Page 41 - 2022-08-01 Sound & Vision

that disappears when it’s not in commands to raise and lower the
use—and one that doesn’t require
any installation prowess beyond
positioning the case on the floor
and plugging it in.
Elite Screens shipped me a
101-inch version of the Kestrel
in a white housing (there’s also a
121-inch screen size and a black
case option). Both sizes are only
available in a 16:9 aspect ratio. A
cardboard shipping container that
arrived at my doorstep containing
the Kestrel was a bit over 9-feet
wide, making ge ing it into the
house a two-person job, but
once inside, I was able to unbox
and position the screen’s 97 x 4.5
x 6-inch case on my own. The
case is constructed from sturdy
aluminum and features rubber feet
for installation on a wood floor. In
operation, an equally sturdy cross- when it’s extended.
rising spring scissor mechanism
emerges from within to raise the
screen up to the desired height,
and then folds back on itself when
retracting. An aluminum panel
sits on top of the mechanism and
serves as a “lid” when the case is
fully closed up.
There are multiple ways to
operate the Kestrel once it’s
plugged into a power outlet. The
most basic is a switch located on
the le side of the case that lets
you manually raise, lower, and stop
the screen. Two remote handsets
with similar functions provide RF
(radio frequency) and IR (infrared)
wireless control, respectively.
Another option is a wireless RF
trigger dongle that plugs into your
projector’s USB port and sends out
percent so—I noted a slackness
Kestrel synched with your projec-
tor’s power on/off cycle, though I
was unable to get this to work with
the Epson LS-500 model I used for
my evaluation.
The CLR 3 (ceiling light-
rejecting) screen material used
by the Kestrel has a gain of 0.8
and is spec’d for a 170-degree
viewing angle. Like other materials
designed specifically for use with
UST models, it features an optical
coating that is aligned to filter out
light coming from above the screen
while reflecting light coming from
a projector positioned below (this
accounts for the screen’s dark
gray appearance as noted above).
Black backing on the back surface,
meanwhile, blocks out any light
coming from behind the screen
While the CLR 3 does an
impressive job of filtering out
overhead light, it doesn’t have
the same effect on light hi ing
the screen from the le and right
sides—something that regular
ambient light-rejecting (ALR)
screens are designed to do.
For this reason, to get the best
performance out of your setup,
you’ll need to make sure windows
in your viewing room can be
adequately blacked out, and that
any lamps to the sides of the screen
are switched off or dimmed.
The tab-tensioned aspect of
the Kestrel is a simple yet effective
design where a pair of taut strings
run through perforations on the
screen material’s le and right
edges. Effective, but not 100
that caused a slight rippling at the
bo om of the screen on either At a Glance
side. While this was something
that caught my a ention at first, Screen fully retracts when
and was visible when I displayed not in use
full-field gray test pa erns, it wasn't IR and RF remote controls
distracting during regular viewing.
Very good value
The screen is also bordered at the
Slight slackness at screen’s
bo om by black masking material
bottom edges when
that helps enhance contrast and
extended
provide a neat, finished look when
fully extended. Price: $2,320
(562) 483-8198
SETUP elitescreens.com
When I said the Kestrel Tab-
Tension 2 CLR 3 doesn’t require go-rounds also proved the action
any installation prowess, I wasn’t to be consistent—the Kestrel is an
kidding. To get up and running, impressively sturdy and well-made
I simply placed it on a pair of low product for its price.
speaker stands to provide suffi-
cient elevation for alignment with PERFORMANCE
the Epson LS-500 UST projector
I had set up on a 19-inch-high TV Before diving into viewing, I first
stand. Next step: plug it in. (A more drew my windows’ blackout shades
typical installation would have the and shut off the room lights to
screen case positioned directly on perform some measurements.
the floor.) Pulling out the RF remote, With a 0.8 gain, I wasn’t expecting
I raised the screen to roughly match the CLR 3 to deliver crazy levels of
the image beamed by the projector brightness (a screen with a gain
and manually repositioned the spec below 1 is reflecting less
Epson to dial in geometry and light than what’s beamed at it by
focus. That’s it! the projector, primarily to increase
One thing I was concerned contrast) but the 22.7 footlamberts
about before setup was that the ( -L) peak white I measured in SDR
screen wouldn’t be plumb with mode using the Epson LS-500 was
the projector’s lens surface once sufficient for dark-room viewing,
extended. But that didn’t end up and the 30.8 -L it managed with
being the case at all: the spring the projector in HDR mode made
scissor mechanism in back raises things even brighter and be er.
up perfectly flat, allowing for Brightness uniformity was very
easy alignment of the projector good: I measured a maximum
and screen. Multiple raise/lower deviation from the screen’s center
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