Friday, October 12, 2012

Favi 120" HD 16:9 Projection Screen

     Since I am going to be reviewing movies, I should write up a little review for the equipment I use to screen the movies I will be reviewing. To start I will review my Favi HD-120 Electronic Projection Screen.
     
     I sit about 12 feet from the screen, so a 120" screen seemed like the best option to me. I opted for a cheaper priced screen on Amazon.com. The Favi HD-120 seemed to be a great starter screen for the money, plus it electronically comes down from the ceiling. Couldn't pass it up for the measly $250 for the screen. Similar screens have been priced around $500 and up with the electronic motorized screen. Now on to my thoughts...

     Ever hear the old, you get what you pay for? Well, this sort of falls into that category. Not a terribly constructed screen, very strong metal housing for the screen itself, but only two screws will hold this somewhat heavy screen in the ceiling or mounted up on a wall somewhere high. Lucky for me I have very high ceilings so it was easy to mount it high up on the wall. This thing hangs down about 60" from the point of placement. It's also roughly 109" across. Very big, but fits well in my living room with 25' ceilings and a very open room. The two screws had me a little concerned considering the only hardware it came with to mount the screen were the brackets that were already fastened to the screen casing. It did not come with screws or anchors for that matter. Luckily I had some anchors, it was an awkward length only one side was able to get into the stud. Once it was hung, which was a farily simple procedure in itself I had to hang the transmitter for the remote control(s). It comes with 2 remote controls, one is an RF remote and the other an IR remote. The RF remote is great if your screen comes down in front of the transmitter. Kinda easy to do that because the wire from the casing to the transmitter is not very long so you don't have a ton of options on where you can hang it.  The RF will allow you to activate the screen from anywhere in the room even if there is an obstruction in front of the transmitter (like the screen). Now on to the screen itself...

     The family and I decided to let the kids pick the first movie to view on the screen and they chose Meet the Robinsons. A great Disney movie, I'm not going to review the movie here, but it was a great option because it was a CG Movie, and the colors should be nice and vibrant. We fired up the movie and the screen was great. It seemed nice and bright, had nice vibrant colors but only one flaw I can think of. There are no supports on the sides of the screen itself to keep it from curling up. It's heavy enough that as long as you don't have the ceiling fan on, it won't swing in the breeze. The curling wasn't a huge issue, just a little weird, and it has a very plastic smell. Not a huge deal it was a brand new screen. I would have liked to see a little support on the sides of the screen to keep it straight, but it doesn't curl too much. Once the movie was playing and I was involved in the movie I did not notice it. The screen is a 16:9 Widescreen so the more modern movies look great and fill up the screen.

    Overall, it was well worth the $250 price tag. Yes you do get what you pay for, but the minor flaws are easily forgettable when watching a movie with all the lights off. It's a fantastic starter screen, I will probably use it for a few years until I possibly move or figure out a better space for my home theater. Once I actually have a dedicated space I will most likely look to a fixed screen, but for the money and my humble beginning of a home theater, this screen is great. 

4/5 - Great Screen (Would be a 5 if there was some support on the sides of the screen.)

No comments:

Post a Comment