some people say it's quite bad?

Also, can you notice the texture of the screen?
 
Hi Ben,

Not to sure what you mean by the "White Crush", please explain? don't personally have a full blacked out room, can't stand itl, always have some small light on.

As for the texture, yes you can notice it, going from a matt white but I was expecting it, being glass bead with a 1.8 gain.

That said I do watch quite a bit of Sky TV on it with some ambient light coming in and the black level a far better than the matt verison I had before.

Sitting off angle seems far better than view straight on and as long as your eye level is about 2/3 foot above/below the projector then it should be OK.

Let us know what you think
 
Does the GW2 work OK with a ceiling mounted projector? I gather that with the GW1 you lost most of the gain with a ceiling mount.
Ta!

Dave
 
Hi Regmarch,

Yep you're right on that, one of the reasons is that the Gray Wolf MkI used quite large glass beads and plenty of them.:thumbsdow

Them MkII uses less beads and they are a lot lot smaller. With the MKI apparently folk were saying that there was too much "sparkle" which had a tendency to washout the black levels.:smashin:

Have a look at pic 2, black levels are excellent and I have had to resize this pic to get it on to the forums.

BTW my pics do not show the 30/40cm black drop at the top.

P.S Initially tried tabletop then moved projector to ceiling mount as per photos
 
I notice the grain on the GWII quite a bit.. it's not so distracting but sometimes you notice it during lighter scenes.

My only gripe is there's too much black at the top.. I have to put it on the next stop up which clips the top of the screen slightly.

I'll see if I can dig out a camera and get some photos (everyone else seems to be doing them!!).
 
benjones said:
I ordered my GW2 from KrishAV yesterday - should be here tomorrow :)
Well let us know!

But i'm a little confused, KrishAV have this screen: http://www.krishav.co.uk/store/prodView.asp?idProduct=1118&idCategory=527 but the title says "1.8 gain" while the description says "1.0"? I'm always a sceptical of people that cant update their websites properly... I'm certainly tempted by the ability to use it with some ambient light, i had been hoping the Sony "black" screens were going to work, but i wonder how the Mrs will react to sparkles and potentially visible grain?
 
Yep looks like Krish AV have a description mixture of the matt white and grey screen. Even the picture is wrong as the casework is white not black.

The Optoma part number is DS-9092PM.GB, you can download a brochure off the Optoma UK website. Any ThemeScene dealer should be able to get one for you?
 
Stuart Acey said:
The Optoma part number is DS-9092PM.GB

Careful, That's for the original GW.

The GWII is GS-GWII9092P.
 
Tony Hoyle said:
Careful, That's for the original GW.

The GWII is GS-GWII9092P.

Yep sorry thats the one with a 99.9% gain, Thanks Tony. Helps if I know my stuff!

DS-GWII9092P (Gray Wolf MKII 92" Pulldown - 1.8 Gain)

Thanks
 
OK I finally got some shots of mine... I'm crap at getting a steady picture so any blurring is my fault moving the camera not the picture.

These are daylight shots (the curtains are closed but they're quite thin and it's sunny outside). Shows what this screen can do even then.

The second shot is with the panny in dynamic mode and the third is in normal mode.

Gw1.JPG

Gw2.JPG

Gw3.JPG
 
My screen arrived this morning and it's absolutely stunning! I don't have another screen to compare it to as I used to project onto a perfectly matt white wall but my Sony HS60 projection now looks like a plasma screen - incredible!

Few slight negative points - you can notice the texture slightly on bright scenes. When watching something bright it looks similar to the old anti-glare coatings they used to put on monitors. I found it quite annoying at first but I'm already used to it :)

Other thing I noticed is the best (brightest picture) viewing cone is quite small. The closer your eyes are to the projector lens the better - not a problem for me as I stand mount my HS60.

Also have noticed verticle banding for the first time. Never saw it before so assume it's due to the increased contrast levels???

Overall for £150 (should have been £190 but KrishAV made a bit of a boo boo when I ordered) you just can't go wrong.

Pics to follow... :)
 
benjones said:
Overall for £150 (should have been £190 but KrishAV made a bit of a boo boo when I ordered) you just can't go wrong.

Pics to follow... :)

Cost me arm+leg... $150 screen + $200 postage which is about £135.. a bit cheaper than what you paid.

The UPS stung me for another £60 import fees :mad:
 
I once saw a demo of a white Stewart Filmscreen StudioTek 130 material directly next to their grey Firehawk material (it was a single split screen specially made for the purpose), and the room had all the lights on and plenty of windows letting light in. The difference was pretty amazing - the white screen had hardly any detail, especially in the shadows, but the Firehawk was still very watchable. The PJ was DiLA IIRC

Grey screens help to reject ambient light, so improve ANSI contrast. If you have poor light control and/or need to watch with some light in the room, a grey screen is better than a white screen. A grey screen with gain is better still because it sends the projected light back towards the viewer (or the projector if retro reflective like the Gray Wolf), so any other light(s) will be sent back towards their source rather than the viewer with this screen.

This screen looks ideal for those that watch with the lights on (or even those who want better blacks and a brighter or bigger image over what they currently have), and it's considerably cheaper than other grey screens - obscenely so in the case of the Stewart screens.

Grey screen materials with gain are a rare beast - as far as I know only Da-Lite and Stewart make them (Da-Lite do the High Contrast Cinema Vision 1.1 gain, and Stewart do the Firehawk 1.15 gain though advertised as 1.35). Vutek do a fixed screen that is manufactored on a board and rated at 6 but is actually much lower, but it's not yet available in material form as far as I know, so it gets delivered in a huge flat crate.

Higher gain screens can suffer from hot spotting or 'sparklies' to some degree or another so as usual there are pros and cons involved, but if you view with any form of ambient light this screen seems like the best choice given the price.

Gary
 
Stuart Acey said:
If you need pics of the fixings then let me know and I will post them here.

Hi Stuart - I've currently got one of these awaiting delivery and would be very interested in the fixings to make sure my ceiling in ready for it.

Cheers,

BrownySV
 
My Gray Wolf 2 arrived, it states "II" on the screen which i suppose differentiates it from the first, as i thought our american friends didnt get that and had to check the screen surface itself to see which version they had.

I think someone asked about the attachments? it's got a metal loop on each end for hooks, and screw holes in the end of the frames. For me it just went over some S-hooks i already had, and were exactly set the same distance as my Drapa Lumina.

Anyway i took a few test shots, these were taken at 1600 hours (4pm), so really sunny! and i didnt bother trying to push my blackout curtains for optimal light stoppage. Here's the pics, click for bigger:

The outgoing Drapa screen, curtains and doors closed. Camera placed on sofa back, so a little below head height.


92" Gray Wolf II, exact same lighting conditions and camera placement as above.


Gray Wolf II, same lighting conditions, but moved to just below projector to compare luminosity drop-off.


Side shot to show just how much light is spilling in! The old Drapa was just about unwatchable like this.


See, even shes happy with it ;)


Overall i can really spot the difference, and of course photos dont quite match what my eye sees. There is a slight drop in brightness from having your head right at projector height and down two feet to a seated position, but not enough for me to bother moving the PJ. I will have to have a proper going over to see what its like when pitch black and with curtains etc closed but in daylight, but very promising so far.

I've noted w.r.t. ambient light that side light from the far end seems fine for the GW2 to cope with, but the front curtain does need to be closed (the curtain in the 4th photo) and also the door facing the screen helps if closed.

There's a slight smell, which the woman noted, but its not so bad and will hopefully go soon.... the plastic protector hasnt made an obvious line like some have commented on, and any faint line is meant to go with time too. The black drop at the top isnt quite big enough, and i'll need to add a bit of chain or something to drop the screen 6" or so (suggestions?). But yeah not unhappy at the mo. More to come...
 
The smell takes a few days to disappear... I just accepted it as the 'new' smell.

You can get away with a heck of a lot of ambient light.. the other half doesn't like dark rooms and will switch lamps on when I try to darken the room :eek: Doesn't seem to affect the screen one bit..

My only gripe is the drop doesn't seem to be adjustable.. it either clips the top of the screen (you lose about an inch) or has (for my uses) far too much. I could do with taking a couple of inches off the top.
 
When I ordered my projector, this screen came free, which made me happy. Problem is, I rent and don't think the landlord will let me punch holes in the wall or cieling. Anybody know a way to put a pull down screen like this onto a tripod of sorts? I could build one out of pipe or 2x4, but would rather it look decent.

As another already posted, it would be nice to see what people use for wall and cieling mounting. Just incase it does come to that.
 
Soabirw said:
When I ordered my projector, this screen came free, which made me happy. Problem is, I rent and don't think the landlord will let me punch holes in the wall or cieling. Anybody know a way to put a pull down screen like this onto a tripod of sorts? I could build one out of pipe or 2x4, but would rather it look decent.

As another already posted, it would be nice to see what people use for wall and cieling mounting. Just incase it does come to that.

I just put screws in the wall.. If it comes to the time that I move out I'll have to go around with polyfilla anyway for all the nails etc. so a couple more won't make a difference.

Roof of course was out as I can't get up there (plus there's underfloor heating above me and I'm not sure I want 250 volts up the wazoo).
 
Hi all, just a couple of questions if i may...

I notice this screen only comes in 16:9, how do you guys use this with sky (ill be doing most of my viewing thru a sky plus box)

Also, anyone tried this with a Infocus 4805? Would be very helpful to know how well they work with each other.

Thanks :thumbsup:
 
Sorry no Infocus 4805 and no Sky :( On my three year old Z2 and with Freeview 16:9 it seems fine. Standard def obviously, but bright and clear enough, so i'd assume Sky would be better.

Hopefully someone with the proper stuff give you a real answer...
 
OK - taken delivery of my Gray Wolf II and as stated previously to mount it on the ceiling all you need are a couple of hooks.

Silly question this.....but where can I buy such a hook - I can get to the joists above so would ideally like a threaded hook and nut.

I've been searching on Google, but can't find what I need. Anyone got any ideas.:lease:

Thanks,

Browny
 
This screen looks very interesting - couple of quick questions if I may?

I use my current matt white DRH screen in blacked out conditions with my Hitachi TX100 - I would presume with the high gain of this screen, if used in similar black out conditions I'd be able to shut the projector iris down a bit more, giving better blacks whilst still retaining a fairly punchy image?

The other thing is - my current screen hangs down in front of (over) a window - the window has a blind on it which keeps most of the light out, but the screen also has a thickish dark back to it so helps when the window is in direct sunlight.
Would this screen be fairly impervious to light from the rear? What is the backing like?

One of these could be a good lowish cost upgrade - keep the projector upgradeitis at bay for a bit longer....

Thanks!
 
BrownySV said:
OK - taken delivery of my Gray Wolf II


Browny

can i ask where you purchased it from and how much they cost? I've looked around on the net and the only place that seems to have them is Krish AV.

Thanks in advance
 
Whyshirley said:
This screen looks very interesting - couple of quick questions if I may?

I use my current matt white DRH screen in blacked out conditions with my Hitachi TX100 - I would presume with the high gain of this screen, if used in similar black out conditions I'd be able to shut the projector iris down a bit more, giving better blacks whilst still retaining a fairly punchy image?

I don't see why that shouldn't work. If you get this screen, please let us know how you get on with it.

Gary.
 

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