What is the Best Screen Material for Lighted Classrooms?
Visual presentations and immersive learning are an important part of education at all levels. And in countless educational spaces the delivery system is a two-piece projection system — a projector and screen.
But poor projection planning in education settings can lead to washed out images and other performance issues due to high amounts of ambient light competing with the projected light, making these tools virtually useless.
That’s why it’s important to begin planning projection as a two-piece system — projector and screen together — as early as possible, by considering the following:
How bright is the projector?
What content will be projected?
Are there windows and, if so, where?
Is artificial lighting easily controlled?
Using those four bullet points as a planning guide, here are some basic tips for choosing a projection screen viewing surface.
A white screen surface delivers top performance under complete light control. If a space has uncontrolled light, a white surface should not be an option.
For ambient light rejection (ALR) screens, as a general rule the more ambient light that is rejected, the narrower the viewing cone will be.
A grey screen surface is not automatically an ALR surface. Grey does improve contrast.
An ALR surface reflects off-axis ambient light away from viewers.
If any uncontrolled ambient light is present, a matt white surface will appear washed out as it reflects all light equally.
If screen surface is low gain, a brighter projector is necessary.
Basic Recommendations for Common Classroom Scenarios
Based on these basics of projection screen planning, here are some recommendations for the proper viewing surface, depending on conditions:
For typical projector placement (away from the screen)
Full ambient light control: TecVision XT1000X White
Full to moderate ambient light control: TecVision XH1200X Premium Contrast Grey
Little to moderate ambient light control: TecVision XH900X ALR
No Ambient Light Control:
Narrow viewing area: CS1100X ALR
Other: Consider adding shades and/or lighting controls (consult Draper Pro Planner 2.0 linked below for specific room recommendations)
For Ultra-Short Throw projectors (very close to the screen)
Full ambient light control: TecVision XT1000X White
Full to moderate ambient light control: TecVision XH700X Grey
Little to moderate ambient light control: TecVision XH700X Grey
No Ambient Light Control: Consider adding shades and/or lighting controls (consult Draper Pro Planner 2.0 linked below for specific room recommendations)
The above recommendations are very general in nature. Draper provides a free online tool to helo you choose the right viewing surface for your specific space. The Projection Planner 2.0 takes key information you enter — such as viewer location, ambient light, and other information — and recommends the best options for your specific application.
Learn more and try out the Projection Planner 2.0 by visiting https://www.draperinc.com/?S=edge-planner.