Screens
Screens are chosen in the wrong order more often than any other product here: people pick a size and a price, then discover the mechanism does not suit the room or the projector. The mechanism comes first, the fabric second, the size third — and an ultra short throw projector removes most of the choice by itself.
A tensioned fabric on a rigid frame is the only projector surface with no waves in it, and flatness is worth more to an image than most of what is printed on a projector box. The wide black border absorbs the overspill at the edge and visibly sharpens the picture.
It gives the wall back when the film ends. The feature that makes one feel finished is not the motor but the 12 V trigger: the projector powers up, the screen comes down, and nobody looks for a second remote.
A spring roller and a lock, with nothing to fail. Look for a slow-retract mechanism — it lowers the fabric back into the case instead of snapping it up, and it is the difference between a screen that lasts a decade and one that creases.
Judged on packed weight and how high it raises the surface. Most include a keystone bar at the top that tilts the fabric backwards, compensating a low projector mechanically rather than digitally.
An optical structure rather than a fabric colour, and it must match the direction your projector sits in. In a dark room it buys nothing and costs viewing angle.
90 inch · 200 × 113 cm image · 16:9 · fixed frame
The entry point to fixed-frame projection: a tensioned surface on a rigid frame, which is the only screen construction with no waves in it.
Best for: A room where one wall can be given over to the image, and where flatness matters more than the wall coming back.
≈ 150 €
Motorised · 217 cm TOTAL width · white fabric
The motorised member of a range that publishes total width across every mechanism — which is what lets you compare a roller screen with a fixed frame properly.
Best for: A wall with a hard width constraint, where the screen has to disappear and the total dimension is what has to fit.
≈ 135 €
Pull-down · 217 cm TOTAL width · white fabric
The pull-down member of the same range as the motorised and fixed-frame models — same fabric, same published total width, cheaper mechanism.
Best for: Someone comparing mechanisms rather than fabrics — this range makes that comparison possible.
≈ 115 €
Tripod · 110 inch · 200 × 200 cm · 1:1 square format
A large square tripod screen — the format that suits mixed use, and the mechanism that suits a screen which does not live in one room.
Best for: A screen that moves between rooms or buildings, where setup speed matters more than absolute flatness.
≈ 95 €
High contrast ALR surface · motorised · 100 inch · 221 × 124 cm · 16:9
A high-contrast surface on a motorised roller — the ambient-light answer for a room that also has to give the wall back.
Best for: A living room with light that cannot be controlled, where the screen still has to disappear when the film ends.
≈ 1549 €
Not quite. Fabric that has been rolled keeps some memory of it, most visibly near the sides. Leave a new one down for a week before judging — most of the waves fall out — and consider a tab-tensioned model if the room means a roller screen.
Around 1.0 for a dark room with seating spread across a sofa. Higher gain concentrates light toward the centre axis, which brightens the middle seat and dims the outer ones, and can produce a visibly brighter patch in the middle of the image.
Often surprisingly good, and it costs nothing to try. Doing so tells you whether a screen is worth buying at all.
Flatness. Waves and creases distort the image constantly, and it is the property cheap roll-up screens fail at.
It is a trade. Higher gain looks brighter head-on and worse from the sides, which matters in a room where people sit wide.
In a bright room it does genuine work. In a darkened room it does very little for the money.
Fixed is flatter and permanent; retractable keeps a shared room usable. It is more a lifestyle choice than a quality one.
From the throw distance your projector needs. The screen must be fillable from where the projector can actually sit.
Projectors, soundbars and receivers swing by fifty euros or more across the year, and the biggest "discounts" often land at prices the same model sold for six weeks earlier. UniverTrack tracks the real price history across retailers, spots fake reductions, and alerts you when it is genuinely the moment to buy.
