Audio Video News

Screens made by Stewart Filmscreen Corporation are not merely the choice of home theater fans worldwide. They are also the choice of such discriminating clients as the National Air and Space Administration and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has twice honored the company with Technology Achievement awards.

At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, Stewart introduced the GrayHawk, a new front-projection screen said to offer improved gain, black level, color, detail, and off-axis viewing, with no increase in price over its predecessor. The GrayHawk is said to be the "world's only front projection screen designed to maximize 'Image Fidelity' for LCD, DLP, and D-ILA projection technologies." The name is derived from the screen's gray matted undercoating, to which the improved black level is attributed.

Beta testing is almost complete, and the GrayHawk should be available near the end of January, according to Stewart representatives in Las Vegas. Testers---all of them home theater veterans with years of experience---have praised the GrayHawk: "The picture seems to have a more 3-D look to it . . ." "I am seeing details in the shadows that were never there before . . ." and "This screen dramatically changes the performance of my projector . . ."

Stewart Filmscreen has also boosted the performance of rear screen theaters with its new Blackhawk high gain screen. With a gain of 2.0 and more than 50º of horizontal half gain, the Blackhawk is a "proprietary breakthrough," according to executive v.p. Don Stewart. Until the Blackhawk hit the market no available rear projection screen could "provide the combination of high gain and excellent resolution, wide viewing angle and expanded contrast," he says. "Blackhawk's amazing white/black dynamic range and ambient light attenuation lets it thrive in hostile environments. With Blackhawk, images pop even in very high ambient light with no blooming or hot spotting." The GrayHawk is available as a fixed frame or motorized retractable model; the Blackhawk comes as a fixed frame only.