This thread is to illustrate some of the many different screens available and how they perform in various lighted/controlled light settings with our LumenLab DIY projectors.



I realize many people have different tastes and different situations, there will be more swatches posted from different companies as I acquire them.

Some gravitate towards black levels and others prefer overall brightness, or you're just not sure.



Hopefully this will help determine how you put the finishing touch to your projected image and aid you somehow in your quest to achieve a beautiful picture that you will enjoy.





please post comments, suggestions, tips,etc.



JoeS.



now for some pics!

There are several swatches laid out numerically as follows:





1. High Contrast Audio Vision

2. High Contrast Matte White

3. High Contrast Cinema Vision

4. Video Spectra

5. Pearlescent

6. Cinema Vision

7. High Contrast Cinema Vision Perferated

8. SilverVision

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Most of these photos were taken with 60 watt lamp on unless otherwise specified and adhered to a shower curtain. (which actually makes an okay screen!

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(DA-Lite Hi Power as background screen)

Ringo Pulp Fiction

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Mia Pulp Fiction

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Close up Mia

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I believe this one was taken lights off and for reference.

Here are the swatches with lights on. I've added Glass Beaded at the top, Silver Matte.

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More pics will be coming soon. I'm piking it! Good night.



JoeS.

I've got a new round of pics today. I removed a few like silver screen to make room for some of the other swatches.



They are as follows:



1. Glass Beaded

2. High Contrast Matte White

3.Silver Matte

4. Da Mat

5.Hi Contrast Da Mat

6 Matte White

7High Contrast Cinema Perferated

8High Contrast Audio Vision

9 Video Spectra

10 Black Out Cloth (smooth side)

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I grouped together some of the darker ones to compare them better. They really help improve black levels in with ambient light. Still they are a little to dark and you probably would have to squint during some dark scenes.



JoeS.

Yhe swatches are adhered to a regular shower curtain



b&w bars lights on regular camera settings shutter speed 1/8 sec. F2.8

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b&w bars lights off shutter speed 1.3 F2.8

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color bars lights on The light is a 60 watt lamp



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color bars lights off



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disney light on

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disney light off

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Toy Story 2 lights on

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Toy Story 2 lights off

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Mia Pulp Fiction lights on

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Mia lights off

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Ringo Pul Fiction lights on

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ringo lights off

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Monsters Inc. lights on

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lights off

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The Video Spectra seems to me a slightly better version of Matte White. The gain on it is 1.5 with aviewing cone of 35 deg.



The Silver Matte does okay. It has a gain of 1.3 and a viewing cone 30 deg.



JoeS.

I can't make up my mind.. everything looks poor compared to the da-lite

Good work Joe, I have a couple of questions for you…


1. How close do you think the photos are to what you are seeing?

I understand now what PB was saying about the HP screen making the others look darker then they really are. I guess it would be like a silhouette of someone when there is a bright light behind them.


2. How do you think the other samples compare to your painted screen?

Other than the High Power, I was not impressed with any of the other samples from Da-Lite. I could see little if any improvement/difference in the samples and my painted Satin SilverScreen/WOP wall. At this point, if I didnt want to spend the money on the High Power. I would go with a painted screen rather than buying another type. It appears that only the High Power Screen is worth the extra money…

EDIT:

3. On the High Power Screen: Do you see any Hotspotting or color shifting when you move around?

Joe, Great job!

I partly agree with mavrick. It seems like the shots with the lights ON are affected more, But most of the shots with the lights off are not affected. here are some reposts of shots from joe with the lights off





There is some lighter swatches and some darker ones as you might expect.


Toy story Lights off
The # 9 swatch (video spectra) seems be very close to Joes da-lite screen and brighter than all the other samples






Joe it seems like you are getting an intense light from your projecter in the center of your screen and it drops off toward the edges. If you could center the projected image on your screen and then put the swatches in the center of that image, I think you would get more realistic results in all photos. I know you don't want to fasten the shower curtain to your screen but, you could hang it with fishing line or string from the screens top support..

Or, you can just say "Screw it, I'm going to watch Thursday night football on my big screen".

LOL I was thinking the same... It’s good that Joe is a good guy and is willing to go the extra mile with all of our questions and request.

knightrider, You would be a good candidate to do some similar tests. You did an outstanding job on your screen plog as well. It would be interesting to see similar tests from several different people.

EDIT:

In fact it would be good if we could get some LL Big Dogs to do some similar tests too. I think the High Power Screen is what our Low Lumen Pjs need to make them POP like a Light Cannon (commercial PJ). I think Brain tested one a few years ago when he said this in the Blackout Cloth Thread.

I think things may have improved with High Gain screens in the last few years… Surly Blackout Cloth is not the best option…

it may be time for a screen showdown!

Hey Maverick,

Have your projector up and running? Well, to address yor questions, the pictures are pretty darn near close to what I'm seeing in the flesh. As far as comparing the swatches to the BF board I painted, I have not done that comparison yet.

The hotspotting only seems to be apparent in photos. When using it in the dark or with some lights on,

its not an issue. The only thing I can say about the color shifting is that it is that I don't notice any.



Now, the board is not centered. What I can for the next round of shots is roll up the Hi Power and take some with the swatches against the wall, and I'll even get em centered. How's that?



JoeS.

This would be great! Or if anyone wants to contribute some screenshots commercial or diy, by all means

"post em if ya got em!" Good idea Maverick, about knightrider doing some more testing

He does an excellent job and so does GadgetSmith.



Oh yeah,

another thing that I wanted to point out about the gain and the cone, and tell me if you argree or or not, but after examining the specsheets of all the swatches, it would seem the higher the gain, the smaller the cone

no matter what material.



Also, I think one reason I am not experiencing any hotspotting issues is due to the fact that my throw is

14.1449598873297 (approx) I am working on making it 13') I think that if your throw is , say closer to 8' than I could see this being the case.



Those pics will probably have to wait until this weekend cause I'm swapped with work! But I will get around to it.



JoeS.



more to come

I can do another comparison. As you know though, I belong to the OHP tribe so, the test would not be a good indication of the viewing with a DIY PJ, but it would give someone another perspective on screen choices from Da-lite as Joe's plogs have done. I don't own a digital camera (I know, "YIKES", OH MY GOD". I am old school like Paul Sr. OCC) so, I couldn't take requests and post them with the speed of Hermes like Joe has. My old manual 35mm SLR is like deer guts on your finger, no matter how much you flick, it doesn't want to leave.
I know I have learned a lot from Joe's and everyone elses screen plogs, not only about the materials, but about peoples likes and dislikes. I work in an area that has a lot of people at computer terminals and it always amazes me at the differences of brightness and contrast that each person uses. There are people that set there screens dramatically dark and some dramatically light and every combination in between. It always makes me wonder how we all go to the movies theatres and watch a film that is being shown one way, and like it. No wonder Da-lite has so many different screens to choose from.

Joe, tell your family, work, school and the sleep gods that in the name of science your screen plog has priority.

You are correct. A screen can’t create additional light; it can only reflect what’s there. High Gain Screens reflect/focuses light back on a narrow axis (viewing cone), and thus appears brighter along this axis.

I think this is right (correct me if I'm wrong)
Gain is a measurement based on the reflectivity of a surface compared to magnesium carbonate, which has a gain of 1.0. A Screen gain of 2.8 would be 280% brighter that a 1.0 screen . Which is why there is so much of a WOW factor with the High Power Da-Lite.




LMAO at the finger...

If you have the time and could do it, I think it would be a good contribution to everyone here as your other tests were done so professionally. There are also allot of OHP people out there, as this is how many start out. I'm currently still in the OHP tribe myself but hope to be making to move to a regular PJ soon.