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Difference? Runco Cinewide vs Cinewide + Autoscope

post #1 of 10
3/6/09 at 3:18pm
Thread Starter 
I read in an earlier post here that the difference between Runco's Cinewide vs Cinewide + Autoscope is:

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With Autoscope, you're using 100% of the projector's available resolution for both 2.35 and 1.78 material. Without Autoscope, you're using 100% of the available resolution for 2.35 but you're losing some horizontal resolution for 1.78 material.
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What does this mean? You can't make 16x9 content stretch to 2.35 format no matter what you do (other than zooming and cutting), so I expect bars on my 2.35 screen no matter what when watching 16x9. I don't want people on the screen to be stretched wide or skinny. I just want 2.35 movies to fill my screen without bars and 16x9 movies to have full height but vertical bars on the left / right. So why do I need Autoscope in practical terms? What would be bad about not having it?

I think the Autoscope also gives the motorized sled but maybe someone can confirm. And if I don't have the motorized sled, am I supposed to walk over there and do it by hand? I don't even get why I couldn't just leave the anamorphic lens on there all the time anyway, even for 16x9 content.
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post #2 of 10
3/6/09 at 5:50pm
Cinewide uses a fixed anamorphic lens. Cinewide with Autoscope moves the anamorphic lens in and out of position automatically.

With the fixed lens, the scaler squeezes the image horizontally (image people are tall and skinny), the fixed lens then stretches the picture horizontally to restore proper geometry.

With Autoscope, the 16:9 image is displayed as it would be normally displayed. For a cinemscope movie, the scaler removes the black bars at the top and bottom of the picture and then stretches the picture vertically (tall and skinny people in a 16:9 frame). When the image passes through the anamorphic lens, the image is stretched horizontally to restore geometry and fill the 2.35:1 aspect ratio of the screen.
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post #3 of 10
3/6/09 at 7:20pm
Thread Starter 
Dennis, I appreciate technical information but what is the difference to me in practical terms? It sounds like both can give me 2.35 and 1.78 without the people on the screen being distorted. So why would I want to pay extra for Autoscope?
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post #4 of 10
3/6/09 at 10:00pm
if you were concerned about the additional resolution provided by the anamorphic giving you all the pixels.
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post #5 of 10
3/7/09 at 2:37pm
The difference being with AutoScope you're using 100% of the resolution available in the projector to display 2.35 and 1.78:1 formats (you paid for that resolution btw).

With a fixed lens, you're using 100% of the projector's resolution for 2.35:1 but NOT for 1.78:1.
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post #6 of 10
3/7/09 at 3:27pm
In practical term, when I use cinewide, there will be black bars on top and bottom if the content is 2:35 to 1. To properly use autoscope you need a screen that widens, so that while the vertical dimension of the screen is the same, the picture is wider.
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post #7 of 10
3/7/09 at 6:24pm
Thread Starter 
Dennis,

You write that "With a fixed lens, you're using 100% of the projector's resolution for 2.35:1 but NOT for 1.78:1." Does this mean that it is zooming or cropping for the 1.78 picture?

Does Cinewide (without Autoscope) still have the whole extra lens assembly on the front (without the track) and take up the same extra 7 or 8 inches like Cinewide + Autoscope does? I have limited cabinetry space and saving some of it would avoid some expensive modification required.

Vo Danh,

When you write that I would have black bars on my screen, I assume that wouldn't be true if I started with a fixed 2.35 screen. I assume that I could set the default dimensions to be "full screen" on my 2.35 screen, and then get just some vertical side bars when watching 1.78. True?
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post #8 of 10
3/7/09 at 7:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by highendhome View Post


You write that "With a fixed lens, you're using 100% of the projector's resolution for 2.35:1 but NOT for 1.78:1." Does this mean that it is zooming or cropping for the 1.78 picture?

Yes, the projector cannot change it's effective screen resolution at different aspect ratios without a change in the optics. When a projector with fixed optics (no Autoscope) needs to display a 1.78:1 source on 2.35:1 screen it will simply turn off the pixels to either side of the image. In this case you are simply eliminating roughly 30% of your horizontal resolution. For example, with a 1080i/p, 16:9 source the projector could not do pixel-to-pixel mapping and would be forced to scale every source (even the 2.35:1) to match the aspect ratio to the screen resolution. Assuming that many--if not most--of the sources you'll be watching will be in a 16:9 format, this is a significant disadvantage.

Quote:


Does Cinewide (without Autoscope) still have the whole extra lens assembly on the front (without the track) and take up the same extra 7 or 8 inches like Cinewide + Autoscope does? I have limited cabinetry space and saving some of it would avoid some expensive modification required.

Yes, the lens is still there and takes up similar space with or without the Autoscope motorized sled.
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post #9 of 10
3/7/09 at 7:17pm
Quote:


I assume that I could set the default dimensions to be "full screen" on my 2.35 screen, and then get just some vertical side bars when watching 1.78. True?

That is effectively correct.
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post #10 of 10
3/15/09 at 7:27pm
sorry to have been away and not answer sooner. yes as the above post mention, you will have the sidebar. It looks a little strange as your fixed 2.35:1 screen tend to be white or grey, and thus you will experience some distraction from a total esthetics standpoint when watching a bright program, more so than the horizontal black bars normally seen in 16:9 screen
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AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Ultra Hi-End HT Gear ($20,000+) › Difference? Runco Cinewide vs Cinewide + Autoscope