Front Projection vs. Rear Projection

Video screens come with a white opaque screen for front projection and a greenish grey semi-transparent screen for rear projection. If the room allows rear projection is ideal for many reasons. With rear projection the audience doesn’t see the projectors, scaffolding/ rigging, and cabling necessary to have video projection. It is also helpful in case of any type of video glitch for the video engineer backstage to be able to deal with the problems at hand without the audience being aware that there is any issue at all. It also prevents the crowd from walking in front of a screen and casting a silhouette on the screen.

There are times when extra space is needed in a room and then front projection can come in very handy. Rear projection requires space backstage to allow the projector room to throw the image far enough to fill the screen. With front projection that is not an issue. The screens can be placed very close to a back wall and the image is projected from the front. The downsides to front projection are that the projectors are visible to the audience and vulnerable to being bumped, damaged, or walked in front of. Of course the projectors can be flown which eliminates most of these problems. Front projection is also used for delay screens. Delay screens are screens placed farther into a crowd so that they can see the images as clearly as the people in the front rows.