The Complete Guide

Everything you need to know
about projection screens

The surface decides whether your picture survives a sunlit room — or washes out into milky grey. Here's how to choose the one that's matched to your projector and your room.

Throw types Materials Find my screen Collections Screen Size Guide

Step 1 — Match the geometry

Where does your light come from?

A screen engineered for one throw type fails on another. This is the single most important filter.

Compatible surfaces

Step 2 — Pick the surface

Eleven surfaces, three families.

Filter by your projector type. Hover any card for the full description.

Step 3 — Choose the format

How it lives in the room.

Rigid optical surfaces can't roll — so the format you pick decides which surfaces are even possible.

Fixed Frame

Rigid, always deployed. Flattest surface, cleanest image, best value. Works with every material — your volume workhorse.

All surfaces · Every throw type

Motorized Floor-Rising

Rises from a floor cabinet in front of the projector. The Laser-TV showpiece — flexible surfaces only.

Flexible CBSP · HBSI TPU · UST

Electric Drop-Down

Retracts into a casing on ceiling or wall. Disappears when off — flexible or tab-tensioned materials.

Matte · Crystal ALR · Flexible Fresnel

CONCEALED

Ceiling-Recessed

Fully hidden in a ceiling housing. The architectural option — invisible when off, impressive when on.

Matte · Crystal ALR · Flexible Fresnel ALR

Find your screen

Answer four questions.

We'll match you to the right surface — and stop you buying the wrong one.

1 · Your projector type

2 · Your room

3 · What matters most

4 · Viewing distance (optional — calculates screen size)

Your match

The lineup

Good, better, best — by throw type.

Every tier is a clear step up. Start at the right throw type — the materials don't cross over.

UST Collection

Ultra-short throw
GoodPET Crystal / BSPValue lenticular, bright rooms0.60 gain · 85% · 170°
HeroCBSPPremium contrast, deepest blacks0.60 gain · 95% · 160°
BestHBSPTop contrast + brightness lift0.72 gain · 96% · 160°
BrightFresnelMax brightness, rejects side light1.40 gain · 88% · 130°

Long & Short Throw

Front projection
GoodMatte WhiteDark rooms, best colour, widest seating1.10 gain · 160°
Good+High-Contrast GreyDeeper blacks, low-contrast projectors0.95 gain · 160°
BetterGrey Crystal ALRAmbient rooms, brightness & HDR1.00 gain · 75% · 160°
HeroBlack Crystal ALRBest blacks & daytime resistance0.80 gain · 78% · 160°

Hard rules

Compatibility guardrails.

Getting these wrong is what causes returns. Baked into our Screen Finder.

UST surfaces are UST-only

Fresnel, CBSP, BSP, HBSP, HBSI — never pair with a long- or short-throw projector. Their optics reject a ceiling-mounted beam.

Crystal ALR is LT/ST-only

Black Crystal and Grey Crystal are built for front projection. Pairing with a UST projector rejects the image — use a lenticular or Fresnel instead.

Matte surfaces need dark rooms

Matte White and Grey work with any throw type but have zero ambient light rejection. Only in fully light-controlled rooms.

Rigid surfaces can't roll

Hard Fresnel and rigid PET Crystal are fixed-frame only. Motorised formats need flexible or tab-tensioned grades of the material.

Wide seating vs. ALR

ALR surfaces have a narrower cone than matte. If guests sit well off-centre, consider a wider-diffusion or higher-viewing-angle lenticular.

High gain = hotspot risk

Fresnel at 1.4–1.6 gain is brighter but narrower and hotspot-prone. Low-gain lenticular (0.6) gives better blacks with no hotspots but needs a brighter projector.