Cinema auditoriums are notoriously dirty and typically expose the projection screen to a large variety of contaminants that can negatively degrade the performance of the projection screen. A casual inspection of screens that have been installed for any significant length of time such as, greater than about a year, yields a surprising array of contaminants. In addition to the accumulation of dust, which in some cases may be significant, contaminants may include beverages such as soda, juice, tea, coffee, and so on, candy, oil residues which may be from chips, popcorn and/or popcorn butter, nachos, and spit-wads.
Dust accumulation tends to be relatively uniform spatially, representing a gradual decay in overall performance, whereas the latter named contaminants are more localized, and can thus be visually distracting. It is often difficult to remove these contaminants without causing an optical blemish through abrasive, mechanical, and/or chemical action. In certain instances, the contaminant penetrates the projection screen coatings and/or substrate, causing a stain that cannot be cleaned through typical means. Similar environmental concerns that may provide dirt and/or contaminants to the screens are also present in home, industrial, and professional environments.