Seymour screen Excellence Reference Neo Screen Review. Is this the best AT screen on the market?

[@jordanhermant659]

Good episode! I think you're referring to Dreamscreen for your bonded material. It was used for the 2023 CEDIA demo with Steinway Lyngdorf and Christie Eclipse. That demo had the best projection image I'd ever seen, and more than enough audio horsepower to overcome the audio loss and EQ overhead in a modest sized floor demo setup.

[@ballstadt]

I recently swapped out to the NEO material and can agree that it is fantastic in terms of audio and video. I was not expecting to see such a significant improvement but even my partner immediately noticed that the image is brighter and just has more pop to the color and contrast compared to our previous material.

[@MW-ii5nb]

What are your thoughts of using something like si carbon black to bring down the black floor. Especially if you have extra lumens with something like a christie.

[@PoesAcoustics]

Typically those screens have very compromised picture quality. The very high brightness and laser light source tends to exacerbate the sparkles of those screens. You could try it. But I would not personally recommend it.

[@MW-ii5nb]

@@PoesAcoustics Yes I think typically the black diamond does have sparkles. But the carbon black is a partnership with another company, was used at the Adel concerts, instead of an led wall. I was more worried about color shift or something else.

[@PoesAcoustics]

@ that could be. As far as I know they all rely on similar technology. I recently did check out some ALR screens using Christie and didn’t walk away impressed. The projectors were calibrated to the screen so I can’t speak to color shift. Frequently that is fixable. But the sparkles were annoying.

[@MW-ii5nb]

@@PoesAcoustics I saw this "300+ Inch Proctor screen?? Carbon Black | Screen Innovations" on youtube at 21min in they dim the lights and it looks like an LED wall...but they are using 35k lumens barco.

[@Zachary_Setzer]

DreamScreen Ultraweave is probably the other material you were talking about with the bonded black backer. I tested it for my theater and found it to be overrated for the very high price compared to Seymour. They definitely overstate the gain on it too.

[@B0mb4rd1n0]

Great material, Thank you ! Have you compared it with Slate AT 1.2 or FireHawk Perf? wonder how would you rate this between those two (or actually how do you compare the two I mentioned). thanks again!

[@PoesAcoustics]

That’s a completely different kind of screen. Microperf will have far inferior sound transparency. Those two screens would also have hot spotting. It’s a better option when light control is not possible. In a dedicated room like mine, it makes the most sense to use a screen like I used.

[@KING_DRANZER]

If possible can you check out and review Severtson TAT-4K. Like installing for anyone or even as a sample. That is the only High-Contrast Grey "Woven" AT screen. All others are perforated screens. Would love to see your take on that.

[@drew9.2.6Theater]

How does the Neo material compare to Seymour XD? I assume the Neo would offer a sharper image with a slightly lower gain than the XD? Would the Neo be worth the upgrade?

[@PoesAcoustics]

It’s a substantially smoother surface. Less acoustic interaction, better looking image at a closer viewing distance. Not quite as high gain.

[@ZackCrain]

Any experience in Barco vs Christie?

[@MW-ii5nb]

@@ZackCrain from my experience Christie is cheaper for the same or better performance. 3 chip vs 3 chip you have Christie m4k15, for comparable performance your looking at barco njord which is next step up more expensive, where you may as well pay a tiny bit more and get the Christie griffyn. Then after this price point all the barco's are super expensive but not better performance then the Christie griffyn. Then comparing the best barco vs the best Christie eclipse. The eclipse is in a completely different league, miles ahead of barco. For the single chip cheaper models barco has dyna black which would be noticeabley better then the Christie single chip. But Christie are soon releasing their own software update with this tech so should be comparable. I would not buy any of the single chip models and instead just get the jvc nz900 and use Max up to 145" screen.

[@ZackCrain]

@MW-ii5nb thank you, I'm looking about 220" to build

[@PoesAcoustics]

What this guy said is spot on. The Christie tends to be a higher level of technology for less. Tri laser and tri DLP chip for what Barco sells as single chip laser phosphor. But Barco has a new projector coming that is tri laser and true native 4k. However it is a single chip. It’s also not nearly as bright. So I don’t expect the price value proposition to change. But it has its own advantages. It’s more residential optimized and will be quieter and easier to place. It just won’t be as bright.

[@MW-ii5nb]

@@ZackCrain I'd get the m4k25 at 220" or go to 190-200" with the m4k15 and sit 1 or 2 foot closer.

[@ZackCrain]

Can't seem to find where to buy this exactly on their site. Also how does the neo compare to Seymour-Screen Excellence Enlightor-4K or is it the same

[@PoesAcoustics]

Neo is a different and superior material. It’s not direct sale. Neo is from a Seymour Screen Excellence and is bought through a dealer network.

[@ZackCrain]

@PoesAcoustics oh, so there's no way for consumers to buy it

[@poleepwka]

Matthew, do you use the black backing material at all, or do you leave it off if the area behind the screen is blacked out? I assume the black backing will also affect the acoustic transparency a bit while slightly increasing contrast. How do you usually treat the backwall in that case?

[@PoesAcoustics]

I leave it off if I can. I prefer to it a black velvet or suede material behind the screen instead. I would be curious to test the effect on contrast and black levels more. But that is way harder to do than it might seem. So what limited testing I’ve done suggests no benefit if the baffle wall is already black and non reflective.

[@paulc5389]

I'd be interested in seeing a blind test switching between a centre actually in the centre, below it but angled and using dual centres top and bottom for a phantom middle using centre lift. What percentage of people actually notice the difference. I've never heard a below screen centre where my brain didn't lift the audio to what it was seeing on screen and could tell it was coming from below it. But admittedly I haven't heard many. Though by below screen I actually mean right under it.. I'll forever judge people putting one under a UST aimed directly at their feet. Micro led is starting to become more practical and if it becomes popular people aren't going to be able to have a true centre, or possibly even L&R if it takes up the whole wall.

[@PoesAcoustics]

I’ve certainly done this in the past. I suppose I could get the S7C and try what you are suggesting with some folks to see what happens. My honest experience is the opposite. It’s very obvious where the sound is coming from. In my family room I have a center channel over the tv and I find the sound to obviously come from above. I have the Sony receiver that allows me to use the tv to drop the sound. It changes the timbre so it’s not a totally accurate test. But I’ve shown people this trick without sharing what I am doing. Going between on and off. It’s extremely obvious that the sound dropped to the screen when it switches . Unfortunately it also doesn’t sound that good if you watch a movie loudly.

[@paulc5389]

@PoesAcoustics if that's an ES receiver I believe it also supports dual centres, one top one bottom, if you're curious to try it. I've never heard a centre above the TV only below it.. perhaps height is easier to notice.

[@srincomptr]

I am surpirsed you did not like Stewart Screens. I would have thought Stewart Screens are the Gold Standard when it comes to projector screens.

[@patrickmartin4482]

@@srincomptr All microperforated screens are super bad with audio, huge comb effects

[@guillermomartin8248]

@@patrickmartin4482that’s one of the reasons why I went with Seymour, the perf screen of the Stewart had a lot of compromises by pulling the screen forward enough and still having the seating distance to not see the perf.

[@MW-ii5nb]

Can you fix the centre channel issue with none accustics transparent screen or led wall by using 2 centre channel speakers above and below, phase aligned and level matched?

[@patrickmartin4482]

maximum for 1 row as the distance for 2nd row will already be different from the above and below speaker

[@MW-ii5nb]

@patrickmartin4482 This would actually be less problematic then listening to stereo on the left or right side of the seating row. Generally the distance would have less variance going back one row vs going to the most left or right seat.

[@patrickmartin4482]

@MW-ii5nb dispersion cannot change distances.

[@MW-ii5nb]

@@patrickmartin4482 Sorry im not getting the problem. Even if the speaker is in the center the distance from row 1 and 2 is different, whats the point?

[@TRX25EX]

I will tell you where's the issue here, the sound will be too close to ceiling and will interfere with Atmos, they won't be able to mix properly with front and surrounds speakers as they mixing in different angle, idealy you want them to be same height as other speakers so they mix the sound stage properly. I just made all of that up

[@chandan6119]

xy soundmax 4k screens are better than many seymour screens with even better weave visibility at a very low price.

[@PoesAcoustics]

As I noted indirectly. The reviews of this were incorrect. They were measured incorrectly and it gave inaccurate results. The Neo has less loss when stretched while having less visible texture. It’s too bad that review happened and was not properly corrected. You can’t take a fabric like Neo and measure it by laying it over the speaker. It has to be properly tensioned to open the weave up. If you look at the measurments I posted you can see how little attenuation and comb filtering there really is.

[@chandan6119]

@PoesAcoustics My assessment of the fabrics is also based on my own testing. I have tested many woven screen samples. The major issue with seymour screens is the weave visibility. And their uf type material is low gain and low sharpness. Xy can almost match the sound transparency at a lower cost and it has very low weave visibility. At 12 feet with a seymour 150inch screen,weave is easily visible in bright scenes. Where as xy weave is invisible till 6-7 feet.