How to choose the right Home Theater Movie Projector Screen?

When choosing a home movie projection screen you need to consider three critical areas.

First, what is the room environment for the projector and screen? There are three room types. One is the home cinema which has dark color walls and ceiling with no to low sun or lamp lighting. Cinema conditions are what you experience when you go the the movie theater. It is dark with very limited lighting. These conditions are the very best for viewing your projector and screen.It is recommended that you use a white screen material in this viewing room. A white screen creates the most vibrant colors and pure whites in your video.

The other two room environments have either changing light with medium colored walls or high light from sun or lamps with bright colored walls. In both of these circumstances it is best to get a screen that can control the ambient light for a better video image. This may be achieved from using a gray surface projector screen. The gray screen increases the contrast with better black levels. The gray screen absorbs unwanted ambient light to create a better video image in rooms with lots of light.

The second area to consider when buying a projection screen is the type of content you watch. Do you watch more movies, sports or video games? If you watch more movies then you really want the completely dark environment. If you watch sports and play video games then you might expect to have some lighting in the room while you eat or talk with others. When you have some lights on you will probably need to make a radically differnt screen choice compared to the cinema or movie viewing environment. With lights on in the room you should consider getting a gray surface screen material instead of the white.

The third major consideration in choosing the right home theater screen is the size of the screen. You must consider the brightness specifications from your projector and the seating arrangement in your room to make the right choice on screen size. A typical home theater will use a 92" to 106" diagonal screen size. Much smaller and you lose the BIG screen experience. Much bigger and you lose projector brightness you need to get a clear sharp image reflecting off of the screen. The size of the screen also corresponds to the seating arrangement in the room. The most comfortable viewing distance from a projection screen is 1.5 times the width of the screen. This will feel like you are sitting in the middle seat of the middle row of a movie theater. Using a 92" screen you would want to sit 10' from the screen. On a 100" screen you would sit 11'. On a 106" screen the calculation is for 12' back from the screen.

Most hdtv home theater projectors with 720p resolution or greater have 1000 lumens or more. This is good for screens up to 106". Projectors with less lumens will begin to look dim on a screen that is much bigger than this. However, when there is light in the room you will need to get a brighter projector for a better video image. Consider a projector with 1500 or more lumens when using it in a room with some lighting and a gray screen. The extra lumens on the projector will recreate white images while allowing the gray screen to produce darker images in light environments.

It is recommended that you use a