[studlygoorite]

Hi all,

I have a 142" Black Diamond 2.4 aspect 1.4 gain screen now and want to go bigger. I only sit 16' from my screen now and will be sitting about 15' from the 174" diagonal that I wish to purchase. I have an Epson 6010 and need an AT Screen if I want to fit that large of a screen into my room with my mains behind it.
I have read lots of interesting reviews on several different screens here, thanks for all the work, and still have to ask, how much of a difference is there between a 10,000.00 Stewart and a 3,000.00 Da Lite? The Stewart is a 174" diagonal CineW with UltraMatte 150 micro perf, curved, fixed screen and the Da Lite is a 174" Da Snap HD Progressive 1.1 perf, curved fixed screen or the same Da Lite but with a perf cinema vision fabric for a couple grand more. I know that Da Lite frame is of considerably less quality than the Stewart's but what a difference in price. I have asked for samples of said materials but am I paying for the name with the Stewart or what can make that much of a difference in price?
Any suggestions are welcome. I should mention that I want this to be the last screen I buy and it needs to be good for 4K.

John: :dontknow:

 

[mechman]

$10K for a Stewart? Wow that's a lot of $$$! I'd guess it's because the size of your screen is so large. :scratch:

You do pay for a name up to a point. But 3 times the cost of a Da-Lite is a bit much. I would do as you are doing and get samples of the materials and see how they perform in your environment.

As for the 4K question, who knows? :huh:

 

[HTip]

You want to go from 142" to 174"? :yikes: I think 142" is huge already

It's certainly a big price difference. I have a Stewart fixed screen and the quality of frame and screen is outstanding. The gain of the screen material is the same everywhere, so you don't get a uneven color balance. Your material has a 1.5 gain in contrast to the Da Lite which is 1.1 so I guess that counts for some of the difference. The perf material is also very expensive if you want true acoustic transparancy. I'm not familiar with Da Lite so I can't comment on the quality.

But why do you want such a large screen? If you look at this calculator (http://www.projectorcentral.com/Epson-PowerLite_Pro_Cinema_6010-projection-calculator-pro.htm) the recommended seating position for a 174" screen is between 18' and 28'. At 15' the recommended screen size is 152" or smaller.

One more thing to consider. If you want the screen to display 3D then the gain should probably be even higher. Stewart has special 3D material I'm not aware of any special requirements for 4K...

 

[studlygoorite]

I sit in front of the 142" and the Wow factor is gone, my friends even have the same size, it is time for me to be the biggest again.
As for the throw, not sure how much that counts as I have zoomed my projector out to 180" and the picture still looks good enough for me.....huge!!! I'll get the samples and go from there, I was just shocked at the price difference. If I can save a few grand and still have good quality, why not I say.

 

[mechman]

If I can save a few grand and still have good quality, why not I say.

Indeed! :T

 

[Harpmaker]

JJ, unless you are in a totally dark theater with dark colored room surfaces and no ambient light whatsoever you are going to take a huge contrast hit in your image by going from a Black Diamond gray screen to a white screen no matter what the gain of the new screen is. Would this be acceptable to you?

 

[studlygoorite]

JJ, unless you are in a totally dark theater with dark colored room surfaces and no ambient light whatsoever you are going to take a huge contrast hit in your image by going from a Black Diamond gray screen to a white screen no matter what the gain of the new screen is. Would this be acceptable to you?

I have considered that as my brother has a Stewart Firehawk I think, and I tried to get him to purchase the Black Diamond off of me as his picture is washed out quite a bit with ambient light. My very first screen was a Da Lite 1.1 gain 106" and the difference the BD made when I purchased it was unbelievable. So really, no, I never considered it that much as I do watch the projector with lights off but now that you mention it maybe I should go somewhere in between. I have Da Lite samples of their Cinema Vision, High Contrast Cinema perf, HD Progressive 1.1 perf and a Stewart sample of the CineW with UltraMatte 150 microperf coming soon. Is there another that you can suggest?

John

 

[HTip]

I sit in front of the 142" and the Wow factor is gone, my friends even have the same size, it is time for me to be the biggest again.
As for the throw, not sure how much that counts as I have zoomed my projector out to 180" and the picture still looks good enough for me.....huge!!! I'll get the samples and go from there, I was just shocked at the price difference. If I can save a few grand and still have good quality, why not I say.

You're certainly right about saving money :T

The picture quality is best when the lens is in the middle of the zoom range. In your case with the 174" screen that would be somewhere around 23'. Problem is, however, that it all depends on the gain of your screen. With 1.5 gain recommended mounting is somewhere around 25'.

Why did you choose Ultramatte and not Studiotek? What is the size of your room?

 

[studlygoorite]

You're certainly right about saving money :T

The picture quality is best when the lens is in the middle of the zoom range. In your case with the 174" screen that would be somewhere around 23'. Problem is, however, that it all depends on the gain of your screen. With 1.5 gain recommended mounting is somewhere around 25'.

Why did you choose Ultramatte and not Studiotek? What is the size of your room?

The Ultramatte was suggested to me by a sales person, not a Stewart sales person. My room is 16'x21', but with an AT screen my projector would be 15/16 feet from screen. I realize I am going to have to give up some quality to go that large that close but 4K in my price range is just around the corner. Are you suggesting that Studiotek may be bettter suited for me?

 

[HTip]

Nice dimensions for a cinema. I think a lower gain screen is better for your projector. It has such a high light output (2400 lumens) that a negative gain screen (<1.0) probably would be even better. Especially is you're planning to mount the projector so close to the screen.

By way of comparison, my projector's (JVC RS25) light output is 900 lumens, it is mounted at 14'7" and my 110" screen is 1.3 gain. Frankly that is bright enough for me

If you take a look at the calculator I posted you can "play around" with the different parameters. For an accurate advice on screen size I further recommend the calculator from Epson (http://www.epson.com/alf_upload/landing/distance-calculator/).

 

[Ericglo]

I am not a big fan of perf screens. You should get some samples of SMX and Seymour AT 4k screens. I am not sure on the SMX costs, but I thought Cris told me he was pretty price competitive. I may have mentioned it before, but at Cedia myself and another person walked up to the Seymour 4k screen and thought it was a solid screen.

Unfortunately the pic attached is highly compressed, but it may give you somewhat of an idea on the screens. Centerstage XD is on the left and 4k on the right.

 

[studlygoorite]

I am not a big fan of perf screens. You should get some samples of SMX and Seymour AT 4k screens. I am not sure on the SMX costs, but I thought Cris told me he was pretty price competitive. I may have mentioned it before, but at Cedia myself and another person walked up to the Seymour 4k screen and thought it was a solid screen.

Unfortunately the pic attached is highly compressed, but it may give you somewhat of an idea on the screens. Centerstage XD is on the left and 4k on the right.

Thanks for this Ericglo, unfortunately SMX did not return my e-mail 2 weeks ago and I was interested in the Seymour, maybe I will get some info on a 174" from them also.

 

[mechman]

Chris from Seymour is a member here - chriscmore is his member name. You could pm him.

 

[studlygoorite]

Chris from Seymour is a member here - chriscmore is his member name. You could pm him.

I did, thanks.

 

[studlygoorite]

So I decided to go with the Seymour 174", AT, Scope, Curved Screen with Centerstage XD Material and took delivery yesterday, boy is it big, I will install it on Saturday.

 

[netroamer]

I sit in front of the 142" and the Wow factor is gone, my friends even have the same size, it is time for me to be the biggest again.
As for the throw, not sure how much that counts as I have zoomed my projector out to 180" and the picture still looks good enough for me.....huge!!! I'll get the samples and go from there, I was just shocked at the price difference. If I can save a few grand and still have good quality, why not I say.

A $10k screen for a $4k projector? I would start auditioning new projectors before investing in a larger screen as the "wow" factor may lie there.

 

[studlygoorite]

Well the WOW factor is definately back, very nice, very large picture for movies and gaming without buying a new projector , very pleased with this screen.....and projector.

 

[studlygoorite]

Here are some finished??? pics with my new Seymour 174" AT Scope Screen

 

[mechman]

Looks great JJ!

 

[HTip]

Wow! And I thought my screen was big. It doesn't even come close. I like the wall-to-wall viewing idea :T