SI Black Diamond Screen Questions/Gain selection-Need some help

RocketOCannon

I am in the process of selecting my screen and am getting a lil confused with all the info related to projectors/screens/gain/material etc.

Ive decided on a SI Black Diamond screen with 1.4 gain or .8 gain. My HT will have total 100% lighting control. I will probably use it at movies 70%, Sports-Other TV about 30%. I would imagine when watching TV I might not have the lights dimmed down to 100% off the way I will when watching movies. So,...there lies my dilemma...

Should I go with a.8 gain(Good for dark or dim environments) or the 1.4(Good for ambient light environments yet still excellent with dark rooms.

Back wall and ceiling will be mate black...walls might be chocolate or carmel color....TBD
Projector will be the new offering from JVC due out late November. JVPDLARS56U. 90,000:1 contrast / eShift2

Just don't want to go with the .8 and have it be to dim....but then I get nervous that the 1.4 will be less of a picture due to brightness..

Any help, opinions or suggestions will be helpful. I have zero experience with projectors and screens.

Thanks,

Sherardp

Go for the 1.4 screen. The jvc won't need any help with black level.

polkfarmboy

Do alot of reading on the black diamond before sinking all that money into it. There are other and better screens for your dilemma of no lights off best picture usage. go have a demo of that 1.4 and see if the shimmers annoy you, I hated the sparkles the 1.4 put out as it was a distraction for me. Another flaw is the terrible hot spotting and uneven uniformity, many users try using the max telephoto of the lens but you will never rid yourself of it. What ever flaws the black diamond has will be worse on the higher gain models. Everyone is different so you must go for a demo before sinking in the cash. I recommend the DNP Supernova BLADE 08-85 as it has almost none of the black diamond flaws. There is no way to have a projector for lights on use especially when using the jvc units so you must accept the trade off or just go with a much brighter unit like the Epson 5020

pdxfj

The Black Diamond screens are designed to be used in environments where there is little to no light control. Say a living room with tons of windows. Their ability to reject ambient light allows usage of a projector in daylight. For this you pay a premium price.

The screen is the last thing you want to choose. Do not choose the screen until your HT is completely painted and you have the projector. Then call up companies like Stewart, Da-Lite, Carada, Draper, etc and order screen samples. Most places will send you 8.5x11 samples for free. Setup your projector and arrange the samples on the wall. Start watching different BD content and see what looks good to you. Once you narrow it down, you can then purchase larger samples from some companies if you need to. Usually $20 or so for a 20x20 sample.

I tried seven different screen types from five different companies. I wasn't impressed with Da-Lite, and the Elite looked good, but sparked on bright images. The 1.0 gain Draper looked good, but in the end I chose the Carada Brilliant White 1.4. The extra gain will come in handy as the lamp ages in my JVC projector. Stewart screens were out of my price rage.

polkfarmboy

What elite did you try that sparkled?

RocketOCannon

Interesting responses. I never knew that about samples etc.. Thanks for the info
the main reason I am choosing BD is because I can get very aggressive pricing on it. I am not interested in the least in spending the MSRP for anything.

I have read quite a bit on them. They primarily get rave reviews with some negatives. But, in general you could say that about any screen(Pros-Cons). I understand about the advantages of the tech in lighted environments. However, it gets excellent reviews in dark rooms as well. The one advantage I have in utilizing this screen is I have 100% control of the lighting in my HT. So at least Im not constrained or at a disadvantage by lighting issues.

Im interested if with what I describe as my planned projector, lighting controlled environment, black rear screen wall, black ceilings and dark side walls if I would be better off with the .8 or 1.4 gain.

Thanks,

pdxfj

Polkfarmboy: I tried their CineWhite material. I can say it did look very good and was very tempting but the sparkles turned me off to it. Was most noticeable on very white scenes. Really stood out with white clouds over a blue sky.

Rocket: I see you have chosen the RS56. That is an excellent projector. I have the RS40. One thing to keep in mind is that you loose brightness every minute the projector is run. Before you choose to go with a neutral, positive, or negative gain screen you need to figure out what is the maximum screen size you can fit given your room and seating distances. 16:9 or 2:40? Acoustically transparent or not? How far from the screen is the projector going to be (throw distance)?

You really don't need a grey screen since JVC's have the best black levels in the industry. Remember you can dial down the IRIS and open it up as the lamp ages. You'd be better off going with at least a 1.0 or a little higher. Is your pricing only on the Black Diamond? How about their Solar HD or Gamma HD?

Having a dedicated and totally light controlled room is the biggest advantage you have. My room is 13x19x7. My most limiting factor is my ceiling height. I built a screen wall eight inches out from the front wall. My throw distance is just over 18 feet and I have a 110" 16:9 screen, with the front row at 10 feet and the back row at 14 feet. When I was experimenting with screen sizes I used some blackout cloth as a temporary screen. With the IRIS almost fully closed (-13) it was still plenty bright.

Here is a very good projector calculator: http://www.eliteprojectorcalculator.com/

With that you can get an idea of what kind of light output to expect given different factors.

Reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. Everyone's tastes and environments are different. I read many positive reviews about the Da-Lite Cinema Vision material and even paid for the larger sample (da-lite sent a 6inx6in sample..cheap bungholes). It really sucked compared to others. Rather narrow viewing cone, funky colors and so on.

Hope this helps a bit. If you have any more questions just ask. I'll do my best to answer them and I'm sure others will chime in as well.

RocketOCannon

Excellent detailed info!

Now my head is really spinning! lol
The key here is about $2,000 top spend. I can get Da-Lite or SI.

Room size is 22'L x 13.6
Ceiling is 7'.4
Projector will have to be at it furthest point from screen about 15' due to AC duct running across room.
I was thinking about 100" but maybe the 92" ish type screen. I want to ensure my 705 towers are not in the way. I have to have the SVS PB13 sub up front due to room size and theater seat positioning.

The calculator confused me..lol I have no experience at all with projectors. I will look to speak to a friend over the Turkey weekend and see if they can assist.

I appreciate the help. I knew it couldn't be this easy...