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Projector screens explained: gain, grey, ALR and acoustically transparent

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The screen is half of a projected picture, and it is often the half people spend least on. The right screen depends less on the projector than on the room: how much light is in it, where you sit, and whether the speakers need to go behind it.

Gain: how much light comes back

Gain measures how bright a screen looks compared with a standard matte white reference, which has a gain of 1.0. A 1.3-gain screen looks about 30% brighter from the middle seat. A 0.8-gain screen looks darker.

Gain is not free brightness. A high-gain screen gets brighter by sending more of the light straight back towards the centre, so it looks dimmer from the side seats. Push the gain too far and you can see a hotspot, a brighter patch that follows your head as you move. For most rooms with seats spread across the width, a gain between about 1.0 and 1.3 is the safe range.

White or grey

A white screen reflects everything, including the projector’s black level and any stray light. In a dark room with dark walls, that is ideal: it gives the brightest, most accurate picture.

A grey screen reflects less of everything. Blacks look deeper, which helps projectors with weaker contrast and rooms with some light, but the whole picture gets dimmer too, so you need a brighter projector to make up for it.

Ambient-light-rejecting screens

Ambient-light-rejecting (ALR) screens use a structured surface that reflects light coming from the projector’s direction back to you, and sends light from other directions, such as a ceiling lamp or a window, away. In a living room that is never fully dark, the difference can be large.

The catch is that they are built for one projector position. A screen designed for a standard projector on the ceiling or at the back of the room does not work with an ultra-short-throw projector, which fires steeply upwards from just below the screen, and the reverse is also true. Check which type the screen is made for before you buy. ALR screens also tend to have narrower viewing angles and can show a faint texture, so they are best when you need them, not by default.

Acoustically transparent screens

In a dedicated room, the best place for the front speakers is behind the screen, as in a cinema. That needs an acoustically transparent screen: either a woven fabric or a solid material with tiny perforations. Sound passes through with a small loss of high frequencies, which most AV receivers can correct.

Woven screens lose some gain because light also passes through the weave. Perforated screens can show a faint moiré pattern if you sit close. Makers give a minimum seating distance for each material, so check it against your room.

16:9 or 2.35:1

Most TV and streaming is 16:9. Many films are wider, at about 2.35:1 or 2.39:1 (known as scope), and show black bars above and below on a 16:9 screen. A 16:9 screen is the simple choice and suits mixed viewing. A scope screen lets films fill the full width, but needs a projector that can zoom or use a lens memory to fill it, and leaves bars at the sides for 16:9 content. If you mostly watch films in a dedicated room, scope is worth a look. For everything else, 16:9.

Fixed, pull-down or motorised

  • Fixed frame: the material is stretched flat on a frame, which gives the flattest, best-looking picture. Best for a dedicated room.
  • Pull-down: rolls up into a case when not in use. Cheapest, but the surface can ripple at the edges over time.
  • Motorised: rolls down at the press of a button and can be recessed into the ceiling. A tab-tensioned model keeps the surface flatter, which matters more on bigger screens.

Choosing, in order

  • Pick the size from your seating distance (see our throw distance guide).
  • Decide on the shape: 16:9 for mixed viewing, scope for mostly films.
  • Be honest about the light. Dark room: white, gain 1.0 to 1.3. Some light: grey or ALR. Daylight: ALR, matched to your projector type.
  • If the speakers go behind it, choose an acoustically transparent material and check the minimum seating distance.
  • Choose fixed, pull-down or motorised to suit how the room is used.