What part of your home theater do your eyes spend more time on than anything? Why the projector screen of course! Audio Advice has designed and installed over 1,000 home theaters with every level of screen you can imagine from entry-level to extremely expensive high-performance transparent screens better than most movie theaters.

Most of our custom installed home theaters use Stewart Filmscreens who make most of the screens used in commercial movie theaters and flight simulators around the world — they are the gold standard in screens. However, as our DIY customer base has grown dramatically across the country, we’ve simultaneously worked hard to provide a good price-to-performance screen option for DIYs. This is where EPV Screens excel.

EPV Screens is squarely positioned for the cost-conscious do-it-yourselfer who wants to get the best bang for the buck without breaking the bank. EVP Screens was able to get the cost down in their screens by focusing production on the most noticeable and impactful part of the screens so the viewer gets good performance without the hot-spotting or sparkling that exists in so many entry-level screens.

A good screen is a long term investment. While projector technology will change and you will likely upgrade your projector over time, most people keep their screens for decades. So we usually recommend you get the best one possible within your budget. For most DIY customers EVP Screens are the ideal choice as they represent the very best technology and screen you can get for their lower price point.

If you have an interest in learning more about projector screens in general, please check out our article on-screen materials, How to Choose The Best Front Projection Home Theater Screen. For those of you trying to decide between a 2.35 screen or 16:9 screen, we have a great article detailing the pros & cons of a widescreen home theater system.

Let’s take a look at the models to help you decide which one is the best match for your dream home theater system.

EPV Prime Vision ISF Home Theater Screens

In the video world, getting certification from the Imaging Science Foundation is like getting a gold star on your homework. This is an industry trade group that tests consumer video gear to make sure it meets a very high level of standards for performance.

EPV’s Prime Vision ISF screens meet these rigorous standards and offer great performance for the money. With an ISF screen, you know you will be getting accurate color, excellent color balance, great contrast, and a wide viewing angle.

These are available in several standard 16:9 sizes from 100” to 200” diagonal and 2.35 aspect ratio models in 138” and 158” diagonal. When you can buy a 100” ISF certified 16:9 screen for under $1,000 you have a great value, which is what the EPV Screens are all about.

EPV calls their matte white screen material ChromaWhite ISF and it has a gain of 1.25 making it perfect for most of today’s front projectors. The Prime Vision screens come with a hand wrapped 2.4” black velvet border. In our opinion, having this light-absorbing border gives the image more “pop” and we highly recommend this version.

ISF examines screens for an even dispersion of the light coming off the screen. The ChromaWhite ISF can give you up to 180 degrees of perfect uniformity for a great picture even very far off-axis. These screens are also HDR and even 8K ready.

Their lightweight aluminum frame comes apart so it is easy to bring the screen through a tight space to your theater room. For the DIY installer, the installation brackets are adjustable horizontally giving you total flexibility in hitting the studs in your wall. The screen itself is also very easy to assemble.

You just can’t beat these for the money when it comes to a great value front projection screen that will be perfect for many DIY home theater projects.

EPV Prime Vision eFinity Home Theater Screens

These models have the exact same material as the Prime Vision ISF but in a more stylish frame. If you want your projection screen to have a similar appearance to a flat panel TV, the eFinity models may be just the ticket. The black aluminum bezel is only 5.1mm wide, which is about the same as a flat-panel TV.

These do not come in as many sizes as the standard Prime Vision, topping out at a 150” 16:9. We have to tell you they are a bit more difficult to assemble and you have to really nail your projector’s focus when you use a zero-edge screen like this, but in the right space, the look is just super cool.

The screen even comes with a remote-controlled 6 color LED light kit you can install around the outer back perimeter of the screen. With the credit card remote, you can set this up from anywhere to a soft white glow to a strobing, multicolor effect.

While these do cost about 75% more than a Prime Vision ISF in the same size, the cool factor is pretty hard to beat for their cost.

EPV Polar Star Series Home Theater Screens

For a room where you cannot control the lighting, a light rejecting screen will give you a much better experience. EPV developed a material they call Polar Star for this application. Like their ChromaWhite, the Polar Star is also ISF certified. This material rejects up to 85% of ambient light that might be hitting the screen and offers great contrast.

It is one of the very few light-rejecting screen materials on the market to achieve ISF certification. We like the fact it has a gain of 1.3 as opposed to many screens of the same type that have less gain.

This material is a wonderful choice for a family room or an all-purpose media room. It has great color fidelity and contrast. You and your guests will be able to enjoy a great picture even with the lights on in your family room with the Polar Star series.

Like the Prime Vision models, the Polar Star SE 16:9 is available with a standard 2.4” black velvet bezel, or you can choose an edge-free version they call Polar Star eFinity. This series offers more versions of the eFinity and you can only get the 2.35 sizes in the eFinity version.

Assembly is the same as the Prime Vision, but we do recommend, for this type of screen, that your projector be at least 1.5 times the screen width from the screen for best performance.

EPV AcousticPro 4K Series Home Theater Screens

Commercial movie theaters all use an acoustically transparent screen that allows them to place the front speakers behind the screen, making the sound seem like it is coming right out of the screen. You just can not beat this effect for a home theater!

EPV uses its AcousticPro 4K material for this line of acoustically transparent screens. The material is a flat tight weave with great video and audio properties. Some acoustic screens can have a moire effect but the AcousticPro 4K woven material is free from this artifact. You can also place your speakers right behind the screen with no need for spacing them out 8-12” away from the screen as some other screen materials require.

If you want that great experience of the sound coming right from the screen, these are a great value.

As you might have guessed, they come with the same options as the other models with EPV offering both the standard bezel and edge-free type. The same things we pointed out on ease of assembly apply here.

EPV offers these in their largest variety of sizes of any of their screens with something for just about everyone.

We do need to point out an acoustically transparent screen has less gain than one that is not. These have a gain of 1.0. This means you will need a projector with more lumens to get the same perceived brightness as their Prime Vision series. As long as you stay under 150” you will probably be fine with most entry to mid-level front projectors. If you have any questions at all about matching this type of screen to your system or projector, give us a call or chat with our home theater design experts.

Overall Recommendation

As you can see, EPV has a screen to fit just about any application. Most of them are very easy to install for the DIY project and offer just incredible performance for the money. The question for many people will be figuring out the best screen size for their room. If you are designing your theater or trying to find the right screen size, visit Home Theater Central where you can utilize our free Interactive Home Theater Design Tool. This tool will not only help you determine your optimal screen size and projector location but also maps out the ideal placement for all of your speakers and seating. This is a complete and easy to use tool that is perfect for planning your own DIY home theater.