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Today I have attempted to find out if there are differences for projecting super 8 onto different screen materials, as you can imagine this is easier said than done.
I started by measuring the distance from the projector to the screen in my office, with the cheap pulldown screen, as this has the shortest distance for the throw to the screen. I then set up the projector onto the mat white perforated screen at the exactly the same distance making sure the image size was the same.
I locked the camera exposure and settings so it would not change between the two test runs, the result is quite an eye opener.
Dominique you were right to bring this topic up as there is a big difference between the screen materials for projecting super 8 film onto.
On the perforated screen the film looks slightly washed out to the eye and has a smooth look to the image. The pulldown screen with a slight reflective texture produces a sharper image and bolder colours.
As I use the perforated screen 95% for watching tv with a DLP projector and have got so used to this image. To test out my theory I run a reel of 16mm onto the perforated screen using a xenon lamp projector, the image is as stunning as the DLP which also uses a discharge lamp, As the mat white perforated screen material is designed to be used in a professional environment with projectors that use discharge lamps, it makes total sense, as this is no good for projecting film with a halogen lamp, as it need the lumens to reflect the light back which halogen doesn't deliver.
I then reversed the process and projected a DLP onto the pulldown screen, and found that the image looked horrible, the brightness was just too overpowering that you would need to wear shades to watch anything on it, also this seems to show up the pixels more than on the perforated screen.
My only conclusion from seeing this for myself, is that it does matter what screen material super 8 is projected onto, as it changes the contrast and the definition of the images depending on the surface. My only advice Dominique is to find a screen with a slightly reflective surface, if you only wish to project film onto its surface as this will give you the best results.
The photos below are the nearest I can get to seeing it in reality. The pictures on the left are from the pulldown screen and the ones on the right are from the mat white perforated screen. The last photo is of the perforated screen with 16mm shown on it.
I hope this helps.
Steve.
I started by measuring the distance from the projector to the screen in my office, with the cheap pulldown screen, as this has the shortest distance for the throw to the screen. I then set up the projector onto the mat white perforated screen at the exactly the same distance making sure the image size was the same.
I locked the camera exposure and settings so it would not change between the two test runs, the result is quite an eye opener.
Dominique you were right to bring this topic up as there is a big difference between the screen materials for projecting super 8 film onto.
On the perforated screen the film looks slightly washed out to the eye and has a smooth look to the image. The pulldown screen with a slight reflective texture produces a sharper image and bolder colours.
As I use the perforated screen 95% for watching tv with a DLP projector and have got so used to this image. To test out my theory I run a reel of 16mm onto the perforated screen using a xenon lamp projector, the image is as stunning as the DLP which also uses a discharge lamp, As the mat white perforated screen material is designed to be used in a professional environment with projectors that use discharge lamps, it makes total sense, as this is no good for projecting film with a halogen lamp, as it need the lumens to reflect the light back which halogen doesn't deliver.
I then reversed the process and projected a DLP onto the pulldown screen, and found that the image looked horrible, the brightness was just too overpowering that you would need to wear shades to watch anything on it, also this seems to show up the pixels more than on the perforated screen.
My only conclusion from seeing this for myself, is that it does matter what screen material super 8 is projected onto, as it changes the contrast and the definition of the images depending on the surface. My only advice Dominique is to find a screen with a slightly reflective surface, if you only wish to project film onto its surface as this will give you the best results.
The photos below are the nearest I can get to seeing it in reality. The pictures on the left are from the pulldown screen and the ones on the right are from the mat white perforated screen. The last photo is of the perforated screen with 16mm shown on it.
I hope this helps.
Steve.
I later added clip on black side masking as well that I made up
).
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