Do people wonder where the speakers are inside a movie theatre? It’s dark even when the lights are on, but people don’t see any speakers in the theater’s front. They are seat behind the screen, and they watch the movie using an acoustically transparent screen. And that’s why people don’t see any speakers in the front theatre.
The ability to place the speakers behind a projector screen is an acoustically transparent screen. This acoustically transparent screen is usually made of a woven material that blocks light from passing through. Without being distorted, it allows sound to pass through the screen.
Acoustically transparent screens are very useful for placing the speakers out of direct sight and behind the screen. The transparent effect of coming from the picture itself, rather than from the sides and below the projector screen, is the voices and other sounds.
There are so many aspects to an acoustically transparent projector screen. Before purchasing this type of screen, you should consider a few different things. They are more expensive than normal projector screens as an acoustically transparent projector screen.
This article will discuss the pros and cons of the different types of acoustically transparent screens—the reasons we used this type of screen, and more. We have an acoustically transparent screen in our living room, and if we couldn’t be happier with this screen.
Pros and Cons of an Acoustically Transparent Projector Screen

Pros of Acoustically Transparent Screens:
- The audience cannot see the speakers when they are positioned behind the projector screen.
- The sound and image come from the TV. It is not like a system with speakers under and on the sides of the TV.
- The speakers are in the wall. The speakers do not have a distinctive look because they are hidden with a permanent projector screen.
- It also saves space. If someone wants to fill the wall with something, they can put a screen on there and it will fill it up.
- This type of screen is usually higher-quality than standard screens.
Cons of Acoustically Transparent Screens:
- It is more expensive. The material is a woven fabric, which makes it more expensive than normal cloth.
- The screen may have lines because there are many different things that can make it happen.
- Slight is not clear. It depends on the type of screen you use.
Reasons to Use an Acoustically Transparent Screen:
There are some reasons to use an acoustically transparent projector screen over a normal projector screen.
1. Speakers Behind the Projector Screen: The Sound Comes from the screen; the center and left and right front channel speakers typically produce the effects and dialog. Let’s you perceive the sounds as coming directly from the screen by the acoustically transparent screen. The picture you have a large 100″ + image is being projected in front of you with loads of sound coming directly from the screen. This screen pulls you up into the experience of watching a movie show, etc. It’s truly an unrelatable experience when we compared it to a normal projector screen or TV screen.
2. Easier Speaker Installation – With the help of a normal screen, you must install speakers at a good distance, but you need to ensure the speakers are still pointing towards the viewers. Installing the speakers is very difficult to set them beside and underneath the screen properly. Especially if the area is narrow, you don’t need to worry about how the speakers look and how they work it properly because they are hidden behind the screen. Using these speakers behind the projector screen is how a home theatre should be designed. Almost all actual movie theatres use this method because it is by far the best option!
3. Bigger Screen Size – You can use a bigger-sized projector screen in most cases because you no longer need room for speakers on the outside or around the screen. All speakers are located behind the screen so that you could use a projector screen covering an entire wall!
At first, we need to keep in mind that if you don’t plan on putting speakers behind the projector screen, there isn’t a need for any reason to use an acoustically transparent screen over a good quality projector screen. It will cost you more money with no added extra betterment. If you’re searching for a normal projector screen, then look at our website and find the best one for you. This page is regularly updated, including the quality projector screens on the market basis at the best price.
Woven vs Perforated Acoustically Transparent Screens

The two principal types of acoustically transparent screens that you will notice are woven and perforated screens. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. Next, we’ll explain absolutely the same screen what a woven and perforated screen are, too well as the pros and cons of these screens. There are tons of choices for both woven and perforated projector screens out on the market. So, make sure you know the same thing that you’re looking for before deciding to make a large purchase.
Woven Projector Screens:
The woven projector screen is made on a loom, like how textiles are created. This effect deliveries patterns on the screen and a natural variation in the spacing. The weave pattern should be at a very precise diagonal angle.
A woven projector screen tends to allow the video sound to pass through far better than a pierced screen. Most people believe that woven screens are much better than any other perforated screens. But when it comes to acoustic transparency, this is an issue topic, and it has no clear winner. Certain frequencies incline to be taken into the screen, but this is corrigible by adjusting the fairness of the speakers, so people don’t need to worry too much about this woven screen. Generally, woven projector screens play a pretty good job of allowing the video sound to pass through period blocking light from passing through the screen. Nevertheless, there are a few issues that can transpire with woven screens.
Possible Issues with Woven Screens:
- Poor Colour Temperature: The temperature of the colors red, blue, green, and yellow can appear brighter than aspire. This problem occurs because of a bit larger clump of material in the woven material. It’s kind of like a dead pixel on television that emerges brighter than any other pixels. This larger clump of substance admits lighter to be given back off it.
- Moire Effect: The moiré effect is a vertical, diagonal, or horizontal line pattern caused by an error in the weave of the stuff. If the weave is a bit loose or at a wrong angle, the projector can match the light line. This effect is an unwanted effect on the screen even as it is very diverting and shear on human eyes. High-rise quality knit screens will have an exact weave pattern to keep down this effect as much as possible in every way.
- Double Imaging: This double image happens when the projector light passes through the screen and radiates on the wall. The light flashes the screen produces a second image on the partition, which gives this double image effect that the viewer can see. This effect is exceptionally distracting and can completely ruin someone’s viewing experience. If we fix this issue, we need to add black acoustically transparent fabric beyond the screen. You could even draw the wall beyond the screen with a matte black to decrease or remove the double imaging effect.
Perforated Projector Screen:
This projector screen is constructed a very powerful medium with thousands of very small, penetrate holes in it. (Perforated means to make a hole or holes in and pierce). Most importantly, a hilarious number of holes poked in the stuff, which allows the sound to pass through the screen to the viewer.
The material is typically inbuilt, a very strong PVC with holes that are normally less than .3mm in diameter. You cannot experience the double image effect with a perforated screen because the light does not pass through the screen very well. Woven stuff has more space for light to pass through; thus, the probability of a double image is greater than a perforated projector screen. Perforated projector screens do a good job than woven screens regarding giving back the projector’s light and not admit it to pass through the stuff. Nevertheless, the perforated screen has different and sometimes more severe drawbacks than the woven projector screens and so on.
Possible Issues with Perforated Screens
- Moire Effect: This screen is more provable to experience the moiré effect than a woven screen effect. The projector’s portrait is more provable to equal the lines pattern because the holes are normally not varied and uniform. Low price perforated screens will easily fall sufferer to the moiré effect. Only costly screens will perform the exact way as intended with the minimum quantity of problems.
- Less Effective Acoustic Transparency: Perforated screens have very narrow holes filling up to 10% of the full screen. Although the thousands and thousands of hollows, there is still not enough sound to move through in a whole room. It’s difficult to visualize these tiny holes admitting all the sounds through without hearing a fair amount of dampening. A good deal of the sound at definite frequentness will renounce the screen rather than pass through the screen. A perforated screen will need you to adjust the equal and the other settings to realize the best outputs.
What is the Moire Effect?

The moiré effect happens when the picture element patterns of the projected picture align accurately with the intuitive pattern of the projector screen. These lines are very diversion and hard on the views. The motion of the projector is normally a huge factor based on this effect of the screen. A projector that comes with a high resolution is going to have more pixel lines in an area. For example, a 1080p (1920×1080) projector has 1920-pixel lines running horizontally and 1080-pixel lines running vertically. A 4K (3840×2160) projector has 3840-pixel lines running horizontally and 2160 pixels lines running vertically in shape. A4K projector’s pixel lines are more similar to match a pattern of projector screen’s on account of the sheer volume of speakers.
The reason for the moiré effect is neither the projector screen nor the projected image. If you can see the pixel issue at a very short distance from the screen, the projector is usually causing the effect. If you cannot see the pixel issue from a short distance from the screen, the projector screen is affecting problems.
How to Avoid the Moire Effect on Acoustically Transparent Projector Screens
People can ignore this effect on acoustically transparent screens by using premium quality and smoother projector screens from the market. The newer AT screens on the market, called “4K,” are ready and should not have any issues with 4Kor 1080p projectors. It’s the best way to see the quality of both the projector and projector screen before making any purchase decisions. If the recommendations are as similar as you want and the built-in quality of the screen is much better, then you should be okay. If you do any record of the moiré effect, you can eliminate it by adjusting the zoom/focus of the projector. This effect can misalign the pixel line and texture pattern enough to fix the issue. This screen will be extremely helpful if you happen to experience the moiré effect. The projector’s resolution plays a big role in this effect, with higher resolutions having more pixelated lines. Higher resolution projectors such as 1080p, 4K, and 8K projectors have more pixels running vertically and horizontally; therefore, the pattern on the screen is more likely to match with the obscured.
However, your screen may not always be the problem; your projector can also cause the moiré effect. If you can see the pixelated line pattern at a close distance to the screen, then your projector is causing this problem. But if you cannot see the line from a close distance, then the screen is causing the problem.
Choosing the Best Acoustically Transparent Projector Screen for Your Setup
Many various brands of acoustically transparent projector screens were found out there, and choosing one screen can be a hard task, mostly if you’re demented about whether you need that. Should you choose a woven over a perforated screen? What should be the projector screen ratio? What should be the screen size that you get? How much have you gained from the screen? These are a few of the most common questions when picking a projector screen, and below you will find the best answer for these questions.
Generally, I suggest using an acoustically transparent screen from neither Elite Screens (product on Amazon) nor Silver Ticket Products (product on Amazon). Elite Screens and Silver Ticket Products produce premium screens at a reasonable cost, differentiating from the other big-name brands. Both linked screens are vastly suggested and come up with easily assembled frames that even a clear beginner user should handle this screen.

- 【GET THE RIGHT SCREEN】: 100-inch Diagonal, 16:9 Aspect Ratio. View Size: 49.0" H x 87.0" W. Overall Size: 53.7" H x 91.9" W x 1.6" D.
- 【SHARP & CLEAR IMAGERY】: Moiré-Free screen material; AcousticPro 1080P3, 1.0 Gain. Angular weaved, acoustically transparent front projection screen material with 160 degree viewing angle. 4K Ultra HD and Active 3D Projection Ready. Offers superb off-axis luminance and optimal color neutrality.
- Features a black velvet covered aluminum frame that enhances overall appearance and absorbs projector overshoot. 2.36-inch frame width.
- 【UPGRADED FEATURES】: Black velvet covered aluminum frame that enhances overall appearance and absorbs projector overshoot. 2.36-inch frame width.
- 【WHAT YOU WILL GET】: Included sliding wall mounts allow for convenient horizontal adjustments and Video Projector Accessories for easy installation.
Should You Use Perforated Projector Screen or Woven?
After reading all the descriptions and all the issues they wrote above, and it’s totally about both types of screens, people may be astonishing, which should I use it? Were they perforated or woven? In my judgment, currently, a woven acoustically transparent screen is the best option for any big-screen use.
Woven screens are a low-price than any other perforated screen, and even now, it is the best account for amazing viewing history. There is possibly a little more work involved to get void of the double picturing effect from the screen. But mostly, the woven screens on the market incorporate an inbuilt black background of the screen. This fabric soaks up the additional light giving back off the wall behind the screen. The speakers behind the screen will also perform better when compared to a perforated screen at the same price point of the market.
Projector Screen Ratio
Selecting the projector screen ratio is highly simple. Your screen ratio and projector ratio should be similar!
For example, if your transparent projector has a native expected ratio of 15:8, your projector screen should also have a ratio of 15:8. If you use mismatching ratios, you will end up with black bars on the image’s top, bottom, and sides. This projector screen will obstruct the sighting record, and it may cause all sorts of issues about the projector. Nearly all non-commercial projectors have a native aspect ratio of 16:9. But make sure you know your projector’s ratio before purchasing any projector screen!
Projector Screen Size
Choosing a screen size is very dependent upon the size of the room it will be located. Your projector also determines the size projector screen you can use. Calculating the widest screen size as possible as we want, take the distance from the projector placement to the screen divided by the throw ratio. For case, if your projector has a throw ratio of 1.25 and is positioned 12 feet (144 inches) from the wall, the highest screen width is 9.6 feet (115 inches), and all the attention that this is the highest screen spread, not the diagonal estimation size of the screen. So, you will need to do some graphical things to get everything close enough; then, you can utilize your projector’s zoom capability to make the final adjustments. Most projectors have a zoom capability; be aware of how much it can be close. Some projectors do not have zoom competence. If this is the reason, then your measurements will need to be very precise. Check out our help article for any further information.
Projector Screen Gain:
The projector screen gain is an estimation of how well the screen reflects light through the screen. Most of the projector screens have again between 1 – 1.2. If your projector has around 1500+ lumens, you should be perfectly fine with a gain of 1 – 1.2 if there isn’t a ton of light entering the room. Gain isn’t that big of a deal if the projector can produce plenty of light. To learn more about projector lumens, which are also correlated to projector screen gain, we have detailed information about it and its relation to various situations in life.
Best Acoustically Transparent Screen for the Price:
My full approval for an acoustically transparent screen is the Fixed Frame Screen with a Woven Acoustic Material (Amazon) by Silver Ticket Products.

- Wall Mounted Fixed Frame Projection Screen (Overall Size 65.175" Tall x 110.8" Wide) (Viewing Area 120" Diagonal x 58.875" Tall x 104.5" Wide) No option for Legs or Stands with this product. Recommended for projectors with Native 16:9 Resolution
- Acoustically Transparent (Speakers may be placed behind the screen surface) 1.15 Gain White screen surface with an exceptionally wide viewing angle at 160 degrees with no resolution loss at any viewing angle. Works great with Long, Short and Ultra Short Throw projectors. Some UST projectors are not compatible with the STR frame. If using a UST projector it is recommended to purchase the S7 frame series.
- 3 1/8" heavy duty beveled aluminum frame wrapped in light-absorbing black velvet material for a beautifully crisp viewing image; Enjoy beautiful movies, pictures, and games in FULL HD, 4K and Active 3D
- Quick and easy assembly with tensioning rod system ensures that you can bring cinema-quality entertainment to your home in just a few minutes. Secure top and bottom mounting brackets that allow horizontal adjustment
- Before purchasing, project an image on wall to determine the size works for the projector and watch the step by step instructional video listed.
This frame is an excellent quality product for the fee tag! It comes up with a full 6-piece fixed frameset that includes all parts and materials needed with easy assembly instructions. The frame uses a 3- and 1/4-inch black velvet wrapped frame to soaks up any impend light from the projector screen. A black border makes the picture look much crisper and adds variation to the image itself. It’s available from 92 inches screen up to 150 inches. The frame uses two adjustable vertical support girders, which allow you to move them out of the direct line of the speakers behind the projector screen.
It’s important not to block any of the speakers’ beautiful sounds behind a projector screen. The acoustic transparency of the screen is prominent, and admit the sound through the screen with no sound reduction. Even if it comes along with a black backing, this kit reduces any double imaging effect that may occur. The cloth is acoustically transparent and can be attached directly to the back of the screen if necessary. There are also four mounting brackets to attach the frame to the wall securely. I strongly suggested this product for anyone looking for an acoustically transparent screen. It is not exceptionally handy and doesn’t have a huge budget for it.
DIY Acoustically Transparent Screen: How to Build Your Own:
Being an honest DIYer, then you may want to build your screen! This transparent screen is a perfectly acceptable and viable option; now, it is a lengthy and monotonous process to do this on the right path. And you will need to have quite likely of handiness to fulfill this job.
Here are some plain instructions for building your own acoustically transparent projector screen. This screen should be doable with a budget of less than $200 if you have all of the tools necessary.
- Get the kinds of stuff that you want to use for the transparent projector screen. As I said earlier, woven screens are notoriously cheaper than perforated screens. A high-quality perforated screen will be costly, but a nice woven screen is fairly priced. Find the stuff that you want; some operators will let you purchase samples.
- Once you have the material, you will need to build some frames for it. The frame should match the expected ratio of your projector as well, so keep that in mind.
- Wrap the frame in a black cloth or velvet to absorb too much light from the projector. Stretching the stuff is probably the hardest part of this procedure. The stuff must be tight across the entire place; otherwise, the screen will look “wavy” when a picture is projected onto it. You can protect the material by stapling it into place.
- Once the material is tight and secured, finish the frame assembly and mount it on the wall.
- I wouldn’t recommend building your frame unless you know what you are doing. There are many complications with it, and it isn’t easy. But if you were fond of the projects like this, then go for it!
Conclusion:
In all of these circumstances, we had a clear view that using an acoustically transparent projector screen is a great way to completely transform the home theatre experience. The ability to place speakers beyond the projector screen comes up with an immersive experience for the viewer. It’s how you should do it!
So, remove the normal projector screen and get a new acoustically transparent screen for yourself. If an acoustically transparent projector screen won’t run properly for you and you want a particular type of screen, check out our website for destructive information.
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-our editorial board has reviewed this article and has been approved for publication according to our editorial policy.
Last update on 2023-12-01