Projector screens

ng4ever said:
What the difference?

Do they all support 4k ?
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I just bought one sticks to wall for 15.00 off Amazon.. Gonna use it to stick to outside of motorhome and bring the projector outside for a campground viewing party
 
So it depends a lot on what your specific viewing conditions are. Is it a dark room (basement) or does the room have a lot of ambient light (living room with lots of windows)? 3D viewing etc etc etc.

Start here for basic info: https://www.carlofet.com/faq and of course here too https://www.avsforum.com/forum/23-screens/
And when you're ready Carl's Place offers a sampler pack of their screens on Amazon. It was worth it to me when I built my screen. :) https://www.amazon.com/Carls-Top-Selling-Industry-Grade-Projection-Materials/dp/B00XAL65NW
 
I think this question will be better answered in projectorcentral or avsforums.
 
Choosing a screen can be difficult, what you need or can make do with depends on your pj brightness, angle of projection, where people sit, room lighting conditions, screen size, expected brightness, expected image quality/linearity, ...
The choice of screens at decent prices has dropped off in the last 10 years such that I found it extremely hard to buy what I wanted moving to 4K and tried for about 5 years (I'm in the UK).
But I never did buy one because the choice was either too limited or the companies showed little interest in making sure I would get what I asked for.
So I stuck with my 110" glass beaded screen and 1080p projector which has been amazing for well over 10 years.

Some general info:
Higher gain = brighter screen but usually comes with the trade off of a narrower viewing cone and the projection needs to come from around the same angle as you are seated to get the best from it.
ie high gain screens cannot work with projectors sat close to the screen projecting up or down to the screen because the viewing cone will be close to the same angle the projector is at, not where you sit.
Many types can visibly hot spot, making it look much brighter in the centre than the edges.
If you have seats to the side of the screen (not directly facing) a high gain screen probably wont work well because the view from the side seats will be much darker.

The finer the grain material used, the higher the resolution it can display.
The most common, cheap, and very high gain screen is glass beaded but the beads are too large for 4K in a normal size room. (A huge room with a huge screen might work ok)
There may be some expensive glass beads that are much smaller but I didnt come across any.
There are many other screen types and custom ones capable of 4K.

High gain screens reflect light back from where it came so reject some of the light from windows etc, as long as they arent within the viewing cone angle.
Some high gain screens can be used in a bright room if the projector is powerful enough but its likely you will need a grey screen to keep greys and blacks dark enough.
Unfortunately this makes all light darker so you may need a very bright projector.
Another side effect, grey screens can affect the light spectrum, dulling some colours more than others.
It can work well with lower lumens pjs and a small screen to keep the brightness up (say for a young kids gaming room).

Matt white screens generally have a gain from 0.8 to 1.2 and are the cheapest type. 0.8 or less being much darker than intended and not recommended unless your pj is too bright and doesnt have light control.
Glass bead screens have a gain of around 1.8 to 2.5+, great for low to decent output pjs. But there can be a visible pattern of beads so choose a well reviewed screen.
Custom screen types for just about any environment are available but you will have to pay more and may have to accept some trade offs if pushing for max brightness.

There is more to it when you start digging, the above is very general info, there will be exceptions.
As advised by Stoly, its better to ask what are currently the better solutions in an AV forum.

oh yes, dont forget most projector "lamps" will approximately halve their brightness toward the end of their life.
If the image is only just ok with a new lamp you might need to replace the lamp early or suffer loss of the lightest white shades by turning the brightness of the LCD panel/DLP up.
I had to do this at around 3000hrs into my lamps 4700hr life.
 
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I guess I'm out of date when it comes to projector screens, but what is 4k support? Aren't you just finding a screen that's larger than the area you project onto?
 
ChoGGi said:
I guess I'm out of date when it comes to projector screens, but what is 4k support? Aren't you just finding a screen that's larger than the area you project onto?
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High enough resolution to show each UHD/4K pixel square without distortion.
When you look closely at many screens they have a weave or small particles that are near the size of a 4K pixel, these will make the image less sharp.
 
Nenu said:
High enough resolution to show each UHD/4K pixel square without distortion.
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Projector screens have resolutions? Or you mean the screen should be big enough that you don't have to fit the projected image smaller than a certain size?
 
ChoGGi said:
Projector screens have resolutions? Or you mean the screen should be big enough that you don't have to fit the projected image smaller than a certain size?
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Weave screens are coated with a reflective material with particles in so you think that is all the screen is constructed from but both leave tiny bumps on the surface.
With 1080p nobody cared because the particle/weave size of the screen was small enough to not distort the pixels/impact the image.
But with UHD pjs you will lose detail/sharpness if the particle size is too large.
Glass beaded screens have glass beads embedded in the surface. These are too large for UHD as well.

Screens which look like a continuous smooth surface have a very small particle size or they are made from a continuous plasticised film.
 
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Nenu said:
Weave screens are coated with a reflective material with particles in so you think that is all the screen is constructed from but both leave tiny bumps on the surface.
With 1080p nobody cared because the particle/weave size of the screen was small enough to not distort the pixels/impact the image.
But with UHD pjs you will lose detail/sharpness if the particle size is too large.
Glass beaded screens have glass beads embedded in the surface. These are too large for UHD as well.

Screens which look like a continuous smooth surface have a very small particle size or they are made from a continuous plasticised film.
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Thanks.
 
Years ago I bought 2 of the cheapest motorized screens I could find. I have no complaints about the image quality. In fact I never even considered that I might get better quality with a different screen / materal. Sometimes over complicating the issue is not a good thing. :p
 
Deadjasper said:
Years ago I bought 2 of the cheapest motorized screens I could find. I have no complaints about the image quality. In fact I never even considered that I might get better quality with a different screen / materal. Sometimes over complicating the issue is not a good thing. :p
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Which ones ?
 
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