MATTHEW IRVIN KNEW he had his work cut out for him when he was approached by a very particular client for a special home cinema job in Park City, Utah.
“The customer needed more “wow” in the room, according to Irvin, who is the president of Audioworks in Salt Lake City, Utah. “The screen before was 163” diagonal, but didn’t fill the space. He wanted every inch of the opening filled while still having a nice background for stage performances.”
16:9 screenThat’s because the space in question is more than your basic dedicated home theatre. It’s also a performance space. In addition to private viewing, Irvin says the customer uses it for their own mini Sundance-style film festival for kids, as well as for huge karaoke parties.
“We were working with the tightest tolerances and HAD to meet the customer’s expectations,” Irvin says. “First of all, because he wanted every inch of the opening filled, we decided the only way to accommodate was with a motorized screen.”
Irvin went with Draper Premier, a tab-tensioned surface mounted screen which is often also built in to soffits or concealed behind a decorative, finished wall. But what viewing surface to go in the Premier case? Because of the customer’s high expectations, and the need for an acoustically transparent material, Irvin recommended 4K-ready TecVision Nano Perf XT1300X White, with an extra wide viewing cone, typical contrast, and on-axis gain of 1.3. To fill the opening as required took a 227.25 inch 16:9 format screen. Nanoperf Technology
“It was the only solution we were considering due to the size of material we needed in an acoustically transparent application,” Irvin says of his choice. “The customer was concerned about a screen that large having imperfections, but we knew we could trust the TecVision product to be perfect edge to edge.”
TecVision screen used for a mini Sundance style film festival“With this customer’s high standards, the TecVision XT1300X White Nano Perf really was perfect for this job,” according to Draper Residential Market Manager Amy Madden. “The ambient light is controlled so that isn’t an issue, and even though it’s an acoustically transparent screen, it is still 4K ready so there aren’t going to be any visible imperfections or artifacts. It’s also ISF™ Certified, so the colors are going to be spot on.”
Irvin agrees it was the right choice.
“Perfection—there’s no image distortion anywhere to be seen, and acoustically it is far superior to other products we have used,” he says of the screen’s performance so far. “We were up against some serious constraints. The screen had to fit perfectly and Draper delivered. The install was as easy as it could have been for a screen that large.”
And how about that customer, and his high expectations?
“Working with Draper we were able to not only meet, but easily surpass those expectations,” according to Irvin, who says customer could not be happier with the outcome. “In fact, in his words from a quick email – ‘The theatre is amazing!!! A very big hit. Well worth the upgrade!!’ Draper has always been fantastic with custom projects.”
Draper’s TecVision line of white and grey premium viewing surfaces includes eight standard formulations designed to deliver high performance in varying conditions, including ambient light. All eight surfaces are 4K ready and certified by the Imaging Science Foundation for color accuracy. TecVision is made to order in our Spiceland, Indiana production facilities, and new formulations are being developed as conditions dictate new solutions.
