This ALR (Ambient Light Rejection) Screen Is a Game Changer - But Not in the Way Everyone Says!

[@grand7m]

The info on perforated versions is only partially correct. No one makes an ultra short throw screen like this that is perforated on the reflective part. The perforation is only on the black borders, so your center speaker can not sit behind the image as it should. If you want proper center speaker placement behind the image, you still need to opt for a long throw perforated screen.

[@BenVallack]

Ah well spotted - yes I hadn't appreciated this. Pinned.

[@frankb5728]

I settled on a 55" tv as well and with the distance my couch is from it, it's nearly perfect, I could go up to 65" and not feel like I'm missing out in the periphery of my vision but anything bigger than that is just uncomfortable for me.

[@giulianofrancopalazzi1104]

Can't you hang it from the ceiling with the projector too? That would make it less of a hassle to use right?

[@jaye5632]

The ALR screen is directional it reflects light from above, so you would have to hang the screen upside down also.

[@BenVallack]

You'd need to make sure the screen is designed for that too.

[@BenVallack]

I think the main issue is it would make the image very near the ceiling which would probably mean it's too high for comfort. The bigger issue though is the screen will no longer be redecting light bounced off your ceiling so the whole thing would be no better than a normal projector in terms of contrast.

[@derptothemaxclearly]

Can I get a simple roll down version that stands up on a somewhat sketchy tripod like schools had back in the 80s, for like hundreds less? (I'm just assuming this is expensive.)

[@BenVallack]

The price comes from the ALR stuff as far as I can see. Even flat/fixed ones are expensive - in fact the motorized one from Vividstorm is very good value by comparison!

[@derptothemaxclearly]

@@BenVallack bah... White wall will have to continue to be "fine" then. ☹️

[@psiga]

8:44 The art from your dad looks great! (If there's a way to buy one of the t-shirts, I don't clearly see it in the video description, by the way.)

[@BenVallack]

Cheers! The products should be linked directly in KZbin but you can go straight to the store here: benvallack.teemill.com/

[@KC-hk2ub]

Thanks for the great vid, really entertaining watch, this would make very good conversation material if ever discussing this subject with friends and family.

[@BenVallack]

Really glad to hear that!

[@lpanebr]

Super instructive as always. Thanks! What was the movie at 3:05 with music by Eric Serra?

[@BenVallack]

Thank! Leon :) One of Eric Serra's best scores IMO too!

[@lpanebr]

@@BenVallack I'll watch it. I really like his score for The big Blue movie.

[@sage11x]

I recognized Leon the Professional right away! Great movie if not a bit creepy/problematic these days especially now that we know all about Luc Besson (the director). Be careful which version you watch. There is a really good directors cut that includes scenes that add a LOT to the story and makes it a superior option to the theatrical cut IMO. You also want to be careful which format you consume. The original transfer of this film to HD included a lot of noise and grain. I normally enjoy film grain but this version is pretty distracting. They made another 4K transfer with a more natural grain/noise presentation and that’s the one I’d seek out.

[@lpanebr]

@@sage11x thanks!

[@hutzdani87]

If you want cinema levels of immersion all you need is a phone left on full brightness just outside of your field of view and some cold stale pop corn. No projector needed, also with the state of cinema is this worth it for the amount of quality movies made these days ? Even Triple Amputees can count the amount of good movies released in a year on one foot.

[@BenVallack]

Lol yeah I'm mostly enjoying 4k tranfers of the classics! Also digging into more arthouse stuff on Mubi.

[@GreatOutdoors1]

If you are going to use the screen in a darkened room, what is the benefit of the ALR?

[@BenVallack]

If your walls and ceiling are black you might not notice such an improvement - it just depends how much light gets bounced back onto the screen in your room. If you've just turned the lights off in a normal room though the ALR benefit is huge.

[@GreatOutdoors1]

@@BenVallack OK, thanks, that makes sense.

[@lilkeysy83]

500 for the screen and 2500 on the projector, I see your going through the tried and tested route of getting freebies and using them for your videos. Always disappointed when channels start off with some useful info, like your video on pocket EDC, and become an aspirational ditch full of products that viewers can never afford, enjoy the road of many a youtuber

[@BenVallack]

Yeah this stuff is very high end - no way I could afford it normally. I'm very greatful that this lockdown side project has resulted in these kinds of toys but I do also think there is merit in discussing the very interesting technology at play here too. At the end of the day there will be people out there who can easily afford this kind of gear and I hope they would find my discussion useful. I also hope though that I presented the information in a way that at least is interesting to anyone with an interest in tech/home cinema in terms of just learning something new too. I have no intention of stopping making original videos on stuff I've bought myself too though - but it would be a shame pass up an offer like this!

[@GT-tj1qg]

Yeah, I can't blame you @BenVallack You worked hard, you got lucky, and you made it big. Only a few can make it big. And I don't see why you would be less deserving of nice things than the next guy.

[@Taziod]

How is $3000 for a 100in projected 4k home cinema set up that expensive? If you want to buy a 60in oled tv for $400 from Costco do it.

[@FIVESTARMAN93]

It’s an expensive hobby dude. You can always try knitting instead

[@tills12]

lost interest as soon as he said "run the numbers through AI"

[@BenVallack]

You can use a calculator if you want but it would take a heck of a lot longer! AI is brilliant for these kinds of donkey work sums where you know roughly what you're aiming for.

[@tills12]

@@BenVallack yes and they also hallucinate. As the video creator it's YOUR job to use the calculator.

[@jocelynbaker6718]

@@BenVallack Using AI, which as it stands now is unreliable at best for calculations and not rooted anywhere near reality at worst is disappointing. And suggesting it would be “a heck of a lot of work” when the calculation would literally just be using basic trigonometry to find the angle using the width of the screen and your measured distance from one of its sides to your watching position, then dividing 3840 by that angle, is laughable. And if you don’t know trigonometry, there are already so many PPD calculators online that don’t use predictive text as their calculation method. The way AI works (and in particular models without calculator extensions, though hallucination happens regardless) is by predicting the text that should follow the previous text - so it’s exactly in these types of calculations where you have an expected range for the value that you shouldn’t trust it, because it WILL give you something that sounds right.

[@ingodwetrust1987]

​@BenVallack thanks for the review. I thought it ws good.

[@ingodwetrust1987]

​@jocelynbaker6718, you need to relax.

[@martin_marek]

You’re sitting quite far from the screen. My solution is to use a standard sized 55”/65” OLED TV and just sit very very close it. No projector on the market comes anywhere close to the image quality of an OLED TV!

[@BenVallack]

Yeah that's definitely a reasonable approach - the issue is there is a strong effect of due to seeing in stereo you are aware you're sitting close to a screen and the sense of enormity is reduced (also why a real cinema will still wow you more than this setup!) - but really it's the social element - 4 of us sat a meter away from a 55" screen would be a pretty unpleasant experience, but this way it's a real treat!

[@martin_marek]

@@BenVallack I completely agree that my setup only works for 1-2 people. That being said, I personally do value image quality over size, but I think that for most people it’s the other way around :)

[@markifi]

how do you pronounce your last name?

[@BenVallack]

I say it in the sponsored section of this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2XGlqubfshmjaM

[@PinikRahman]

You have lost credibility as soon as you have used AI for calculations 🤦🤦

[@BenVallack]

It's not rocket science - AI is perfect for this kind of thing. (I checked its work)

[@SirCutRy]

​@@BenVallack It's really not. Some models routinely make mistakes in solving simple arithmetic problems. Fundamentally, the models are trained to understand natural language, not deal with numbers.

[@BenVallack]

@@SirCutRy ChatGPT and Grok both hand off to Python for calculations (at least I've seen ChatGPT do it - I just asked Grok but it seems to be unsure!)

[@SirCutRy]

@@BenVallack Some systems are indeed more advanced. Handing over to Python also relies on translating natural language to code, which is not guaranteed to be correct. The major benefit I can see is to do the calculation both by hand and asking an LLM system for the answer, and then making sure the answers agree.

[@BenVallack]

@@SirCutRy Yeah totally - it is absolutely not to be trusted!

[@wasaabbi]

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