Do I need a new screen for 4K?

lancer360

lancer360

Junior Audioholic
I currently have a Carada Brilliant White 1.4 Gain screen that is about 10 years old that is still in perfect condition. It came from my old house. I now have a dedicated theater room in the new house that is fully light controlled. I'm looking to upgrade to a Optoma UHD65 projector and add on a UHD player. Sales person I talked to today said the Carada is a textured screen and won't work well with 4K. Do I need a new screen?
 
Last edited:
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
You don't necessarily need a new screen, but I would get the projector first, and see how happy you are with the results before spending money on a smooth screen. I don't expect you will decide upon a new screen and I think they are using some higher dollar sales approach to get into an item which gives them a bit more. If you have the screen already, then use the screen you have, and then decide if you really would prefer a smooth screen.

I would then do research on which screens are really doing a good job at providing a very smooth surface without hotspotting or sparkling issues. Certainly a screen material like the HD Progressive from Da-Lite (formally the Joe Kane screens) are a great choice, but come at a pretty serious price tag.

https://www.milestone.com/en/products/resultset?Da-Lite=Screen Surfaces&chkfx=Surface_Features:High_Resolution

I'm not sure how the advertised 4K screens from companies like SilverTicket or Elite really stack up against the really smooth screens from Da-Lite and other larger screen companies.
 
lancer360

lancer360

Junior Audioholic
I looked more at the website for the company that wanted to sell me a screen too and their examples of textured screens you could clearly see the texture at 2 feet away. To see the texture on my screen I have to shine a flashlight across the screen and put my nose on the screen. Even then the texture is barely detectable. I will definitely stay with my existing screen and test it with the new projector.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
That's a good plan. I haven't gotten to look at the new UHD models yet, and it may be a while before I upgrade beyond 1080p with budget and the actual need to finish my basement, but I think that where things are really going to be nice is with the extended color range and the use of the HEVC/h.265 codec. Getting more detail and data into the 4k source is going to be critical to a higher quality image. Certainly, at some point, you may decide upon a new screen, but with the first entry Optoma model 65, I think you likely will be very happy with your setup, and the Carada screens really are the best I've used outside of Stewart.
 
lancer360

lancer360

Junior Audioholic
Went to a Magnolia store today to demo a JVC X570r and the Epson 6040. Ended up a waste of time as they couldn't find the remote for the JVC and had no idea what settings it was using and couldn't figure out why the Epson was saying it was being fed a 1080 60hz feed when it was hooked to a UHD player with a 4k disc in it. However I was very surprised at the screen that the Epson was being displayed on. It was an acoustically transparent screen (Screen Innovations I think) that had a huge amount of texture. The texture was clearly visible from 18" away. Picture looked ok on it, granted it was my first time seeing a working 4k projector so what do I know. :) Made me feel like I should have absolutely no problems with my existing screen.
 
A

aaro

Audiophyte
i think if you are nt satisfy with your ols screen you must replace it to save your self fro a lot of problems.
 
nathan_h

nathan_h

Audioholic
I currently have a Carada Brilliant White 1.4 Gain screen that is about 10 years old that is still in perfect condition. It came from my old house. I now have a dedicated theater room in the new house that is fully light controlled. I'm looking to upgrade to a Optoma UHD65 projector and add on a UHD player. Sales person I talked to today said the Carada is a textured screen and won't work well with 4K. Do I need a new screen?
I'll bet that sales person had a screen they were ready to sell you.

I haven't found that most well engineering screens negatively impact 4k content. If you had an older perforated or woven screen, you MIGHT find that you needed to upgrade. If you had a very usual screen material/coating, you MIGHT find that you want to upgrade.

If you are concerned: Get your new projector. Use it with your current screen. Get a few sample swatches of screen material you might consider upgrading to and see whether they offer any notable improvement over your existing screen material. I'll bet you a beer you will look back on that conversation with that sales person and smile because you just saved yourself many hundreds of dollars.
 
newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top