16:9 on 4:3 projector light output question

If a 2.35 aspect movie has a total of 20 square feet of picture and a 16:9 image has 25, does the 20 square foot image have more light per square foot? The obvious answer is yes. However, the black bars you see when watching the 2.35 image are still being projected they are just black. So the image is no brighter/better like it would be if the total projected image was smaller. In a sense there is no such thing as an anamorphic bulb is there?


I was trying to convince myself that a 2.35 aspect movie will look better than a 16:9 since the same light output is concentrated on a smaller picture but I no longer think that is the case. It has been a long day and no doubt by tomorrow I will consider this question too dumb to have been asked.


Greg Matty