Testing out a "Constant Image Height" wider screen setup

[berserker37]

Original thread about my setup here:

http://perfectmancave.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5400

Here's a quick reminder of the old setup:

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n43/berserker37/P1000577.jpg

I've enjoyed this for the last 3 years or so, having a home theater like this is really a dream come true for me. I started with a 480p projector, and it was great. About 9 months ago, I upgraded to a 1080p projector after stumbling across a killer deal with a $500 rebate (total cost for the projector was just under $1400). It's great to have such a big screen (100" diagonal, otherwise known as over 8 feet!), but since the screen is in a standard widescreen aspect ratio (1.78:1), when you watch a movie filmed in Panavision, which has a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, you still get those darn black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. You can see them in this pic:

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n43/berserker37/P1000585.jpg

Now, since my new projector has a longer zoom range, along with powered/remote controlled zoom, focus, and lens shift, I can do a "poor man's CIH setup". Constant Image Height means that, as you switch from standard TV (4:3 aspect ratio) to HDTV (1.78:1 aspect ratio) to widescreen movies (2.35:1 aspect ratio), you always use the full vertical height of the screen, and the horizontal length increases. To do this, you need a 2.35:1 screen. For this trial, I just taped up some white cardboard to each side of the screen, effectively turning it into an approximately 2.35:1 aspect ratio screen. If I decide to stay with this, I will buy or make a 2.35:1 screen in the exact size that I want. But for now I just wanted to try it out, and see if it was worth the minor hassle of manipulating the image via remote when I watched a widescreen movie.

Anyway, here's some pics with descriptions:


This pic shows the old image size on the new screen. Basically, the right and left edges of the image are where the real screen stops; beyond that is my hack-job taped up screen extenders. The top and bottom of the image show how much "black bar" space there is from the top of the image to the top of the screen and from the bottom of the image to the bottom of the screen:

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n43/berserker37/CIMG0547.jpg

This pic shows how the zoomed image now fills the whole screen (almost):
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n43/berserker37/CIMG0549.jpg

Same thing but with the lights off. You can see where the real screen ends and the fake screen begins, this is most noticeable in bright scenes:

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n43/berserker37/CIMG0550.jpg


In darker scenes, however, it's not nearly as noticeable:

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n43/berserker37/CIMG0543.jpg


So there ya have it! End result is that standard TV and 1.85:1 movies are shown in the same size, but for 2.35:1 widescreen movies I have gained roughly 30% more image size.

[pond007]

Very nice. I've been tinkering with my projector also. I currently don't have a screen, until I finish remodeling my living room. Once that's done, i'll start looking at screens.

[Charlutz]

When I did mine, I did the 16:9 screen for watching hdtv. 127" diagonal. :D I planned to use masking for when I watched 2.35:1 movies, just never got around to building the masking inserts. My screen frame is 1x3 poplar wrapped in black velvet. I put magnets into the wood under the poplar and the idea was to fashion removable inserts to cover the part of the screen that would show the letter boxing with widescreen movies. You've inspired me to get started again. The other idea I've seen with a 2.35 screen is to have adjustable side borders that pinch in for watching 4:3 or 1.78 or 1.85 programming. I think that's the way the theaters do it. Lots of options. With all the different aspect ratios, you either need to be flexible or have a fairly complicated system.

[berserker37]

127" diagonal, that's pretty sweet! So your 2.35:1 image is probably about the same as mine (now), but your HDTV and SDTV images are bigger.

I've got a height limitation in the front right corner of my room. Because of some ductwork, theres a place where the ceiling is about a foot lower than the rest of the ceiling. You can see it in the first Iron Man pic, look at the new part of the screen on the right and you'll see it. So for me, this is about as big as I'll be able to get it (unless I drop my center channel speaker lower, but even then I would only get an incremental increase.

For my room size, and chair placement, I think this screen size is just about perfect.


Sounds like you built your own screen. What material did you use? I'm thinking about making one with white laminate, they say you can get a 6' x 10' piece for a little over $100.

What projector are you using?

And isn't front projection awesome? If you've got the room for it, there's never been a more affordable time for home theater. And it just keeps getting better, and cheaper!

[Charlutz]

My pj is the panny AX-200. My challenge was that I like dark movies and tv, but I also love sports and have the guys over to watch games. Splitting the difference between watching with some light in the room and also having good color in dark movies was a balancing act. Because it was my first pj, I had no idea about whether I should go for a white screen to make the movies look better or a gray screen to add some color while watching a game.

I surfed the avs forum diy screen section for a couple months. They have some pretty sophisticated paint mixers over there. I snagged a paint mix formula from them and had them make it up at home depot. $20 and it looks pretty good. Definitely need the black frame to sharpen the edges, but I've had no problems with the paint. 2 coats with a fine roller. They even have a video tutorial in the forum so that you minimize roller marks. I may experiment with different colors at some point, but at the moment I haven't had a reason to.