High Gain/ Screen Gain

The gain of a projection screen is the ratio of it reflectivity compared to a perfect matte white (lambertian diffuser) standard (magnesium carbonate or sulfate are typical examples).

The majority of screens have a gain between unity (1) and 1.3 which are suitable for most applications.

Screen gain is the measure of a screen’s ability to reflect projected light towards the audience, in order to increase a projector’s brightness. A higher screen gain number means that projected images look brighter

Every screen product on the market has a "gain" factor. Some screens are "low gain" and some are "high gain." Most white home theater screens are low gain, and carry ratings in the range of 1.0 to 1.3 gain. Some of today's gray screens are rated as low as 0.8 gain. On the other hand, one vendor is marketing screens with gain ratings that they claim are as high as 6.0.

It's easy and wrong to conclude that a high-gain screen is preferable to a low profit. After all, the high reflection means a more shiny and an image that's good, right? The problem is that there are some parts of town into a high gain in a home theater.

First, as has been seen here is a relationship between the gain and the angle of view. A 1.0 gain screen diffuses the light in all directions. This means that you can sit just about anywhere because the angle of view is so large that relatively the screen can provide a similar experience of view no matter whether the angle of view. With a high-gain screen brightness of the image increases for those who are sitting in the center, and decreases for those who are sitting outside the center. Furthermore once they move from the central axis, the relative brightness of various parts of the image will change or decrease dramatically. So a high-gain screen can provide optimal limitations on the number of seats that can take your living room.

Second, a high-gain screen does not always reflect the red, green and blue alike. So this may change color in the picture is quite noticeable when moving around the screen and viewing it from different angles. Again, the picture looks different for each person depending on your point of view.

Third, any screen with a gain greater than 1.0 have a diffusion angle. That is, when viewing the screen from the center, the half portion of the image that will appear shiny side. In screens below 1.3 this is not as noticeable, but if the gain is increased beyond 1.3 this becomes a distraction.

The screens have a high gain ultimate place in the world. In lecture halls and classrooms where we need some lights and most of the seats are placed in a proper manner to reflect the screen, high-gain screens can be very effective in increasing the brightest of the image.  Anyway, the best image quality in a home theater usually want to opt for a screen gain downwards.