Home Theater Projector Screen

Home Theater Projector Screen size and placement go hand in hand with your seating arrangement. We recommend determining your seating arrangement before purchasing a screen, as the distance from the screen will determine your recommended screen size. Ideally the screen should be placed in a location that does not get direct sunlight. The height should be such that the eye level of the front row (Lowest row if the subsequent rows are elevated) is 1/3 the distance up the screen. Therefore mount the screen according to the seating height.
Home Theater Projector Screen Height

Screen size depends on the distance the screen will be from the seating. Recommended screen distance is 2*Width. If more then one row is present then start with 1*Width and increase the distance n*width where N is the number of the row.
Home Theater Projector Screen Size

If you are placing your Home Theater Projector Screen over a window make sure you place something behind it or get one thick enough to prevent the light from bleeding through. Not all are thick enough to prevent light from coming through and if this happens it will provide a washed out look with the colors all fading together.

Screen Gain
Screen gain is often overlooked resulting in the incorrect home theater screen being chosen and unpleasant viewing experiences following. We start with a definition of what we mean by screen gain.

Gain is a measurement of the reflectivity of any screen or projection surface. The gain number represents a ratio of the light that is reflected from the screen as compared to the light reflected from a standard white (magnesium oxide) board. Therefore, a screen with a gain of 1.0 will reflect the same amount of light as that from a white board. A screen rated at 1.5 gain will reflect 50% more light as that from a white board, whereas a gray screen with an 0.8 rating will reflect 80% of the light from a white board.

Home Theater Projector Screen gains typically range from 0.7 to 1.5. With white screens at or above 1.0 and gray screens being below 1.0. Gain is typically measured at the brightest area of the screen and therefore higher gain screens tend to have more variation in brightness then a low gain screen when viewing from positions at an angle to the screen.

Based on that information here are some pointers. For screens that will be located in high light environments (outdoors on the patio for example) consider high gain screens. But for a home theater environment where lightening can be controlled we recommend low gain screens. Today’s projectors are getting brighter and brighter therefore projector light is not the issue and high gain screens are not needed. The issue is more of controlling the light and enhancing the blacks as the brighter projectors throw so much light that the area around the screen can become lit resulting in washed out blacks. A lower gain screen can remove some of this extra light and enhance the darks while still leaving plenty of light for the whites. Also consider lower gain screens for wide theater rooms that have seating at high angles to the screen. The lower gain screens will not have as much brightness variation at the angled seating positions as the high gain screens.

White or grey Home Theater Projector Screen?
Gray screens are often overlooked because people are used to white screens and do not understand the benefits of gray screens. Unfortunately gray screens are actually the better choice for many home theaters. Reasoning for gray being a better choice is that most home theater rooms are not completely dark (especially with how bright the new projectors are, light bounces off other objects in the room) and the gray screens can absorb more light. By absorbing the light, the gray screen allows for sharper blacks. Since today’s projectors throw so much light the whites remain effective and the gray enhances the blacks resulting in increased contrast and a better viewing experience.

This advice may appear to contradict projector manufactures claims that their new projectors address the contrast issues and produce effective blacks. We do not disagree in a room where light can be completely controlled the new projectors handle this well. However when considering the light in the room, light reflected off other surfaces must be considered just as much as light from a light bulb or the sun. Therefore unless your room is built to absorb light that bounces off the screen (See our home theater design section for information on how to do this) and not reflect it back then a gray screen will absorb some of that light and keep the blacks from appearing washed out.

Acoustical Home Theater Projector Screen
Many people are not aware of acoustical screens so we wanted to point out and explain their existence. These Home Theater Projector Screens pass sound through them (supposedly without degrading the sound at all) allowing for the front center speaker to be located directly in the center of the screen. True audiophiles may insist on the center speaker being placed here, as that is the truest location for 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 surround sound. However these screens cost more and most people will be perfectly happy with the center channel speaker being placed directly below the screen. See our home theater speaker section for speaker location.

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