Sony Ruby Screen suggestions

[bancroft]

I have decided on the Sony Ruby for my theater. I have a large (20X24), light controlled (will have negligible ambient light) room for viewing movies and HDTV on this unit. I have drawn out the room and will ceiling mount the unit. My projector distance from lense to screen is 15 feet. Seating for me and guests is 11 to 18 feet.
What is a good screen for this setup? I do not want super premium, but the screen should not be the weekest link in the video chain. This will be a 110 inch, manual pull down also--not motorized.
Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[BMXTRIX]

The screen is the weakest link unless you go with a tab-tesnioned manual pull down screen. More often, people go with permanently tensioned screens like the Critereon line from www.carada.com

If I were to build a dedicated theater but I HAD to have a retractible screen, then I would try to get a permanently tensioned screen and hang it from the ceiling on hinges. The entire screen could be pulled up, away from the wall/door/??? that is needs to be out of the way from. But, then when I lower it, I would have the HIGHEST quality screen that is ideal for home theater usage.

Manual pull down/crank down screen - tab-tensioned...

Draper:
http://www.draperinc.com/Screen_Pages/PremierC_projection_screen.htm
They don't appear to have a 110" diagonal

Stewart has one, but it doesn't seem to include 1.78:1 aspect ratios at all...
http://www.stewartfilmscreen.com/product_information/projection_screens_11.html

If you do NOT want tab-tensioned, then go as cheap as possible. I have never seen a manual screen that doesn't get wrinkles and waves in it after 1-2 years of usage. Tons out there for about 100 bucks. If you spend $1,000 on one though I would expect that it won't hold up any better and won't give you much better results than the 100 dollar model.

My take on all of it of course.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I have decided on the Sony Ruby for my theater. I have a large (20X24), light controlled (will have negligible ambient light) room for viewing movies and HDTV on this unit. I have drawn out the room and will ceiling mount the unit. My projector distance from lense to screen is 15 feet. Seating for me and guests is 11 to 18 feet.
What is a good screen for this setup? I do not want super premium, but the screen should not be the weekest link in the video chain. This will be a 110 inch, manual pull down also--not motorized.
Thanks for your suggestions.

There has been lots of exchanges at AV?S about this projector. I would highly recommend to mount it at minimum distance from the screen based on its size, 1.41x screen width in inches. You loose about 30% light at the max distance. The bulb does fade.
Why not a motorized screen? Maybe one fixed behind a curtain?

Oh, yes, you do want a very good calibrator for proper calibration, preferably one who has set up a Ruby before.

 

[LEVESQUE]

The majority of Ruby owners on AVS are using a high-gain screen to compensate for the "dimness" of the projector. The Xenon bulb is loosing 40% of is brightness in the first 100-200 hours.

The Da-Lite High-Power and Vutec Silverstar are popular high-gain choices with the Ruby.

I'm using a Da-Lite Hi-Power with my Ruby (110" dia) and even after 200 hours it's still plenty bright. My Ruby is 6" over eye level so I'm exactly in the viewing cone of the Hi-Power.

 

[bancroft]

Screen Quote

I spoke with th eretailer and a friend about the screen. I've received a quote for a Stewart Firehawk 106" HDTV size. It is a LUXUS Communicator style as a permanent ceiling mount is not allowed (WAF). It has a gain of 1.25.

The rep recommended this material because it compensates for two key variables:

1. Slight ambient light, and
2. It will be less noticeable when movies are shown in 2.35 instead of 16:9. This model does not allow for masking to compensate. He felt that the Studiotek 130 would show too much white outside the image displayed.

Assuming a very dark room, ceiling mount and a throw of 14 1/2 feet, is this a good choice?

Thanks for your help.

 

[BMXTRIX]

The Luxus is one of the ones that I would go with for sure. Likely a good deal more expensive than the Draper listed above, but a high quality screen for sure.

The Firehawk material is not listed as one of the materials available on that particular screen design. In general, grey screens may not do a lot for you in a theater black environment, but help more when lights start going on. If you have any intention of having some ambient light in the room, then Firehawk would be a decent choice. Otherwise, Studiotek would work as well, and may provide a more uniform image.

Sucks about the WAF issue... Family room?

I personally went with an in-ceiling motorized screen that retracts all the way up into the ceiling. When it is retracted, there isn't even a screen hanging on the wall to draw attention. Most first time guests don't even realize we have a projector in the family room. Pricey, but very nice and huge points for WAF.

 

[bancroft]

Ruby Screen

Yes this a family room. There is no way to do an in-ceiling mount as the cost is high and the ceiling is vaulted.

All my readings seem to say go with a high gain screen with the Ruby as its light output is low and declines with usage. Will a 1.25 GrayHawk be enough or am I better off with a whiter, Studiotek 130, screen instead of gray with a higher gain?

I can ,and will have a completely dark room as plasma will be used for casual viewing. Ruby is for movies and special events on HDTV.

 

[BMXTRIX]

They will perform very similarly, but the Firehawk (if available), not the greyhawk, has a narrower viewing cone which will make off-axis viewing a bit worse and will decrease overall image uniformity - which you may not notice.

I personally would go with the Studiotek. You will have to double check that 16:9 is an option with this screen as it is not listed as such on the Stewart website.

Bummer about the ceiling... I have the same type of setup, but not a vaulted ceiling. Plus, got the screen for 800 bucks on eBay.

 

[bancroft]

Have a quote from Stewart for the StudioTek 130 for same price as the FireHawk. I said GrayHawk by mistake earlier. The other forums circulating on the web have people suggesting the FireHawk because my room is dark, but, it has a number of windows, white ceiling, light brown walls and a medium brown carpet. This is not exactly desireable for theater, it is a family room, therefore the need for a grayish screen with the FireHawk.

 

[mtrycrafts]

All my readings seem to say go with a high gain screen with the Ruby as its light output is low and declines with usage. Will a 1.25 GrayHawk be enough or am I better off with a whiter, Studiotek 130, screen instead of gray with a higher gain?.

You may be interested in this test of screens:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=262466

The Ruby is not that low in foot Lambert output as you would think. Certainly could keep up with theater foot-Lambert performances. Moving the projector to its minimum distance would help(1.41x width).

 

[Digerati]

The majority of Ruby owners on AVS are using a high-gain screen to compensate for the "dimness" of the projector. The Xenon bulb is loosing 40% of is brightness in the first 100-200 hours.

The Da-Lite High-Power and Vutec Silverstar are popular high-gain choices with the Ruby.

I'm using a Da-Lite Hi-Power with my Ruby (110" dia) and even after 200 hours it's still plenty bright. My Ruby is 6" over eye level so I'm exactly in the viewing cone of the Hi-Power.

I've already said this on a couple of other links, but I just got this screen and it is great! I bought a GreyHawk Platinum screen from http://www.greyhawkavs.com. It is a high-gain, shiney silver colored screen and it blows my old Da-Lite screen out of the water (and cost a heck of a lot less too).

I grabbed one of their LCD projectors too, but didn't have time to mount it for a couple of weeks so I used the GreyHawk screen with my old 1790's disco projector during that time. What a difference the GreyHawk screen made!

When I finally got the new projector mounted, I was really blown away. I have never seen a better theater system than these guys have.