JoeRod
March 22th, 2014
"MY QUEST FOR A BIGGER SCREEN"
REVIEW
VUTEC SILVERSTAR SST3DP065-116BVF 3D CURVED
ULTRA THIN FIXED FRAME PROJECTION SCREEN
I remember the day I sat down and scribbled out my theater on a piece of paper. It was the Spring of 2005 and I was sitting in a lawn chair in my unfinished basement. The very first thing I did was figure out where I was going to put the screen and of course what size. Armed with a tape measure I then found the perfect spot with a pretty good size screen. I did my research and after deciding on a Vutec 120.5" SilverStar (because we watch a lot of football) the journey was just beginning. Of course fast forward a little bit when we (I mean David Giles from Carada) added a Masquerade Masking System. It made the screen just a little smaller but it was a pretty cool feature to mask the bars on the screen. Fast forward somewhat further to Blu-ray 3D. My SilverStar's coating did not work with 3D so I ended up mounting a cheaper motorized 120" screen right above the SilverStar. So the past couple years I had been constantly changing back and forth between the screen options. The entire time I just wish I would have maximized the area where the screens were at and had went bigger. Well, fast forward to March, 2014 and that wish has come true.
As you can see just coming in the front door made me nervous about getting it downstairs. Here I really need to extend a huge thank you to Angel and John of Audio Video Interiors of Chicago. Their help in getting it in the basement was the key factor. I had made a mock frame of the dimensions (72" by 121") out of wood and cardboard. Of course bringing up what I did to get it all the way downstairs didn't help when we were stuck halfway. That's when we had to (Jaclyn's Dad actually) improvise with a saw. Thanks to him for his awesome help as well. So after some fancy cutting and some serious maneuvers we were finally down there. The curve of the screen really helped make the turn at the bottom.
Will the efforts be worth it? Please read on to find out.
Once down there it was time to make it fit in my screen area. And once again Jaclyn's Dad cut sections of the drywall out to accommodate it. This was so we could walk it in and turn. This Vutec Curved 3D screen is the perfect fit. It takes up almost the entire area which has been covered with Black Velvet. Read about that here.
Now normally most will tell you for a curved screen you would need an anamorphic type lens. Not so as long as you can get your projector aimed as close to the middle of your screen as possible. I moved my Sony VPL-VW1100ES back so it would fit the larger screen and then used a 12" tube instead of the 6" I had before. This allowed the image to be very close to the center of the screen. Worked quite nicely. Look at the diagram on the left. The cool thing about a curved screen is the brightness and focus increase. The distances are the same for the center and the sides. The center always seems brightest and more focused but with a curved it seems equal across the entire screen. Very cool! As for 3D, the other screen would make the image lose about half of its brightness because of the polarization process that creates the 3D effect. Not with this SilverStar 3D! We were able to maintain more than enough brightness with 3D. The silver-based high gain material is definitely ideal for sports offering vivid colors, high contrast and high brightness.
Movies... I especially liked watching Catching Fire (Hunger Games 2) when the games began. As Katniss is raised to her starting point the screen was completely filled by the Blu-ray disc's aspect ratio change. It made us feel like we were viewing an IMAX presentation. Very cool! Jaclyn, who I thought for sure would say she doesn't really see much of a difference was the first to say, "I love it!" I was shocked that she immediately could see not only the size difference but the better impact 3D has. Right after Gravity starts you are treated to some real space eye candy. In our darkened theater you really felt like you were there. The Curved screen gives the effect of the astronauts and objects floating towards you instead of just off to the side. Talk about being immersed. The SilverStar 3D has had a huge impact on our movie experience. With 3D and 2D as well...
The pic to the left shows the care and cleaning instructions of the screen. Very simple and we gave it a good wipe down after it was carried in on that cold and snowy day. The pic to the right shows Jaclyn doing her best impersonation of 3D! No glasses needed!!! The pic below shows Elysium shown in 4K on the Silverstar. Amazing!
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Thanks again to the guys over at Audio Video Interiors of Chicago. This screen was actually displayed in their main room and we were more than happy to give it a good home.
If you are over by the Oakbrook Mall stop in and check out their awesome showrooms. If you are looking for anything specific give them a call at (630) 607-0054. Tell them hello from me.
SONY VPL-VW1100ES 4K PROJECTOR, VUTEC SilverStar Curved 3D 133" Screen, McIntosh MX151 A/V Control Center, OPPO BDP-103D Blu ray, Simplay Labs DVDO DUO VP, XBOX ONE, OnkyoTX-NR 5010 Receiver/ Pre-Pro, DARBLET, DirecTV Genie, Xbox 360, PS3, Monster Power HTS 5100, Oppo 103 Blu ray,Sony S790 Blu ray player, MonsterVision 3D glasses, Sony 3D glasses, Parasound HALO A51 Black AMP x 2, Antec Component Coolers, Speakers: MARTIN LOGAN STAGE X Center, THEOS (Left and Right), VANQUISH (Surrounds), AXIS (Backs), Subwoofers- Martin Logan DESCENT i, BG Woofer SW210, Dayton APA150 Sub AMP x 2, 8 Aura Pro Bass Shakers, 8 Black Seatcraft Venetian Home Theater Chairs, Remote: Harmony 1100. Monster 1000 HDX Ultimate HDMI cables top to bottom. And two Monster 35 foot HDX Hyperspeed HDMI cables.
Equipment used for all or part of this Review:
Final thoughts... Well if you go for this screen you need to realize it comes complete in one large box. Make sure you have plenty of space to get it to its resting place. A walk-in basement would be most optimal but if you don't have one make sure you have plenty of clearance down and around your stairs. And above all make sure you have plenty of help. Not only is it large in size but it is very heavy coming in well over 200 pounds! With the SilverStar 3D we are finding ourselves watching movies we haven't seen in a long time. Just to check them out on this curved screen. I have to admit I am now hooked and find myself wishing all my flat screens in the house were curved. Movies, Sports and even Video Games have been more immersive. The wide viewing area with Vutec's silver-based material truly does provide the ultimate movie performance. Before the front row gave more of a large plasma feeling. Now with this SilverStar 3D Curved screen it feels more like an IMAX presentation. While the back row feels like stadium seating in an actual movie theater. This has been the last piece of the puzzle fo the ultimate movie experience. Now we really need to start charging our guests. Kidding!
UPDATE: Thank you again to Jaclyn's Dad for fixing the bottom of the stairs. Looks great!!!
4K Resolution looks stunning on the Vutec SilverStar 3D Curved Screen!
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