Screen Advice, please

[David Monard Ice]

I am hosting an “old-time movie night” at my church monthly, using an Elmo ST-1200 HD with an Elmo f1.1 zoom projection lens We want to move up to a proper screen instead of projecting on a yellowish wall!

(FWIW last night I showed Betty Boop in “Snow White”, Laurel and Hardy in “Big Business”, and Chaplin’s 1942 re-release of “The Gold Rush”—a winter themed show, It went over GREAT! I usually have an audience of about 20 to 40 or so.)

A $500 motorized screen is too expensive! But something less than $200 would be fine.

Any suggestions for a tripod or wall mount screen? What sort of screen gain do you think I would need? What size? I was thinking 70-80” tops. I also have a scope lens and hope to show some scope cartoons in the future, as well.

I’ve seen screens with gains of 1.5 and 2.5. There would be some ambient light during the summer months as we start at 7pm and during July-August the sun doesn’t set until 7:30. They do have
blackout curtains that work quite well—but you can still see who is sitting where, if you know what I mean.

I usually have chairs arranged in an arc with an aisle down the center, where I put the projector. We have great sound with Bose sound towers, And now we just want a good screen as well.

I'm sure this is all TMI and sorry for the novella! I just want to deliver the best show I can!!

Thamks for your input!

[Ed Gordon]

If you decide to make your own screen, Youtube has dozens of videos on how to do it. Here is one:

How to Make a DIY Projector Screen with Blackout Cloth

The direct link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk14y_Ss3bc
The link to an article the author mentions is dead, but the video is all you really need.

A picture of my DIY screen is at:
https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/vbb/f...ge3#post110765
(the screen on the left is my old pull-down screen, which was replaced by the DIY screen made from Black-out cloth on the right)

[Steve Klare]

This is what I have:

Da-Lite 92687 Model C Manual Projection Screen with CSR (52 x 92")

It's been hanging inside the curtains around our front window about 20 years, and one of the single best improvements I ever made where film presentation goes. Yes, It's big, but not so much it overwhelms a projector with a 100W lamp, even with 'scope.

With 150W lamp and an f1.1 lens, you can go bigger than 70-80 inches diagonal. You will be amazed with the detail that becomes visible at this size. (My diagonal is about 106 inches.)

If you are amazed that I spent $728.80 on a screen, please don't be! When I bought mine, it was a regular stock item for under $200: now it's special order. -just the way the world has changed in the years since, I guess!

I was sorely tempted by the idea of a powered screen, but it was something close to double the price. -besides, knowing me, I'd have to have some sort of cool-looking control back by the projectors...maybe a musical fanfare when it majestically appears! (...maybe a little light show!)

As it is, guests come in and see the projectors, but they often ask "Where's the screen?". It's that well hidden.

In a way, I actually do have a Screen remote. When I am ready for it to come down, I say "Steven? -Screen please!". (A real powered screen would actually have been much cheaper: I had to send this "Remote" to college and pay his car insurance!)

As far as gain goes, I went with a matte screen with a gain of 1, because of the broad angle of good brightness off the axis of projection. This is important because most of my audience is seated well off to the side of the screen, and with a high gain screen, there would be a big drop-off in brightness for them.

If your audience is concentrated back (at least close) along the beam, a high-gain screen is the way to go. Of course, it helps if you are projecting over their heads, because that aisle you have to provide for the beam to get through at their eye level is now both the best brightness, and empty of people!

A glass beaded screen gives excellent gain, but it comes with certain issues. For example they are harder to clean. Every so often I roll down my matte screen and find a moth or house fly squished inside the roll. With a beaded screen, the deceased is impaled among all those beads and needs to be picked out in pieces. With what I have, a little spritz of Windex on a paper towel usually does the job.

Glass beaded screens also have a habit of yellowing with time, and the best cure is bleaching them in direct sunlight. Even at this, the yellowing tends to accumulate. Maybe if I had gone that way (-even ignoring the brightness roll-off), by now I'd have have to scrape together the $728.80 to get a replacement screen anyway!

[Ed Gordon]

...
As far as gain goes, I went with a matte screen with a gain of 1, because of the broad angle of good brightness off the axis of projection. This is important because most of my audience is seated well off to the side of the screen, and with a high gain screen, there would be a big drop-off in brightness for them.

If your audience is concentrated back (at least close) along the beam, a high-gain screen is the way to go. Of course, it helps if you are projecting over their heads, because that aisle you have to provide for the beam to get through at their eye level is now both the best brightness, and empty of people!

A glass beaded screen gives excellent gain, but it comes with certain issues. For example they are harder to clean. Every so often I roll down my matte screen and find a moth or house fly squished inside the roll. With a beaded screen, the deceased is impaled among all those beads and needs to be picked out in pieces. With what I have, a little spritz of Windex on a paper towel usually does the job.

Glass beaded screens also have a habit of yellowing with time, and the best cure is bleaching them in direct sunlight. Even at this, the yellowing tends to accumulate. Maybe if I had gone that way (-even ignoring the brightness roll-off), by now I'd have have to scrape together the $728.80 to get a replacement screen anyway!

Excellent advice on screen gain Steve! I replaced my glass beaded pull-down screen with matte white on a permanent frame. No drop-off in brightness and no wrinkles which was annoying obvious during panning shots in movies.

[Paul Adsett]

Yes, all sound advice here. Beaded screens are a last resort for getting an adequately illuminated picture. Case in point the 9,5mm Pathescope Ace projector or the Pathe Baby projector, both with only 20watt lamps, which need a beaded screen if you are trying to get even a 24 ins wide picture. Silver screens provide some significant light gain, but like beaded screens they have undesirable directional properties. Matt white screens are the way to go to get totally uniform picture brightness at any viewing angle, plus the maximum picture resolution. For digital projection, using any reputable home theater grade projector, matt white screens are a no brainer, because there is usually plenty of light from the projector.