[faheem5]

hi im planin on buyin a xga lcd projecotr soon and like the majority of first time buyers of pj i hae this question. Should i run my pj and dvd in 4:3 ratio or the 16:9 ratio. Now majoirty of my viewing will be dvd's and hdtv so i know i should buy the 45*80 ratio screen (a 16:9 ratio movie on the 60*80 screen will have the same measurement of 45*80) but my question is tat i heard when u run your pj in 4:3 ratio you use the full resolution of the pj but in 16:9 you loose a little. So wat should i do should i run my dvd and pj in 4:3 ratio and use all the resolution and get the 45*80 screen or run the pj and dvd in 16:9 ratio and get the 45*80 screen.....


ps ....if i run the pj and dvd in 4:3 ratio and get the 45*80 screen ill just move the pj back enough so the black bars just project above and below the screen......


any help is appreciated ....thanks

 

[nigel_ht]

Quote:

Originally posted by faheem5 my question is tat i heard when u run your pj in 4:3 ratio you use the full resolution of the pj but in 16:9 you loose a little. So wat should i do should i run my dvd and pj in 4:3 ratio and use all the resolution and get the 45*80 screen or run the pj and dvd in 16:9 ratio and get the 45*80 screen..... ps ....if i run the pj and dvd in 4:3 ratio and get the 45*80 screen ill just move the pj back enough so the black bars just project above and below the screen...... any help is appreciated ....thanks

If you run your projector and dvd in normal 4:3 mode you'll end up with a letterbox image...meaning the top and bottom parts of your panel (LCD or DLP) will be displaying black bars.


If you run the projector and dvd in 16:9, assuming an anamorphic dvd and your projector know how to scale to 16:9 widescreen mode, you'll end up with more resolution from the DVD player that gets squished by your projector into a 16:9 space on the panel...which will still be displaying black bars on the top and bottom...so you're not gaining any projector resolution, the same number of panel pixels are involved as the first scenario. The upside is that you get more resolution from the DVD...if it works. Dunno, never tried this with my projector which I can't even remember if it has a "widescreen" mode.


If you run your projector 4:3 and the dvd in 16:9, you'll end up using all of the panel (on a 16:9 movie) with all of the data available from the DVD. The problem here is now everything is stretched vertically. If you have an anamprohic lens (ISCO II, Panamorph or Prismatic?) it stretches or squishes the image back into the correct aspect ratio.


For a 4:3 projector, the latter is about the only way to use the entire panel with an anamorphic enhanced movie.


Hope I got that middle part right and hope this is somewhat clearer.


Nigel

 

[Phat Phreddy]

I would go 16:9 every time... Just looks intuatively more 'right' especially when large and your 4:3 sources (usually lo-def) will be smaller therefore hiding their faults, but be aware that getting the image in the right places and formatting will require more picture processing... Not all projectors can pillarbox 4:3 inside a 16:9 panel automatically...


Of course if you are thinking of using a HTPC or scaler no problem...

 

[vincanity]

I recently had to decide on the exact same sizes of screens. I bought a DaLite High Contrast Cinema Vision. THe price for a 80"x60" screen was actually $200 cheaper than the price of hte 80"x45" screen. THe reasoning was a supply and demand issue. Since my projector is 4:3, it was a no-brainer to get the 80"x60" screen. I used black masking for 16:9 viewing and it works like a charm. When and if I do watch 4:3 dvds or cable or play computer games, I can take the masking off and have an even bigger viewing area.

 

[faheem5]

thanks everyone for their input really appreciate it....

 

[avdoc]

In follow-up to vincanity's post, a square screen is even cheaper than a 4:3 ratio screen. Again, a supply-demand issue. I found this out when I bought my first screen. It makes no sense, as you can just pull it down as far as you need (assuming you get a manual pulldown). Or you can just take the screen off the roll and make your own frame. This is preferable, as pull-down screen are notorious for being wavy.