by Marco Adriaans
Marketing & Communications, PROJECTA BV
Why would a business that invests a small fortune in beamers and laptops (and on people who spend days to create a PowerPoint or video presentation) then project their images onto a surface that would blur and distort viewing?
The answer is that, today, almost every corporate on the FT 500 list owns multiple screens, while many SMEs are still learning…and may (out of ignorance or because they think they are saving money) be trapped in that space known as “Screen-less.”
The “Screen-less” don’t know, don’t recognize that any chain is only as good as its weakest link and-- in an AV chain--a blank wall used as a projection surface easily qualifies as the weakest link. A wall is simply not intended for projection.
Installers of screens must still spend time trying to educate the SME business customers to the fact that a good screen improves communication and enhances presentations. Maybe today, we should call the screen a “high definition fabric display.”
If SMEs weren’t enough of an educational challenge, now comes along a new version of an old problem: the emerging home theater market. Here’s where installers have to ask their customers in Socratic fashion, “Why would you compile a fantastic film collection, buy an expensive high def DVD player-- only to break the chain of quality by adding a dumb wall where a quality fabric component should be?”
More and more people only discover how much more pleasant it is to watch something on a large screen when they visit a sports bar, pub or auditorium where the result of a completed quality chain is so apparent. Exposure to professional solutions is a driving force in the home market where the consumer can inspire to emulate (to his own budget limitation) the video quality that impresses him/her the most.
(In this same manner, (i.e., by exposure to quality systems in pro AV environments), more and more SMEs now also understand that a top-notch presentation calls for a top quality chain of projection components including a screen at least equal to the weakest component.)
The projection screen is an indispensable component of any presentation or Home Cinema set-up, just as important as the source media, player and beamer. A quick look at a screen might be deceptive but the factors that go into a good screen are numerous. The quality of the fabric (which is not a single quality but a multiplicity of qualities to achieve the right formula to build into the screen fabric the many characteristics it needs to display an image), the quality of the black border (which should be there to add to the perceived clarity), the control mechanism (to raise and lower the screen whether manually of electronically), the ease and durability of a mounting mechanism, and even the way to transport the screen to the installer and to the installer’s customers (without tearing or degrading of the screen).
In the home, an image must be projected so several people can see it all at the same time. Each situation is unique and for the best possible projection quality (clarity of the image), the customers need to understand that light output of the projector, size of the projection screen and the reflection value of the screen fabric should be attuned to one another.
Projecta screens use a special black border (or frame) to improve the perceived clarity of the projected image. With certain Home Cinema models, there is even an extra high black border on the top and/or bottom of the screen, allowing the user to choose the ideal viewing height. That makes a difference when placement will be in high rooms and in home cinema viewing rooms.
Dealers, distributors and installers who want to look at the difference a good screen makes can look at web site or contact us.
But any way you look at it… you’re better off looking at it with a good screen!
