Very well made, quite,looks great,gives the room a real professional look, the finish looks great as well,easy to install measurements is fine once converted to inches

First, the good. This thing looks amazing once installed. Comes with all the parts you'd need for any situation and it all feels high quality. Packaging is excellent. I'm using the 12v trigger, which works perfectly. When the screen comes down when I turn on the projector, it's a beautiful sight. It's not silent, but not so loud that it wakes up the house.

I have a lot of criticisms but know it's out of love. You've got a great product here and a few very inexpensive changes could make it even better.

1. The instructions, which you can download on the product page, are totally unacceptable. They were written by someone with little technical expertise and even less proficiency with English. Diagrams are confusing or missing.

2. No cut-out template. I don't know about anyone else, but I find it pretty difficult to measure and cut the ceiling properly (drywall). It's just hard to do that while inverted without some kind of laser sight. A 50-cent piece of cardboard with the exact cutout dimensions on it that I could tape to the ceiling would have saved me a lot of time and aggravation.

3. The lip around the edge of the screen case sticks out less than a quarter inch from the edge of the case. That's just too small and means there's very little room for error when making your cuts.

4. Screen adjustment is criminally under-documented. The instructions have pages and pages describing how to mount this thing in different scenarios, all of which requires some real skill. And then comes the part on adjusting the upper and lower limit and it decides you should seek a professional. Is that a cruel joke? There are two small socket holes used to change the upper and lower limits of the screen when retracted and extended. Except the instructions don't say which is which. I started a Live Chat with someone from Monoprice, who, to his credit, was responsive and eager to help. He referred me to an image that showed the answer. http://imgur.com/CedEr8F After some more experimentation, I found the image to be exactly opposite of how my screen's socket holes worked. I get that this part is dangerous to the motor and screen. So have all the caveats you want, but if I'm technical enough to mount a 70 lb. screen in my ceiling, I think I can handle turning some screws in small increments.

5. Lastly, and this is more of a caveat than a criticism, but installing this without access to the area above the screen (like the attic) seems quite difficult. A talented contractor could probably find a way, but I wouldn't be able to do this if I couldn't crawl into the ceiling and ratchet it up.

If you have a good spot for it, you won’t find another screen that’s more affordable and works as well as this. Just be prepared to get a little frustrated when installing it.

There is no junction box for this unit. That is you will have to use the hardwired AC adapter that is connected to the Somfy Motor. We purchased for a conference room build-out and while it fits and runs fine, it means we will be left with an ugly black cable hanging down the wall or going into the ceiling tile (if we move an outlet).



Monoprice should make their buyers aware that you cannot convert this to be wired to electrical system and placed in the ceiling. So what you are left with is a ceiling recessed piece of useless trash that they won't take back after 30 days.

PROS: The price was great, the remote control functionality was wonderful and the shipping was fast.

CONS:

Not proper wiring to place in a ceiling mount projection screen. This would function in a cabinet environment only.

I bought this screen for my basement room, coupled to my new Epson 8350.
It was quite a weekend project (2 full days) to do both the screen and the projector. My biggest issue (as is everyone's I guess) is routing power to the projector/screen. For the projector I hid the recepticle in the ceiling void next to the screen, but left a blank double plate for access reasons (will paint this same ceiling colour). You should check legality of this for your area, and if in doubt, consult a qualified electrician!

The instructions were not very good. It seemed like every one of measurements was incorrect. I carefully check the size/model table on the back page, and could not find any of the models listed that matched my measurement. I have the 16:9 120" recessed version, but still nothing matched (in particular the L length which is critical). So take your measurements VERY carefully, or you may end up with a bigger hole than you really wanted!
The instructions are also not really Canadian/US friendly either when it comes to ceiling/joint construction. Luckily I have a suspended gyproc ceiling in my basement (makes things a bit easier with a 2' void), but like many other reviewers, I had to be very creative with the moutning of the brackets. I ended up creating a wood structure that allows both X-Y movement of the bolts whilst suspend from the beams. This made the positioning of the bolts a snap. I can provide details if you wish, but it would be nice if the box came with a simple steal version of this rig for those of us who don't have concrete floor above.
When tightened up, my sliding mount is not going to move. Unfortunately I had the bolts a little too long, which cause issues with the remote/trigger plug not fitting inthe sockets. A dremmel cutter solved that issue. I wasn't going to remove the screen once in place, as its took 3 people to do this. Tightening up a nut on a bolt that is free to rotate is tricky, especially when holding a 70lb projector on your head!

I was (and still am) a little confused why is has an external IR receiver. Why not include that in the mount itself, flush with the ceiling. Without this plugged into the unit, the remote has to point directly under the motor unit. Going to use the trigger instead so no big deal.

The black screen-weight is still visible when fully retracted which was a bit of a surprise. I thought it had a white plate that filled the entire slot, but no. Also a little puzzled why there is no cover plate for the sides under the motor unit. This would have provided a more neat solutiuon.

Anyway, after a tiring weekend work, it was all worth it. Avatar blue-ray was absolutely stunning. Very glad I took this route as apposed to buying a 70" LCD for about the same price (as projector/screen).

PROS: Great Price
Great Picture
Professional looking finish

CONS: Bad instructions
Measurements were incorrect

Great product, great price, quite, smooth, looks professional. See my installation of this product at on YouTube!
link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbIaQeJHbog

- Paul


PROS: Great value.

CONS: Doesn't completely disappear into white ceiling.

I am extremely pleased with this screen. It has a lot of high end features for the price (such as the IR remote control and the ability to hook it right into your projector so it lowers when you turn your projector on).
I am using an epson 8700ub projector and the results with this screen have been fantastic. The installation did take a little bit of time as I had to build blocks in the joist spaces, so I could attach the brackets to them. I also had to cut the extremely long bolts that hold the screen in place as they were so long that they came below the ceiling.
Other than that, after measuring everything carefully, it installed like a dream.
I was previously projecting onto a beige wall (which suprisingly looked very good), but once this screen was installed, the images appeared much brighter and I no longer had to use the dynamic mode when watching sports and movies (which will help my bulb life).

My screen box had some scratches on it when it arrived, but customer service was great to deal with and offered me a discount, which I graciously accepted. I touched the scratches up with some modelling paint and you cannot even tell anymore.

Overall, very happy with this purchase and would highly recommend. Great value.

PROS: Great screen for the price. Easy to install with 2 people.

CONS: screen adjustments can be a bit tricky

I am using this screen with a relatively low-end EPSON 8350 projector and it works great! Using the EPSON 8350 and this screen, I will tell you that unless you run the 8350 on dynamic mode (maximum lumens), you will need a dark room. Any light in the room will take away from the picture quality. As I said you can compensate by using Dynamic mode on the projector but being cheap I don't want to run down the projector lamp fast.

I can not comment on more technical details on the picture contrast and quality etc. as I am not knowledgeable enough nor have I tried other screens to tell a difference. Having done limited research online prior to making this purchase, I can only tell you that nothing comes close at this price in terms of product quality and customer service.

Due to the size (and perhaps weight?) the screen ships UPS freight (An 18 wheeler showed up at my home). Due to mishap first time around the screen arrived damaged (cosmetic damage to the plastic bezel). But thanks to monoprice great customer service, a replacement screen was sent asap.

Installation was fun as I wanted the screen flush mounted inside the (sheetrock) ceiling on my 30 year old house. Using the dimensions found in the instructions, I first checked ceiling joists orientation (with aide of a good stud finder, if you are lucky the joist orientation would be parallel to how you'd like your projection screen mounted). Then I cut a rectangular hole in the ceiling sheetrock between two ceiling joists. Easy. Now it was time to figure out how to mount the projection screen into to hole I had just cut. The screen mounts via just two bolts through two pre-cut holes on the top of the projection screen assembly near both ends. You hang the two long bolts through a hanging bracket (?) that you are supposed to mount to the ceiling (since in my case I was mounting inside a cavity I had cut to make it flush with my ceiling, this meant the bracket had to be mounted inside the cavity and right into the bottom of my second story floorboard) I didn't want to screw in the brackets risking the screws popping out through the second story floorboard, I instead first mounted two 2x4s by anchoring them to the joists and then screwed in the mounts onto the 2x4's (keeping them the right distance as specified in the manual). Good enough. Then with help of a second person, I slid the projection screen assembly through the rectangular hole and the hanging bolts aligned right through the two holes and I using the supplied nut, I tightened it enough to where the plastic bezel was flush with the ceiling sheet rock.

Part that I skipped mentioning was the fact that I also installed an electric outlet inside the cavity so that I didn't have the power cord hanging out side. (You should check your local codes/rules on doing such wiring and perhaps use a professional electrician for this). I also ran the supplied remote trigger wire though the ceiling and to the projector's trigger-out (this controls the screen up/down automatically).

I have had it mounted and running for a few months now and am extremely happy with it. The screen disappears into the ceiling when not in use and leaves the window on the wall behind it and the plasma tv mounted right under the window both completely exposed.

Now if monoprice would offer a retractable projector mount, that would be great!






PROS: Decent screen for a decent price!

CONS: NONE!

I had been eyeballing this screen since I first bought my projector (Epson 8350). I was originally projecting onto my wall but it was painted a cream color. I decided to take the plunge and purchase this screen and am glad I did. The picture is brighter and has higher contrast. Before I had to use Dynamic mode while projecting on the wall to keep the brightness at a satisfactory level. Know I am able to adjust the color settings to my likeing and actually see a differenceThe installation was time consuming (triple check your measurements!) I pretty much had to fabricate my own bridge bracket between the studs in my ceiling to mount this. Overall for the price/quality ratio this is an excellent screen! Another great quality product from monoprice!

PROS: Large viewing area. Recessed in my opinion is the only way to go! screen positioning adjustment is dead on! the ability to connect the tigger out directly to my projector so is automatically lowers/retracts when the unit powers on and off is convenient.

CONS: Instructions did not include home/drywall ceiling applications. Smells like acetone when first lowered.