Screen Innovations' New KAOS 360 Takes Rear Projection Outdoors and Keeps It There in the Wind

Screen Innovations has launched the KAOS 360 Rear-Pro, which the company describes as the industry's most durable dual-sided motorized outdoor rear-projection screen. The appeal of dual-sided outdoor projection is easy to grasp: a single projector and a single screen can serve viewers on both sides, so guests on the patio, by the pool, or across the lawn watch the same bright image without the seating having to be arranged around the screen. Screen Innovations has offered this since its 360° optic debuted with the Solo 3, and dealers, according to the company, took to it immediately.

The persistent problem was air. Rear projection needs an exceptionally flat surface to hold focus, and even a moderate breeze could distort the image. The KAOS system is the company's answer to that, built around its Onyx Retention System, which the brand says keeps the surface flat enough to withstand up to three times the air movement of conventional outdoor screens, while supporting sizes up to 24 feet wide, a scale the company claims no motorised outdoor rear-projection system has reached before.

The proprietary 360° optic uses light-diffusing particles embedded in the surface to spread projected light evenly in every direction, producing what the brand describes as bright, uniform, hot-spot-free images on both sides across a 160-degree viewing cone, with generous lens shift and keystone correction giving installers flexibility in projector placement. When the evening ends, the motorised screen retracts into a surface-mounted box or a recessed pocket cassette, available in several finishes, and integrates with the wider Screen Innovations ecosystem of screens, shades and control systems.

"We put the 360 optic outdoors years ago and our dealers loved it, but there was one major problem: even a stiff breeze would move the screen so much you had distortion and loss of image focus," said Ryan Gustafson, Founder and CEO of Screen Innovations. "Since that day we have been trying to find a way to solve this problem to allow the ultimate big screen experience outdoors again. KAOS is exactly that, giving dealers the ultimate flexibility in seating location and projector placement!"

Available at Screen Innovations.