CHOOSING THE BEST PROJECTION SCREEN FOR YOUR PROJECT

If you have recently decided to have a Home Theater or Media Lounge added to your home.....

or you simply want to add a projection system to your living room or any other multi-purpose space, the selection of the appropriate projection screen will be just one of the many decisions that you will make during the design phase of the project.

Let’s take a look at the information that your AV Enthusiast Integrator will initially gather in order to make a recommendation for the best screen for your projection system.

First, and foremost, your integrator must know if the space to be used for the projection system is single-purpose or multi-purpose. multi-purpose.

Examples of single-purpose spaces are rooms dedicated to a specific purpose, such as Home Theaters, Screening Rooms, Gaming Rooms, Sports Bars and Media Lounges, and are usually built from the ground up solely for that purpose.

CHALLENGES OF A MULTI-PURPOSE ROOM

On the other hand, multi-purpose spaces such as a family room normally serve as a casual place for watching TV with the kids, as well as a sanctuary for reading a good book or having lively conversations with friends.

Why does this make a difference?  A lot of it has to do with the lighting characteristics present in the space.  The amount of both artificial and ambient light in the room when you are using your projection system has a direct affect on the quality of the images you see on the screen. In general, the less light, the better.  Your family room wasn’t initially designed to house a theater and may be an open floorplan with a high ceiling and multiple windows. That presents a few hurdles that will have to be overcome by your integrator when he designs the projection system for the room, and the selection of a specific type of screen will be very important. He will almost certainly select an ALR (Ambient Light-Rejecting) screen from Screen Innovations, along with their motorized window treatments to darken the room. ALR projection screens are high-contrast screens that reflect and direct all projected light towards the viewers while absorbing ambient light. They create bright, color-rich images with precisely viewable detail.

For aesthetic reasons, he may also offer you solutions to hide your screen when not in use. For example, it can be hidden behind automated sliding artwork or family portraits, or simply roll up into a ceiling-mounted cabinet.

Of course, the size of the screen is also important and has to be matched to the size of the room, but your integrator will recommend that you go as big as you can, and that is generally dependent on the size and layout of the room.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR A SINGLE-PURPOSE ROOM

Once again, the lighting characteristics of the room are all-important from the start.

Many times, this type of room is purpose-built from the ground up, and the issue of excessive light in the room is tackled from the get-go. In other words, there most likely will be no windows in the room, and limited sources of artificial light, especially in a Home Theater where the goal is to provide an experience as close as possible to that of a commercial movie theater.

However, if the room was converted from, say, a large unused bedroom, then it probably has windows that make it necessary to deal with excessive ambient light just as in any multi-purpose room.

Screen size and shape will of course be matched to the physical dimensions of the space and will most likely fill the entire wall at the front of the room.  And unless it is used solely as a dark screening room, our integrator will most likely recommend an ALR screen.

SCREENS FOR OUTDOOR PROJECTION SYSTEMS

Screen Innovations’ Solo 3 line of Outdoor Projection Screens withstand the weather to provide you with a “Drive-In Movie Experience” that your family and friends can enjoy outdoors in your comfortable patio lounge area rather than in a cramped sedan with a speaker box hanging off the car window.

The Solo 3 is controlled with a keypad or a waterproof remote control and can be hidden when not in use.

LASTLY, BUT VERY IMPORTANT

Screen characteristics must be carefully matched to the capabilities of the projector. As an example, if we install a 16:9 widescreen for you but the projector’s aspect ratio is only 4:3 (standard content) then you will have a “box” in the center of the screen containing your program and the remainder of the screen will be empty.  That’s just one example of why it is worth it to hire AV Enthusiast to design, install, and maintain your pro-level projection systems.

AV Enthusiast is your go-to A/V integrator for all of your Audio-Video projects! We are dealers for   and   .

Give us a call today at 256.882.5081 to schedule a consultation or drop by our showroom at 514 Madison Street in Huntsville, Alabama, Monday – Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM or Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM.

We look forward to meeting you!