Since the light-rejection technology is not simply a film or coating, but layers of film bonded to a thick aluminum backing (fixed screens only), the screen itself is rigid and able to be cleaned by common household products like Windex, something you should never do with traditional screens. Also, because of its rigid structure, the screen itself can be configured in a variety of ways, including curved with zero flex, wrinkles or flat spots, which is yet another feat no other screen manufacturer can claim. For manual or motorized drop-down/up screens, the surface is obviously not 100 percent rigid, but it still utilizes dnp's proprietary seven-layer structure that rejects ambient or overhead light.

Additional Resources

• Learn about other top screen products at HomeTheaterReview.com
• Discuss screens at HomeTheaterSpot.com
• Find your nearest dnp dealer
  

Focusing on the Supernova technology for a moment, beyond its seven-layer construction and ambient light-rejection capabilities, its black color layer allows the Supernova Epic to achieve superior contrast and color reproduction levels compared to the competition in both ambient and lightless conditions. The Supernova Epic is a 0.8 gain screen, making it ideal for a wide variety of front projectors, even those with seemingly low light output. Because of its superior color and contrast reproduction, as well as the fact that the Supernova material is completely color neutral, the Supernova screen is ISF certified. The Supernova material also allows for content to be viewed at a wider angle (up to 178 degrees) than traditional screens, meaning everyone in your theater or media room can enjoy the show regardless of where they're sitting.

While the Supernova classification deals only with the screen material itself, the Epic moniker is a whole other ball of wax and is equally impressive. The Supernova Epic is a native 2.40:1 screen that features pre-programmed auto-masking for a variety of standard aspect ratios, such as 4:3, 16:9, 1.85:1 and 2.35:1, as well as customizable aspect ratios, should you require them. The Epic's auto-masking utilizes two thin but rigid velvet curtains that open or close silently at the touch of a button or when commanded via a system controller (RS-232) or 12-volt trigger. The curtains can close completely, another feat few auto-masking screens can claim, for a true old-school cinematic presentation. The Epic comes in a variety of sizes, starting at 96 inches diagonal and ranging up to 156 inches. Custom sizes are also available, should you need something a bit larger. Prices start at around $16,500 for the smallest Epic screen and go up to around $26,000, depending on size and how you have your particular Epic screen configured.

The Supernova Epic can be wall-mounted or placed on a custom stand that dnp also manufactures. Obviously, you can have a custom furniture maker build something to accommodate the Epic's substantial girth as well. The wall mount retails for $535 and the custom stand ranges in price (depending on size) from $2,756 to $3,444. The Epic stand is an attractive aluminum structure that is very modern in appearance and sits low to the ground to ensure the proper height when viewing the screen from a seated position. All standard-size dnp screens come from the factory preassembled and ready for viewing, which is a wonderful feature; however, this does add a bit to the cost of shipping. A 156-inch diagonal dnp Supernova Epic will run roughly $2,300 to ship from Denmark to your door. Obviously, stand-mounting the Epic is the simplest way to go. Should you choose to wall-mount the massive screen, you'll want to employ the help of a custom installer, for the Epic weighs close to 300 pounds and should be built into a wall as opposed to being hung like a picture on top of it. Another reason why dnp recommends recessing the Epic screen into your wall is because of its nearly 12 inches of depth, which is necessary for accommodating its curving radius and auto-masking system.

The Hookup
Because the dnp Supernova Epic is so, well, epic, I was unable to demo it in my own home. I instead traveled to dnp's North American headquarters in Irvine, California for this review and my testing. I was able to view and demo a myriad of products that dnp is currently offering for the home and commercial markets, while calling the shots on my own sort of torture test, using some of my favorite demo software, comparing other screen materials and testing different lighting scenarios. Besides logistics, there was no way I could get this level of testing in my home lab.

dnp had a 132-inch Supernova Epic screen in their showroom situated on their custom floor stand, accompanied by a Digital Projection DLP-based projector with an anamorphic lens adapter capable of displaying a true 2.40:1 aspect ratio image. The seating position was approximately eight to ten feet from the center of the screen, with the projector resting a few feet beyond that. dnp was kind enough to have a 5.1 speaker system on hand for my review; however, I paid it little to no mind, for this was going to be a demonstration of the Supernova Epic's capabilities, not the speaker's.

The room was set up to control light and could be turned into a "man cave" at a moment's notice. There were numerous light sources, including nasty fluorescent lights, located throughout the room to demonstrate the Supernova's ability to reject harsh and ambient lighting conditions.

After I got the grand tour and a complete rundown of dnp and its vast product line, it was time for the main event.

Performance
I kicked things off with Cars (Disney) on Blu-ray disc and, within moments, Disney's iconic castle logo burst onto the screen. In order to test the Supernova material's light-rejecting prowess, I requested that the lights be left on. The image was shockingly bright, with tremendous detail and definition, despite the viewing conditions. Was it LCD or LED HDTV bright? No. However, for a front-projection set-up and given the conditions, the image quality was very impressive. The open scene of Cars features several black frames appearing between flashes of action as the lead character, Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), psyches himself up for the big race. The black frames were not completely black, but rather a very dark shade of grey (the screen's actual color) in the brightly lit room. It was during these dark frames that I noticed just how effective the Supernova material was at rejecting direct overhead light. Positioned above the Epic screen were two large banks of industrial fluorescent lights that were running at full tilt. While their presence was annoying (I hate all fluorescent lighting), they had no impact on the image itself. There was no visible light spill or reflection on the Supernova surface whatsoever. Also, the ambient light rushing in from the sides via a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows had little to no effect on the image. Truth be told, the fact that any image was visible under these conditions, let alone one that could be enjoyed, was astonishing. dnp states that the Supernova material was designed to perform, and perform well, in these conditions, because they feel it's unreasonable to expect every consumer who purchases a product to build a "man cave" around it.

Content with the Supernova Epic's performance under bright lights, I went ahead and had the house lights brought down to an ambient level, which consisted of closing the shades on the windows and turning off the fluorescent lights overhead. The room was still bright enough to read and write comfortably without fatigue. With Cars still playing, the image took on a new level of saturation, detail and punch overall. Black levels improved, getting dangerously close to true black, even in the ambient light conditions. It was at this point I took a large swatch of unity gain material dnp had on hand and held it up in front of the Epic screen. Wow. The image virtually disappeared when projected onto the unity gain surface. The side-by-side comparison wasn't so much a comparison as it was a statement of Supernova's superiority over traditional screen materials. It appeared as if I had cut out a section of the Epic screen and the image was displaying through the hole on the wall behind it. I removed the unity gain material and balance was again restored.

Read more on Page 2.