How Do I Choose the Right Projector Screen?

I first wrote this article in response to a question about screens from someone who recently purchased a Sony VPL-HW40ES projector. That projector musters up about 1700 lumens, and well over 1000 lumens even calibrated.The same general advice about screens applies to a great many of projectors in today's market. For instance, the more expensive HW55ES is only slightly less bright, and while better suited for a dedicated theater, the same advice for screens applies here.It is also relevant to most Epson projectors, as they tend to have 1,500 to 2,400 lumens to work with, and for Panasonics. JVC projectors aren’t quite as bright as that, but for JVC owners, this article is helpful nonetheless. Just realize that those JVCs are typically under 1000 lumens when calibrated - so, the same rules, with a slightly smaller screen.While some popular Epsons and Panasonics only calibrate in the 500 - 700 lumen range for their best picture, they have very good “brighter modes," which are still in the ballpark of 1,500 lumens. Thus, when using those better modes, the advice given here for the HW40ES becomes virtually identical to any of the projectors mentioned above.When it comes to many of the DLP projectors - Viewsonic projectors, Optomas, BenQs, Viviteks, Acers, etc., the brightness tends to vary greatly from model to model. Again, if those projectors can muster up a good picture with 1,200 to 2,400 lumens, this advice applies. If the projectors are of lower brightness, such as the Sharp XV-Z30000 and definitely some of the Optomas and BenQs, then the problem is that some of those really aren’t geared for rooms with any significant amount of ambient light. Keep them in cave-light environments, use them only at night when those rooms can be almost fully darkened, or invest in some blackout curtains from Amazon like those mentioned in some of Nikki's reviews.

The trick is to match the screen to three things:1.  The Room
2.  What You Watch - And When
3.  The ProjectorWe’ll consider the HW40ES. It's 1700 lumens and geared toward a living room, media room, bonus room, family room, and other less-than-ideal spaces that have some degree of uncontrollable ambient light. It is Sony’s “intent” that their projector is geared more for these types of rooms rather than for a home theater - dark walls and other surfaces, very good lighting control. By the way - their more-expensive HW55ES is better matched for a true home theater/cave. These other rooms typically lack the ability to block out all outside light during the daytime, and as a general rule of thumb - the darker the surfaces in your room, the better.

In a previous home of mine (photos above), I took near-white walls and ceilings and darkened the ceilings by several shades. They still appeared to be “off-white” because they were still the brightest surfaces in the room. I also took the walls from an "off-white" to a rust color. Oh, what a huge difference it made! For that room, I used a Stewart Firehawk screen, which is pretty good at rejecting ambient light shining at it from the sides.

I’ve had projectors set up in such rooms. One can get those rooms dark enough for casual viewing such as sports, most HDTV in general, but they will be too bright to really be ideal for viewing movies. You’ll have to decide if movie viewing will be reserved for when you can keep the room dark, as that would affect your screen decision. Again, you can combat ambient light with blackout curtains or shades, which you can get for a very affordable price on Amazon.

If you have one of the brighter types of rooms and are planning to watch a mix of general HDTV and movies, then you’ll want a screen that can “help out” with dealing with that ambient light. These types of screens are typically known as High-Contrast Gray Screens (Gains from 0.5 to 1.3), such as Screen Innovation's Black Diamond series or Elite Screen's CineGrey 3D screen material that we are currently writing a review for. Screens like that can reject a fair amount of off-angle ambient light (light pouring in from the sides, top, or bottom of the screen), providing a much better picture.

Still, movie viewing will be best at night, when you have full lighting control. Even with the right screen, if your room has a modest amount of ambient light (i.e. light leaking in around dark window shades), you may still need to project your films at night to get the best picture.

When choosing the right screen for your projector, your budget also comes into play. The higher tech screens - my old Firehawk was very good, but not “state of the art”  - can almost work wonders. I just installed a Screen Innovations Slate in a very bright living room, so I could test projectors in a near “awful” room when it comes to ambient light. That’s a pricey screen - it's motorized and around double the price of the Sony HW40 ($4000+ for 100” diagonal - motorized, I think about half that for fixed wall). The Firehawk G3 (or G4) isn’t much less.Screen Innovations Black Diamond series (say, their 1.4 gain), costs even more, but is the best around for handling ambient light in my experience. Nikki is currently writing a review of Elite Screen's CineGrey 3D material, which comes in both fixed and motorized, and is considered by Elite Screens to be "the poor man's Black Diamond."Spoiler alert - Nikki found that screen to do a great job handling off-angle ambient light, and reviewed the screen using an 1,800-lumen 4K Sony VPL-VW665ES. The picture looked gorgeous on that screen - just as good as it did on her matte-white screen. That screen material can be found between $599 and $299 depending on your size and choice of frame.If you don’t need a great light rejecting/absorbing screen, then non-light-reflecting fixed wall screens start at under $400 (brands like Elite Screens). The premium brands are around $2000, but many big names (like Da-Lite) fall in the $500 to $1000 range. Those brands typically have motorized screens from $500 to $2000 depending on brand and size.

If your room is theater/cave like, then just decide your budget, and score an Elite if it’s low, or maybe a Carada - I use their Brilliant White 1.4 gain in my testing room. Otherwise, look to screens like the Da-lite Cinemavision, and Da-Mat.