Optoma HD25-LV – Projector Screens

Optoma HD25-LV - Projector Screens

There are now plenty of home projectors with around or even more than 2000 lumens at their brightest, but projectors that can put their best possible (calibrated) picture on the screen to the tune of 1500 lumens are far less common. For perspective, consider that we have yet to review any projector for home, other than a few lower cost entry level, crossover projectors, that can muster up more than 2500 lumens at mid-zoom.

Thus nothing competitive or better (without spending massive money), is more than about 30-40% brighter. In my video on projector screens (and also in the video about choosing the right projector for a family room), I demonstrate how much screen surfaces can matter. Side ambient light only?  Consider pairing the HD25-LV projector with a high contrast gray screen.  Most screen makers offer at least one.  My old Stewart Firehawk G3 (hc gray) was great at dealing with my side windows in my last house.  The Studiotek 130 G3 that I currently have in my dedicated theater, however, would have been a disaster in the same setup. It’s this simple.  If your ambient light source is back by the projector – such as windows or doors behind, you’ve got problems that screen selection can’t really help much with.  But as long as the light sources or on the sides, or perhaps on the back but far left or right, minor miracles can be worked.   In my room that rear window (with shutters) is one of two, that are only about 20 degrees off angle from the projector (one on either side).  Even my old Firehawk would have been almost completely helpless to solve that problem.  (Thankfully my rear windows can be completely blacked out.) On the other hand, on the side, near the back (see image below) there’s a skylight in the next room.  That skylight is enough off angle that the Firehawk would have helped a good deal in preventing that light from diluting the image.  But a standard 1.0 to 1.4 gain screen would be virtually useless against that light. Got full lighting control?  Then you have no problem.  Stick with a moderate gain screen (under 1.5) so that you have a large viewing cone, (seating area where things look really good), and enjoy. Another reason for pairing a High Contrast Gray screen with the Optoma HD25-LV is the black levels.  I stated that the HD25-LV’s blacks are particularly good (black) for the price.  Still, they could be darker.

That’s something the high contrast gray screen can help accomplish. Ideally, you want this projector placed so that the screen wall is not facing a back wall with lots of light.  A screen can help a great deal if the ambient light is coming from the sides, but not if it’s coming from straight back. High Contrast gray screens, in my experience, are best at rejecting side ambient light.  I have used them in my previous home, with truly great success.  A Stewart Firehawk G3 was able to handle modest amounts of light from a side windows with shades, rather effortlessly.  The Firehawk is a pretty expensive screen, but there are plenty of others that, if not as good at “rejecting” side light, do a good job of it.  Just about every screen manufacturer makes high contrast gray screens.  Some are brighter than others (light gray vs gray).  Da-lite, Draper, Elite, Carada, all have high contrast gray screens.  Both Screen Innovations and Stewart Filmscreen, who make top quality, but very expensive screens, have both just launched a more affordable line.  I’m not sure if they have HC grays, in those lines, but I’d expect them to. I want to emphasize that even the slightest ambient light is seen on a typical normal gain white screen, when coming from the side, as you can see in the top image above.  The bulk of the lighting you see on the screen is from that side window. High power screens – very high gain white screens can also effectively reject side light and provide a very bright image, but there’s a trade-off.  You have to be sitting close to dead center to get that brightness.  Sit 4-5 feet to the side, (on a typical 100 inch screen), and most of it’s gone, and it starts getting dim instead. Now if you are only planning movie viewing at night, and can turn off any annoying lights, then you are likely better served with a white screen with modest gain – 1.0 to 1.5.  1.3 to 1.5 gain screens get you a noticeable boost in brightness without too much downside.  They will even reject a minor amount of side lighting, but they aren’t the cure for that problem. 3D:  When you are running 3D, the problem is that you are sacrificing well over half of the brightness.  That affects all decisions, but fortunately, unless you are going above about 110″ diagonal, you will have enough brightness to do fine. One more tip.  If you are mounting the projector, the closer to the screen the brighter the projector (due to optics).  Every bit helps, but we’re not talking a really signficant difference, there’s just a 17% brightness difference between closest and furthest. Note, with screens that have narrow viewing cones, the closer the projector is to a particular sized screen, the narrower the viewing cone.

Optoma HD25-LV in a Dedicated theater

With lighting control comes “peace”.  Perhaps your biggest problem will be too much brightness, unless you are going extremely large screen (at least 125″ diagonal).  In a good room, you can go white or gray, but a high contrast gray will, as mentioned earlier also have the benefit of lowering black levels a bit.

What type of High Contrast Grey Projector Screens

If your budget is tight, you might look for HC Gray screen from Elite Screens: HC Gray (a light gray), or one of Da-lite’s perhaps the HC-Cinemavison, an old favorite of mine.  Definitely consider a Firehawk from Stewart Filmscreen if budget allows, but it’s pricey.

For the ultimately bad room lighting wide, the best I’ve seen is a Screen Innovations Black Diamond, but considering they are far more expensive than the HD25-LV, that’s not likely to work out.