Projection surface in cinema — white or silver coating reflects light evenly. Size and gain determine brightness and viewing angle.
The screen is the foundation of every cinematic experience—and it's far less neutral than most people believe. What hangs up front not only determines how bright your image looks, but also who can even see it. The material, the coating, the size—every decision has consequences for your entire image design.
The screen gain is the critical concept here. A white, matte surface (Gain 1.0) reflects light diffusely and evenly in all directions—perfect for large cinemas with a wide auditorium, where you still need to discern details from seats far to the left or right. A silver or perforated screen with higher gain (1.3–2.5) concentrates the reflected light more strongly on the central viewing area. This makes the image brighter and more contrasty, but only if you are within the optimal angle. Side seats suffer. This is not an aesthetic phenomenon—it's physics, and you have to make a choice about it.
On set, you notice this indirectly: your lighting setup is partly determined by the expected screen. A film for a smaller arthouse cinema with a high-gloss screen requires different exposure values than a large IMAX production. The dynamic range you achieve, the detail rendering in shadows and highlights—all of this is filtered by the projection surface. A rougher, low-gain screen is more forgiving of overexposed highlights; a reflective surface reveals every flaw. If you are working with DCP mastering, you must keep these variables in mind. The Digital Intermediate is created on reference monitors, not in actual cinema seats—simulating a screen there is an approximation.
The physical size also has an impact on your composition. A wide IMAX format allows for large-scale, horizontal image design. A smaller, more square auditorium requires more centered, intimate framing decisions. The screen dictates how your audience sees the world—not metaphorically, but spatially.