Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Projectors Doing Widescreen Aspect Ratios Without Using Outboard Lens

Wondering if anybody has any expierence with the current crop projectors offering different programable aspect ratio without using a outboard lens system? I see JVC, Projection Designs to name a few that are doing this. How is the picture quality? And is the software and lens combo used to do it up to the task so it looks normal? Also is't full 1080p when done this way?




Todd

My understanding is, you can do it without a lens if you are willing to zoom (i.e. sacrifice pixels and miss out on the sides of the image).

Bear in mind that currently if you go down the lens route, you will also need to buy a video processor such as Lumagen XS/XE.

Panamorph/Folded Space are trying to add anamorphic standards to Bluray and to the various BD players ... I hope it happens but the 2.35 C.I.H. market is quite small. If this happens, you will still need the lens but might be able to live without the video processor (As I understand it).

FYI, the sweet spot of the UH480 is 14.5 - 17.5 feet.

This sub-forum on AVS is quite good for C.I.H. questions : AVS C.I.H. forum

Thanks I will have to take a look at the AVS C.I.H. forum. Still wondering if getting a 2:35 screen, projector and lens needed to make use of it is all worth the effort? Thought there might be a less complicated way to do it on the horizion. Definitely it is cool to not have those black bars and make full use of the screen though.

Todd

If your home theater is geared mostly toward action/epic films in 2.35 ratio rather than 16x9 sports and your room is wide enough, you may want to invest in C.I.H.

You should double check the costs up front and see what OTA HD 16x9 ratio looks like projected on the CIH screen. Some HT enthusiasts claim the best solution is two screens, bringing down the correct screen depending on the content!

I am using a Panasonic PT-AE4000U (new model is 8000U) and they do auto zoom between different aspects which is amazing useful with my 2.35 screen. Only downside vs processor + lens is the small loss of lumens due to the zoom, but apparently the 8000U is very bright so this is no issue. And sooooo much cheaper !

Good to know there will be some light lossed when you use the zoom for different aspect ratios. But I will have to have a projector with more light output anyway. Since the projecter will be mounted in the room 18' back from screen.

Todd