Screen supplier Screen Innovations has formally announced availability of CarbonBlack Hybrid Pro, a revolutionary screen material that offers high contrast in bright environments and is touted as a cost-effective alternative to LED video walls.

SI CarbonBlack Adele main
"Weekend with Adele," image ©Treatment, LTD, all rights reserved.

The release follows SI's announcement at last year's InfoComm show that it had partnered with CarbonBlack Technology to distribute the latest iterations of the material developed by company founder Liam Mahon in the Netherlands. Unlike traditional reflective materials, CarbonBlack's nanotechnology causes the carbon-based screen surface to throw off light when excited specifically by laser-driven projections. ProjectorCentral first reported on the material after seeing a demo at the 2021 InfoComm.

As we've previously reported and SI currently promotes, the black material has some unique attributes that make it especially attractive for large venues, starting with a claimed 95% retention of contrast in high ambient light. It travels well, as it is foldable, and it is flexible for easy stretching around frame members, thereby reducing setup and break-down labor for touring productions. It can be manufactured natively at up to 16 x 99 feet, and even larger displays can be created by stitching if required; effective edge-blending is achievable for multi-projector installations. Viewing angle is a wide 160-degrees horizontally and, notably, also vertically—meaning that audiences looking up at the screen typically do not experience a loss of image quality as they might with traditional ALR screens, and the material supports projection from above or below. CarbonBlack is similarly agnostic to lens type, so it performs equally well with standard-, short-, or even ultra-short throw lenses. An acoustically-transparent version is also available.

These qualities have helped CarbonBlack gain a stage presence in Adeles's "Weekend with Adele" residency at the Caesers Palace Colosseum in Las Vegas, though SI is making the material available to accommodate a range of commercial and residential installations. It can be cut in any shape or size, and can be mounted via SI's wide range of screen assemblies.

In its announcement, SI founder Ryan Gustafson commented that "CarbonBlack is a dream come true for large scale commercial venues. No one has ever seen a black projection screen that performs just like a white screen. Now dealers can sell massive native 4K+ images at fractions of the cost of LED light wall, while maintain the flexibility and upgradability for the future."

 
Comments (4) Post a Comment
Paul Posted Feb 27, 2024 9:50 AM PST
I was curious to find out if this might be a good replacement for the 110" SI Black Diamond I have in a non-dedicated HT setup. Local shop told me per their conversation with SI that this is much more oriented toward large commercial spaces/venues and requires typically 10k lumens. The recommendation for my 110" screen size would be a minimum of 5800 lumens, ideally more. Unfortunately, a true black screen for home use seems to be still in the future.
Rob Sabin, Editor Posted Feb 27, 2024 10:01 AM PST
Paul, your shop's conversation with SI confirms what I know prior about the CarbonBlack material: it requires pumping a ton of laser-projected brightness into the screen to look its best. It could be a good solution for a high-end ambient-light residential application if mated with a high-power Christie or Barco, but is primarily geared to large venue.
Mike Posted Feb 29, 2024 6:12 AM PST
Based on your comments, and Paul’s research, that would put the gain at about 0.15 give or take. Do you know if it has to be strictly a tri-laser, or would it work with phosphor driven images?
Rob Sabin, Editor Posted Feb 29, 2024 7:03 AM PST
Mike, I do recall from some earlier research that it is indeed an extremely negative gain material as logic would suggest. I don't know if it requires RGB or performs better with it, but I have only seen it demo'd with bright RGB projectors from either Christie or Barco.

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