The screen is built extremely well - especially seeing I had to take it off the wall numerous times to try and figure out the worthless light kit. I had a cheaper Elite screen and there is a major step up in quality when going with their pro model. I can't compare this with the Grandview (the other close option), but the screen material is excellent. I have this paired with the Epson UST and I have a very good viewing experience with a TON of ambient light. Light coming from the side is still an issue (way too many windows in my space), but it's amazing at blocking overhead lights - we leave our skylights open 100% of the time now! FYI - when viewing the screen from the floor, it looks light gray - when viewing from above, it looks black.
I decided on the elite screen as it was supposed to be easier to put together and have a channel for a light kit. The second part (direct quote from customer service) was extremely misleading. Turns out the light kit is for Elite's Aeon series screens, not the Darkstar. For light kits to work with screens, the LED strip needs to be perpendicular to the wall or at least shine outwards on the wall - similar to how Screen Innovations does it. After WEEKS of going back and forth with customer service and having to prove that placing the LED strip *anywhere* on the back of the screen will not produce ambient light, I am told that Elite wants me to attach the $10 strip of LEDs to the outside of the frame. Obviously, this is a joke, as it's a $2700 screen and I won't tape a tacky LED strip on the outside of it. In the end, I made my own .5" frame out of wood and then mounted the screen to that frame. I was very disappointed that customer service did not offer any compensation for the weeks of back and forth trying to figure this out, the additional expense, or the misleading advertising. They should say the screen comes with a light kit, but won't work unless you tack it to the outside of the frame. Hopefully, this either saves someone a similar headache of figuring it out or an idea for how to make a subframe work!