Good morning, Guys......I recently installed a PT- AE2000U with a Sony Blu Ray and an Elite screen. I also built a 96" screen using Melamine with velvet border, etc. It seemed the Elite was the better of the two, so I retired the Mel and have been watching the Elite for a couple weeks. Note that I am new to this stuff, and don't know what to expect in a screen; what is good, great, etc.
I have a lot of heat/light reflective paint left over from a job, and decided to paint the Mel screen with it. I was surprised to find out that the movies looked much better with the painted screen, so I took down the Elite.
I would really like to have someone to test a painted surface for me to see what the screen gain is. I would be happy to send a painted object for testing, etc.
Can anyone help with this?
Thanks,
jim
First things first... Welcome to the Shack!
Okay, you said you are new to all this. No problem. Let's try to get you up to speed!
I see many times a new person asks for help and immediately they are swamped with DIY developers giving recommendations, but usually they only give their screen options as a recommendation without actually assessing what the user wants or needs. Most often since the user is new, they really don't know one screen from the next so naturally the see an improvement and are wowed, but without ever seeing anything else or more importantly, without doing a baseline calibration on a white reference screen, they really won't know if something else may have been better suited for them.
In your case I see you've already used a sheet of white melamine, as well as an Elite Screen. What model of Elite screen did you use? Was it white or gray, and what did they list the gain as? And... did you do a calibration? Actually you need to recalibrate or at least check your calibration any time you change screens.
The PT-AE2000U mated with a Bluray player should be an incredible match!
What brand is the paint you used and is this a gray color or white and what was the Elite? If the Elite was just a 1.0 gain white screen and the paint is a light gray, I have no doubt that the image probably looks better if your painted screen is slightly darker in shade. Most likely better blacks and shadow detail if my guess is right.
Gain isn't as important as it is made out to be. It is more of a tool than an indication of ultimate performance. Too much gain and problems start to arise. Too little when some is needed, and the image tends to look dull and muddy. Basically gain is used to get you where you need to be at as far as recommended fL brightness. Too much gain and the viewing cone starts to become retricted, and also color shifting can occur outside of the sweet spot.
You're projector is bright and has very good CR. I always recommend that a person do a baseline calibration on a white reference screen. Why do I feel this is so important? Well the manufacturer does their Quality Control testing on a unity gain white reference screen and that's what the projector is setup for. By doing a baseline on a white reference screen you'll see the projector exactly how the company engineered it to work. From there and based on your setup, you may be able to do a few things to make the image even better.
Sounds like you have an interesting paint. We'd love to get some readings on it and see what the shade is as well as color balance. Do you have any pictures of your setup? It's always fun to see other people's layout.
