Best Fixed Frame Projector Screen 2026: Silver Ticket, Elite, Akia & Draper Compared

Quick Answer: The Silver Ticket STR Series is the best fixed frame projector screen for most dark or dim rooms: $279.98 for 120 inches on Silver Ticket’s own store (October 31, 2026), with a 1.1-gain matte white surface and a velvet-wrapped frame. Buy the Elite Screens Sable Frame 2 (from $281) if you want a 2-year warranty instead of Silver Ticket’s 1 year, the Akia Edge Free ($199 for 100 inches) for a thin bezel at the lowest price, and the Elite Aeon CLR 3 if you have an ultra-short-throw projector, because standard white and grey ALR screens aren’t built for that steep angle.

New guide, October 2026. Specs and prices come from Silver Ticket’s, Elite Screens’, Akia Screens’, Draper’s, Stewart Filmscreen’s, Screen Innovations’ and Severtson’s own product pages, spec tables and warranty pages on October 31, 2026. We did not use retailer listings. Where a brand’s own pages disagree with each other, we say so.

A fixed frame screen is the simplest way to get a big, flat image: fabric stretched over a rigid aluminum frame that hangs on the wall like a picture. It’s the flattest screen type you can buy and usually the cheapest per inch. “4K/8K ready” and “ISF certified” now show up on nearly every listing, so they don’t separate one screen from another. What does is the surface gain, which projectors an ALR surface actually works with, how much wall the frame takes up, and how long the maker stands behind it. We sorted the 2026 lineups by those four things.

Fixed frame screens, by the numbers

• A $280 screen with a $1,099 “compare at” price. Silver Ticket’s own store lists its 120-inch STR-169120 at $279.98 next to a $1,099 compare-at price, and every size of the white STR shows a similar 69 to 76% “discount.” Treat the strikethrough as decoration; the current price is what to compare.
• ALR surfaces only work with one kind of projector. Elite lists its CineGrey 3D as “NOT Compatible with Ultra/Short Throw Projectors” and its Aeon CLR 3 as “Not Compatible With Short or Standard Throw Projectors.” Elite says the CLR 3 absorbs 90% of overhead lighting, but only when the light comes from a UST projector below it.
• Warranties run from 1 year to lifetime, and don’t follow price. Silver Ticket gives 1 year (parts only), Elite and Akia 2 years, Stewart Filmscreen and Screen Innovations 1 year, Draper 5 years, and Severtson a limited lifetime warranty that excludes screens not installed by professional AV contractors.
• The frame adds almost 5 inches. Silver Ticket’s 120-inch STR has a 104.5-inch-wide image but measures 109.25 inches across, because each side of the frame is 2.375 inches wide.
• No projection screen recalls. A search of CPSC’s recall database for “projection screen” and “projector screen” returned no recalls on October 31, 2026.

Our top picks at a glance

1. Silver Ticket STR Series — Best Overall Value

The STR is the screen most people should buy because it gets the important parts right for less than any name-brand frame of the same size. The 1.1-gain matte white surface is close to the neutral reference a dark room wants, the velvet frame soaks up the light that spills past the image edge, and the rod system pulls the fabric square without the puckers you get from tucking fabric into a channel. Two caveats. First, the warranty is one year and parts only, the shortest here. Second, Silver Ticket’s own pages aren’t consistent: the grey STR-169120-G page calls the material 1.0 gain in its description and 1.1 in its spec table, so check the spec table for the size and material you buy. The white STR is also what our general best projector screen roundup picks as best overall.

2. Elite Screens Sable Frame 2 — Best Name Brand

Elite is one of the best-known names in budget and mid-range screens, and the Sable Frame 2 is its core fixed frame. Its 115-inch model costs $48 more than Silver Ticket’s 120-inch, and for that you get a warranty twice as long, a brighter 1.3-gain surface and Elite’s rating for short-throw and UST projectors. Watch the size menu. Elite’s description says 100 to 200 inches, but its store currently sells 105, 115, 128, 138, 158, 165, 180 and 200 inches in 16:9, with no 120. If you want exactly 120 inches from Elite, the Sable Frame B2 (SB120WH2) was $352 on Elite’s store, with the same material, a 2.75-inch frame and spring tensioning, though most of its other sizes were sold out on October 31.

3. Akia Screens Edge Free — Cheapest Thin Bezel

Akia sells several of the same materials as Elite Screens under the same names (CineWhite UHD-B, CLR 2, CineGrey 3D) and uses the same ENR-G warranty program, at lower prices. The Edge Free is the cheapest way to get the flat-panel-TV look: $199 buys a 100-inch screen with the same 1.3-gain material as the Sable Frame 2. Without a wide velvet border, any image overspill lands on the wall rather than on velvet, so line the projector up carefully. If you’d rather have the border, Akia’s Velvet Covered Fixed Frame was $347 for 121 inches and $368 for 135 inches.

4. Elite Screens Aeon CLR 3 — Best for Ultra-Short-Throw Projectors

An ultra-short-throw laser TV sits inches from the wall and fires light steeply upward. On a plain white screen, overhead lights and windows wash that image out. A CLR screen uses a ridged surface that bounces light coming from below toward your eyes and sends light from above away. The Aeon CLR 3 is Elite’s current version, and it’s built only for that angle: point a standard projector at it from across the room and the image will look dim and uneven. For a cheaper option with the earlier material, the Aeon CLR 2 was $549 for 103 inches, and Akia’s Edge Free CLR2 was $521.55 for the same size. For the projectors to pair with it, see our best ultra short throw projector picks.

5. Elite Sable Frame CineGrey 3D — Best ALR for Standard-Throw Projectors

If your projector hangs on the ceiling or sits on a shelf at the back of the room and the room has windows or lamps you can’t control, an angular-reflective grey screen is the upgrade. Elite says the CineGrey 3D reflects the projector’s light straight back to the seats while absorbing light from other angles, and its 1.2 gain helps a dimmer projector. It’s the mirror image of the CLR 3: right for a standard projector, wrong for a UST. Pair it with a bright model from our best projector for a bright room guide.

6. Silver Ticket STR WAB — Best for Speakers Behind the Screen

In a dedicated theater, putting the center and front speakers behind the screen puts the dialogue where the faces are. That needs a woven or perforated fabric that sound passes through. Silver Ticket’s woven STR is $180 more than its standard white model at 120 inches, and it’s the cheapest 120-inch acoustically transparent fixed frame we found on the makers’ own stores. Elite’s Aeon AcousticPro UHD was $740 for 120 inches. Our projector screen material guide covers how woven and perforated fabrics differ.

7. Draper Clarion Family — Longest Warranty

Draper’s 5 years is the longest warranty here apart from Severtson’s lifetime terms, which require professional installation. Stewart Filmscreen and Screen Innovations both sell more expensive screens with one-year warranties. Draper’s Clarion frames start at $1,200 MSRP and are sold through AV dealers, so expect a quote rather than a cart, and pick the surface with the dealer based on your projector’s throw. Draper doesn’t publish gain figures on the frame pages we read. It’s the pick if you’re building a room you expect to keep for years. For everyone else, the $280 to $600 screens above cover the same sizes.

How much wall a fixed frame needs

The frame is wider than the picture. Silver Ticket publishes both numbers for every STR size, which makes it a good guide to how much wall you need before you buy.

A 150-inch STR is more than 11 feet wide and 6.5 feet tall with its frame. Leave space for the brackets and a margin to the ceiling, and check the projector can fill the size from where it will sit: our projector screen size calculator works from seating distance and our projector throw distance calculator works from throw ratio.

ALR fixed frames are throw-specific

Light-rejecting surfaces are designed for light coming from a certain direction. Buying one for the wrong projector is the most common expensive mistake in this category.

A plain white screen works with any projector in a dark room. The moment you add ALR, read the throw rating first. Our projector screen vs wall comparison covers whether you need a screen at all, and best projector screen paint covers the cheaper painted-wall route.

How to install a fixed frame

• Build it on the floor. Silver Ticket’s STR frame comes in six pieces held together with joint bars and a hardware kit; Elite’s Sable Frame 2 is a split frame too. Lay down a blanket so the fabric face never touches a hard floor.
• Tension it evenly. On the STR, slide a rod through each side pocket and attach it to the frame as the manual shows; on spring-tensioned frames such as Elite’s Sable Frame B2, work around the frame in opposite pairs so the fabric stays square.
• Hang it from studs. A 120-inch STR weighs 31 lb and the 150-inch 41 lb. Elite includes wood screws and anchors; screw the brackets into studs wherever the layout allows.
• Center it after hanging. Elite’s brackets let the screen slide sideways, which makes it easier to line the frame up with a ceiling-mounted projector. Our best projector ceiling mount guide covers the projector side.

What we left out

• Stewart Filmscreen. The StudioTek 100 is the reference 1.0-gain material many calibrators use, but Stewart sells by quote only and gives a one-year warranty, so there was no price to compare.
• Screen Innovations. SI’s Zero Edge comes with Black Diamond (1.4 gain, 85% ALR claim) and a 0.6-gain Short Throw material, but sells through dealers only with a one-year warranty, and its Zero Edge product page returned no specs when we checked.
• Da-Lite and VIVIDSTORM. Neither site returned product data we could read on October 31, so we couldn’t confirm current models or prices.
• Severtson. Its 4K Thin Bezel series lists real prices ($2,740 for 100 inches in Cinema White, $3,810 in acoustically transparent SAT-4K) and a limited lifetime warranty, but the warranty excludes screens not installed by professional AV contractors.

The bottom line

For most people building a movie room, the Silver Ticket STR Series gives the most screen for the money: 120 inches of flat 1.1-gain matte white for $279.98. Pay a little more for the Elite Screens Sable Frame 2 if a 2-year warranty and a brighter 1.3-gain surface matter, or less for the Akia Edge Free if you want a thin bezel. If your projector is an ultra-short-throw laser TV, the Elite Aeon CLR 3 is the right surface and a regular ALR screen is the wrong one; for a standard projector in a lit room it’s the reverse, and the CineGrey 3D is the pick. Go Silver Ticket WAB for speakers behind the screen and Draper Clarion if you want a 5-year warranty. Need the wall free when you’re not watching? Our best pull down projector screen guide covers screens that roll away by hand, our best motorized projector screen guide covers electric, in-ceiling and floor-rising screens, and our best curved projector screen guide covers 2.35:1 scope frames. For the projector, start with our best home theater projector pillar.