$800 Projector Screen vs $2000 Projector Screen

A

apolloNail1518

Enthusiast
I'm looking to buy a projector screen and I'm little confuse of the price point. I looked at a company like Carada which sell a 124'' brilliant white scree for around $800 and then I see that screen from other company like Da-lite selling for over $2000. I understand it's some time about name brand but is there a big different in quality?
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
I think my Elite 150" fixed-screen costs $600 on Amazon. It looks great to me.

I definitely don't see the point of spending a lot of money on screens, unless it's one of those acoustic-transparent screens.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
I think my Elite 150" fixed-screen costs $600 on Amazon. It looks great to me.

I definitely don't see the point of spending a lot of money on screens, unless it's one of those acoustic-transparent screens.
The key is "fixed". Fixed screens are much cheaper and very durable. Now roll down screens - this is where you could spend big bucks on one, especially the better ones - called tab tensioned.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
The key is "fixed". Fixed screens are much cheaper and very durable. Now roll down screens - this is where you could spend big bucks on one, especially the better ones - called tab tensioned.
True.

Tension-screens and Acoustic-Transparent screens will cost more.

But for fixed screens, I don't think there is any reason to pay $2K or even $1K when you can get a high quality 150" screen for $600.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
Even for AT screens the cost doesn't have to be crazy. Seymour AV, for example, basically brought woven screens to the forefront of consumer use and they cost a fraction of what the major manufacturers would charge. Now others are following suit with more woven AT screens.

But, is there a difference and is the $1,000+ spent on DaLite, or even more for a Stewart worth the cost?

It really depends on your application and need. If you have a pretty standard room and a entry level projector, then you really aren't going to have issues using a entry level screen. The main goal is to avoid hot spots, sparkles, and to have solid image uniformity. It's worth saying that any positive gain grey screen often does have issues with this, and cheaper manufacturers (or expensive ones) can have problems with this. But, normal white screens and .8 gain grey screens rarely have issues. So, Elite with their SableFrame and the Silver Ticket screens on Amazon are excellent choices in an entry level fixed frame screen. They are cheap imports, but do the job nicely. They go together reasonably well, often with weak instructions and they have no real support overall. Elite may provide some support, which is good to consider and may make their extra cost (not much) worthwhile.

But, is the DaLite 110" Cinema Contour screen, with DaMat material at 110" (model: 94309V) worth the nearly $1,000 more than the Silver Ticket 110" white screen (model: STR-169110)?

In my experience, not at all.

But, that's not what DaLite is really in business for. DaLite, Draper, and Stewart used to be the only games in town that were readily available. Now you have many choices in fixed frame screens and those choices are well worth getting if they work.

But, there are times that you need a higher level product. You need a GOOD ambient light rejecting screen. You don't need a 110" diagonal, but you need a 104.3" diagonal. You MUST have it fit a specific space. You need an oddball aspect ratio. You need it to be American made (some government work). You need a screen of a very large size. You need a specific material that isn't available from others. You need additional material or surfaces for the frame. You need a different attachment system that allows for the screen to be replaced easily.

Then there are the tab-tensioned motorized screens. A tensioned screen is not typically cheap. And the cheap ones are typically... cheap. A inexpensive Silver Ticket fixed frame screen can last 10-20 years easily. A motor, plus a tensioning system, from a bad manufacturer may be bad out of the box. It may fail within a few years. It may never properly tension. A good manufacturer like DaLite, Draper, or Stewart, could deliver a screen that lasts well over 20 years and still perform well.

The big manufacturers really get their money from commercial installations. Large venues, auditoriums, theaters, etc. The type of installations which smaller companies like Silver Ticket aren't targeting.

On top of all of this, a company like DaLite offers a dozen different screen surfaces to choose from which will almost always match the room and projector which is in use. HD Progressive, for example, is a extremely smooth screen surface with very high diffusion. This compares to many other screens which have a slight texture to them. You can often see and feel that texture on those surfaces. It can have an impact on the viewing quality if your projector is of higher resolution and you are close enough to the screen. This is not the case with the HD Progressive materials, which really seem suitable for 8K projection and close up mapping situations while maintaining, what is supposed to be, color neutrality in the screen surface.

So, short answer long there, but yeah, on a typical setup, get a cheap fixed frame screen and call it a day.
 
moves

moves

Audioholic Chief
Good effort in that last post. Much appreciate the feedback!
 
newsletter

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