Looks like i'm probably going to blow my budget and go with the Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector.

I was leaning toward the BenQ HT2050 which would have been under $1000, or the BenQ at $1400. Based on reviews i read about the rainbow affect with DLP projectors, reading, talking to online sales guys and reading more online reviews I'm now leaning towards the Sony VPL-HW45ES projector which is around $2400 CDN.

I've had a lot of sales guys tell me that i'm wasting money on that projector if i don't get a reference 4K screen, as there is a huge difference in picture quality. I've gone to the few stores in Calgary that have projectors and screens and the high-end shops only have Stewart Filmscreens ($3k+ for the size i'm looking at) and Visions and Bestbuy only had a really cheap pull down screens. The high end stores only had Epson laser projectors ($8k+) or JVC projectors that are over $4k, while Visions only had a panasonic projector and Best buy a lower end Epson. All of the projectors i'm considering are only available online, so i can't do any side by side comparisons on the difference in projectors or screens and pretty much am limited to advice on forums and reading reviews.

Anyways, I wanted to get input on how much of a difference I can expect to see with the following screens:
1) Elunevision Elara 120-in. Fixed Frame Projection Screen - $499 (Costco Canada)
-white, velvet Covered and Triple Layered Fiberglass Enforced Screen

2) EluneVision Elara II 120" Fixed-Frame Projection Screen - $679 (Visions)
-silver screen, velvet covered aluminum frames means to absorb overscan
and not reflect overscan.

3) Elite Screens Sable Frame 2, 120-inch 16:9, ER120WH2 - $680 (amazon.ca)
- CineWhite, 1.1 Gain. 4K Ultra HD ready with 160 degree wide viewing angle,
fully black backed front projecton screen material

4) Grandview 120" High Contrast Grey 16X9 Fixed Frame Projector Screen - $1025 (visions)
- PS HDTV high contrast cinema (grey) fabric, 0.8 gain with a 160 degree viewing angle.

5) Elite Screens Aeon, 120-inch 16:9, Ambient Light Rejecting ALR - $1200 (amazon.ca)
- Fixed Frame EDGE FREE Projection Projector Screen,ISF Certified, polarized for
Passive 3D, 4K Ultra HD & Active 3D Ready, 90 degree viewing angle

6) EluneVision Reference PureBright 4K White 125 " Fixed frame - $1649 (eastpoerters)
- will be 113" with a narrow border.
- engineered to give 1080P and 4K quality projection in high ambient light
environments. 2.4 gain smooth screen surface for a high resolution, lowest amount
of crosstalk for active 3D Projectors due to perfect colour uniformity and detail
clarity no hot spotting, sparkling or texturing

I was initially going to go with the Costco screen, but wanted to get input on whether i'm wasting money spending $2400 on a projector if i get the cheaper screen.

I don't really have to worry about ambient light in the media room. Only concern i have is that the paint in the room is red - so not sure if I want to avoid a narrow border with the coloured paint in the room??

Quote (AV_Integrated on Oct 7, 2016 12:18 PM): In a good room, the best screen to use is a white screen with minimal gain. 1.0-1.4 gain at the most. This will maximize the viewing angle, which actually maximizes screen uniformity. The use of colored screens (grey, black, ALR, etc.) is to help deal with weak rooms. A dark room (dark red?) will give you control over reflected light from the screen, and lights out with no windows, or good blackout shades, will give you control of the ambient light. The border of the screen is used to help increase perceived contrast, and deals with any slight imperfections to the image (which always exist). I'm not sure, but would expect similar results from Elunevision as you would get from the Elite screens on the cheaper side. A really good screen, like a DaLite HD Progressive screens are really good. http://www.da-lite.com/screen_surfaces/front_projection/high_resolution They use a very smooth screen surface to avoid any signs of texture when projecting 4K or even 1080p material. It's nice, but pricey. I would stick with the lesser expensive white screens. For what it's worth, Silver screens are used for 3D projection when using two projectors or a polarizing system and cheap (theater type) 3D glasses. They are not good for standard 2D movie viewing, and a lot of money for the loss in quality. So, completely wrong for your situation.

Thanks for the response!! One of the salesmen i talked to was actually pushing the grey screens.

I'm having a real hard time trying to pick a screen. I've managed to narrow down my projector choice - most likely the Sony VPL-HW45ES, but possibly the Epson 5030 or 5040 - i've knocked off the DLP projectors from my list. A couple of my friends said that Epson has by the far the best blacks and all three of these projectors have gotten good reviews in the reviews section.

But i'm really struggling with the screen. A friend of mine who purchased a grey Elara 106" screen from Costco 8 years ago said that unless i've got black walls and a black ceiling i should not consider a white screen, because, with the light reflections of the ceiling (my walls are dark red, but the ceiling is white), I'm not going to get true blacks. He said he had bought a white screen with a 1.0 gain but go returned it to costco and picked up the grey screen.

You had said that grey screens are designed to help with rooms with white walls/ceiling. If i have coloured walls, but a white ceiling, should i avoid a white screen?

If white is what I should go with, how much of a difference will i see with the Elunevision Elara vs. the Elune vision 4k reference screens?

Quote (AV_Integrated on Oct 10, 2016 5:41 AM): Grey screens aren't bad, as long as they are a standard grey screen, but they were designed to help with weak LCD projectors and help some in rooms with white walls/ceiling. But, in a decent room, professional screen manufacturers want you to use a white, neutral, properly color balanced screen. More often... FAR MORE OFTEN! Salesmen are trying to sell you a black screen. An ambient light rejecting screen. These screens are amazing... In a cruddy room. But, in a proper home theater, they are absolutely a waste of money and image quality. The problem with ALR screens is that they need to add gain to the surface to help boost light output. So a black screen with 1.0 gain, would likely be similar to a white screen with 3.0 or higher gain. It creates hot-spots on the image, and edge to edge image uniformity is terrible. You get visible image shimmer as well. On the plus side, the sales guy gets a nice profit on the screen he just sold to you. Screens definitely impact what you see, but white screens aren't hard to get wrong. Certainly not to get REALLY wrong. So maybe you get .9 gain instead of 1.1 gain. But, with a projector like the Sony, you aren't going to notice it at all. What you will notice is hot-spots, shimmering, and non-uniform projection. Those issues appear most often with ALR screens and high gain screens. .8 to 1.4 gain grey/white screens don't typically have those issues at all, and can be had for a fair bit less.