Projector Screen Buyers Guide

Projector Screen Buyers Guide

So, you’re interested in learning about projector screens? Maybe it’s your first time buying one, or perhaps you are looking to upgrade your current screen. Our goal is to help you fully understand the type of screen you need to fit your demands, so that in the end, you are satisfied with your choice. As we all know, nothing is more frustrating to a consumer than buyer’s remorse and shopping for projector screens can be frustrating due to all of the choices and technical jargon.

Projector screens are made to reflect the images from a projector onto a large surface area, generally for cinematic, gaming or presentation purposes. There are many different styles and materials to choose from to fit your needs, based on what you will be using your projector screen for.

Perhaps you are a teacher looking for a screen to show slides and educational videos to your students. Or maybe you are a business professional who will be using their projector more for PowerPoint and Excel presentations. Or maybe you are movie aficionado looking to blow your friends’ minds at your next party. Depending on your needs, we are confident we can find the perfect projector screen for you!

Below are some important factors to think about before you start shopping for your projector screen:

• Type of Projector: There is a good chance you probably already have the projector you need, or you have an idea of which projector you are going to get. The size of the lens on the projector will determine how large the image can be projected. The resolution is also very important. A higher quality 1080p or 1080i projector may not work on a basic matte finish. If you aren’t sure of the lens size or resolution, consult with the user manual that came with your projector.

• Type of Lighting in Room: Lighting is extremely important in determining the type of material your screen should be made of. Screens are meant to not only reflect light sent from the projector, but also to use the ambient lighting in the room for the best picture quality. Are you able to completely block out all outside lighting?

• Size of the Room: If you have a larger room, you can position the seating so that people are more centered in front of the screen, and your screen can project more light. If you have a smaller room where people will be spread out viewing your screen from all angles, you will need a screen that projects less light so that your entire audience will be able to see the images clearly. The type of material you select will have a serious impact on your audience.

• Viewing Angle: Where will your projector be set up? Will you have it hanging from the ceiling or resting on a desk or platform closer to the ground?

• Type of Screen: Are you looking for a permanent screen, a pull-down screen, an electric screen or a portable screen? Will your pull-down screen or electric screen be ceiling-mounted, wall-mounted or recessed ceiling-mounted?

• Size of Screen: Of course, the size of the room has a direct impact on the size of the screen, but there are so many different options to choose from. Are you a gamer or home theater enthusiast working off of a 50″ plasma? A 100″ projector screen is 4x larger than your 50″ TV.

• Everyone gets involved. With the larger image size than a television, everyone can see what’s happening on the projector screen.

• The Devil is in the details. While gaming, even the smallest detail can be the difference between life or death. Playing on a larger display will ensure you don’t miss any detail, giving you an advantage over the competition.

• Large and in charge. By projecting a huge image on your projector screen, you are turning your home theater into an immerse environment. You can experience your gaming on a different level when you are fighting life size enemies on your big screen.

• Multi Player Mayhem. Sharing your screen with 3 of your buddies is no longer a strain. If you double the diagonal size of your display, you just about quadruple the viewing space,in 4-player mode, you’ll have a 50? display area for each player!

• Size of Room: The size of your screen will be limited to the size of your room. If you are using your projector screen in an auditorium, the possibilities are endless. However, a conference room or home setup can seriously how big you can go. Sit in the room you plan on setting up your projector screen.

• You don’t want to be looking down towards your feet- you want to be looking up and straight ahead, so you don’t need to get a screen that goes from floor to ceiling necessarily.

• You will probably need to install speakers, so you need to to leave space on either side of the screen to install those.

• How far back will you be sitting from the screen? Ideally, you will want some space between where you are sitting and the back of the room, so if there isn’t much space, you won’t need as big of a screen.

• Gain: A “gain” is a measure of the amount of light a screen can reflect. A gain of 1.0 is the basic gain, which would reflect the same amount of light as a normal white board. The lower the gain is, the easier it is to view the projection from either side. The higher the gain, the sharper the image quality will be in the center of the screen.Most people should assume a gain of 0.8-1.3.Higher gains can create what’s known as “hot-spotting” where the picture is much brighter in the middle of the screen than towards the sides. Higher gains also don’t equally reflect primary colors outside of the center properly, so viewers on either side of the screen may get a distorted color view. Therefore, those seated to the side don’t get the same picture quality. Higher gains should only be used on much larger projector screens in rooms where the audience will be focused completely on the center screen (ie classrooms or large conference rooms for presentations, not videos). Lower gains reflect less light off off of a projector screen. Lower gains would be ideal in a home theater or gaming room where the video or image being displayed should be spread over more of the screen and outside lighting is completely controlled.

• Aspect Ratio: Aspect ratio is the measure of the proportion between the screen width and the screen height. The two most common aspect ratios are 4×3 and 16×9.

• With a 4×3 aspect ratio, you can use more of the screen. However, if you are watching widescreen movies, there will be unused space above and below the picture. If you don’t mind having the extra space while watching HD movies and TV, and your projector screen is being used for other purposes as well, than a 4×3 ratio is the way to go.A 16×9 aspect ratio is ideal for watching widescreen movies but may not be the best for presentations. Most home theater systems would work perfectly with a 16×9 ratio, as the room size is generally laid out to have a much wider width than taller height. HDTV, most movies and most video games are made in 16×9.

When choosing a display for your video games, here are some reasons to Go BIG or Go Home:

Electric Projector Screens offer a very professional look for your presentations or home theaters. Operated by remote control, they have a sleek, elegant design and the single location provides the most convenience for storage. An electric projector screen is a popular choice for those who want the convenience of a large projector screen and have a large, semi-permanent area to dedicate to the screen.Electric projector screens can be mounted into the floor, wall or ceiling. The ceiling mount can also be recessed into the ceiling so that your audience won’t know there is a projector screen there while not in use. Certain projector screens come with wood trim around the top, which helps mask the screen while not in use and is a great option if recessed ceiling mounting isn’t an option for you. Screens even have the option of remote operation from any location. Screens are also available in tab-tensioned and non-tensioned models. A recessed ceiling screen will give you the most stylish look, and is a great option if you are not planning on relocating the projector screen. However, a mounted screen provides more flexibility.The Cynthia Screens of projector screens are excellent and economical choices.

A Manual Projector Screen is an excellent alternative for those looking for a less expensive projector screen. These versatile projection screens have a pulley at the bottom of the screen, which allows the operator to manually pull the screen up and down. Most of these screens now have a controlled return feature so that the screen’s can’t be rolled up to quickly, which could cause damage to the screen.Similar to electric projector screens, these can be wall-mounted, ceiling-mounted or ceiling recessed-mounted. However, these screens are much lighter than electric screens, since there are no motors attached. Also, since there is no risk of the motor breaking, failing or wearing over time, these screens require less upkeep.Most people remember these screens from their school classrooms, wall-mounted above the chalkboard. These projector screens are hugely popular in schools and government buildings. They can also be a great option for a home theater system. That is … if you could live without the convenience of a remote control.These projector screens can also be tensioned or non-tensioned. The non-tensioned are less expensive, bust sometimes end up bending down and folding due to wear and tear from pulling the screen down so often.The Manual Series from Cynthia Screens is one of the most popular models.

A portable projector screen is one of the most popular types of projector screens, as they don’t limit the operator to one location. Of these portable projector screens, a tripod projector screen is by far the most popular. A Tripod Projector Screen comes in two parts: the screen itself and the tripod stand that holds the screen up. Both are lightweight and fold down into a small, easy to carry case. To set up most of these projector screens, you just open up the tripod, which has three legs and long rod in the middle that extends up the length of the projector screen. You connect the rolled up projector screen to the base of the trip ad use the pulley attached to the screen to pull the screen up to the top of the tripod rod, where it can be secured. It’s as simple as that!Tripod projector screens tend to be the most cost-efficient, as they are generally the least expensive screens that are meant to withstand more wear and tear. They may not offer the best picture quality though.The Cynthia Screens Tripod Series comes in on the low end of the price spectrum, but the high end of the quality one. These tripod projection screens are an excellent value.

Fixed Frame Projector Screens are arguably the most elite of all projector screens. Although they can be used for commercial purposes, these screens are most commonly found in the most impressive of home theaters. These screens cannot be rolled up and down and are a permanent fixture in the room.These projector screens are so popular in home theaters because they tend to last the longest, since they aren’t constantly being rolled up and down in between uses. You won’t get the bends and waves in these screens like you might in other types of screens. These projector screens also tend to have the best picture quality, since these screens have the widest variety of screen material to choose from.While a tab-tensioned, electric, recessed ceiling-mounted projector screen might look a little cooler when the screen appears, the picture quality and overall impressiveness make the fixed frame projector screen the mother of all projector screens. Of course, those factors also tend to make these screens among the most expensive.The Cynthia Screens Frame & Narrow Frame are extremely popular and affordable fixed screens.

Floor Stand Projector Screens are a great alternative to a bulkier tripod screens. Tripods tend to be bulkier and are a bit more difficult to put together. A floor rising screen is much more lightweight and more simple to set up/take down.A floor rising projector screen comes in one piece- no assembly is required. Many don’t even have a carrying case, as a handle is mounted to the base of the screen for easy accessibility. All you need to do is set the feet up on the screen. To do that, you simply twist the feet around so that they run perpendicular to the projector screen.Once the feet are set up, you can just pull the screen up. The screen has a spring roller in place on the back of the projector screen that rises with the screen to provide a sturdiness to the screen when it’s at maximum height. It acts similar to the rod of the tripod that holds the screen up.Most of these screens are available in a manual version, where the operator pulls the screen up themselves.The Cynthia Screen Pull up screen is a great place to start.

1. Have the patented locking system, different from the traditional outside button-type folding screen, inside button-type does not influence frame surface, there is no prominent part, all the key button built in the tube, thus effectively protect the joint position, long time durable. 

2. Use 32*32mm or 32*64mm high strength aluminum alloy, it can be foldable, smart structure with air explosion-proof equipment packing box. And the box made of high strength compression damping material, ensuring the transmission process safety.

3. Humane support, through the crank knob can be adjustable height of the screen.
4. Black border use PVC material, highly flexible, black border and fabric with double needle, both fabric and black border all are have a corresponding contraction space, not changed by temperature and humidity. During -25°C to +55°C, black border and fabric will have not tear marks.
5. Front, rear fabric used by U.S. A technology’s Class A flexible PVC fabric, different from traditional soft fabric, folding marks can be restored after open short period of time. Screen surface with special embossing treatment, effectively eliminating the glare. At meantime, greatly increasing the fabric’s angle & clarity, make the screen more florid.

More please refer to: Cynthia Screens

Projector Ceiling Mount

Projector mount Product Features

Projector Mount

1.High quality cold-rolled steel, aviation aluminum rugged and reliable
2.Compatible with a variety of super-adjustable angle, applicable to all major points projector models
3.Tube alignment, nice
4.Surface acid phosphate, electrostatic powder coating

Specification of Projector Ceiling Mount,

Cynthia Screen Main Products: 

Motorized projection screen, Tripod projection screen, Manual self lock projection screen, Fixed frame projection screen, Narrow frame projector screen, Floor stand projection screen, Tab tension motorized screen, Portable table screen, Fast fold projection screen, Electric projector lift & universal projector ceiling mount etc.

Learn how to choose a layout and style of projection screens

Learn how to choose a layout and style, select lighting and seating

For many homeowners, a media room or media corner in living room is more that enough. Others may prefer a true home theater. You have to decide which one is more suited to your lifestyle.

1.Home Theater Basics

A home's media room has come a long way from being just a place to watch TV. Today, homeowners are using these rooms to surf the Internet, monitor and adjust home functions like electricity use and security cameras, and create home theaters to mimic the cinema experience.

Technology is much more affordable, making it easier to customize a dedicated space with one or multiple flat-screen televisions, surround sound and even an iPad control panel.

If you're interested in building a living room media corner, or room dedicated to being a true home theater you have to realize that's a complex project. It requires good planning, the right equipment, sometimes special furniture like seating, and the most important a quality installation and proper lighting.

The combination of a large flat screen TV or projection screen, surround sound speakers, Blu-ray disc players, Internet-connected media devices and the room itself is what makes a your media corner or home theater unique.

2. Location

When planning your home theater, the biggest decision you'll need to make is deciding its location. The best scenario is to design a home theater during the planning stages of a new home. You build a home theater in an existing home. You'll have some construction challenges and need to be creative when retrofitting the room. If space and your budget allow, consider building a new addition. You can also reconfigure a basement or garage. If neither of those options is possible, identify an existing room that is large enough to convert into a home theater. It should have room for seating and have few windows, closets and doors. If you are occasionally watching movies the great option is a media corner in your living room. For media corner you might consider te place where most people normally watch TV. Common viewing areas are the living room, family room or a designated media room. A designated home theater room is different. It has unique characteristics and attributes. Your home theater may be new construction, an addition or a remodeling job.

Regardless of the construction aspects or place, it is a separate room or a part of living room that requires special features, including:

- Hidden wiring and connections
- Built-in components such as the display and speakers
- Special theater-style seating
- Remote controlled dimmable lighting and heating/air conditioning as an option
- Sound and light isolation

3.The Making of a Media Corner

Flexible seating: Because a media corner is for watching movies, TV and also is usually a part of living room - furniture should be arranged in a way to fit your daily lifestyle.

Ample screen size: The screen should be large enough so everyone in the living room can back up and view it from a good angle. Not sure what size to choose ? Leave it to us. We can help you to choose proper screen size suitable for your individual conditions. You should be able to sit back from the screen a distance of two to three times that measurement for optimum viewing. The great option here is to combine motorized projection screen with LCD TV in a simple and esthetic plaster gypsum false walls.

Sound & Vision: You'd probably use this system to both watching movies, TV and listening to music, so the best choice should be an universal 5.1 or 7.1 speaker system with high quality amplifier. For the vision we'd recommend mid-range Full HD beamers.

Cutting-edge content: The ability to stream movies, music and more from "the clouds" (Internet) has changed the way media rooms are configured. For the media corner the "box" streaming integrated hardware is an optimal option.

4.The Making of a Media Room

Flexible seating: Because a media room is usually for watching movies, furniture pieces are arranged into conversation spaces that can be "broken down" when moveable chairs are shifted to face the screen. Rather than rows of face-forward seating, media rooms boast comfort sofas or room recliners.

Ample screen size: The screen should be large enough so everyone in the living room can back up and view it from a good angle. Not sure what size to choose ? Leave it to us. We can help you to choose proper screen size suitable for your individual conditions. The best option here is to mount a fixed-wall projection screen.

Sound-absorbent aesthetics: Drapery and carpeting help quiet reflections from the sound system. All controls and media gear can be hidden so the room doesn't look like a tech control center. Modern remote controls can be hidden in through cabinet doors or walls.

Sound & Vision: You'd probably use this system to both watching movies, however it's worth to invest in a high (not exactly high-end) quality of sound and vision.

Cutting-edge content: The ability to stream HD content is rather a must have. We can offer a choice of media servers, so you'll be able to run your Blu-Ray movies library from a single place using simple media management console.

5.Designing a Dedicated Home Theater

Construction: The room is usually constructed using acoustic panels to absorb all sound reflections. False ceilings with ambient light, special cinema seats, designated mini room for the hardware is a must-have.

Cinema lighting: Subtle LED lighting will preserve the picture quality. It creates a unique atmosphere and recreates a real cinema hall experience.

Sound & Vision: It's worth to invest in a top quality fixed wall screen and high-end beamer. Usually it's bout ~30% of the project budget, so to reach the best effect it's not worth to save money in this part.

Sound is more than half the experience. However many people cut their budget short and focus mostly on the screen. When we start planning we suggest to take your budget and divide it into three equal parts for the screen, sound and room, then adjust it properly depending on your individual preferences.

The mood: Equally important to the cinema experience is comfortable seating and an acoustic environment that absorbs sound. Seating is generally arranged in rows, facing forward to replicate a movie theater. This way, everyone fully experiences the impact of the sound and picture. It's said that "A private cinema re-creates a precise reproduction of what the artist, the director and the sound engineer (of a film) intended".

6.Hardware & Software

A contemporary home theater needs to be able to access audio and video content from a wide array of sources including:

-Traditional cable and satellite services
-Broadcast TV
-The Internet
-Blu-ray Discs
-DVDs and CDs
-Digital and video cameras
-iPods/iPads and portable devices

Making your home theater capable of getting content from virtually any device or source is important very early in your planning. In addition, once all the devices are in the room, you will need to plan how to connect them since all wires and most devices are hidden, where they can be easily accessed or changed in the future.

Regarding selection of proper equipment. We think that if you're 'audiophile' or 'home-cinema-phile' you should really know what you want. 

7.Questions to Ask Yourself

Do you plan to entertain while watching or listening to media?
Will you use the media system for purposes other than watching movies (such as gaming or streaming music for a party)?
Is flexibility important to you?
If you answered yes to these questions, a media room is the best fit.
Do you want to mimic the cinema experience at home?
Does your home contain a space that can be dedicated solely to movie-watching?
Do you already have a space in your home where family gathers socially to watch television or play games?

If you answered yes to these questions, you should talk to us about home theater equipment. 
Cynthia screen main products is various projection screens & projector lift etc.

Please contact us for further information

Email: aimee@cynthiacn.com

Website: www.cynthiacn.com

Mob/Fax: 008603735892908

Skype: aimee668

Cynthia Motorized Projector Screens

Cynthia Motorized Projection Screens With Remote Control

Specification of electric projector screen

◆  Adopt unique square outer casing,easy to install in the ceiling and on the wall,simple and elegant;
◆  Adopt the environmental materials,no odor and healthy;
◆  Adopt silent synchronous motor(Silent tubular motor can be optional),the noise is less than 45DB,supplying a more quite environment;
◆  Adopt Unique HD materials,Color reduction effect is perfect,give you high definition display;
◆  Standard quadrilateral black border processing, effectively absorb radiation light projector;
◆  Support 3D and 4K ultra-precision imaging,Enjoy the incomparable lifelike image quality excellence;
◆  Widely used in home,classroom,meeting room and commercial use,etc.
◆  RF/IR remote control are optional to control its up and down;
◆  Large viewing angle. 

More screens please refer to Cynthia Screen

Selecting the Right Front Projection Screen Fabric

Selecting the Right Front Projection Screen Fabric

There are a number of basic considerations you have to consider to arrive at the right projector screen surface. Projection method, ambient light, display brightness, seating layout, projector placement, and image detail are all important issues to consider when selecting a projector screen.

Equally important is the projection screen maintenance; this is something many fail to think about at the time of purchase but regular projection screen maintenance is important to ensure that your projector screen continues to deliver the very best images years down the line.

Understanding how these issues impact image performance is essential prior to choosing a projector screen surface. Many would argue that most major projection screen manufacturers' websites include easy-to-fill checklists which once completed, would automatically present you with their recommended screen fabric for your application.

This is true and to a certain extent, these checklists and screen calculators render the selecting a projection screen a straight forward one. Yet we still say that having a proper understanding of the basic projector screen selection criteria is the only way to ensure you make the right choice.

Projection Screen Surface - Selection Criteria

1: Projector Type 

The type of projector screen surface to use is partially dependent on the projection technology of your video projector. Common technologies in the home theater area include 3-LCD, single and three-chip DLP, and LCoS; most of these video projectors use a metal halide bulb as their light source though a few make use of an LED bulb.

Each of these technologies handles brightness, contrast and color intensity in a different manner. Hence projection screen manufacturers have developed specially formulated color corrected screen surfaces that best complement these different imaging technologies.

2: Ambient Light 

Any projected image is at its best when viewed in total darkness, this being so independent of the projector brightness output. However we live in an imperfect world where not everything is under our full control.

Obviously, the first step is to minimize ambient light during a movie, in particular, avoid any stray light falling direct onto the projector screen as this causes the projected image to washout. However, selecting a suitable high contrast projection screen surface can still help you enjoy an image with a sufficient contrast even under moderate ambient light levels.

3: Projected Image Brightness

The brightness output level of your projector is a measure of the projector output power in terms of light intensity. Yet, it is important to realize that the end projected image brightness―or image luminescence―is a different issue as brightness falls in proportion to the area of the projected image size.

This means that the bigger your projected image is, the dimmer it will look for a fixed level of projector brightness.  At the same time, it is extremely important that you do not end up with a too bright an image that would be uncomfortable on the eyes of the viewers. This necessitates the need to match the screen gain with the projector output level, screen size and ambient light. This also means that one cannot proceed with a projection screen purchase in isolation from your video projector.

We discuss this subject in more detail in the third part in this series of projection screen guides.

4: Room Layout

The Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers (SMPTE) recommends that for the best viewing experience, the ideal screen size for home theater use should occupy a 30-degree field of view in the horizontal plan at the seating position. This in itself limits the seating area in your home theater room. This 30 degrees field of view is necessary for a person to feel immersed into the movie action.

Some projection screen companies recommend limiting the seating area to approximately 30 degrees from either side to the center of the projector screen; this in effect makes for a 60-degree field of view. This may seem in contradiction to the SMPTE recommendation. But this 60-degree represents the limit beyond which sitting at the extreme sides of the projector screen would be too uncomfortable for normal viewing; it does not represent the ideal seating in the home theater.

Irrespective of the above viewing angles, if your home theater room configuration calls for a wider viewing angle, make sure you use suitable projector screen surface that can maintain adequate image brightness even at extreme viewing angles. This is important as all projection surfaces have a defined angle of view beyond which the projected image would lose its brightness at a rate that is dependent on the projection surface itself.

However, no matter how wide is your room, never loose perspective of the 30-degree SMPTE recommendation for an immersive experience, and even more so, the 60-degree limitation for comfortable viewing.

For more information on viewing distance and home theater seating, please refer to the following guides appearing on our site:

TV Viewing Distance: Discussing viewing distance versus screen size

Home Theater Seating: Guide to correct seating layout

5: Projector Placement 

Projector placement with respect to the projection screen is another important factor to consider when selecting a projection screen surface. The issue mainly arises when making use of a high-gain projection screen; placing your video projector on a floor-stand would require a different type of screen surface than when the projector is ceiling mounted. Why?

When the projector is positioned on the same side of the normal to the screen center as the audience, i.e. the floor mounted version, use should be made of a high gain screen with a retro-reflective surface.If the projector and the audience are on opposite sides of the normal to the screen (ceiling mounted version), use should be made of a high gain screen with an angular reflective surface; these reflect light at the same angle it hits the screen surface.

6: Projected Image Detail

This is all a matter of whether you are displaying standard or high definition content.

Screen surface is not much of an issue with standard definition video. But to fully enjoy the fine image detail supported by today's 1080p high definition video projectors especially at close viewing distances, you need to use a screen with an exceptionally smooth surface.

7: Screen Maintenance 

Hardly considered during a projector screen purchase, yet to get the best performance, the screen surface should be kept clean all the time.

While in general this is not a problem especially in the dedicated home theater room, there are situations where the screen surface may be subject to a higher level of airborne debris and dust that may settle on the surface. However, more problematic is the case where the screen surface may be subject to potential soiling or even damage from constant handling.

Under such circumstances, an easy to clean screen surface is a pre-requisite for continued best performance over time.

More please refer to Cynthia Screen