What is projected?

The black bars are simply zoomed off the screen. That's why a black screen border wide enough to absorb the black bars is recommended.

The Panny 7000 also has a masking feature that you can use to "turn off" the unused pixels so that it will not project anything in the outside area.

I want to know too so I am patiently waiting for JVC to release the user's manual to see if it's there.

True, the darker the screen wall the better. Until I added an A-lens I was zooming. But the screen wall is the same fabric (triple velvet) as the screen frame itself. And the proj, (a JVC) is very good at projecting black (bars in this case), making the spillover bars virtually if not entirely unnoticeable. (This model JVC (HD-950) does not have the masking feature. Can't say about their latest line.)

I have masking about 6" in front of my projector lens which blocks the light spill beyond the screen border.

Look at the projector in this shot:


The black bands in front of the lens works well to block light above and below the screen border. It's obviously not a sharply defined edge but it works. I used steel strips covered in velvet, stuck with magnets to the projector frame.

I have the RS40, and it does not have this feature. I imagine that the RS45 is the same. It's a very unusual feature.

Some dark velvet or velveteen masking material above and below the screen will do a very good job of absorbing the black letterbox bars so that you don't notice them.

Please note that the masking feature in the Panasonic projectors is only electronic: This will switch off unwanted parts of the image, but you are still passing lamp light through the panel, so it's no darker than the 'black bars' would be from a 2.35:1 disc. However, this needn't be an issue with either the RS45 or AE7000 unless your screen surround is very light as when I had the older AE3000 and zoomed, by dark brown screen wall didn't 'show' the black bars...only my original AE1000 did this, even then only slightly.

Put it this way, I wouldn't use it as a decision making item.

I don't have experience with the Panasonic models, but from what Kelvin says, they appear to work the same as pretty much any other digital projector. The entire 16:9 pixel panel is being projected at all times. There is no way to "shut off" specific pixels. What the Panasonics offer is the ability to electronically mask the top and bottom of the image, so that those parts of the frame project black, which is no different than the black letterbox bars. This is really only useful if you want to take a 16:9 picture that doesn't have letterboxing and add letterboxing to it.

Light will always be projected above and below your 2.35:1 screen unless you add an anamorphic lens.

It's also useful for films like Transformers 2 or The Dark Knight, who's aspect ratio changes in the middle of the film.


You would not lose anything off the sides, just the 25% from the top/bottom. Not saying I condone that...

And for movies that were originally composed for 2.35:1 but transferred to video "open matte" with excess picture at the top and bottom, like Avatar.

I just can't believe no manufacturer has come up with a Projector that can completely shut off the pixels corresponding to the black bars, and eliminate all light from the source, for perfect pitch black bars.

If the man made it to the moon 40 years ago, SURELY properly masking the pixels must be possible. I am not taking no for an answer!

Because you can't, the pixels don't emit light, they simply pass or block it, and it's impossible to block 100% of light. Think of it like an LCD display with a single backlight, you can't turn off part of the backlight, the whole thing is either on or off.

What has been done is several LED DLPs can turn off the light source completely for black screens. And for a while there was talk of local dimming for LED DLPs (many LEDs to light small areas, but not individual pixels), but that talk seems to have stopped, probably ran into overwhelming technical challenges (unless some company wants to release one and prove me wrong )

I understand you cant black out pixels with CURRENT technology. Still, surely you can mechanically block the light path at the source, before the light hits the LCD panel? im thinking, something like a mask top/bottom between the light and the panel. Complete obstruction of light path.

Anyhow, a true solution may require complete rewrite of the current LCD/light design. Im OK with that.

This is basically, what stanger89 was eluding too. Even for LCD, local LED light control is possible for zone or even for individual pixels. I'm sure it would be more expensive, as you have to address each of the LED's associated with its own LCD pixel. That would totally block light at the pixel level, except for maybe some bleed-over from adjacent "ON" pixels. For individual control that would double the opportunity count for a failed pixel, as seen on screen, as a failed pixel can be attributed to the LCD element or the LED or both.

Mechanically block the light........wow! I guess you can direct the light into the LCD pixel with a DLP element........basically, a mirror on a hinge........the digital micro mirror. Now that would be a mechanical nightmare!
Talk about opportunity counts! Why not just eliminate the LCD part of the equation and just get a DLP.

Is that essentially what DLP does then?

Yep..........only Rube Goldberg like!