'Screen Science by AVS’ Screen Review - Featuring the UltraWeave v7 AT Material

[Dylan Seeger]

For as long as I can remember, home theater enthusiasts have routinely struggled with the decision in choosing which type of projection screen they should install in their theater. Should they go the acoustically transparent (AT) route to gain the benefits in proper sound staging (but at the expense of absolute image quality) or go with a more traditional non-AT screen material for better video quality (but at the expense of absolute sound quality)? The answer to this question has traditionally depended upon which aspect of home theater the end-user places a higher priority on. But what if I told you there’s a screen out there that has virtually zero impact on the image, while simultaneously providing excellent audio pass-through qualities? Sounds almost too good to be true, right? That’s what I thought until I had the opportunity to replace my Stewart StudioTek100 screen with a ‘Screen Science by AVS’ screen, featuring the latest UltraWeave v7 AT screen material from DreamScreen. More on this in a bit.

For those unfamiliar, DreamScreen’s UltraWeave screen materials have traditionally sold as a DIY screen fabric without a frame. But AVScience has simplified the buying process by offering consumers a complete screen kit, which they’re calling ‘Screen Science by AVS’, and comes with essentially everything you’ll need to install this acoustically transparent screen in your theater. The kit includes a high quality, velvet-covered frame, screen material, tensioning system, and mounting hardware. Screens in both 1.78:1 HDTV and 2.37:1 Scope aspect ratios can be ordered, with sizes ranging from 90 to 180-inches in width. Standard screen size options can be found here, with custom-made, non-standard screen size options available as well for additional cost. Pricing starts at around $1,500 and includes free shipping within the United States.

Buyers still have the option to choose between the older v6 and newer v7 UltraWeave screen materials. The older v6 material is geared more towards audiophiles due to its small 1.5dB average loss in sound pressure through the fabric. The downside to this fabric is that the true gain is only rated for 0.8. The v7 screen material, on the other hand, was designed specifically for videophiles looking for an AT screen material with as little compromise in the image as possible. To achieve this, DreamScreen has added an additional fourth layer to the screen and tweaked two others to boost the gain by an additional 16 percent, upping the v7 screen material’s true gain rating to 0.93, while only decreasing sound pressure levels through the material by an average of 3.3dB. It should be noted that the top, patented, "ultra weave” layer is the same on both screen materials, so the achievable image sharpness and resolution is effectively identical between the two, which the company rates as greater-than-8K. You’ll just need to decide on whether image brightness or audio pass-through qualities are more important for your specific installation. For me, a 3.3dB average drop in SPL isn’t a big deal, so I chose the v7 screen material, which will be the main focus of this review.

Setup
As far as screens go, assembly and installation is very straightforward. Following the instructions found in the owner’s manual (here), I was able to put the screen together on my own in about an hour. Though I did need an extra set of hands to actually mount the screen, so be sure to have some help available when you go to do the same.

(Velvet-covered Aluminum Frame)

The frame itself is made of high quality aluminum and includes a pair of metal angle brackets for each corner to fasten the frame together. The extra bracket for each corner means the frame won’t run into any issues with bending or twisting during or after installation. It should also be noted that the frame is wrapped in a very high quality black velvet material to soak up any light that might spill over the edges of the screen. I was surprised to see it did a better job at soaking up stray light than the triple-black velvet material that lines walls and ceiling in the front portion of my theater. The tensioning system works great, as well, as I found the screen material had no issues with sagging or waves due to a loose fit.

(Black Backing)

If you’re switching from a normal, non-AT screen material like I did, you may need to reframe the front of your theater with a baffle wall to hang the screen and create room behind it for your speakers. Acoustical design and treatments behind the screen are your choice, but I’d recommend at least some black velvet-like material on the back wall to soak up any light that passes through the screen. The v6 and v7 screen materials do come with black fabric applied to the back of the screen, standard, to soak up light. And while it does a good job overall at catching light as it passes through, it doesn’t soak up all of the light like a traditional opaque screen material would. So if you don’t treat this space to soak up this extra light, there’s a chance it could bounce back through the screen material again and slightly wash out your image.

( DreamScreen UltraWeave-Top, Perforated PVC-Bottom Left, Competing Woven Material-Bottom Right)

If you’re still in the process of shopping for an AT screen, you should be made aware that the UltraWeave screen materials feature a woven fabric, not a perforated one, hence the name. The benefit in choosing a woven screen material over a perforated one is that your speakers can be placed extremely close to the back of the screen material, if needed. This would be a very important aspect for me in choosing an AT screen, because in my 24 by 14 foot theater, space is already pretty limited, making it nearly impossible to install a perforated AT screen instead who generally require a good bit of distance between the back of the fabric and speakers. This meant that the baffle wall I constructed could be placed much closer to the back wall in my theater, ultimately giving me more open space and seat placement options within it. I suspect many who have limited space in their theater will love this aspect of the UltraWeave screen materials as well.

Performance
If you’ve read the literature for DreamScreen’s UltraWeave v6 and v7 fabrics, you’ll know that they base their claims on performance against the de facto industry reference standard StudioTek100 screen material. The reason why this material is the industry reference standard is because it's one of the smoothest, texture and artifact free options currently available and allows for ultra-high resolution imagery without image degradation. It's also unity gain and does so without the need for special optical coatings to achieve that. The lack of these optical coatings means the surface has no visible sparkle elements or other visible distractions that might become distracting while you’re trying to watch a movie or TV show. And its color temperature strictly adheres to the D65 white point that nearly all consumer-grade video content is mastered to. For all intents and purposes, most people choose StudioTek100 because it’s a screen material that neither takes away or adds to the image. In essence, it allows you to see the image from the projector as it's meant to be seen.

So given the lofty claims about image performance offered by this screen material against the StudioTek100, I was excited to put them to the test and do a direct comparison in my own theater. After spending only a short period of time with the UltraWeave v7, it was easy to see that essentially all of the advertised traits turned out to be true. In fact, this screen material has the smoothest and most artifact-free surface that I’ve seen from any AT screen material and even beats many non-AT screens that I've tested in the past as well. It’s also the only woven AT screen material I’ve tested that didn't need a piece of printer paper applied on the surface momentarily to dial in the focus adjustment on my projector. That's because it's the only woven AT screen material I've come across that easily shows pixel grid.

(This picture was taken by German ‘W.Mayer’ and shows pixel delineation on this screen material from his Barco Thor 3-chip DLP projector)

A torture test that I like to use to check for screen-added image artifacts is a scene from the documentary Samsara on Blu-ray. About 12 minutes in, there’s a long panning aerial shot over sand dunes that seems to always show deficiencies in screen materials if they’re there. With most screen materials, you’ll be able to see things like texture and/or sparkles on the surface of the screen as static artifacts as the shot pans over the sand dunes. That doesn’t happen with the StudioTek100 and I was happy to see it didn’t happen with the UltraWeave v7 either, which is mighty impressive considering this is an AT screen material, most of whom show obvious issues during this shot.

Now I’m not going to claim that it matches the performance of the StudioTek100 perfectly. However, other than a minuscule difference in absolute image sharpness, clarity, and brightness (gain), which was only noticeable in direct A/B comparisons, the UltraWeave v7 was as every bit artifact-free as my StudioTek100 with normal video content being played-back on screen. But if you aren’t coming from industry reference standard StudioTek100, or are shopping to replace an older AT-screen, expect video performance to be as good or probably better than the screen you’re replacing. And, again, considering this level of image performance is coming from an AT screen material, I have absolutely nothing to complain about in how it displays an image. It really is that good.

But what about sound quality? The most obvious benefit in going AT is the fact that your speakers can now be more ideally placed in your theater. That’s to say, sound can now be firing at you from where it’s supposed to be. This quality alone means that the sound stage around you will feel more natural and seamless, just as the audio engineers want you to experience their work. And this type of audio experience is exactly what I found was possible with the UltraWeave v7. Dialog from my center channel, in particular, was the most noticeable upgrade. Now that my center channel speaker didn’t need to be placed below my screen, dialog sounded more natural, as if it truly was coming from the actors’ mouths. And with my left and right channel speakers also placed behind the screen where they’re supposed to be, front stereo elements within the sound mix were more seamless and better placed as well. All-in-all, surround sound within my theater took on a far more authentic quality, making movies all the more enjoyable like it’s supposed to be with an AT screen.

I also want to note that I observed no noticeable loss in sound quality or sound pressure level with this new screen installed. With that said, due to changes in speaker placement you’ll likely encounter, you'll want to run another pass of Audyssey like I did, or whatever EQ process you're running in your home theater anyways, so even if there is a small noticeable change in SPL due to the screen material, like the 3.3dB loss the manufacturer specifies, rerunning your EQ will adjust for this.

Downside
I’d say that the only real drawback to this screen is for those switching from a non-AT screen. You’ll more than likely need to change the design of your theater space like I did, unless you opt for in-wall speakers. You’ll need to either design and build a baffle wall yourself or hire someone to do it for you. This has the potential to artificially increase the cost of ownership of this screen. But I’d argue that the benefits in proper sound staging from correct speaker placement this screen allows for is well worth the work and/or investment.

High Points

• Extremely Smooth, Artifact-Free Screen Surface
• Excellent Audio Pass Through Qualities
• Easy To Assemble
• High Quality Aluminum Frame
• Sold as a Complete Kit - Takes the guesswork out of an otherwise DIY screen solution

Low Points

• If switching from a non-acoustically transparent screen, the construction of a baffle wall may be required in order to properly use the screen.

Conclusion
I think it’s easy to see that the ‘Screen Science by AVS’ screen, featuring the UltraWeave v7 material, really impressed me. This is the first acoustically transparent screen that’s seriously made me consider ditching my Stewart StudioTek100. It's devoid of nearly all of the typical pitfalls other AT screen materials have, including issues with low gain, moiré, texture, sparkles and contrast loss from the lack of a black-backing system. Add all of this to the fact that AVScience makes owning and installing this once completely DIY screen option easy and affordable. They’ve taken all of the guess-work out of the equation by providing a complete kit for those among us who might not be the most DIY-inclined. If you're looking for one of the absolute best acoustically transparent screen options available today, look no further than Screen Science by AVS.