Valerion Fresnel ALR Screen Review

The projection screen is an important link in the chain of a projection system. Over the past few years, I have closely followed the development of projection screens, and I must admit that the screen industry never ceases to amaze me with its constant progress.

From simple matte white screens, we have moved on to the remarkable gray ALR screens, which increase contrast by significantly reducing ambient reflections, and finally, to what I call “nanotechnology screens”,” such as the CLR PET crystal screens. These are specialized screens for UST projectors that are equipped with thousands of horizontal stripes that control the direction of the light.

But the evolution on the projection screen industry never stopped and in the last couple of years they developed and finally offer us this unique nanotechnology screen, the Fresnel screen. Before we move on to the main topic of this article, the Valerion Fresnel ALR screen, let’s first explore what the term “Fresnel” means and what it offers.

The name “Fresnel” originates from the French physicist and engineer Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827). Augustin played a crucial role in establishing the wave theory of light, which replaced Newton’s particle-based theory. He also invented the Fresnel lens, a design that used “stepped” reflecting and refracting surfaces to improve the visibility of lighthouses, saving countless lives at sea.

---

A Fresnel lens focuses light by diffraction (refraction), but in a very clever and efficient way. Imagine a typical lens, like a thick magnifying glass. It works by curving its surface to bend light rays and bring them to a focal point. However, thick lenses are heavy and consume a lot of material. Fresnel’s genius idea was to cut this thick lens into thin, circular “steps”,” like a staircase, and flatten it out.

Each step bends the light in the same way as the original curved surface. These steps are carefully shaped so that the lens can focus the light without requiring the full thickness of a conventional lens. This makes Fresnel lenses much lighter, thinner and easier to manufacture without sacrificing effectiveness.

A Fresnel lens looks like this

 

The modern projection screen industry has successfully applied this amazing technology to projection screens. Originally, Fresnel screens were heavy and rigid, but in the last two years engineers in this industry have managed to integrate Fresnel technology into a flexible fabric that can be easily folded and transported.

The concept behind these modern screens is simple: they receive light from the projector and reflect it directly back to the viewer, rather than scattering it in all directions like all the other screens or any projection surfaces do. In addition, light coming from other directions is absorbed rather than reflected.

---

Fresnel screens are available in two main versions: one for UST projectors (ultra-short throw projectors) and one for projectors with a normal projection throw ratio.

Valerion Fresnel ALR Screen

Using this state-of-the-art screen technology, Valerion has developed a Fresnel screen to complement the recently launched VisionMaster projector series. The reviews for the Plus 2 & Pro 2 have already been published here on projectorjunkies.com.

The screen is available in two sizes: 100 and 120 inches. Its specifications and features are nothing short of impressive:

• 1.8dB Gain
• 90-Degree Viewing Angle
• 16:9 Aspect Ratio
• Fresnel Optical Light Rejecting Design
• 85% Overhead and Side Light Rejection
• De-Speckle Design
• Scratch-Resistant and Easy-to-Clean Surface
• Rollable Design
• Optimized for Long Throw Projectors
• Up to 8K Resolution Compatibility

The technology behind this fabric is truly remarkable. It features 8 distinct layers, each playing a critical role in delivering the final result.

---

Unpacking and install the Valerion Fresnel Screen

The screen comes in the most intelligent and well-designed I have ever seen. Inside the box, all the components are neatly arranged in an inner cylinder that holds the rolled-up fabric. The design is so well thought out that all parts of the screen take up minimal space while being fully protected during transportation. Unpacking this screen was truly a unique experience for me.

---

---

The components include numerous aluminum parts and various accessories, while the instructions are minimal. This means that patience and several hours are required for assembly.

---

Fortunately, the quality of the frame is excellent, with the precision of the metal cut and fit scoring a 10 out of 10. Assembly is seamless and trouble-free.

The fabric tensioning system is the best I have ever seen on a frame screen. Instead of using springs attached to holes in the fabric, Valerion has taken a completely different approach.

---

The fabric is threaded onto a small aluminum rod, which is then screwed into the frame with an arched metal tensioner. This design makes it particularly easy to attach the fabric to the frame while ensuring perfect tension.

The fabric is quite thick and stable with its 8 layers, so that it could even be attached to the wall without a frame. An important feature is the transparent coating on the front, which, unlike conventional CLR UST PET crystal fabrics, allows cleaning without damaging it. This ensures the longevity of the screen and gives the owner peace of mind.

---

I personally added Tapo LED strips to the back of the screen’s frame once the installation was complete. The RGB LED strips add a unique esthetic and I highly recommend them to anyone looking to add a framed screen to their space.

They really transform the environment and, why not, contribute to a more comfortable viewing experience.

The Fresnel screen is a special type of screen that requires careful installation because it has a specific orientation. This means that if your projector is placed on a table, the screen must be installed in a certain direction. On the other hand, if the projector is mounted on the ceiling, the Fresnel screen must be reversed to work correctly.

Due to the multiple layers, capturing the Fresnel surface with a microscope is extremely challenging. This is the best shot I managed to take, clearly showing some of the more than 10,000 concentric grooves of the screen. Additionally, the highly reflective surface of the seventh layer is visible, which is the silver coating clearly discernible in the image.

---

Measurements

For my measurements, I used three different projection surfaces: the Valerion Fresnel Screen, a Celexon Classic ALR Screen with 0.8 gain, and the X-Rite white reference card.

The projector I used was the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2, with the laser power set to position 0, the lowest brightness level it can produce.

The projector was calibrated on the X-Rite white reference card to evaluate how the Fresnel Screen affects the image.

X-RITE reference white

---

Celexon ALR screen

---

Valerion Fresnel screen

---

Allow me to analyze the conclusions drawn from these measurements for you

Grayscale temperature & gamma

Here we observe a slight shift in the grayscale temperature towards cooler tones of around 500 Kelvin. From the 6455 Kelvin of the X-Rite white reference card, it shifts to 6924 Kelvin on the Fresnel screen. Essentially, there is a slightly greater “absorption” of the red color, about 5%, which leads to a corresponding increase in the blue color.

The deviation is minimal, with the DeltaE 2000 error increasing from 0.9 to 2.5. This discrepancy can easily be corrected by simply lowering the blue channel by 1-2 points in the RGB settings of the projector. In fact, even without correction, the error is very small and barely noticeable to the viewer’s eyes.

On the other hand, the gamma remains stable over the entire grayscale range, which is VERY important.

Brightness & contrast

Here we have perhaps the most interesting measurement results. The measured brightness levels are as follows:

• X-RITE White Reference: 24.79 FL
• Celexon ALR Screen: 14.2 FL
• Valerion Fresnel Screen: 29.49 FL

This means, compared to the X-Rite reference white:

• There is a 42.92% decrease in brightness on the Celexon ALR screen.
• There is a 19% increase in brightness on the Fresnel screen.

This gives us the following gain factors:

• X-RITE White Reference: Gain 1
• Celexon ALR Screen: Gain 0.57
• Valerion Fresnel Screen: Gain 1.19

Here, I’ll try to clarify something that might be difficult to understand, as simply as possible.

The gain value of a screen refers to the ratio of the brightness of light reflected or transmitted by the fabric of the screen in a specific direction compared to a standard reference surface that reflects light in all directions (a Lambertian surface with a gain of 1, such as a sheet of magnesium carbonate).

There’s nothing magical about projection screens (or there is?) when it comes to the light they reflect, and naturally, no screen can “create” and reflect more light than the original source. So, there are three general rules:

1. The more a screen concentrates the reflected light and directs it toward a specific direction, the higher the gain value becomes.
2. The more a screen diffuses the reflected light and spreads it in all directions, the closer it gets to a gain of 1.
3. The more a screen absorbs light instead of reflecting it, the lower the gain value becomes.

The issue of a surface’s gain is certainly much more complex, but I wouldn’t want to tire you with mathematical formulas and equations. However, I promise to write a specialized article about the reflective properties of screens in relation to the various materials they are made of and their impact on projection performance.

So, a Fresnel screen can be described as a highly light-concentrating screen, much like a Fresnel lens. The “focal” point is the projector lens, and the Fresnel lens is the screen itself. However, in this case, there is also a reflective surface, and the light is returned to its original direction.

There are two ways to increase the concentration of reflected light and, therefore, the gain:

1. Absorptive Material and Reflective Coatings:
   This involves a combination of absorptive materials along with high-reflectivity coatings (usually made from metals like aluminum), which is the classic structure of an ALR screen.

2. Mechanical Light Concentration:
   This method uses micro-prisms (tiny prisms that direct light) or microscopic grooves (organized in geometric patterns, as seen in a Fresnel screen).

In the second case, measuring the gain becomes a more complex process because the light concentration is stronger and more precise.

To accurately measure a Fresnel screen, we need to somehow measure the entire surface, not just a single point. Essentially, to make it clearer, the greater the light concentration a projection screen achieves, the more critical it becomes to measure the entire surface rather than just one specific point.

The measurements I conducted and presented above were taken with the measuring instrument positioned 20 centimeters away from the projection surface. Experimentally, and wanting to confirm the theory, I placed the instrument approximately 2 meters away from the projection surface and took a measurement.

---

The results showed a 37% increase in brightness, and the theoretical gain increased to 1.63. So, I think that the 1.8 gain that Valerion announces for this screen is close to the actual value.

Concerning on/off contrast, the Fresnel screen delivered 12% higher contrast than the Celexon ALR and 23% higher than the white gain 1 X-RITE reference card. How a screen with a 1.8 gain manages to improve contrast so significantly is puzzling, and I honestly cannot explain it.

The 1.8 gain appears to have no impact on black levels (0 IRE), maintaining them exactly at the levels of a gain 1 screen, simply remarkable.

Valerion Fresnel Screen on the Field

First, I’d like to mention that the Fresnel screen is a demanding one. What do I mean?

I mean that the extreme light concentration it offers requires great care in its installation. Since one side of the screen doesn’t provide light rejection (the side facing our projector), it means that if our projector is ceiling-mounted, this “weak” side will also face the ceiling. Consequently, it won’t reject any overhead lighting. For example, if you turn on the lights, the image will be noticeably affected.

Secondly, the screen must be positioned at the correct height (with our eyes roughly at 1/3 of the screen’s height from the bottom). Moreover, viewers need to sit “within” the screen’s optimal viewing area. For instance, if the screen is 2.5 meters wide, only those seated directly in front of it on a 2.5-meter-wide couch will have an optimal viewing experience. Moving beyond the screen’s width immediately results in light rejection, darkening the image significantly—and instantly.

This is the price one must pay to enjoy the benefits this screen offers, such as…

LIGHT!

The moment you turn on your projector for the first time in front of the Valerion Fresnel screen, you’re stunned.

The screen increase the projector’s brightness so much, that it feels like it has gained 2,000–3,000 lumens in an instant.

Since my testing is done with the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2, which is already a true light cannon, I always played with the laser power set to 0. I don’t even dare move it to 1. But even at 0, I wish I could lower the brightness just a bit more if that were possible.

Below are two screenshots taken with the same camera settings (proper expose to the first one). In the first image, the laser is set to its lowest level, at 0. In the second screenshot, the laser is at its maximum power, at level 10. Take a look by yourself what i mean.

Laser (Luminance Level) : 0

---

Laser (Luminance Level) : 10

---

Of course, the image with the laser set to position 10 doesn’t have blown-out whites as it appears in the photo. But I imagine you got a taste of what I mean when I say the screen increases the brightness, didn’t you?

The second huge advantage, in my opinion, is the near elimination of reflections on the walls and in the room in general.

I’m not talking about reflections from ambient lighting but about the light reflected by the screen itself.

The disadvantage I mentioned earlier regarding the limited viewing angle here turns into an advantage.

This screen transforms a typical bright living room with white walls into a bat cave.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s the image: on the right is the Valerion Fresnel, and on the left is the Celexon ALR.

---

Although the image on the Fresnel screen is brighter, the reflections on the wall right next to the screen are less noticeable. And keep in mind, in this photo, I’m comparing it with a top-tier ALR screen, in my opinion, which already does an excellent job managing such reflections. Now imagine the difference if it were a white screen with a gain of 1.

The Valerion Fresnel screen directs all the light it receives from the projector straight towards the viewer, with almost no photons escaping to the sides. This makes it the ideal choice for small spaces where the walls are close to the screen.

This unique capability of the Valerion Fresnel screen led me to a reasonable question after several days of watching and testing. Find out how the image remains so bright from edge to edge! So I decided to measure the screen at various points to see if there was any brightness discrepancy between the edges and the center. The result left me astonished.

The screen seems to has higher reflectivity and light concentration at the edges compared to the center, effectively correcting even the lens light uniformity. The result? Identical brightness measurements at the edges of the screen compared to the center.

Here are two of the measurements:

---

Ambient light rejection

Here, I won’t bore you with measurements and numbers. I’ll simply tell you that this screen does exactly what it claims (85% side light rejection). However, the key point isn’t just that. Due to its extremely narrow viewing angle, the side light rejection begins very early, at very small angles, effectively rejecting light from sources that aren’t at particularly steep angles relative to the screen surface.

The three screenshots you’ll see are completely unedited. I emphasize this because even I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when reviewing the footage I captured with my camera.

I placed the X-RITE white reference card to give you a clear view of how the Valerion Fresnel screen rejects light.

Here you can see how brighter is the Fresnel screen compare to the white gain 1 card.

---

From this angle, you can clearly see that the Fresnel screen starts to darken, this is where the light rejection begins.

---

And here, the Fresnel screen transforms into an almost black surface.

---

Contrast

When you have a screen that boosts brightness so much, do you expect good contrast? Normally not, but here we play by different rules — the rules of Augustin-Jean Fresnel.

The increase in brightness and gain here is not achieved by “artificial” means, such as highly reflective materials on the screen. There are no glittering microparticles involved. The boost comes from the Fresnel ridges, which simply reflect the light straight back without letting it escape to the sides. I would call this a “natural” way to increase brightness and gain.

The result is that while our image is incredibly bright, the black levels remain unaffected, mathematically leading to an increase in the on/off contrast.

---

---

But even this increase in on/off contrast isn’t the most significant part of the story here. The dramatic boost in ANSI contrast is perhaps the biggest advantage this screen offers.

The circular Fresnel ridges effectively isolate the pixels in the image, preventing one from affecting the other. So, if we have two adjacent pixels—one white and one black—the white pixel cannot “spill over” into the black pixel’s area because a Fresnel ridge acts as a barrier between them.

---

This also applies to CLR screens for UST projectors, but there it only applies to pixels above and below, as the horizontal ridges allow interaction between side-by-side pixels of different brightness. In the Fresnel screen, however, isolation occurs across all axes, leading to an unprecedented increase in ANSI contrast.

As a result, the image you see on the Valerion Fresnel screen appears more textured and three-dimensional than any other screen technology currently available on the market.

The following screenshot was taken with the Valerion Pro 2 EBL function off and the laser brightness was set to 0.

---

Negatives – Laser Speckle

Unfortunately, the Valerion Fresnel screen does not dramatically improve the laser speckle effect, which is a common issue for all pure RGB laser projectors.

While the speckle effect is noticeably reduced compared to a standard ALR screen, it does not reach the performance levels of CLR PET crystal screens designed for UST projectors. To make this clearer, I’ll assign a score to each technology based on their ability to mitigate the laser speckle effect:

• PET Crystal CLR: 8/10
• Fresnel: 6/10
• ALR: 4/10

Another drawback I want to point out is the limited viewing angle, which makes the Valerion Fresnel screen unsuitable for large spaces where viewers may be seated outside the screen’s width. This is something any potential buyer should seriously consider.

I cannot attribute any other negatives to the Valerion Fresnel screen because, quite simply, there aren’t any.

As always, here is a “Christmas” video for all of you. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! ✨

Conclusion

The Valerion Fresnel ALR screen represents a significant leap forward in screen technology. By integrating Fresnel technology into a rollable and portable design, it offers a level of performance in combination with the ease of transport and installation that was previously unimaginable. This screen not only boost brightness and contrast but redefines the possibilities of home theater projection by overcoming challenges such as ambient light suppression and pixel to pixel isolation with unparalleled precision, maximizing the ANSI contrast of the image.

Its ability to boost brightness without compromising black level or overall contrast is nothing short of revolutionary. 

It should be noted, however, that this level of performance requires careful installation and correct alignment. Those willing to invest the time and effort will be rewarded with a cinematic experience that rivals or even surpasses any screen, of any technology that exists on the market today.

Personally, my setup with the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 combined with the Valerion Fresnel screen is one of the most powerful setups I’ve ever had installed in my space, and for the time being, I’m enjoying it daily.

---

In the Valerion Fresnel screen, i see the perfect marriage of science and nanotechnology, offering an experience that is as innovative as it is impressive. For anyone looking to upgrade or build their projection setup, this screen is not just an option, it’s a must.

 

Nikos Tsolas