Home cinema screen screen options

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I am currently planning my dedicated home cinema room and would like to get some advice on projection screens. My cinema room is in a basement and will be decorated in a super-matt dark colour and should have little to no ambient light entering or bouncing around the room. The projector I have is a JVC HD-100 (700 lumens) and will be projecting from the ceiling. The potential screen size is 120 inch across.

I believe there are two options;
[*]Go for a projection screen (either manual or electronic).[*]Paint the projection wall with a screen paint (Vogels Mighty Bright, Project X, Goo)

Unfortunately when researching these products, each claim they are better than the other and would like some impartial advice. I am not sure whether What Hi-Fi have reviewed such things before but if anyone can point me in the right direction, I would be grateful!

With a fairly high-end projector, I believe that the screen is probably one of the most important to get right. Generally speaking the screens are more expensive than the paint - but expensive doesn't always mean good!! I hope that someone has some experience in this forum

Thanks

Mark

 

[stevenjonas]

I've been a subscriber for about a year now but have not found any comments about screens. Given the apparent picture quality now possible & the amount that has to be spent to get it, I'm surprised about this omission. Anyone with any guidance, please?

Steve J

 

[stevenjonas]

I've been a subscriber for about a year now but have not found any comments about screens. Given the apparent picture quality now possible & the amount that has to be spent to get it, I'm surprised about this omission. Anyone with any guidance, please?

Steve J

 

[Chewy]

Forget the paint - even the cheapest projector screen on the market will give a better image than a painted wall. The HD100 is a good PJ, projecting onto a painted wall wont be doing it justice.

Given that you have the basement as a dedicated cinema room, can you not go for a fixed screen? This will allow you to get a much better screen material for your budget and will also ensure you have a nice taught screen which is paramount to avoid image distortion from screen curl. I had a manual pull down screen, and it used to curl at the edges in different temperatures. I now have a tab tensioned screen, and whilst it is excellent, I have to compromise because my cinema room is also my lounge. If I had a dedicated cinema room (which I may do one day if the wife ever let's me have a basement extension!), I would certainly only consider fixed screens.

One point to consider is that your HD100 has a fairly low light output, so you may want to consider a screen with a gain slightly above 1.0.