Priced at 4,210 GBP, the DNP Supernova impresses with top contrast and accurate colours — it’s one of the best screens we’ve ever tested.

Reviewed by Florian Friedrich on February 3, 2010

Well suited to rooms with ambient lighting.
Rich contrast.
Neutral colours.

Very dark screen.
Rigid construction makes it hard to transport.

Ideally suited to use in both the home cinema and the living-room, the DNP Supernova produces deep blacks, even in bright environments. Despite being composed of numerous optical layers, it produces no irritating patterns in 1080p images.

Features

Technical Details

Although it looks attractive, the black frame reflects light too strongly at certain angles.

The DNP Supernova achieves phenomenal contrast values in bright environments, where it achieves almost three times the ANSI contrast (144:1) of competing models — other screens typically produce around 50:1. The only model to compete even slightly is the Stewart FireHawk, whose contrast ratio measured 113:1 in the same level of ambient illumination.

Seven optical layers make up the Supernova’s screen, which is available in two gain varieties — the gain-0.8 model we tested here produces much-more-uniform illumination than the alternative gain-2.0 model. The Supernova range also includes a number of other screens, including a flexible, roll-up variety.

The Supernova performed well in the visual test with 1080p material. It even offers a contrast advantage in darkened rooms with black walls, although the black frame doesn’t mask the picture’s edges as well as screens from Stewart or Davision. Bedford-based Paradigm AV (http://www.rearpro.com/) is the official U.K. distributor and offers the DNP Supernova range in all of its sizes and formats.