Poor projection planning for classrooms, whether in K-12 or Higher Education settings, can lead to washed out images and other performance issues due to high amounts of ambient light competing with the projected light. It’s extremely important to begin planning projection as a two-piece system — projector and screen together — as early as possible.
Important Considerations for K-12 and Higher Education Classroom Projection:
- How bright is the projector?
- What content will be projected?
- Are there windows and, if so, where?
- Is artificial lighting easily controlled?
Tips for Choosing a Screen Surface
- A white screen surface delivers top performance under complete light control. If a space has uncontrolled light, a white surface should not be an option.
- For ambient light rejection (ALR) screens, typically the more ambient light that is rejected, the narrower the viewing cone will be.
- A grey screen surface is not automatically an ALR surface. Grey only improves contrast.
- An ALR surface uses specular reflective elements in the screen formulation to reflect off-axis ambient light away from viewers.
- If any uncontrolled ambient light is present, a matt white surface will appear washed out as it reflects all light equally. A higher gain white surface can help in some moderate ambient light situations, although not a great deal.
- If screen surface is low gain, a brighter projector is necessary.
Basic Recommendations for Common Classroom Scenarios
If light can be controlled using window shades and lighting controls, a matte white surface or contrast grey surface will provide good performance. But if ambient light cannot be controlled, an Ambient Light Rejection (ALR) surface is best.
For typical projector placement (away from the screen)
- Full ambient light control: TecVision XT1000X White
- Full to moderate ambient light control: TecVision XH1200X Premium Contrast Grey
- Little to moderate ambient light control: TecVision XH900X ALR
- No Ambient Light Control:
- Narrow viewing area: CS1100X ALR
- Other: Consider adding shades and/or lighting controls (consult Draper Pro Planner 2.0 linked below for specific room recommendations)
For Ultra-Short Throw projectors (very close to the screen)
- Full ambient light control: TecVision XT1000X White
- Full to moderate ambient light control: TecVision XH700X Grey
- Little to moderate ambient light control: TecVision XH700X Grey
- No Ambient Light Control: Consider adding shades and/or lighting controls (consult Draper Pro Planner 2.0 linked below for specific room recommendations)
Your Next Step
The above recommendations are very general in nature.
- Choose a screen surface for typical gymnatorium or cafetorium spaces: use the Draper Screen Surface Selector.
- Choose the right viewing surface for your specific space: Use Projection Planner 2.0. When you enter key information such as viewer location, ambient light, and other information, the Pro Planner will recommend the best options for your specific application.
Got Questions?
Download “How Ambient Light Rejection Works”
Download “Projection Screen Surface Performance in Ambient Light”
