2.37:1 Motorised Screens

[Curious]

Hi all,

I'm getting closer to being able to go CIH and will be in need of a motorised drop down screen to suit 2.37:1.

Is anyone aware of who makes them?

Cheers,

Curious

[JoshH]

Hi all,

I'm getting closer to being able to go CIH and will be in need of a motorised drop down screen to suit 2.37:1.

Is anyone aware of who makes them?

Cheers,

Curious

Both Stewart and Screen Research make them. - Budget around $7-$10k. and you will get some change.

I am not aware of any low end screen manufacturers who make them - it wouldnt be prudent to use a cheap screen for this solution anyway.

[Guest JohnA]

elegance screens also do them

http://www.elegancescreens.com.au/index.ph...f6a9707ca2581b9

also e-mail the guys at oz theatre screens and see if they will make one for you also

[Curious]

Thanks guys, I'll look into your suggestions

Worx, not sure what you mean regarding: 'not prudent to use a cheap screen' ?

Most people on this Forum would be using LP Morgan or similarly priced product I imagine, and a number of them are going with CIH from what I read, are they going to be disappointed with the results because they don't have an expensive screen?

Cheers,

Curious

[oztheatre]

Thanks guys, I'll look into your suggestions

Worx, not sure what you mean regarding: 'not prudent to use a cheap screen' ?

Most people on this Forum would be using LP Morgan or similarly priced product I imagine, and a number of them are going with CIH from what I read, are they going to be dissapointed with the results because they don't have an expensive screen?

Cheers,

Curious

Perhaps he means: if it's really expensive it must be so much better

than the screens that are 1/8 of the price.

As a screen manufacturer I can tell you right now, this is the furthest

thing from the truth. And I would like think my screens are testiment to

that very statement.

It is the typical mind set of people though. 'If it's expensive, it must

be so much better than the rest' True to some small extent, and let's

underline small a hundred times, small is not 800%, small is 5 -10%

Sure a Rolls Royce is a nice vehicle, very expensive. Does it make it

the best? of course not.

I would rather drive a Z5 or a 911 any day!

[Curious]

Ok, starting to get some pricing back now, for ease of comparison I've asked for $ based on Motorised 120" (2800W x 1190H):

Starting at the affordable end is Screen Elegance, platinum Matt White fabric $1845 (no haggling yet) delivered to Melbourne

At the opposite end is LP Morgan sporting their more expensive fabric called Atrix (Spelling?) used specifically for this application because it's a larger screen...price is (wait for it) $7500 (no haggling yet)

After some discussion with people in the know it appears that the price difference is down to two key areas:

1. Fabric used in motorised screens made in China is often the old Data screen type fabric that is essentially heavily textured and not so nice for video (as the texture can be picked up in some shots involving panning)

2. Made in China vs made in Australia (although a $5500 difference is pretty hard to justify)

Rich from Oztheatre is looking into some possibilites of a motorised screen with a better fabric, so I am thinking a group buy might be in order if enough people are interested

Looking at Stewart, the website doesn't offer 21:9 Motorised as an option, same for some other sites I stumbled across. At this stage I am only taking enquires further if the website offers 21:9 as an option.

Will continue to update as more prices come thru...

Cheers,

Curious

[Guest eandoz]

- it wouldnt be prudent to use a cheap screen for this solution anyway.

I have to strongly disagree with this.It would be PRUDENT to use whatever the hell he wants to use,and whatever he can afford .To suggest otherwise is unwise if you dont know the financial situation of the person whom you are referring to.This is like stating a 50,000 pj will only suffice and everything else wouldnt be prudent.I think you will get along with the guys in the 20k and up forum on AVS.DTV is full of cheapo's like myself

[norpus]

Stewart do make a motorised 120" screen

Unfortunately I don't have a spare gonad at this stage.

[JoshH]

Perhaps he means: if it's really expensive it must be so much better

than the screens that are 1/8 of the price.

As a screen manufacturer I can tell you right now, this is the furthest

thing from the truth. And I would like think my screens are testiment to

that very statement.

It is the typical mind set of people though. 'If it's expensive, it must

be so much better than the rest' True to some small extent, and let's

underline small a hundred times, small is not 800%, small is 5 -10%

Sure a Rolls Royce is a nice vehicle, very expensive. Does it make it

the best? of course not.

I would rather drive a Z5 or a 911 any day!

I think you will get along with the guys in the 20k and up forum on AVS.DTV is full of cheapo's like myself

I am sure your locally manufactuered screens are very good for the money - I am not bagging them, or complimenting them for that matter. In point of fact I really dont care wether they represent value for money or not. There is a myriad of screen manufactureres out there these days - all of them jumping up and down about how good their screens are. Suffice to say this - there are TWO brands of screen certified for both flat spectral response and white field uniformity by ISF and yours isnt one of them. Suddenly the playing field is very small if you want guranteed accurate performance isnt it.

I have more experience than most with screens [you may have more - I dont know] - Ive been installing them for more than 15 years and in my experience the only screens that I find acceptable are the Stewarts and Screen Research. Its my professional opinion and I am entitled to it. Even if you dont like it. There is a host of reasons why I find this to be the case and I cant be bothered to list them. I will be touching on them at my CEDIA lecture however.

what irks me a little about your post is that it seems to me everytime someone here [and its usually me because I operate at that end of the market] reccomends a product that is considered expensive there is an explosion of posts about 'how its a rip off' or 'no good' or 'you can get the same perfromance for less' etc..

Snobbery at the low of the market against high quality 'expensive' gear is rampant - and its such a *yawn*. Its almost always by people with little or no experience, no budget for any quality gear and wanting a Ferrari for a Toyota price.

Thats my 2 cents on what this thread has unfortunately degenerated into.

[JoshH]

Stewart do make a motorised 120" screen

Stewart will custom make to whatever the customer wants.

[Guest JohnA]

WORK A4

i don't want to argue with you nor do i know enough about screens

BUT

in your original post you said

I am not aware of any low end screen manufacturers who make them - it wouldnt be prudent to use a cheap screen for this solution anyway.

So basicaly you have just told everyone with a scope screen which cost less then $7k is waisting their time.

I use a oz theatre fixed scope screen which cost alot less then $6k, but then i only use a sanyo z4 pj and for me it does the job i need it to do, as i am sure it does with alot of others.

It can be the sam when someone askes about spakers and someone says don't waste your time on aything less then a pair of $40k speakers

Snobbery is always going to be there, you can't stop it unfortunately, but we need to help people out with whatever budget they may have to work with.

Sure Curious didn't mention a budget, but your response came across very snoberish to be honest, and i dare say alot of people read it the same way

John

[JoshH]

So basicaly you have just told everyone with a scope screen which cost less then $7k is waisting their time.

That was not what I meant - Curious mentioned that the screen needed to be motorized - which adds a level of expense and complexity to manufacturing. $7-10$k would be a lot for a screen that was not motorized and had no masking. Adding in motorization, tab tensioning etc I beleive it to be reasonable. Anyway..The csots above were 'out of the air figures meant as a budget for a high end high quality screen that meets all of my points below' - In fact I even mentioned 'you will get change'.

Lets remove price from the discussion for a miute [or hopefully for good] and look at what is ideal [which is what you should always do when choosing componentry].

1. We want an accurate image - so we want flat spectral response and white field uniformity on a suitable screen surface for the projector and room.

2. We want the appropriate gain for the projector, size, room etc.

3. We want a reliable tab tensioning system to keep the screen surface flat. [back to price for a second.. I havent seen a cheap screen that can do this reliably day after day]

4. We want a suitable control interface to control the screen

If the above are the goals.. then what product on the market can meet these goals? If product 'X' meets the requirement but exceeds the budget - then its a matter of moving down the chain [making compromises on the above] until a product can be found that meets budget - then you just have to live with whatever compromises you have had to make.

I dont beleive this is how a lot of people approach it however - instead asking 'whats the cheapest option' without understanding what they are missing out on. Thats sort of what I was trying to get at but probably poorly expressed.

[c912039]

WORK A4

i don't want to argue with you nor do i know enough about screens

BUT

in your original post you said

I am not aware of any low end screen manufacturers who make them - it wouldnt be prudent to use a cheap screen for this solution anyway.

So basicaly you have just told everyone with a scope screen which cost less then $7k is waisting their time.

...

John

I would have to agree with John on this matter.

Many of your posts seem to carry the same message.

I am sure that you are an expert in your field, Worx A4. In my eyes, however, an expert is someone who can come up with reccomendations, based around a customer's budget, regardless of how small that may be (within reason).

Everything less than top-dollar items are compromises - everyone on a budget understands that. Its a true expert that can, based on the budget available, come up with a solution that minimises those compromises for best value.

Simply dismissing other products, simply because they dont fit into a max budget, doesnt seem to be all that helpful to the OP.

Regards

David

[JoshH]

Simply dismissing other products, simply because they dont fit into a max budget, doesnt seem to be all that helpful to the OP

I dont think I did that [maybee I did.. I dont know] - the OP didnt mention budget however - I thought it would be helpful to throw some figures out there - clearly it wasnt as its just upset the natives.

[brodricj]

Looking at Stewart, the website doesn't offer 21:9 Motorised as an option, same for some other sites I stumbled across. At this stage I am only taking enquires further if the website offers 21:9 as an option.

Yes they do, they make any size or AR in motorized that you want.

[brodricj]

Suffice to say this - there are TWO brands of screen certified for both flat spectral response and white field uniformity by ISF and yours isnt one of them. Suddenly the playing field is very small if you want guranteed accurate performance isnt it.

I now have one of the aforementioned screens hanging from my ceiling, it being an ISF certified reference screen in the $7k retail price range.

I was undecided at first about the value for money aspect of this purchase; sure everyone in the know knows it's the best screen money can buy, but is it worth it?

This was my thinking before buying. First of all I weighed up how long might it be until something better comes along. Answer, this is mature technology and there is nothing emerging any time soon that might be better.

Then, how long might I be keeping it for? Answer, I'll probably be keeping it for many years (given that there is probably nothing better likely), and it will outlive a couple of projectors. So I bought it on this basis alone, sight unseen.

Now that it is hanging in my HT, and my complete system has been ISF calibrated, the performance of this screen as an integral part of my system has become self evident. The fact that the ISF technician, who sees many many screens and equipment combinations, was drooling through the whole process at the results being obtained, left me in no doubt that I made the right decision. And for many years to come.

Is it worth $7k? Short answer, yes. I'd rather not spend that much but my application required motorized. Without motorized the cost would have been about half, in which case the value for money question becomes a no-brainer.

[Guest JohnA]

WORX A4

again mate, like i said i never intended this to be a go at you, basicaly all i was saying is watch how you post a reply, bacuase what is written, what you meant and how it is read are completely different things.

In no way am i calling you a snob.

Yes unfortunately we all have to make compromises somewere, so best to give a person as many options as possible and maybe point out the good and bad of each option

John

[brodricj]

Stewart do make a motorised 120" screen

Unfortunately I don't have a spare gonad at this stage.

A spare kidney might be more marketable in some parts of the world

Don't suppose Mrs N would mind sacrificing one of your kidneys for a new Stewart screen

Or is the gonad more at risk??

[Zubiz1503560776]

I've been reading the PJ section for a while and am considering purchasing a 1080p model epson I also wanted this to be in a CIH setup with lens and scope screen. Now I'm not so sure when I just read that I would be wasting my time with a chepaer screen. The PJ is dear enough alone but adding a screen that is more expensive than the PJ I don't think it will slide past the minister for finance. Will it make a hufe difference if I use a $1500 screen, I've never had a projector before but now the whole thing seem to be a bit out of my reach.

[The_Preacher1973]

I've been reading the PJ section for a while and am considering purchasing a 1080p model epson I also wanted this to be in a CIH setup with lens and scope screen. Now I'm not so sure when I just read that I would be wasting my time with a chepaer screen. The PJ is dear enough alone but adding a screen that is more expensive than the PJ I don't think it will slide past the minister for finance. Will it make a hufe difference if I use a $1500 screen, I've never had a projector before but now the whole thing seem to be a bit out of my reach.

A projector + $1500 screen is going to produce a much better picture than a $7000 screen and no projector. Set your budget and work within that. People here will be able to give you advice regarding the best bang for your buck and when it's appropriate to stretch the budget that little bit more.

And on that note there's another problem for you to consider. The Epson cannot do the vertical stretch for CIH so you'll be looking at another $2-3K for a video processor.

[brodricj]

I've been reading the PJ section for a while and am considering purchasing a 1080p model epson I also wanted this to be in a CIH setup with lens and scope screen.

What's your budget and let the forum pitch a few options at you.

[Curious]

Stewart will custom make to whatever the customer wants.

Got it, thanks worx. I shouldn't have overlooked your original comment about Stewart and Screen Technics costing as much as they do either, might have softened the blow when I got the price from LP Morgan

The short answer is I struggle to justify spending the same price as my PJ on a screen, let alone twice as much...conversley I want to spend the appropriate amount to maximise my viewing pleasure...I suspect a compromise is in order

I would like to move past some of the heat that has occurred on this thread if I can, I understand that some of us have extensive education and experience in selection of Home Theatre equipment and some of us do not, i hope that those who do are willing to impart their knowledge to the rest (with as little derision as they can manage)

Thanks for those who have offered suggestions and I appreciate Rich from OZTS and David from BPP for following up on the possibility of an affordable solution to my request, this is very encouraging

Cheers,

Curious

[brodricj]

Let me get the ball rolling with a reasonable budget. Firstly, is it essential to have a 1080p projector? There are some excellent 720p DLP DC3 buys at the moment in the $3k range. Do you really want CIH? Chances are your projector won't do vertical stretch so you're up for about $3k for a video processor and lens. Don't skimp on the screen, go for something good, even stretch the budget for an ISF certified one. That means you're up for about another $4k. In total you're looking at $10k to do what you want. Or keep it simple and you'll get a good result for about $7k.

I'm doing a poor mans CIH with the lens shift and despite not having the whole pixel array producing a picture I get an excellent hassle free result for scope'd blu-ray content.

[Curious]

Let me get the ball rolling with a reasonable budget. Firstly, is it essential to have a 1080p projector? There are some excellent 720p DLP DC3 buys at the moment in the $3k range. Do you really want CIH? Chances are your projector won't do vertical stretch so you're up for about $3k for a video processor and lens. Don't skimp on the screen, go for something good, even stretch the budget for an ISF certified one. That means you're up for about another $4k. In total you're looking at $10k to do what you want. Or keep it simple and you'll get a good result for about $7k.

I'm doing a poor mans CIH with the lens shift and despite not having the whole pixel array producing a picture I get an excellent hassle free result for scope'd blu-ray content.

Good start Beejay,

If you go for the the BenQ at $3.5k then no scaler needed, so only other cost is screen so you are spot on at $7k to achieve scope

Cheers,

Curious

[yamapro]

The BenQ is reported to work very well with the cheap n cheerful Aussiemorphic lens.

It would have been my first choice for a CIH solution if i had the room to do it justice. Coupled with a very sexy motorised CIH screen i think you would have a very nice, affordable scope setup, with a little bit of High End flavour... and enough spectacle to make all your friends and neighbours think you paid Waaaaay more than you would have (if that's your thing )