Elite Screens Silver Frame Screen Review

[mechman]

Elite Screens

I contacted Elite Screens a couple weeks back to inquire about the possibility of reviewing some of their screen material. The response I got back was immediate and encouraging! They sent me a full 92" Silver Frame screen with their Power Gain material for me to review! They also manufacture several other types of screen options including manual pull down, electric pull down, and portable screens. I believe they also have a home theater furniture brand as well - SolaraHome.

The Elite Silver Frame comes with three different options for screen material:

• Power Gain
• CineWhite
• CineGray

Power Gain

PowerGain Enhances the color reproduction with high 1.8 Gain for those low light output projectors in the
presence of ambient light.

CineWhite

CineWhite Screen Material has a wide viewing angle (160 degree) in 1.1 Gain, suitable for most applications
including commercial presentations and home theater viewing.

CineGray

CineGrey Screen Material is best for those who using low contrast ratio projectors with a need to increase
contrast ratio to improve picture black levels.

As stated previously, Elite sent me a full size Power Gain screen and they also included a sample of the CineWhite material. I made up a spectral response curve chart for both of these materials:



What's encouraging here is that they are both fairly flat curves. There's a very slight dip on the red side of the spectrum but it's small enough that I consider it insignificant.

mech

[mechman]

Assembly

Assembly of the screen was a very simple! Total time from opening the box to hanging on the wall was ~45 minutes. And that included taking photos!

Here's a couple shots of the box:





There were some minor dents but everything came undamaged.



Unpacking

These are the brackets used to hold the frame together.


The rest of the contents


Assembly of the frame was as simple as six screws per corner.




Here's a shot of the Power Gain screen material unrolled.


And of the backside, fully assembled, which is black to stop light from passing through. You'll note there are some ripples in the one corner. I found those very simple to remove by just taking the clips off and readjusting the material.


The instructions were very easy to follow and the frame was a breeze to assemble. The screen material is attached to the framing via tensioning. Tensioning is achieved via slipping a vinyl coated steel cable into a sleeve on each edge and stretching the screen material into place while placing clips onto the backside to hold it in place. This was the hardest part and required te help of my wife to accomplish. I think it could be done alone, but I would recommend a helper!





Hanging is just a matter of mounting four brackets to the wall in the proper location and hanging the screen upon them.



mech

[mechman]

Screen Shots

Anyone who knows me or who's been here at the Shack for awhile, knows that I strive for accurate representation when taking screen shots. It's a bit of a painstaking process and I'm sure there are faults. But it's the best that can be achieved with my limited camera knowledge. Most of the investigation of how to achieve accurate color representation when taking screen shots is here. The gist of it is this, I use a WhiBal card (neutral gray reference card) in a shot while projecting white light from my projector. It is my color management shot. I then shoot all of my pictures, in RAW mode. When finished I process the WhiBal shot in Adobe Bridge and apply the settings to all of the screen shots. I've found that this is the most accurate way to get the true color image from screen shots.

I just wish I was as particular about double checking the tripod/camera for being plumb and level!

Camera

I use an Olympus E-500 DSLR with a Zuiko Digital 14-45mm F3.5-5.6 lens. ISO is set to 100. Shutter speed and aperture are set to auto. It is sset up on a tripod and I use a remote to snap the pictures as to avoid shaking.

Projector

Mitsubishi HC3000U DLP projector. This projector boasts a 4000:1 contrast ratio and 1000 lumens. It is run in economy mode with Brilliant Color off. All of the shots are taken with the projector settings set to project a D65 image. I accomplished these settings utilizing my X-Rite i1pro spectrophotometer mounted to a a tripod upon the beamer mount.

[mechman]

[mechman]

A few more pictures...

[mechman]

Conclusions

Frame

The frame is high quality construction and is extremely simple and quick to put together. All that plus it looks very sharp!

Screen Material

The Power Gain material shows it's strengths as a cinema or movie buff material. It has an excellent spectral response curve indicating accurate reflection of the image being projected upon it. Colors are excellent as well as sharpness.











It performs on par with a lot of the other screen materials I've seen when it comes to ambient lighting. I'd call it average with regard to this.

Here are two frames from Serenity. There are three shots of each frame each at a different light level.













Here are the are light readings from my i1pro spectro. It is the nighttime numbers that concern us!



As I said, it performs average with regards to ambient light. The only other thing that I noticed was while watching a hockey game. Most of you know I love hockey so I had to watch a little hockey! I was a bit disappointed with the Power Gain material when it came to something as bright as a hockey game. A grainy texture was easily discernible with the bright white background of the ice.

Here are some shots. Pay no attention to the blurriness as hockey is one of the fastest human propelled sports.

Zoomed in on the left side of the screen:



Compared to the piece of CineWhite Elite sent me:



A little closer:



Closer yet:



You can see in this zoomed in shot that the CineWhite exhibits none of the grainy type image in bright images:



One more comparing the two:



So here's the rub. If you're gonna watch a lot of hockey, I'd recommend the CineWhite. If you're going to use the screen as most folks intend, as a movie theater, get the Power Gain.

Another topic that always seems to rear it's ugly head with regards to gain is viewing angle/cone. Looking at Elite's chart above in the first post and consulting with the two test shots I did with regards to viewing angle above, it appears to be in the 40 degree range (viewing angle). That's a fairly large viewing angle for a 1.8 gain screen.

Overall the construction of the Silver Frame was excellent. The performance of the Power Gain screen material was on par with other material of it's caliber. Combine the two of these at a price point of slightly over $200 for this 92" screen and I think that's a recipe for success! Two thumbs up!


mech

[mechman]

Open for comments. I reserve the right to add more to this as needed!

mech

[Harpmaker]

Good stuff mech.

Any chance of getting a 200x micro photo of both screens?

[cynical2]

Nice, mech. Best DIY forum reviewer in the biz...

I have to say, that screen is a steal (for the 99% of Americans that don't watch a lot of hockey)! It looks like mech, 3 guys in Maine, and 2 in Vermont should be careful...the rest of us wouldn't have any problem.

[mechman]

Harpmaker wrote:

Good stuff mech.

Any chance of getting a 200x micro photo of both screens?

I'll try. Remind me if I forget. Today is 'Further Investigations' day.

mech

[mechman]

cynical2 wrote:

Nice, mech. Best DIY forum reviewer in the biz...

I have to say, that screen is a steal (for the 99% of Americans that don't watch a lot of hockey)! It looks like mech, 3 guys in Maine, and 2 in Vermont should be careful...the rest of us wouldn't have any problem.

It's hockey! Not hockey-ball Jim!

mech

[Kruppy]

Mech,
Thanks for the review . I’m quite happy you jumped on this as I have not found very much information on this screen at other sites that shall remain nameless, (cough) not that I spend any time (cough, cough) at these sites because the HomeTheaterShack is the place to be . I have a couple of questions:

Does the outer edge of the aluminum frame that is not anodized black (or is it painted) reflect light during viewing? How noticeable is the frame during viewing?

How is the fit and finish of the frame? Are the mitered corners tight when assembled or are there gaps at all? Knowing that this is a budget screen, I am concerned about the quality of the assembly (I would guess that everything looks good from your initial comments).

I don’t know if this is an appropriate question for a review thread, if it isn’t please let me know and I’ll delete this portion of my post:

Here’s where I could use a little advice as I am not in tune with all of the technical aspects that I should be . I have a Mitsubishi HD1000U (1500 lumens, DLP) that I run in low lamp mode almost 100% of the time with Brilliant Color off. My room is a light controlled finished basement. Right now it’s used 100% of the time for movies. I do not have cable or an OTA HD receiver for my system. My seating position is roughly 15ft from the wall the picture is currently projected on. What screen material would I be better off with the CineWhite (1.1) or PowerGain (1.8)? I’ve been leaning towards the CineWhite but your review comments have me second guessing myself.

Thanks for the help
Bob

[mechman]

Kruppy wrote:

Mech,
Thanks for the review . I’m quite happy you jumped on this as I have not found very much information on this screen at other sites that shall remain nameless, (cough) not that I spend any time (cough, cough) at these sites because the HomeTheaterShack is the place to be .

We are the authority! The others are conjecture.

Kruppy wrote:

I have a couple of questions:

Does the outer edge of the aluminum frame that is not anodized black (or is it painted) reflect light during viewing? How noticeable is the frame during viewing?

If you look close enough you'll notice that I did not adjust my projectors image to fit entirely on the screen surface. It's actually hitting the top aluminum framing. This screen hung quite a bit lower than mine as I didn't want to go through the process of drilling holes in my wall to mount it at it's proper height. I hung it from my french cleat. Take a look here:



You can clearly see the light hitting the aluminum above the black material.

Kruppy wrote:

How is the fit and finish of the frame? Are the mitered corners tight when assembled or are there gaps at all? Knowing that this is a budget screen, I am concerned about the quality of the assembly (I would guess that everything looks good from your initial comments)

.

The black material is a rubber/plastic material and it absorbs the slop just fine! Here's a good shot of the corner:



And of the black rubber/plastic edging:



That one also goes out to painters who think texture is bad! Another commercial screen with texture! lol

While this is the first actual frame I've been exposed to, I think it's great! It was extremely easy to put together!

Kruppy wrote:

I don’t know if this is an appropriate question for a review thread, if it isn’t please let me know and I’ll delete this portion of my post:

Here’s where I could use a little advice as I am not in tune with all of the technical aspects that I should be . I have a Mitsubishi HD1000U (1500 lumens, DLP) that I run in low lamp mode almost 100% of the time with Brilliant Color off. My room is a light controlled finished basement. Right now it’s used 100% of the time for movies. I do not have cable or an OTA HD receiver for my system. My seating position is roughly 15ft from the wall the picture is currently projected on. What screen material would I be better off with the CineWhite (1.1) or PowerGain (1.8)? I’ve been leaning towards the CineWhite but your review comments have me second guessing myself.

Thanks for the help
Bob

If I were using mine 100% of the time for movies I'd get the Power Gain. It'll give some flexibility as your bulb ages. Me personally though, as I watch a lot of hockey, it'd be the CineWhite.

mech

[mechman]

CineWhite 200X



Power Gain 200X



Here's a Power Gain 60X as well



I had to hold the microscope in my hand for the Power Gain material.

mech

[Harpmaker]

Thanks for the microscope shots mech!

Is it my imagination or am I seeing beads in the Power Gain screen?

[mechman]

Nope. No beads. Just texture.



mech

[tonywood]

How bad is the texture? Is the screen silver, gray, or white? How would you rake it compared to the wilsonart DW? Can you see the texture in all white backgrounds? or was it just Hockey?

[mechman]

Anything that was bright white would reveal the graininess. I don't believe it was a texture issue. And it was the high gain material which is silver/gray. The CineWhite has texture as well but exhibits no graininess in bright white images.

mech

[tonywood]

Thanks Mech, I have a light controlled room and trying to decide between this and a DIY Wilsonart DW screen. I think I am leaning toward the Wilsonart DW?

I was just directed to this thread from another forum. I recently got some Powergain material for my 106" 16:9 Elite ezFrame and am having lots of problems with it. I started a thread at another forum a few days ago, which illustrates pics and problems I'm having. I scanned the rules and believe I'm okay to post a link to that thread at the other forum, but please remove if needed. Here's the link:


My screen material appears to be defective, but I'd still be interested in hearing any thoughts you may have. Thanks!

[muzz]

I just saw that thread yesterday Chad, it looks like some Hotspotting, and I thought it may have been the actual frame hitting the screen in the back(causing the lines), but from reading on, it doesn't seem that way.

[mechman]

Chad wrote:

I was just directed to this thread from another forum. I recently got some Powergain material for my 106" 16:9 Elite ezFrame and am having lots of problems with it. I started a thread at another forum a few days ago, which illustrates pics and problems I'm having. I scanned the rules and believe I'm okay to post a link to that thread at the other forum, but please remove if needed. Here's the link:



My screen material appears to be defective, but I'd still be interested in hearing any thoughts you may have. Thanks!

Chad,

Your material definitely appears to be defective. I had no vertical bands that you show. How many vertical supports came with it and can you verify it's not those? I'd contact them ASAP to get a replacement.

Also did your frame go together as easily as the SilverFrame? I liked the frame a lot!

I was actually more favorable to their CineWhite material than the PowerGain material. It does appear to hot spot as muzz pointed out too. I do not recall any hot spotting issues with the one I was sent.

mech

Thanks for the replies. I'm amazed at the quality of the ezFrame series frame considering how little they cost compared to other manufacturers. It goes together relatively easily, looks very classy, and is beveled, which is only available on the more expensive lines with some screen manufacturers.

The ezFrame goes together differently than the Silverframe...there aren't any support bars with the ezFrame series. The Elite website mentions that Powergain material is multi-layered. I think the vertical bands are in one of the lower layers because they aren't directly visible on the surface of the material and visibility varies depending on what angle you are viewing from. They're always visible, just moreso from some angles.

My dealer is setting up an RMA with Elite to get a replacement Powergain screen. Until then, I'm enjoying the Cinewhite material though I do wish I had more gain at times. I own all 3 of the Elite fixed frame screen materials and so far Cinewhite is my favorite, followed by Cinegray....and Powergain is a distant third. But hopefully the replacement Powergain material is as good as the material you got and maybe I'll like it a lot better.

[chas]

Do the ezframe and silver frame use the same screen and backing materials?

[chas]

Elite confirmed that they do use the same screen materials and that the only difference is the frame.

Mech...do you see any problem with spraying the silver portion of the frame with flat black?