If you are looking to create a home theater, the projector is going to cost you anywhere from $1,000 to around $7,000. Spend the bulk of your budget getting the best projector within your price range. The screen showing the image won’t be anywhere near that expensive and it doesn’t need to be. Good screens are to be had for $300 to $800, depending on a few criteria. So buy that awesome lcd projector. Screen considerations come second.
A projector screen is made up of a surface fabric and a support structure. Screens can be permanent, painted on the wall, or mobile. Bright white or gray screens avoid any discoloration to the image, and you’ll see that most manufacturers sell just these two kinds. In real movie theaters the screen’s surface may be either aluminized — which makes it look gray — or a white surface with small glass beads (which creates a great look in uber-dark conditions). Those screens also usually have hundreds of small holes to allow the passage of air. For a home theater you don’t need anything quite this beefy, but it is good to know how the pros do it!
If you have the money and the space, a fixed wall-mounted screen is best.For home theaters, a wide screen ratio of 16:9, is optimal. It will maintain its shape perfectly just like in a movie theater, so that the picture is always true to size and form. You can get a similar effect from a pull-down screen. Either way, these screens will stand out in the space. If it is mounted, well you just have to designate that room as the theater. If it is a pull-down, you may be able to disguise the screen housing so that the room is multi-functional. Many home theater enthusiasts prefer to pay more for a motorized projector screen so that the footprint is minimal when not in use.
You may consider a low-budget alternative and buy a tripod projector screen. It is not ideal in any respect, except for price. You can find used tripod screens for as little as $50. You gain in budget but you lose in quality. You could solve this problem by painting the wall with a special screen paint. A DIY projector screen is easy with screen paint. Top quality paint will run you around $300 a can but it’s easy to use and when not in use as a screen, it looks like a bright white wall. A single can of paint should be more than enough to create your screen.
The brightness of the projected image depends on the ambient light. That is why if you can dedicate a space as your theater, all the better. If you have to share space, try to choose dark colors for the furniture and fabrics in the room. This will help absorb the light that is thrown off by the projector itself, as well as any daylight or outside light filtering in. 
The makers of home theater screens do their best to help out us home owners by creating ever more reflective surfaces for their screens. These days you can find gray screens like those used in professional movie theaters that are available for the home owner. They seem to defy the conventional wisdom of brightness at all cost. But gray screens reflect less light and that means they are great in places with unmanageable ambient light. In addition, your blacks will be closer to true black with the help of the darker screen surface. Which is more important to you? Bright, vibrant color or blacker than black color? That will guide you to buy the right screen.
