At any rate, projection screens made of fiber were produced. Though they lacked showy quality and had low gain, I liked the natural and subdued quality of the screens. But many people pointed out that the screens had low gain and they were dark. I wondered whether they might change their viewpoints if I waited for a while. Because of a lack of understanding among people in the company and industry, we decided to conduct an initial sales campaign for the Pure Mat projection screen as an environment-friendly projection screen for the time being.
Then, while the Pure Mat projection screen was being examined, an increasing number of people in the company started to understand the intention of the projection screen, and said, "This screen is quite nice!" or "This looks natural!" One worker who enjoyed his home theater using an ultra bead screen seemed to feel something good about the Pure Mat projection screen. I said to him, "You see. This is quite nice, isn't it? Don't you think that your ultra bead screen is too bright and unnatural, so your eyes get sore when you watch movies for many hours?" and tried to influence him. Though the Pure Mat projection screen may not draw attention instantly, the screen would appeal to users while it is being used.
In August 2000, we introduced the Pure Mat projection screen in a meeting of the Society of Picture Quality Engineers in the size of a 100-inch screen. The Pure Mat was introduced as a projection screen closest to the definition of the basic white screen. Participants were still preoccupied with screen gain and seemed to be interested in the magnitude of differences among different types of screens. In the meeting of the Society of Picture Quality Engineers, we discussed differences among three types of screens, and human physiological response to light and shade, and colors. In an informal closing meeting of the society, nobody talked about the Pure Mat.
In the informal meeting, I had an opportunity to talk with Mr. A of the company "I," which is famous for the image processing of movies and videos. I learned that color temperature should not vary in places where projectors are used in order to reproduce the same images on screens, that certain screens should be used for film projectors that do not allow easy adjustment for films and light sources, that the neutrality of projection screens without peculiarities is important, and that film producers think that the neutrality is essential.
When Mr. U, an engineer of Barco, spent more than half a day in tuning the CINE8 projector for our presentation at the meeting of the society, we showed the Pure Mat to him and hesitantly asked him, "What do you think of this new screen?" He said, "This is an intriguing screen! The screen harmoniously responds to the projector I'm tuning. This is a good screen." However, the screen did not get so favorable responses at the meeting of the society. I decided to take time.
In December 2000, I had an opportunity to meet with Mr. K, a critic on audiovisual equipment. A chief editor of a professional magazine made arrangements for the meeting, and we were discussing what kind of screen was preferable. Mr. K said that he tested various materials for cleanness. He said, "I felt that a screen made of cotton cloth was most desirable." In the past, on a summer night, he enjoyed watching an outdoor movie on bleached cloths that were sewn together and used as a screen with bamboo poles on both sides. Mr. K was impressed by something good about the screen at that time. He said that the screen was a standard projection screen for him.
In December 2000, we invited critics on audiovisual equipment to our head office in Tokyo, and held a session to widely introduce the new product. Unfortunately, we did not get favorable opinions in the session. There were many critics who rounded off the session with a single comment, "It has low gain, doesn't it?"
On one cold, rainy day in February 2001, I visited Mr. K's residence together with my 100-inch Pure Mat . It was compared against the Stewart 130HD by Mr. K for his evaluation. He said, "The screen is interesting, isn't it?" We watched "Shakespeare in Love" on the screen. Mr. K described the screen as "something that reminds one of peacock feathers or the queen's gold collar" and "entertaining." The Pure Mat harmoniously responded to the projector tuning. The projection screen was able to reflect such a delicate expression.
