Projecting Black,
projecting on Black.
Lets face it, you can not project black. Black is nothing,
when it comes to projection or image display.
(Though you can get different definition of black, depending
who you ask. The scientist or the Artist).
You can print black by distributing toner or ink on paper,
but you can not project it.
When black is in your image, there is nothing and no light
will go though. Therefore on the projection screen is nothing. At least that
should be the case.
In reality you see however reflection of ambient light,
other light sources which hit the screen surface and the bleed from the light
source through the LCD or DLP.
So you have no true black. The a similar effect you get with
dark tones colours, browns, blues, red's, etc..
Except for OLED and LED, you cannot have true black on your LCD
or projection screen.
But OLED and LED are not always available, suitable or
affordable for your applications. LCD is limited by its shape. Projection
however can be used almost everywhere. It can be shaped around objects and
sized to suit your application.
Projection offers unlimited creative possibilities, just
look at the Mori Building Digital Art Museum in Tokyo, with over 400 projectors
installed.
But even at smaller scale projection has many benefits which
are often overlooked in our craze for 'most modern' technology, suitable or
not.
Traditionally projection is done on a white projection
surface, which by design will reflect any (all) light. Projector, room light,
exit-sign light, etc. Therefore all the time you want black on the screen, you
get to see some light. This may not be a problem at a PowerPoint presentation;
buy definitely reduces the image impact when you project videos or pictures.
Colours appear flat and the image seems not so sharp. Why bother with 4K and 8K
if the projected image appears inferior?
Sharpness is perception. Our eyes give the impression of
increased sharpness if the picture contrast is high. But with all this
erroneous light, the image looks flat and has low contrast. A no win situation.
Using grey projection surfaces will help improving the
situation, but they do not look so nice once there is no projected image.
Black screen material is the answer. Black screens are
designed to reflect the projected light, but will absorb the ambient; the stray
light.
So go to Bunning’s and buy a can of black paint. Or?
No, this is not really the solution. Of course you will get
a picture, but it appears flat and unimpressive, dull and dark, because the
paint will not reflect any light.
Black projection screens and Black projection paint are
formulated to reflect the projected light, but absorb non directional light.
They are similar to ALR surfaces, but can be made large and differ in price
(usually lower).
Actually the Projection Paint is also not really black. More
a dark charcoal with some faint highlights’.
It looks actually really smart.
Being a paint, it can be applied not only to walls and flat
surfaces, it is great on objects too.
But Black PVC or Acrylic projection screens are really
black. They look fantastic, in particular if you use rear projection, so that
nobody can see the projector.
These screens just blend into the background, a real bonus
in stage performances.
But Black screens are great also for Museums, Galleries,
Corporate environments and even Home Theatre.
If you don't have the space for rear projection, Black
surfaces are available for front projection too.
Imagine the surprise of your audience, if suddenly on the
apparently Black surface an image appears. In bright, brilliant colours. Fantastic
to look at.
In fact, Black projection has great advantage for the
corporate world as well when ambient light cannot be switched off or turned
down. It will still work beautifully.
But what about the projector? Do I need much more light?
Admittedly, Black screens absorb light and that should be
compensated with more powerful projectors. But often instead using a 2500 lumen
unit, you use a 3500 lumen one and that is more then enough. Nowadays the price
difference is small and being Laser projectors, they will last for a long time.
So if next time, someone tells you it is not possible to
project on Black, just smile, you know better.
