projector screen and angle ??

[Meridius]

hi all

i was interested in a projector screen as i am interested in the new sony hs50
now whta would be the best gain

is lower gain better or higher would it affect the contrast or black level as i want to be able to get the best blacks out of this projector

also what about viewing angle i want to be a able to view it like you would projecting onto a wall i dont want to be able just to see it in front of me my family would watch it but at the side of the screen aslo the screen would be mounted high up

do`s the angle matter or ??????

thansk for the help

 

[Peter Parker]

Hi Meridius,

How big are you projecting? If the screen size is too big, then you will need a screen with gain. The more gain, the higher the black level, so you have to decide if the image is too dark overall and if the black level can go any higher. Lamp projectors will never 'project' true black anyway.

A screen with gain will have a viewing cone - the greater the gain, the tighter the cone, but if you're not moving around it may not be noticable. Those at the side will get a dimmer image than those in the center (up. down, left or right) but depending on the gain and where they're sitting, they may not be getting a great deal less than a matt white screen. If you're off to the side by quite a bit, then they could be seeing less than they would on a matt white screen or a white wall. It's something that has to be taken into account really.

When you see screen gain on a manufacturers literature, you may see the trem 'half gain'. This is where the screen falls off to half the gain of the advertised gain, and is given in degrees:

The 1.35 gain Stewart Firehawk gives 0.68 gain at 24 degrees for their 1.35 gain grey screen:

http://www.stewartfilm.com/engineering_specifications/firehawk.html

If viewing angle needs to be taken into account for your situation, then try to find this data to evaluate the screen.

Gary,

 

[Meridius]

someone said in here that sony are giving away some 1,7 gain screens with the sony hs50 ?????

i dont have alot of money but i was woundering what i would be able to get for about £200

 

[Peter Parker]

How big do you want your screen to be?

Gary.

 

[Meridius]

well i think i would get away with about 6ft to 8ft diag
i have a old 4:3 which is 5ft i think so a anmorpic could be from 6ft 8ft
the projector projects from about 10ft from the wall about that

i think but i was looking at the 120" screens

found this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=25322&item=3875635056&rd=1

 

[Peter Parker]

That's a unity gain screen about 6ft 6ins wide. It should allow the best black level possible other than a grey screen, and I would hope that the HS50 should look reasonably bright on it.

Try to find people with similar size screens and see what the general consensus is.

I would suggest that you get the projector after a demo so that you know if you like it or not, then project onto a wall at home to see what size screen looks good to you. When you're happy with a certain size, order a screen to match.

Gary