A projection screen is an intrinsic element in any projection system, since the finished presentation will be considered only as good as its weakest link. A projection surface which is high in quality will not only be able to create a great viewing experience, but also improve the integrity of the picture at the stage of visual reproduction. A good projector screen is designed to frame and enhance an image to help recreate a real feel of the images that are being viewed. A fine projection screen can actually make your projector shine.

Projection screens can come in different types and sizes such as front, rear, wide screen, reflective, solid, or non-solid. Projection screens come in handy for recreation purposes or business uses, when you need to hold a conference or presentation. There are a variety of brands in the market that deal in projection screens, with the most well-known being Draper, Epson and Da-Lite.

Front projection screens are by far the most popular, since rear projection screens often require building a projection booth. However, for specialized or high-end applications, rear projection screens have several advantages such as the ability to display quality images in near-normal room lighting, eliminating distractions from the projection equipment, and allowing the presenter to walk in front of the screen.

A projection screen is a device which consists of a support structure and a usually white and somewhat reflective surface that is used for displaying projected images for the viewing audience. These screens can be installed for use in a conference room, with a home theatre, a movie theater, painted on the wall, or as semi-permanent or mobile. Screen surfaces of the white matte variety are the most popular for computer projections because of their ability to display high levels of detail. Glass-beaded or pearlescent surfaces are not recommended for computer displays, but they have very good performance with video images.

Gain is the measure of reflectivity of the projection screen surface. A screen with high gain will reflect more light back to the audience, allowing the room lights to be brighter without washing out the image. However, the tradeoff with high-gain screens is a loss in the viewing angles, with the audience members seated at a perpendicular angle to the screen being able to view the images better than those at other angles.

Pull-down screens have a multipurpose uses. They are very convenient, because you do not need too much space to install the screen. This can work well for conference rooms for the same reason. Electric screens are those that can be mounted on the wall or ceiling. These projection screens are usually large in size and are quite similar to pull-down screens. However, instead of the screen being pulled down manually, an electric motor lowers and raises the screen. This can be done through a wall-mounted switch or a remote control. Certain projectors are equipped with an interface that connects to the screen. This mechanism automatically lowers the screen when the projector is switched on and raises it automatically when the projector is switched off.

These days, portable projection screens have become an extremely convenient option for people to travel out of office to deliver presentations. A portable or a mobile screen can be pulled down onto a free stand, and are used when it is impractical or not possible to mount the screen to a ceiling or a wall. They are user-friendly and can be assembled in matter of minutes. Portable projector screens are also quite affordable because of the increased competition and number of available options. The lightest projector screens are very easy to carry around.

If you’ve been looking for a projector that you can use to highlight your sales pitch to potential customers, or to present reports to managements, it's likely that you've encountered a dizzying array of features, acronyms, and options that make choosing your ideal projector a bewildering experience. Most quality projectors don’t come cheap, and making a mistake in deciding could result in either wasting a lot of money, or getting stuck with the wrong projector for many years to come. In this article we make this task much easier by outlining the key factors to consider in making this important decision.

• Room lighting – Whereas a dark room is usually preferred, in most business settings some lights need to be on in order to take notes and audience interaction. The more lights that need to be turned on, the brighter the projector you’ll need.
• Room size – In a large room with many people, the image needs to be larger and the projector further from the screen. The larger the room and image, the brighter the projector needs to be.
• Usage – Projectors used for training and working groups, where much detail needs to be seen, need to be brighter than those used for graphics and video, which are more likely to be seen in a dark room.
• Projection Screen – A high-quality projection screen provides substantial light reflection, enhancing even a low-brightness projector’s image.  

More on Choosing a Projector – Which is Right for You?

You want to make a splash with your latest sales presentation masterpiece, but you need a projector, so you start looking around at the available alternatives. As soon as you do, your head starts spinning with the technical jargon and myriad options available. What does this all mean?  Choosing the right projector depends on your specific needs, and the options sort themselves out as you understand the technology better.  Let us take a look at some of these options and the terms associated with the projector industry. 

• LCD Projectors - Liquid Crystal Display projectors. Also known as LCD projectors, create images by light projection through transparent LCD panels. They usually have three separate panels for red, green and blue colors. However, single-panel models are in production that are more portable and less expensive. However, the contrast and resolution in these models is lusually lower. In general, LCD projectors produce high contrasts and good colors that result in a good image quality even in dimly lit or partially lit rooms. However, since light is projected through small pixels, the resulting picture can look blocky or pixilated; this effect is known as the “screen door” effect. The number of pixels in a chip of the LCD determines the image resolution of the LCD Projector. 
• DLP Projectors - A Digital Light Processing, or DLP projector, creates images by the projection of light through a transparent chip into a minute mirror. This results in high definition and high quality images. They are great for both home theater and office use. And unlike LCD projectors, they do not produce a screen door effect. DLP projectors produce very high quality pictures and images with high contrast and vivid colors while at the same time using very little energy. 
• Native resolution - This is the measure of the standard image in pixels that is projected on the screen. Higher resolution results in higher detail in displaying pictures, but projectors featuring high resolution is significantly more expensive. When you select a projector you have to take into account requirements such as live feeds, full motion video or standard PowerPoint slides. To find out how your presentation will look at a certain resolution, use your computer monitor to get a rough idea of the level of detail that can be displayed. The most common resolutions available in modern projectors are: SVGA (800 x 600) and XGA (1,024 x 768). These resolutions should suffice for most types of business presentations. 
• ANSI lumens - This is the common scale that is used to determine the brightness of a projector. 1,000 lumens is the minimum amount of brightness for a small meeting room with the lights on. 2, 000 or higher lumens is better suited for presentation venues that are comparatively smaller, and lumens more than 3,500 is good for rooms that are larger. 
• Video Format Capability - The video format of a digital projector determines the kind of video data it can accept. Normally, most projectors on the market offer all three kinds of video formatting, namely NTSC, PAL and SECAM.

Now that we've defined these terms, we'll explain how to choose a projector for your particular situation in the next article in the series.