Projector screen suggetions please- 3 to choose from.

[Gekko]

I'm, split between getting either of these:

1. Dalite 52" x 92" pulldown screen apprx. £160 delivered from US
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3059588151&category=15079

or

2. Draper-Luma screen 69" diagonal screen £142 delivered within UK
http://www.av-sales.co.uk/html/draper_luma_screen.html

or

2. Projecta Proscreeen 2m x 1.17m manual screen £166.49+ delivery.
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?action=info&sku=112029&p=&t=1047&l=2&AvdID=1&CatID=29&GrpID=2&cks=PRL

I feel greater reassurance ordering within the UK in case of any faults but if the Dalite screen is much better then I'' go for it.

Your opinions?

[ufotone]

I have a screen that came with my PannyAE100, but I never use it nowadays, instead I opteded to paint my wall with Dulux Icestorm 5, now I have a larger area to project my image and I have to say..........What a terrific image it is :) :D

Tony :)

[Gekko]

Originally posted by ufotone
I have a screen that came with my PannyAE100, but I never use it nowadaysTony :)

Can I have it then? ;)

[Celtic]

you have to remember it is not in the interests of the sales man to simply say go paint your wall.... ;O)

[nigel_williams]

You don't need any gain on high-powered projectors, so a simple matt white screen or Dulux Icestorm (very pale grey to enhance black levels) will be fine. It really depends on the layout of your room - I project to a wall with a window, so a screen is mandatory!

Have a look on www.direkt2u.co.uk for screens. I think they are similar to the Da-Lite Model B I have, manual pulldown 16x9 80" x 45". You could also look in the projector forum or classified ads on www.avforums.com

[Sparky uk]

Or make one

Wooden frame to size required - cover with blackout blind material

[luner_orbit]

I've got this from Argos and it does the job nicely. If you dont like it then no probs in returning it. ;)

Ecru Blackout Ready Made Roller Blind - Width 180cm.
catalogue number 120/1602 £24 .99

[grimley]

Would a Roller blind do the job? DOH! just spotted the last post.....

[cm-9]

Originally posted by Gekko
... a bod at my local A/V dealership explained about the reflective properties required for quality picture that could only be found in a proper screen.
Course he did! Truth is, he's probably never seen a properly set up projector in his life.

So long as your room is completely dark, any flat matt white surface will do (you don't want anything too shiny - a school whiteboard would not be good). Personally I use a white painted wall; it is good smooth paintwork, with a matt decorator's glaze over the top which makes it even smoother, slightly lustrous and also makes it easier to wipe clean if it ever gets dirty.

You only need a special screen if you have ambient light (including ambient light you have introduced deliberately to make your eyes contract so that blacks look blacker - so called 'bias lighting' - the ceiling lights in a typical cinema serve the same purpose); or if your projector is not bright enough. As most digital projectors these days are plenty bright enough, there is less need for screens than there used to be.

With your new projector (as I've suggested elsewhere), you will get better results if you:
(a) fix a light orange photographic filter over the lens - FL-Day or Hoya 81B or 81C, available from any camera shop - this is advisable because the projector's bulb has too much blue/green in it for home cinema viewing. The filter will also protect your lens from scratches, obviously.
(b) once the filter is in place, re-adjust all brightness, contrast and colour settings - you should find that with the filter you can obtain a natural look with the settings fairly close to the centre of their range. Brightness should be set so that if you make it one notch higher, then pure black areas of the screen get a bit lighter, but if you set it one notch lower then pure black areas of the screen do not get any darker. Contrast should be set fairly high - although this will perhaps wash out the brightest off-whites, that doesn't matter because you don't often see those near-white colours in films anyhow.
(c) use a PC as a source running good software like Sonic, Zoom Player Pro, WinDVD or nVidia; you may also need Powerstrip.
(d) if using a PC, consider upgrading the VGA video cable that comes free with the projector. I use one called 'Silver Serpent' which gives a clearly better picture than the standard cable - unlike audio cables where everything the manufacturers/salesmen/magazines tell you is snake oil and hocus pocus, for hi-res video the quality of the cable that you use makes a real, visible difference and this is for good solid scientific reasons. Trust me, I'm a physicist.

[Gekko]

Thanks folks!! :thumbs:

[Coolio]

While im in a projector thread, I often get the impression that projector images are quite light. My lounge has one wall which is 14 foot square of glass, and it often gets quite bright in the room, and because of the views I don't have curtains or blinds up. Would a projector be a very bad idea?

[threadkiller]

Originally posted by Coolio
While im in a projector thread, I often get the impression that projector images are quite light. My lounge has one wall which is 14 foot square of glass, and it often gets quite bright in the room, and because of the views I don't have curtains or blinds up. Would a projector be a very bad idea? yes, unless you watch around midnight with the street lights off :suspect:

[ji]

I got my pull down screen for around £80 new from ebay. PLenty there (just watch out for those sellign roller blinds at inflated prices!)

[Gekko]

I've found these on ebay so far:

1. 2m x 2m pulldown screen £50
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3059252165&category=22610

2. 1.8m x 1.6m pulldown screen £40
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3058497762&category=22610

3. 1.24m x 1.65m spring-up? screen (floor mounted) £75
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3057926431&category=22610

Are these crap? The first 2 look like roller-blinds to me. I checked a couple of website selling screens and for 5-6ft widescreen ones they cost >£350 (too much for me!)

[jayok]

Originally posted by Gekko
I've found these on ebay so far:

1. 2m x 2m pulldown screen £50
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3059252165&category=22610

2. 1.8m x 1.6m pulldown screen £40
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3058497762&category=22610

3. 1.24m x 1.65m spring-up? screen (floor mounted) £75
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3057926431&category=22610

Are these crap? The first 2 look like roller-blinds to me. I checked a couple of website selling screens and for 5-6ft widescreen ones they cost >£350 (too much for me!)

All those prices are excluding P&P. The first 2 work out at £60 each delivered. the 3rd is ex-VAT as well therefore that one works out as £111.63 delivered.

The 2nd one is the same size as the one in Argos as stated earlier in this thread. Why don't you buy the Argos one to and try it out, if you are not happy you can get take it back and get a refund from Argos. £25 instore or £28.94 delivered !!

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=1001&productId=60050

[Gekko]

jayouk Argos returns policy states the item must be returned unused in original packaging. Any tips on how to use it and unuse it again in case I need to return it?

cm-9 Lens- how much & where from? Jessops? Also I'll be using my Pioneer DV-717 as the video source- is that significantly crap compared to a PC? I really don't want to lug my PC downstairs from the study and fill the lounge. :eek:

[jayok]

Obviously, remove the packaging very carefully and pack it all back up carefully. I have brought back loads of items that were unsuitable after trying them out with no problem atall. I assume if you had cut the blind to fit, that might invalidate their returns policy.

[Gekko]

^

[threadkiller]

Are these crap? The first 2 look like roller-blinds to me. I checked a couple of website selling screens and for 5-6ft widescreen ones they cost >£350 (too much for me!)

where have you been looking for screens?

http://www.walterstewart.com/uk2shop-1.htm are pretty reasonable £200 for a widescreen
Or http://www.av-sales.co.uk/html/draper_luma_screen.html @ £140

in thruth I'd prolly go for the grandview rather than the Draper, but if its a budget thing.

Or you could try ebay. I bought my first screen from there, direct from Da-lite cost about £160 for a 106" diag screen.

[Gekko]

threadkiller Drpaer-Luma screen looks good for the price. Found plenty of Dalite screens on e-bay- the HDTV 92" ones are around £160 delivered. Which out of the two would you recommend? (See start of edited thread)

[DuncanSWardle]

made mine ( or rather my dad did ) off white black out material stretched over a wooden frame hung from the cieling - about 10 foot diagnol

its used with my ae100 - i imagine there may be a slight improvement by buying a screen but not much and certainly nothing that would cost the extra moneys worth

[threadkiller]

Originally posted by Gekko
threadkiller Drpaer-Luma screen looks good for the price. Found plenty of Dalite screens on e-bay- the HDTV 92" ones are around £160 delivered. Which out of the two would you recommend? (See start of edited thread) Deffinately the Da-lite, it has much better build quality, the draper is prone to creasing and nowhere near as good, I had the Da - lite 106" HDTV and wish I'd replaced it with another Dalite rather than a Draper.

[Gekko]

Originally posted by threadkiller
Deffinately the Da-lite, it has much better build quality, the draper is prone to creasing and nowhere near as good, I had the Da - lite 106" HDTV and wish I'd replaced it with another Dalite rather than a Draper.

Can this be ordered from within the UK? Just seems problematic sending back to the US in case any problems arose.

[sideshowbob]

I've just bought a 106" Da-lite from AVI (WWW.AUDIOVISUAL.CO.UK). Service was very good and the screen arrived from Indiana in about 2 weeks. I'm just waiting to fit the screen, but it looks very robust.

I'd read mixed reviews of other brands (such as Draper) and came to the conclusion that it was better to spend the extra and be happy than to save a little and have niggly problems like rippling.

I bought a Model C Da-lite, finished in High Contrast Matt White, which was £447 delivered. Different finishes cost different amounts BTW. The (very helpful) contact I dealt with was:

NIGEL SWEET
AV-I (UK)
CLAREMONT HOUSE, 70-72 ALMA ROAD, WINDSOR, SL4 3EZ
TEL +44 (0) 1753 672249
FAX +44 (0) 1753 830855

If you contact him, you can say you were referred to him by David in Cumbria, who had his screen delivered last week.

I think the cheaper da-lite screens on Ebay are the Model B ones. Full spec for each at www.da-lite.com

[Gekko]

Originally posted by sideshowbob
If you contact him, you can say you were referred to him by David in Cumbria, who had his screen delivered last week.

I think the cheaper da-lite screens on Ebay are the Model B ones. Full spec for each at www.da-lite.com

Cheers! :thumbs:

[cheekster]

Any of you's got motorised widescreens along with ya projectors?

That's what I fancy for movie watching when/if my Toshiba 56" RPTV ever dies on me plus a 53"+ LCD W/S for regular tv viewing. :D

Cheekster.

[nigel_williams]

I've got a manual Da-Lite 80x45 (92" diagonal) which I picked up for £175 second hand... though it was actually unused. Bought it from a guy on www.avforums.com

Agree with the earlier posts on quality, had it 18 months and it still runs smoothly with no curl on the edges.

As for motorised screens, that's just too flash (even for me!) - they're expensive and need to be wired up to the mains etc. It takes me about 3-4 seconds to pull-down my manual screen.