What sort of screen

[Philo]

I am probably going to make a purchase on a Panasonic pt900 and was wondering what sort of screen would best suit my needs.
Would a flat white screen be the way to go or a glass beaded screen? am unsure as to what would be the best.
i would wonder if I should go for a Manual pull down or a motorized, can get a deal on ebay for a good motorized, are they reiable and transportable without to many problems?
My HT room during the day is also exposed to a bit of ambient light and can not be controlled, how would that effect the type of screen I would buy?

Philo

[Azeke]

What is your budget, Philo?

Meanwhile this URL should help in your decision:

Panny 900U screens

Also our forum sponsor Carada, makes nice fixed screens for the money. Since you can't totally control you lighting you will need a higher gain screen. I wouldn't consider beaded screens because of cleaning, refractions, etc. IMHO. You can also call screen companies and request samples and advice. This is the screen I am considering for purchase in Brilliant White:

Carada Screens

Motorized screens are a different beast, I am partial to the Stewart firehawk and Vutech Silverstar, however that would far exceed the cost of my projector . So for now, I use the screen provided via my job that it was being tossed away, worked well for my budget.

Videogon also has screen for bids.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[George Bellefontaine]

Good advice from Azeke. I would definitely stay away from a glass beaded screen. Aside from cleaning issues, there is a narrow viewing cone and hotspotting. I have always stuck with 1 gain matte white screens. I've used them for every projector I have owned from crt to lcd to dlp. But I have total light control ( the theater has no windows) so there is really no need for a high gain screen in my case.

[Burke Strickland]

There is one design that employs special glass beads and overcomes the cleaning and refraction issues: DaLite High Power. Its glass beads are embedded in a plastic material that allows washing. I know this really works, since my projection screen is made of this material and, living in a dusty environment, I wash it at least once a year with pleasing results.

The beads themselves are made to be "retro-reflective" so that the light that comes at them bounces back in exactly the same direction, so you do not get the refractive "scatter" effect that tends to degrade the image of ordinary glass bead designs.

The High Power screen does not hot spot (another advantage of its retro-reflective property) and, although you and your guests must be in about a 30 degree angle of view from center to get the full benefit of its 2.8 gain, its "worst" effective gain is 1.0 at the extreme edges of the viewing area. So even there you haven't really lost anything compared to standard screen materials, but if you are in the "sweet spot", the image has a lively, vibrant, almost three dimensional effect that must be seen to be believed.

Typically those who counsel against its purrchase have never seen it in action with a properly set up projector, and thus, not having witnessed its positive impact, judge it on the basis of their negative experiences with lesser designs that share only the description "uses glass beads" with the HighPower material.

One of my local colleagues reviews projectors for leading HT publications and has several screen surfaces available in his own HT including Gray Hawk and a popular 1.0 gain white screen. But he uses the DaLite High Power screen when he is watching movies for enjoyment.

I hope you have the opportunity to check it out before you make your purchase decision.

Burke