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So a disclaimer; it’s not going to be technical, and the main criteria I have used are:
Customer Service,
Packing Security and Build Quality,
Ease of Installation and operation,
Enjoyment of Projected Picture/ Degree of distraction from movie by any Screen based artefacts or irregularities.
The Screen is often the “false economy” item and even the “afterthought” when home theatres are planned and set up. Cheaper is often seen as “better”, even though the projector and other components have been given considerable pre-purchase testing and financial outlay. The Screen in my thinking can “make or break” the overall quality and enjoyment of the projected image. Having said that, there are Screens out there that are outrageously expensive; if you can afford it go for it, but having seen a range of screens at varying price-points I think we ultimately want value for money, performance, and installation options that suit our home theatre environment. This is whether it is a dedicated theatre or a multi-purpose room.
Having bought an Epson TW2000 projector in the recent DTV group buy I decided that it was also time to replace the screen. My room and new projector could cope with bigger so I looked for a 120”, 16:9, motorised retractable model, a fixed screen was not practical. I also had an initial interest in side tension.
I did most of my research on the Net and viewed a few Screens around the stores (I travel a bit so a lot of viewing was done overseas) – most places though it was usually the projector performance that was the focus of the retailers.
So it was on DTV forum that I first discovered Cinescreen. I phoned Cinamax and spoke to James who explained the features of the new V5 screens, and after a bit more research I went with Cinescreen. I decided against tensioned models as the fabric, roller and weighting used in the V5 was said to make them more “wave” resistant. The Screen is Chinese made for a German company who monitors quality control. These exact screens are by the way called Cinescreen V6 in the European market.
Cinamax also offered 10% discount to DTV members, so the shipped cost was
$958 for the 120”. There was a problem with the delivery in that the carrier Cinamax used would not deliver beyond their local base, which was 25 kms from my home. The reason given was that the screen would not fit in their trucks for local transfer. This was at the Newcastle end of a Melbourne – Newcastle run. So I had to arrange my own transfer from their base at additional cost. This was cause of concern for both myself and James who I believe has now changed carriers.
The long package eventually arrived perfectly intact and on opening everything was fine. The screen was double boxed with a separate box for the accessories. There have been a lot of horror stories about the damaged condition of delivered screens and accessories, so this was a relief.
In my case, mounting the screen was easy in that I just hooked it from the ceiling. There are other mounting options, which make installation flexible. The remote receiver is integrated into the end of the screen. There is also the option for a remote receiver extender (included) and projector trigger operation. The power cord plugs into a regular outlet. At the moment I have the cable running down the wall but ideally a ceiling plug would be neater. I may get around to it one day.
The screen casing is white and the finish and physical build is good. It has a slimline case which looks good installed.
Slimline Casing and Mounting
The screen lowers smoothly and very slowly with what I think is an acceptable motor noise level. It’s quieter than most I have heard.
The remote control is melamine hard plastic shaped like a computer mouse but appears to have a very narrow field of signal transmission. I will eventually get around to program it to my touch screen control. The remote has to be dismantled completely by removing two screws to install the batteries (not mentioned in the instructions). Not the most efficient way to install batteries.
The drop level needed adjustment both ways – the “up” adjustment was easy enough from the instructions and the screen could be retracted to attain a neat look against the case. Only a small “up” adjustment was needed. However there is not much tolerance for adjustment either way using the method described in the manual and there was still too much top black border when the screen was lowered. This requires a different method of adjustment, which is not mentioned in the instructions. I emailed James and he explained that you can adjust the drop to any length, but the microswitch needed to be reset. Once you know how it’s not hard. The screen drop could now be optimally adjusted to my theatre environment. Probably for most people who have a lower ceiling and/or projector ceiling mounted the amount of drop that is factory set will have to be reduced.
Black Border Prior to Drop Adjustment
After Adjustment
Generally I found the instruction manual not to be great.
The material of the screen is matt white with a heavy stitched in bottom bar. Bit of a smell for a couple of weeks but not that bad, and is now not noticeable. There was a slight inward turning of the black edges of the screen but this did not affect the picture.
On my unit there was noticeable ripples along the bottom of the screen (shown in the picture). It was noticeable on some projected material (panning) but not when the projected image ratio displayed top and bottom black bars. The ripples vanished into the dark areas. There comes however the point where you have to decide – can I live with it? The screen has been installed and not an easy thing to re-pack and send back, involving more cost. Would the replacement have the same or other issues?
Ripples Along Bottom of Screen
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll109/davestan1/th_IMGP1197.jpg
I e-mailed James with pictures and he said that the screen should flatten out over a couple of weeks of “up and down” operation. He also reassured me that typically they had not noticed ripples on the new V5 screens.
The projected picture quality was very good with no hotspot or sparking and with vibrant colour. There was no light leakage at all through the screen. Screen texture is not visible – the picture is uniform, smooth and with depth. The TW2000 projector is excellent in its own right but did produce a better image on the big 120”Cinescreen than on my previous one (which was a quality screen). I am running component video from both Blu-Ray and HD DVD.
Back to the ripples – had it not been for this I would have been delighted with the screen. Over two months of ownership the ripples have flattened out but are still there to a lesser degree. They now do not distract from the movie enjoyment. I had previously sent two e-mails to report back to James that the ripples were still present. I said that I was prepared to live with them and hopefully could agree on a small refund as compensation. The suggestion I made basically amounted to the initial cost of freight plus my additional out of pocket expenses to ship to my door (so around $90 total). I received no answer for two weeks, which I found unusual given past contact. I then did receive an e-mail apologising for not replying sooner (they were dealing with a large contract) and offering to replace the screen on return of the current one.
Whilst I appreciated this, the prospect of having to repack and ship back was somewhat daunting and would not be my first choice so I e-mailed back my original preference or an alternative proposal of an extended warranty that would cover rippling. As yet I have not received a reply.
So, “after purchase” support is probably an area of customer service that could be improved, particularly communication. It may be that the distributor is currently preoccupied with other things, my overall impression is that it is a company that wants to maintain customer focus and satisfaction. I am hopeful something can be resolved, but I will ship the screen back for replacement if all else fails.
In conclusion, if the new Cinescreen V5 screens typically do not have bottom ripples evident on mine, then they are one of the better quality motorised screens on the market and are recommended.
My impression of the projected image is that it is as good if not better than some of the (significantly) more expensive screens that I have seen.
Just to close with some pictures of my home theatre after Cinescreen installation.
Cinema 1
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll109/davestan1/th_P8080006.jpg
Cinema 2
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll109/davestan1/th_P8080004.jpg
