Classroom Furniture

It may seem like you need a degree in physics or a part-time job at the local cinema to know how to buy a projector screen. Between case, fabric, size and style options, there are thousands of projector screens on the market for you to choose from. We can help. Below you'll find a basic guide to selecting a projection screen, along with explanations of various screen styles, materials, and sizes.

Call us toll-free at (800) 761-8891 and we'll guide you through the selection steps, or just read our tips below to make a well-informed purchase on your own.

Projector screens are available in lots of styles: manual, electric, permanently tensioned, portable and rear-projection. Here is a brief description of each of the screen categories and the features that they offer:

Manual Screens:
Manual projector screens are inexpensive and easy to use. Operating just like a windowshade, a manual screen is revealed by simply pulling the screen down by hand. Like a windowshade, manual screens are prone to the same malfunctions: whipping back into the case too rapidly, wearing out, or rippling. To counteract these shortcomings, screen manufacturers have added some special features to manual screens to improve their quality.

Manual Screen Case Options:

• Controlled Screen Return (CSR) - Prevents the screen from rolling back into the case too quickly.
• Tensioning Rods/Arms - Stretch the screen surface to keep it smooth and flat.
• Steel Bearings - Higher-end manual screens have steel bearings (e.g. Da-Lite Model C) that are more durable and long-wearing than the standard nylon rollers (e.g. Da-Lite Model B).

The addition of these features to your manual screen case will improve its quality and longevity, but do add to the price. Keep these options in mind when you make your selection.

Electric:
Electric projector screens are more expensive, but once installed can be operated from the comfort of your chair or podium at the touch of a button or remote control. Many electric screens must be hard-wired, but installation is easy with our detailed instructions. Electric screens can be mounted externally to the ceiling with brackets or can be flush-mounted with recessed cases to hide the screen within the ceiling surface. For the best viewing surface, tensioned screens are great for keeping the screen material flat and wrinkle-free.



Electric Screen Case Options:

• Externally Mounted Cases - Available in a variety of finishes, depending on the screen model, and are easier to install than the ceiling-recessed alternatives (see image).
• Ceiling-Recessed Cases - Must be installed before ceiling is finished or else installation will require some minor construction. The result is a ceilng surface that completely conceals your screen when not in use (see image).
• Tab-Tensioned Screens - Screen is pulled taut from the sides of the screen and its case. Tensioning optimizes the viewing surface by keeping it smooth.

Consider these options before you make your screen selection. Picking the right electric screen case will make a big difference in the appearance of your viewing area or the quality of the image.



Permanently Tensioned:
Permanently tensioned screens are reminiscent of a stretched paint canvas. Screen fabric is stretched tightly around a frame, and is left where it is mounted - constantly ready for viewing. One thing to keep in mind when selecting a permanently tensioned screen is the coating on the screen's frame. We suggest a black matte coating on permanently tensioned screen frames to prevent glare; paint finish alone is sometimes not enough to achieve this matte effect, so velvet-textured frames are available from most manufacturers for resolving this problem.

Portable:
Portable projector screens are offered in a great range of styles. Tripod screens are inexpensive and easy to use and transport. Alternatively, pop-up screens like the Draper Traveller and the Da-Lite Insta-Theater are self-contained screen and case combinations that are perfect for tradeshows. The size range of screens like these is quite limited; if you need something bigger, folding screens aren't quite as easy to use but do offer the largest portable screen surfaces available.

Rear Projection:
Rear projector screens display images projected from behind the screen. Placing the projector behind the screen requires either a good deal of darkened space behind the viewing surface, or a mirror system that will reflect the image over a far enough distance to correct the image size. A rear projector screen can be simply a standard portable, manual or electric screen with rear projection fabric, or it can be an intricate system of mirrors. Determine your needs based on the amount of space and budget available.

The most important things to evaluate when selecting a screen fabric are gain and viewing angle. There is a lot to know about gain and viewing angle and how they affect each other (as gain increases viewing angle usually decreases). Remember this: a screen can't increase the amount of light being projected onto it, it can only improve the direction, quality and quantity of the light it diffuses. The bare bones basics of screen gain and viewing angle follow, but if you want to know more, just give us a call!

Gain:
Gain is a measure of the reflectivity of the screen's surface. The higher the gain is, the brighter the image. A gain of 1.0 means that the screen reflects back the same amount of light that the screen projection standard (a homogenously reflective block of magnesium carbonate) can reflect. A gain of 1.5 means that the screen reflects 50% more light than the screen standard. Having a high gain screen is sort of a mixed blessing. The image may be brighter, but since the viewing angle usually decreases inversely to the gain, a bright screen may be more of a sacrifice than a pleasure.

Viewing Angle:
Viewing angle is a measure of the distance from the center of the screen at which you can still see the same quality image as from the viewing axis (see illustration below). Some screens diffuse light accurately between a broader range of viewing angles than others. However, since LCD projectors are now designed to be very good at projecting pretty much the same quality image from corner to corner of the entire screen surface, having a broad viewing angle may not be as important with new LCD projectors as with old ones.



White or Gray?
Another important screen fabric decision involves the contrast of your image. Since projectors display images by throwing different amounts and colors of light, the blackest color you will ever see on your screen is its color when no light is being projected onto it. If you have a white screen in a room with a lot of ambient light, the darkest color you'll see when projecting on your screen in this environment is white - obviously not ideal. Since there are many applications when a projection room's ambient light cannot be completely eliminated, screen manufacturers have designed darker colors of screen material to compensate.

If you will be projecting in a room that is not completely light-controlled, considering a high-contrast, high-definition or gray screen material may greatly improve the contrast of colors in your projections.

You may be thinking, if I get a dark colored screen, won't the appearance of the color white look washed out? The answer is yes, but since pure white appears so rarely in movies (much more rarely than black) it's less of a sacrifice than a gain. In addition, high contrast screen fabrics can have higher gains than standard matte white fabrics, and if this is the case, then the screen can also improve the contrast and brightness of your images.

For completely dark projection rooms, high contrast material will be superfluous, since a white screen in a dark room will be black in the absence of projected light -- perfect!

Other Features:
Some screen fabrics are perforated for acoustical transparency and others are designed for 3D viewing. If you're planning on placing a speaker directly behind your screen, sound waves and image may be distorted unless you opt for an acoustically transparent perforated screen. Look for 'cinema-perf' fabrics from Da-Lite or the AT1200 fabric from Draper. 3D presentations can be made on silver screen materials like Da-Lite's SilverMatte.

Refer to our helpful screen fabric guides when choosing your screen fabric. We have image links for 'material' that list every screen's fabric options.

Screens are sized in a few standard formats: square, video format and HDTV are some of the most popular.

Square
For square sizes of screens the width to height ratio is generally 1:1, though there is some variation. Square screens are usually used for data presentations and overhead projectors.

Video Format
Video format screens have a width to height ratio of 4:3, which is the same as fullscreen movies and most television programs. If you're planning on using your screen for home theater, Video Format screens are the best option if you'll be switching equally between fullscreen and widescreen viewing.

HDTV
HDTV screens are the optimal format for home theater, offering the best matched fit for widescreen viewing. HDTV screens have a width to height ratio of 16:9. Even wider options include Letterbox and Widescreen; not all but a few of our screens are available in these special sizes.

Can't Decide?
Can't decide which size or format screen you want? You don't have to. We offer a large selection of screens with masking systems that change the format or size of your screen.

Do you need a projector mount, projector cart, cables or a remote? We have an extensive collection of speaker mounts and screen accessories for completing your projection theater.

Once you've followed our selection steps, you should know what you need. We carry screens from the five best screen manufacturers on the market: Da-Lite, Draper, Stewart, Vutec and Bretford. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call us.

Our team of projection specialists are trained and ready to help you (toll-free (800) 761-8891), 9 AM to 6 PM EST, Monday through Friday.