What's Gain?

[Jim Cheese]

In respect to screens?

I would think all screens _absorb_ pj light but "gain"? ....shurley shome mishtake?

Also - how much differece between cheap screen from Jessops and a good quality one - would I notice a real world difference?

TIA

Jim

 

[Chris Frost]

Screen gain is all about the amount of light reflected back compared to a piece of white paper. In rough terms, a 1.2 gain screen would give about 20% more light back.

Other differences are how widely the reflected light is scattered, how good the screen is at preventing a hot spot (a distracting patch of light reflected directly at you) and how little the colour of the light changes upon reflection.

Other more subtle problems can also surface with cheaper screens. I have personally seen cheap screens cause a moire pattern with LCD projectors. This is because the weave of the material interferes with the pixels. But looking at the screen surface it is almost impossible to see the screen weave.

Regards