News

Stewart Introduces StarGlas: a Glass Rear-Projection Screen that Expands the Home Theater Market (3/10/2006)

CEDIA US Expo 2006

Stewart Filmscreen Corporation(r) (Booth 350)-the industry leader in precision projection screen technology in the home cinema and commercial markets-is proud to introduce StarGlas(r) (patent-pending), a precision-engineered rear-projection screen that opens up the home theater category by allowing installers to install screens in places where other rear-projection screens would traditionally fail.

Home Theater Under the Stars

Recent trends show that more and more homeowners are taking theater outdoors, to the backyard, poolside, and for outdoor parties. However, outdoor screens are hard to come by, and the few that are available are sorely lacking in image fidelity.

StarGlas is the world's first glass rear-projection screen. Because the screen layer is laminated between two pieces of glass, the screen is incredibly durable in various environments. Like regular glass, it isn't harmed if it gets wet or is exposed to sunlight, can be easily cleaned, is childproof, and has a long lifespan.

StarGlas qualifies as safety glass, which means that it can be installed where building codes specify safety glass. Because of its unique formulation, it can be installed touching the floor-an industry first-allowing for floor-to-ceiling video wall applications.

Precision Projection Technology

The team of image experts at Stewart poured several years of intensive research and lab trials into formulating StarGlas, and the evidence is in the picture. StarGlas contains a unique, proprietary diffusion layer laminated between two specially formulated glass layers. The proprietary diffusion layer and substrate combine to create an exact and bright image, in a form factor that is incredibly versatile. This technology is an industry first, pioneered by Stewart Filmscreen.

The StarGlas screen layer has several distinctive optical properties that dramatically boost the amount of forward light transmission and light scattering from the screen, enhancing image quality, while reducing unwanted backscatter. This makes the image uniform and eliminates visible "hot-spotting" from the projector. The combination of the screen layer and the glass substrate create extraordinary image contrast. Add to this an anti-reflective (AR) coating to reduce unwanted reflections from the surface, and the image quality is absolutely stunning, even in situations where some ambient light is present.

StarGlas is available in two basic configurations, StarGlas 60 and StarGlas 100. StarGlas 100 has a gain of 1.0 and performs superbly in situations where there is little or no ambient light, such as a dedicated home theater. StarGlas 100 offers excellent whitefield uniformity and eliminates hotspotting from the projector. StarGlas 60 has a 0.6 gain, and currently offers the highest contrast ratios available in a large-format screen. This black screen will allow your screen to shine in situations where there is ambient light, offering unparalleled contrast and image brightness.

www.stewartfilmscreen.com