Hey guys and gals,

I have a customer who wants to upgrade his screen in his theater room. Looking for a 106" motorized, ceiling mount (external) screen. He was told to look for a matte white and I have been told to get him something with a grey screen. He has a Sony VPL VW10HT projector. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Stewart Filmscreen's GreyHawke, or SilverHawk, or ChickenHawke, whichever they are touting this year.

Or pretty much the same thing from Draper. Of course, and I told Draper several times that if they keep screwing up I would do this, if you get a Draper, you have to be aware of the problems I have seen:
a) First screen was the asked-for 16x9. Almost. It was an inch or so too wide.
b) Second screen was an exact 16x9. After we painted 2 3/8 inches black along the bottom.
c) They wouldn't sell the third screen to us because we were on credit hold after returning the first one. We had not paid freight on the return because they told us we did not have to.
d) Got a perfect screen. I think. It went to another installer.
d) We're not sure what to think at this point -- we have had a run of three or four correct screens. We sure hate to think that is a trend. It was so interesting before, and our adrenals sure got some good workouts during the phone calls!

If you have complete control of lighting in the room, use a GreyHawk.

If you have partial control of the lighting in the room, use a FireHawk.

If the room has alot of ambient light, use a StudioTech130.

My vote is for GreyHawk.

For an older set like the 10HT, the added gain of the Firehawk is going to be a better choice on a screen that large. You only have so much light to spread across the surface. If you call Stewart (or download the software) and have an accurate measure of the projector's brightness (pay no attention to the manufacturer's spec its way optomistic), you can predict the brigtness of the image for each material choice. On the newer projectors, with actual light output climbing fast past 1000 lumen, we have switched back to StudioTec 130 and Matte White material ourselves after having recommending "grey" screens for years, because they are more color accurate (pre calibration) and the "whiter" whites add more range to the contrast.

diesel makes an excellent point here as well, the choice will also be affected by the amount of ambient room light, though I believe the current thinking is that darker screens perform better in brighter rooms as they tend to enhance limited black level, not the other way around.

jcmitch

Actually, to get the best contrast ratios, use the greyhawk in a dark room and the studiotech 130 in light rooms.

So sayeth Joel Silver (ISF).

Thanks for all the input, I will get with the customer and make a choice. Have an awsome day!!!!

diesel,

I find this very interesting, as it is in direct contradiction with the recomendations of the various manufacturers of the "contrast enhancing" screen materials. I know Joel Silver's opinons on these matters are very well held, do you have any resources where I could research the issue myself?

jcmitch

I received a foward of this e-mail:


> From: [email protected]
> Date: August 23, 2004 11:01:57 PM CDT
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Stewart ISF MEMO
>
> Stewart MEMO
>
> This is a response to Stewart's Sales Manager Joaquin Rivera from
> Joel Silver of the Imaging Science Foundation.
>
> Please make note as you decide which screen surface to specify for
> your various screen applications.
>
> Attached to this email is this letter saved as a pdf file.
>
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> Hi Joaquin,
>
> Thanks for another great screen surface!
>
> Our congratulations on the addition of your new Gray Hawk material to
> our list of products certified for "High Fidelity Video".
>
> Measuring your new design against your previously certified products
> is a real world conundrum that we aspire to prepare our calibrators to
> handle during system design.
>
> We actually have a tough question in the certification test that
> deals with this issue. Permit us to share the question, and the
> answer, with your dealers.
>
> The question; "Which is a superior contrast ratio in a Home Theater
> system design - a projection system with a white measurement at 45.6
> Foot lamberts and a black measurement at .22 Foot Lamberts OR a system
> with a white measurement at 22.8 Foot Lamberts and a black measurement
> at .11 Foot Lamberts?
>
> (This is not a trick question - this as a HARD question. The math
> works out to be 207.27 to 1 for both systems. The correct answer is
> based on the response curves of the Rods and Cones in our eyes. Humans
> are hard wired to see Logarithmically - or in plain English -
> improvements in blacks are easily perceived as major improvements as
> opposed to any equal percent improvements in mere light output. Light
> meters see the results as being equal!)
>
> Now - with that in mind let's compare the Studiotek 130, FireHawk and
> the new GrayHawk screen surfaces. We measured all three using a HD2+
> single chip DLP, retail priced a little over $10K in a superb, but
> real world (dark wall treatments as opposed to lavatory black) home
> theater room.
>
> Measuring simple light output the Studiotek 130 was the brightest at
> 29.1 Foot Lamberts (fl), the FireHawk at 20.2 fl and GrayHawk at 17.8
> fl. Contrast ration were Studiotek 77.37 to 1, FireHawk 99.57 to 1 and
> GrayHawk 110.56 to 1. Remember - the visual differences were even more
> important!
>
> So.....what do we conclude? For dedicated theaters with well
> controlled lighting environments, the new GrayHawk material was best
> for the current generation of light valves like DLPs DILAs and LCoS.
> For rooms with some control over the angle of ambient light, the
> angular reflectivity of the FireHawk is obviously superior for dealing
> with real world challenges. For sheer light output where
> multi-directional ambient light fights black levels, Studiotek 130 is
> the winner.
>
> To paraphrase Winston Churchill, these choices are not enigmas
> wrapped in riddles inside conundrums - these screens are merely
> different solutions for different applications!
>
> You are offering your dealers proper solutions for the multiple
> environments we see every day in Home Theater installations.
>
> Joel Silver
> ISF