front/rear combo screen surfaces

D

drew gandy

Junior
Jul 17, 2011
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16
Chicago
I've seen these in the catalogs (Da-Lite dual vision etc) and may have used one once a long time ago but don't really have enough experience with them to have an opinion. So, I'm looking for opinions.
Obviously, the "gain" is going to be low compared to a dedicated front or rear on account of the surface reflecting and transmitting light at the same time. But I've learned that contrast ratio is mostly what matters when it comes to readability etc. The human eye is incredibly flexible and "trickable" when it comes to actual brightness. Plus, the Da-Lite brand surface claims a quite wide angle which is nice for real meeting rooms and also helps with avoiding hot spotting in rear projection.

btw this is in reference to portable event staging like for corporate events.
 
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Re: front/rear combo screen surfaces

I don't like the combos. To me one of the advantages of a dedicated rear surface is it's ability to not reflect quite as much light from the front, allowing its use in rooms where you have less control over the ambient lighting. Conversely, I prefer black-backed front screens so that I don't have to worry so much about any light bleeding from the rear side.

Combos just seem to me like the worst of the three options (front, rear, combo) for any application. The bean counters probably like them, but they don't have to use them.
 
Re: front/rear combo screen surfaces

I have a couple of the dual vision series. In my opinion they work good in both front and rear projection when as mentioned the ambient lighting can be controlled. I have run into a couple situations front projecting where light from the rear created some major issues. I actually had to scramble for a material to blackout the back of the screen to have it usable. If you have the money go with front and rear options.
 
Re: front/rear combo screen surfaces

Thank you Ben and Milt. I have used black plastic sheet snapped under the snaps of a front surface to provide some black-out - and it works ok. But it's almost like carrying 2 surfaces. Of course it's a lot cheaper. :D~:-D~:grin:
All my front surfaces are currently non-blackout. I would like to replace them with blackout types but I think most of them have different characteristics (higher gain) than the opaque ones so I have a feeling they're not going to match when doing a 2 (or more) screen show. That means replacing surfaces all at the same time, at least for a given size of screen. hmm.
And Milt, your assertion that these dual vision surfaces have a "whiter" front than a regular rear surface means that the contrast ratio would indeed suffer. The blacks won't be as black even if the whites are the same brightness.

Thanks guys.
 
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