I have been using a beige wall with slight texture for watching my Optoma HD-20 and now my Optoma HD25-LV projector. The bare wall was able to provide a very good picture for Blu-ray and 3D. But I kept reading how a good projection screen would give a much better picture because of the smooth surface and neutral color. I decided to go with a fixed screen because it gave me a better chance of no wrinkles and no motor to break. I decided on the Silver Ticket brand because of the reviews and ease of construction shown in the videos. The cost seemed very reasonable compared to other screens.
The screen arrived very soon after ordering. I think it was only three days. The packaging arrived in excellent shape, but it probably would not have mattered if there were dents in the outer box because it was double boxed. Everything was very well packaged.
I started assembly by vacuuming the carpet in the assembly areas as recommended, but I also laid down some extra sheets on the carpet. (I have two shedding dog!). I never did have an issue with the screen attracting hair or fuzz during the assembly or installation.
I laid out all the frame pieces and started assembling the top and bottom sections as instructed. I placed the listed number of plastic snap lugs and wall mounting brackets in the slots. Check the orientation of the wall mounting brackets. Two for the top and two for the bottom. They are different. Some videos recommend a portable drill for quick attachment of the parts but I found a regular Philips screw driver just as fast. Portable drills have a tendency to strip out screws. I then attached the sides after installing the listed amount of plastic snap lugs. I noticed a little jogging of the frame parts was required to fit the screws to the holes. Once all the frame pieces were in place I tightened everything down. I now had a very secure, stable frame.
Next, I rolled out the screen completely between the frame, front side (white) down, black side up. I then installed the six rods. The two longer rods go on the the vertical sides. They have a “bubble” on each end. The rods for the horizontal sides, two for the top and two for the bottom, have a “bubble” on one end only. The end without the ‘bubble” go in the screen first. The rods took a little twisting and pushing the rod along to complete their installation. When completed there will be two rod ‘bubbles” at each corner, none in the middle.
I then started pulling the rods over the plastic snap lugs. As instructed I started at the corners first. The first two corners went easy. The third corner took a little more strength as the screen started stretching. The last corner took the most strength but was not difficult. Now that all the corners were done, I just finished up by pulling the rods over the plastic snap lugs until all were completed. I did not require any additional tools to do this, but some hard but not impossible pulling was needed. I new this meant a nice smooth screen.
I lifted the screen up to check for alignment and everything looked smooth and solid. No further adjustment was required. To install the middle support I laid the screen back down and put one end of the middle support in the center of the bottom frame slot. The other end of the support I put down about a foot from the center of the top frame in the slot. This is because the screen stretching causes a slight bow in the center of the top and bottom frames. I undid two of the plastic snap lugs between the support bar and the center of the frame to put less tension on the frame. I then pulled slowly on the center support to get to the top frame center. I pulled a few times, took a break, and then pulled again. Slowly but surely I got the center support to the middle of both top and bottom frames. This was the most difficult part of the assembly. But patience results in a perfectly squared up screen. I then pulled the rod over the two plastic snap lugs I had unattached earlier.
To attach the screen to my wall I located studs that gave me the more than 48″ but less then 80″ requirement for the wall mounting brackets. I needed 14.5″ distance between my ceiling and actual viewing part of the screen for my ceiling mounted projector. The screen frame is 2.5 “. The supplied wall mounting bracket holes are down .75″. So 14.5″ – 2.5 + .75″ = 12.75”. The important part was considering the dimensions of the screen frame and knowing the wall hanger holes are down .75″ from the top of the screen. So I drilled four holes. The top two holes were both down 12.75″ from the ceiling and 63.875″ apart because of stud location. The bottom two holes were 61.375″ perpendicular from the top two holes. This measurement was found by measuring the distance between the top and bottom wall mounting bracket holes on the screen. I installed the four supplied wall screws. After sliding the wall hangers to match the wall screw measurements, two of us were able to set the screen on the wall screws and set it in place.
The Silver Ticket Screen is a vast improvement over the bare wall. Colors appear more vivid, more detail is visible, the the overall picture is brighter. Having a frame gives the picture a more movie-like appearance. The screen itself is totally uniform with no wrinkles or annoying inconsistencies that a bare wall might have. The price makes this screen quite a bargain.
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