Screen Gem

I OFTEN FEEL that the screen is the most overlooked component of a video projection system.

- Kris Deering

That’s because the screen material itself lacks “wow” factor, and it typically doesn’t get tagged with the sexy marketing buzzwords associated with other home theater gear. But selecting the right screen for a video system is crucial since the screen ultimately will serve to either enhance or reduce your projector’s performance.

While new screens rarely generate noise at trade shows like CEDIA, one news item at the 2019 show was the introduction of the fourth generation of Stewart Filmscreen’s popular StudioTek 130 (ST130) screen material. This certainly perked my ears up since I considered the previous generation ST130 to be one of the best screen materials on the market. Stewart claimed to have improved the design to optimize performance for today’s more detailed and dynamic 4K/HDR sources. I immediately expressed interest in getting a review sample and the company was happy to provide one.

BEHIND THE SCENES

I previously reviewed Stewart Filmscreen’s StudioTek 100 (ST100) screen for Sound & Vision in 2014 (available at soundandvision.com). Before I started that review, I had been using a third-generation StudioTek 130 screen almost exclusively for over a decade. In 2014, some significant industry shifts occurred. For one, with the transition to 4K underway, projectors were delivering better detail. And with the 3D craze also in full swing, they were getting brighter. Instead of calibrating a projection system for a peak screen brightness of around 8-12 foot-lamberts, projection enthusiasts were starting to shoot for higher numbers.