Hi mercracing, hi Sean,
mercracing, here's the deal according to a friend who runs a home theater/electronics store: so long as you can fully darken the theater room, that's the single most important thing to do. It'll improve your picture by leaps and bounds. Assuming you can do that, a matte white fixed screen from Elite Screens will give you your best bang for buck. Below is a link to the sort of screen he suggested for your needs, but note that the AcousticPro features aren't needed; the CineWhite model is the best bargain:
Amazon.com: Elite Screens R120WH1-A1080P2 ezFrame Acoustically Transparent Fixed Projection Screen (120" Diag. 16:9 58.9"Hx104.7"W): Electronics If you can't fully darken the theater room, then a gray screen is your better option, which Elite also offers. In that case you'll want a very reflective screen, preferably w/a screen grain of 2.0-3.0, and higher is better when fighting ambient light.
Sean, in your case I'll pose the same question: what's your budget? Because IFF you can go as high as ~$1,500, there's a truly world-class screen designed by Joe Kane himself, one of the founders of the Imaging Science Foundation. It's made by Da-Lite, using their HD Progessive screen material, and it's called the Da-Lite JKP Affinity (JKP for Joe Kane Productions). A screen grain of right around 0.9 is ideal for a dedicated theater room. If that's too rich for your blood, there are other more affordable ones from Da-Lite that are still very good. I've seen the Joe Kane screen in person, though, and I readily attest to its quality. The only way to best it would be to go up to a Stewart Filmscreen, which would cost a $$pile$$. One thing about a screen, especially a fixed one that has no moving parts: once you get yourself a good one, you never need to upgrade or replace it (short of disasters with inquisitive toddlers and the like). Projectors, flat panels, and AVRs get upgraded all the time, but good quality screens, speakers, and theater chairs are permanent.
Link:
Da-Lite - JKP Affinity Screens As for keeping your current motorized mount and just replacing the fabric, he said it would be a doomed effort, even for someone with an engineering degree. The issue is that outside of the factory it'll be almost impossible for you to get and preserve just the right amount of tension
perfectly evenly across the whole screen.
For both of you, should you, when the time comes, decide you want to use my connection with this guy in order to get your best price, his name is Robert Zohn and he runs a shop called Value Electronics. PM me and I'll give you his contact info (I don't want to post it publicly because that might verge on advertising, and no way do I want to break any of Lowlight's site rules).
Yours,
David
