The Complete Guide to Open Air Cinema Screens 3 Lineups

Since 2001, Open Air Cinema has been manufacturing outdoor inflatable screens in Utah. For almost two decades now there has been three lineups to choose from: Home, Pro and Elite.

Open Air Cinema screens common features

sizes

Different inflatable screen manufacturers have different measurements to differentiate their screen sizes. Open Air Cinema uses projection surface width as a standard way to differentiate between the screen sizes that the Utah company offers. This metric does not include the dimensions of the inflatable frame.

This is meant to make an event manager's life easier since you are immediately told the size of the projected image when shopping for outdoor movie screens by this screen manufacturer. But if you are faced with limited space of your venue you want to take the inflatable structure dimensions into account.

Aspect ratio

All Open Air Cinema screens are made according to 16:9 aspect ratio. Most of your content image size has the same aspect ratio.

Material

Most inflatable screens including those by Open Air Cinema are made of two types of material: nylon and vinyl of different blends and types.

Air blower 

The inflatable screens in all three Open Air Cinema lineups require constant air pressure to be maintained inside the screen by an air blower.

Warranty - the best advantage of Open Air Cinema screens 

The good thing about Open Air Cinema screens is that after their warranty period expires you can always send the screen back to the manufacturer for repairs -- if any are needed. The manufacturer can fix holes and tears, replace the zippers or Velcros or replace the projection surface with a new one.

The 3 Open Air Cinema inflatable screens lineups

1- Open Air Cinema Home lineup

You can choose four different screen sizes in the Open Air Cinema Home lineup: 9', 12', 16' and 20'. All the screens in this lineup have a simple rectangular form.

Read this review about the Open Air Cinema Home 20' inflatable movie screen.

Open Air Cinema Home screens are made of a high-density nylon blend that can withstand harsh conditions such as direct sunlight, abrasive particles like sand and debris and can get wet (but be sure to dry your screen completely before storage, to avoid molding). Some users of the Home screens say that they have been using them for over ten years.

Starting in 2018, all Open Air Cinema screens have been carrying a removable, machine-washable projection surface. This upgrade meant that now Home screens by Open Air Cinema also became capable of rear projection.

What is inside the Open Air Cinema home screen kit?

Home screen by Open Air Cinema are only sold in kits. Within such a screen kit you get:

• An inflatable frame.
• Projection surface.
• Blackout backdrop.
• Screen bag.
• Air blower.
• Eight tethers and four spiral stakes.
• Everything you need to set up your inflatable screen.

2- Pro lineup

Open Air Cinema Pro inflatable screens are made with professional event producers in mind. The self-standing structure of the screen with a rear inflatable leg added allows an easy setup by just one person.

In comparison with a simple rectangular-shaped screen there is no need to balance your screen when it is being inflated -- it just pops up hands-free.

A thinner inflatable frame doesn't block the projected image during the rear projection, which means your projection surface is 100% covered with the image when projected from behind.

Weatherproof outdoor projector screens

The Pro lineup is made using the heavier material for better wind resistance. Also, the rubberized fabric is resistant to wicking moisture. So Pro screens are recommended for use by the pool, in rainy climates and on beaches. Open Air Cinema likes to point out that their Pro screens are made to be used every day, for years to come.

In addition to the standard inflatable screen kit described above when we talked about Home screens, with the Pro screen kit you get a sound dampening blower box and a repair kit for your quick field repairs.

Open Air Cinema guarantees up to 35 mph wind rating. Pro screens are exclusively available in sizes 12', 16' and 20'.

Read this article explaining why Open Air Cinema Home 20' screen is considered to be an affordable alternative to the Pro lineup screens.

3- Elite lineup

The first thing to mention about the Elite lineup of inflatable screens by Open Air Cinema is that they are only available in sizes 25', 30 and 40'.

The gigantic size of these screens required a decisively new engineering approach.

Open Air Cinema Elite screens have two inflation sleeves for quicker inflation of the screen. Yet only one air blower is needed to keep the screen inflated. So you can go ahead and switch off one of the two blowers once your Elite screen has been fully inflated.

They can work in high wind conditions

Open Air Cinema Elite screens are made of heavy-duty vinyl and compared to the other two lineups the projection surface of your Elite screen is attached to the inflatable frame with bungee cords. This creates space between the inflatable frame and the projection surface, for better wind-stability.

Even the largest Open Air Cinema Elite screen 40 x 25 can work in high wind conditions, rated at 35 mph.

The projection surfaces for Open Air Cinema Elite lineup are exclusively made in Canada by the same company that supplies surfaces to the movie theaters.

There are three projection surface options available in the Elite lineup:

• Front-only.
• Rear-only.
• Universal projection surface.

As the name suggest, they are made for front, rear and both front and rear projection, respectively. The best image quality is delivered by the front-only projection surface, with the screen gain of .9 on axis.

Open Air Cinema Elite screens are used when entertaining large-crowd events, with up to 3,000 viewers (standing) catered for by the Elite 40' screen.

Also, Elite screens are used for drive-in cinema application, with up to 300 vehicles for the Elite 40' screen.

Conclusion

From a movie night in your backyard all the way to a stadium show, Open Air Cinema has you covered. As Big Screen Pro, we had the pleasure of using all three Open Air Cinema lineups over the years and we will gladly guide you on such various use cases.

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