Projector Reviews

Given that ultra-short-throw projectors are being promoted now as a flat-screen alternative for rooms with high ambient light, Sound & Vision selected a relatively new screen material for my review that is intended to optimize the UST viewing experience. I used a 92-inch-diagonal Screen Innovations Short Throw (ST) screen mounted in the company’s 5 Series Zero Edge screen frame. The ST screen uses a proprietary optical design that only reflects light coming from beneath the screen while rejecting illumination—in other words, ambient light—from all other directions. With a gain of 0.6, its performance is similar to that of a standard matte white screen, with half-gain specified by Screen Innovations at 85 degrees.

What’s new with the 5 Series Zero Edge ST is that the screen is now available in a flexible format that allows it to be rolled up for shipment in a compact box. (Previously, the Short Throw screen material was only available in a rigid format and arrived pre-mounted in the frame.) While the new, rollable form factor allows for safer shipping of screens to far-flung locations, you need to affix the ST screen material to the Zero Edge frame yourself by following instructions in a wordless, Ikea-style manual. While deciphering these was easy enough, straining to clamp the screen to its frame using the supplied rubber O-rings turned out to be zero fun—my hands were screaming for mercy! Ultra-tight tension is necessary for the ST material to work its magic. However, once the work was complete, I was impressed by how similar the finished product was to a standard rigid screen.

While I ran into uniformity issues with the Sony VPL-VZ1000ES after it was calibrated for reference viewing that prevented me from conducting our usual objective screen measurements, these proved to be less impactful when the projector was set up for high ambient light viewing using either the Bright Cinema or Bright TV presets. Under those conditions, the Zero Edge ST delivered a strikingly bright image with good contrast. Streaming the pilot episode of the U.S. version of The Office on Netflix, the crisp white shirts worn by the office staff had a consistent glow as they walked around the space, and con- trast also remained consistent when viewing from far off-center seats. The screen’s impossibly thin and elegant 0.38-inch black frame gave the image the same floating, all-screen look that you get with the best flat-panel TVs. If you happened to walk into a room not knowing any better, you might even mistake it for a flat-panel set: The form factor is that convincing.

At $4,199 for my 92-inch model, the Zero Edge ST is pricey compared with other ALR screens, but it’s a specialty design meant for use only with bottom-mounted ultra-short-throw projectors like the Sony VPL-VZ1000ES. (Other manufacturers do offer less expensive alternatives, however, which we hope to have a look at in the coming months with a different reference projector.) According to Screen Innovations, 90 percent of its Zero Edge screens are sold with the company’s optional LED backlighting. This gets installed using an integrated track system on the frame’s back surface so you only see the light emanating out from behind the screen. It can be programmed for up to 256,000 color options—including white, of course.—AG