The DIYTheatre.com Screen Test

The following questions will help you to know if a DIY Theatre® projection screen is right for you or if you require another style from a traditional manufacturer. Try it out. There is no score and we do not track your answers. But you may want to print this out and keep track of the features you desire and those that add no function or value to your personal home theater.

Do you want a little contrast enhancement?

Yes: When you select a DIY Theatre® screen you have a selection of 3 levels of contrast enhancement. You may choose a light level, medium or high contrast level. Other screen makers will just give you the choice of to have high contrast or not with no selection of how much contrast your theater may require or you prefer.
No: Not a problem, we have a no contrast option.

Do you need for your screen to disappear into the ceiling when you are not using it?

Yes: Sorry, DIY Theatre cannot help you here. We do not supply that type of screen. Our screens have no cases or motors. We designed our screens to have an elegance that you can be proud to leave on display. We believe that when a true entertainment area is built the screen will be used most of the time people are in the room and there is no reason to hide it in the ceiling. But if you want that feature just be prepared for the cost. Electronic House® magazine June 2003 issue listed other manufactures screens at a price between $958.00 and $7,371.00 and that is before all the electrical wiring, installation, shipping and taxes.
No: Smart! You just saved a lot of money that you can use in another area of your home theater or just keep in your pocket. We are not sure who started the idea of hiding the screen in the ceiling – but that is a whopper of up-charge that adds no value to the performance of the screen surface. We never tried to hide our TV or fireplace – why pay literally thousands to hide the screen? We think the concept of hiding the screen dates back to the age of the tripod screen. After you showed the home movies the projector and tripod went into the closet. We make our screen products to look good. You can be proud of how good it looks even if the projector is off.

Do you know the exact size you want your image to be?

Yes: Great, you have clearly done some planning. With a DIY Theatre® screen you will simply install the screen to that exact size. If, however, you select an old style screen then cross your fingers that they have your exact size in the type of screen you desire. Some may offer to make a custom size but look out for your wallet.
No: This is where a DIY Theatre® screen makes a big difference. We have no fixed sizes or formats. Each product we ship can make any size or format up to 120”diagonal. Here is our recommendation. The only way to really know the exact size you want is to install your projector and zoom it in and out and move the image up and down until you find the image size, format and location that is perfect for you. Then mask off that exact size and apply our screen. You can have 85 3/16” or 113 7/16” and you are not stuck with 72”, 84”, or 100” fixed sizes offered by the traditional screen companies. Does that not just make sense?

Are you sensitive to heavy solvent odors?

Yes: Lots of things we buy often have lingering odors and in some cases fumes of heavy solvents and plasticizers used in the manufacturing process. This is often true with projection screens especially heavy vinyl screens or ones that use glues to form layers or in making seams. DIY will not deliver these odors to you. In fact, we have developed a formula that will have a very pleasing fragrance. We call it “Dreamsicle”.
No: That’s good – this need not be a consideration in your screen selection.

Is it important to you that you do not have a seam in your screen?

Yes: DIY Theatre® screens never have a seam! Screens made by other manufactures vary. Be sure to check it out carefully – read the fine print. Sometimes they will call it seamless because there is no seam in the image area but you may find seams on the boarders which can leave a mark on the screen when it is stored in the up position.
No: You ought to reconsider. You may be very disappointed in the long run if you accept a screen with a seam. The seam can wrinkle or fail and begin to come unglued. Just be careful about this.

Do you want control over the gain or brightness of your screen?

Yes: DIY Theatre® screens allow you to determine the gain at the time you apply our optical layer. You will do this by how much optical additive you add to the screen coating. Traditional manufactures offer just one gain for each screen type. We think you need more options. With a DIY Theatre® screen you are in control.
No: Just be aware of the gains offered when you do your shopping. The video screen another manufacturer offers may have a gain of 1.5 and nothing else. Maybe you need a 1.2 now what will you do? One caution that is most important – more gain is not always better. With a gain level higher than you really need you will limit your viewing angle and can create hot spots or uneven brightness on the screen.

Do you wish to reduce color shift?

Not sure – what’s color shift?
DIY Theatre, LLC has developed a new screen technology that includes a non-interference pigment. This is used in our Australian Opal® screen surfaces. Some refer to the luster of the Australian Opal® surface as a fleur-de-lis due to its elegance. To our knowledge this is not used in any other screen product. Traditional pearlescent screens use an interference pigment which is a larger flake and is fairly translucent. This is the reason that screen performance is lost due to color shift. Old style screens are painted with black on the back so you can not see all the light that is lost as it passes through the screen surface rather than reflect back to you –the viewer. See the illustration of the optically active layer below.

Traditional Pearl Pigments

Notice how the light ray is split when it strikes the old style pearl pigment flake. Some of it is reflected back as it should be and some of the light travels through the pigment and lost in the back of the screen while another part of it is reflected back at a different angle. As multiple pigment flakes are layered this negative effect is compounded. Some of the light ray is totally lost and the rest is split in fractional directions which is the primary cause of color shift due to screen performance. This type of pearl pigment is not a defect - in fact that is how they are designed. Their use is for automotive coatings and packaging materials and it gives the appearance of depth due to multiple layers and color shift looks good on a car. But not on a movie screen.

Australian Opal® Pigments

The latest generation of Australian Opal® pigments made for DIY Theatre® screens reflect very differently. They are opaque particles rather than translucent flakes. When the light ray strikes the Australian Opal® then it is directed back in a single reflection and provide a much greater color intensity. The Australian Opal® pigments are a very new technology previously unavailable. We thank our friends in Australia for introducing us to the luster of the Opal.

Pearlescent pigments used in many of the common projection screens were developed in the 1960’s long before digital projection sources or light sources with UV light were developed. These old pigments work well for cars but not very efficient for a projection screen. The Australian Opal® pigments in our formulations are only recently available and greatly change the active performance of the projection screen surface. The fine grain size (5 - 30 µm) of our Australian Opal® pigments and narrow particle size distribution allow our projection screens to perform with greatly reduced or totally eliminated color shift and a greater amount of the projected light to be reflected back to the viewers. This is a huge technological improvement that no doubt other manufacturers will try to copy. Color shift will affect your performance – if you do not want this then DIY can supply you the screen surface you require.

Do you prefer have strings for tensioning your screen, a metal stretching frame, bungee cords or lace and grommets to keep your screen surface flat?

Yes: Sorry, if this is important to you we cannot help. A DIY Theatre® screen is not right for you. We do not offer strings or motors or painted metal cases that we feel just add to the cost of a screen and in reality distract from the beauty of a good quality optical screen surface.
No: Now we have a screen surface for you. When you install your DIY Theatre® screen it will adhere to your wall or the rigid surface you select and remain as flat as that surface. No sags, no waves, no stickiness that attracts and holds dust, no seams and no strings or cords to hold it tight.

Do you want to use rear projection?

Yes: Sorry, DIY can not yet help you here. We say not yet as we are in final testing of a rear projection screen that will not only substantially reduce the cost but also offer impressive performance. Those are the key principles for all DIY products. Send us an e-mail or check back in the future to see if we have this available. Rear projection is a great alternative to front projection if you have the proper space and layout. Just be aware of the large differences in price and performance on the market today. Buyers beware. And be very wary of mirror and frame systems – DIY will never recommend their use even when our product is available. They are expensive, fragile and can contribute to image distortion and loss of light.
No: That’s fine as well – we have plenty of front projections options for you.