For my small streaming studio, which is just 4.5 square meters in size, I was looking for a green screen solution that I can quickly set up and take down again if necessary. Briefly for information: With a green screen in the background of a video that you record of yourself, you can cut out everything around yourself and replace it with another image. This creates the impression when streaming or in a video that you are sitting, for example, directly in front of a screen showing the gameplay of the latest shooter. But you can also fade in a different environment, so that suddenly you are moderating in front of a South Sea backdrop. This effect is known from television from the virtual news studios or meteorologists who deliver their weather forecasts in front of a map.
Inverted roller blind
Elgato also has a great product for solving this problem: the Elgato Green Screen (picture below, left). It comes rolled up in a stylish metal box and can be extended upwards after opening the box, which is locked with two snap locks, and after opening the lid behind the flaps. It works like an inverted blind. Since the fabric would of course not stay upright without support, it is made using a clever system with metal struts that pull the fabric upwards when you pull it up by hand and hold it almost flat. So that the construct does not fall over, you can extend two feet below the box to the front and back. If you want to place the green screen directly in front of a wall, as in my case, you don't have to turn it out completely. A few centimeters of support at the front and back are absolutely sufficient and ensure that the screen does not protrude too far into the room. I wouldn't have had a place for that at all.
Not for big productions
With its cloth dimensions of 148x180cm (box dimensions: 164.5x10.5x11.5 cm), the Elgato solution is primarily suitable for streaming on twitch or YouTube videos, where you simply detach your upper body from the actual studio background and in front of a game Want to show the situation. Anyone planning a lush presentation standing upright, perhaps showing a drone flight or wanting to show several screens on a wider or higher surface, will quickly reach their limits here.
This gets a little better with the recently released MT-Modell (also costs around 150 euros, in the picture on the right), which works like a classic roller blind. It has rolled out the dimensions 190x100cm, whereby the box is 212cm wide, 8cm deep and 9.5cm high and can be hung on hooks on the ceiling or attached directly to a wall. In contrast to the floor version, which you simply push back down into the box to pack the cloth (here you should drop the last few centimeters, as only then the mechanism is completely immersed in the cover and you can close the lid), works the rolling of the roller blind as you know it from those in front of windows. The tension of the springs was adjusted so that the green screen rises at a leisurely pace.
Excellent quality
The manufacturing quality is very good for both models. The floor version weighs 9.3kg, the roller blind a little more than half of it (5.4kg). The metal is very robust - for example, I regularly drive the extensions of my swivel chair against the floor model and have not yet seen any bumps or scratches. In addition, our two-year-old daughter likes to use the box as a seat or even stands on it without anything having warped. The cloth is also very robust, it does not evaporate any steam at the beginning and is completely flat except for the slightly rolled edge. It was a bit exhausting to get the sticker about the unconditional use of the supports in the front center of the box. It was not applied with easily soluble glue, which is why it was quite time-consuming to remove. I used warm water and soap for this, but the following coarse nail polish remover club could not harm the metal either. My plea to all manufacturers, supermarkets and other shops is: Please only use stickers that are easy to remove!
Conclusion
The Elgato Green Screen is a robust, non-permanent, well-functioning solution for smaller streaming or video productions that do not have to cover an overly large area. If you need it wider, you can use the new roller blind variant with the addition MT, which measures 42cm more horizontally. Both models are a little on the expensive side for what they do. A price around 90
Rating:
Elgato Greeen Screen
Design: 9/10
Build Quality: 9/10
Price: 7/10
Performance: 8/10
HERE DIRECTLY
TO BUY
Rating:
Elgato Greeen Screen MT
Design: 8/10
Build Quality: 9/10
Price: 7/10
Performance: 9/10
HERE DIRECTLY
TO BUY