A directional polarization preserving front projection screen may be preferably produced using an engineered surface. Unlike statistical surfaces, engineered surfaces may provide locally specular reflections, with little to no bulk scatter, while substantially eliminating features smaller than a wavelength of illumination and thus true depolarization. Most, if not all, contours contributing to the slope probability density can be engineered to achieve a desired macroscopic gain profile. The screen may diffuse light by using locally specular reflections, in which a bias angle introduced to the gain profile of the screen may be determined by the slope of the ramps, and with resets that may be substantially hidden from projector illumination.