Re: Black Widow Beta Testers Needed
Ok - so I'll practice on my garage wall as well as do some test panels like Harp suggests in the C&S thread (I'm sure you guys have too in numerous places).
Are you sure N9 will be dark enough? I've been fairly happy with the taupe wall you see in the pictures towards the bottom of my thread at the other place :blink:. That is, until I hung the BOC next to it at night. Then I said :coocoo::foottap::time-out::dontknow::nono::dizzy::surrender:, EVERYTHING IS DIRTY!
Any idea what the gain is for C&S? BW8.5?
If it looked good on the taupe wall then brace yourself for C&S!
Here's the deal and then some advice...
12fL is the recommended minimum. I believe FL is the min for THX standards. Now that doesn't mean at 10fL you won't see anything. This is why I highly recommend that people do a baseline calibration to a white reference screen. So before you do anything else, calibrate to the white BOC before painting it. That way you'll know without any doubt whether the image is better or worse. My bet is it looks much better now than on the taupe wall. I'll also guarantee if I told you to get some Winter Mist mixed up with Valspar Flat Enamel or better yet Valspar Signature Series in the Matte finish you'd be drooling... but by bypassing the white screen baseline calibration you'll never know if it looks as good as possible. Many people don't tell others to do a baseline calibration and I really have to question why. I have my feelings on the reason but I won't go there.
Okay the advice. I see a couch sitting to the right. Do you have any seats directly in front of the screen perpendicular to it? At the size screen you have, be careful with screens that are mica based to produce gain. First of all mica refracts and causes color shifting. That's just a fact of mica, I'm not picking any fights with anyone about that. If you combine that with a screen that's already shifting colors, things get even worse. Now for the biggest issue... viewing cone. As gain goes up viewing cone decreases. I've seen a few people argue about that and even make claims they have a 1.8 or higher gain screen that has almost a 180 degree viewing cone, and that is impossible. It's a complete violation of the laws of light and physics and unless they know something that nobody else on the planet knows, it's a bunch of bunk.
As gain increases, so does color shifting off angle. In the sweet spot things look great, but with a screen that size you literally could experience the viewing cone when moving from the center of a couch (that's perpendictular to the screen) to the outer edges of the couch. Mica is only going to make that color shift worse if it's a high gain mica based screen. People sitting off to side on the other couch are not going to have a good viewing experience at all... if it really is a high gain screen using mica to boost the gain.
So you want a bright screen that is neutral, with some gain, and also a tad darker than a white screen. That way you'll have the widest viewing cone, the brightest image, and blacks and darks will look better than a white screen but whites and colors will still look fantastic. C&S really sounds like the ticket. It's an N9 shade of gray, it has some gain but not so much you have viewing cone or color shifting issues outside the sweet spot, and you're colors and whites will be spot on and as good as what your projector can produce.
Something else to keep in mind, the screen should be a neutral palate and other than helping with perceived contrast or like in your case, providing the required gain to get you to the recommended min fL brightness... other than that, adjustments should be be made at the projector and
not the screen. Why some people insist on making warm screens, or cool screens or screens with intentional color pushes and then adding gold and other things to compensate for the color push... it makes no sense. They should just go with a D65 screen for their mixes and be done with it.
I really think you're going to be happy with C&S if you do decide to go that route.