[dloftis]

OK, let's say I bought a 4:3 projector... we'll say the Sanyo XP21N for the sake of conversation... and a 16:9 screen. And an ISCO II.


I understand that the ISCO II will make the full 1024x768 panel of the projector fill up the 16:9 screen.


I also understand (at a basic level) that a 16:9 movie on DVD will fill the 4:3 panel and via the ISCO II will fill the 16:9 screen at correct aspect ratios.


My question then is threefold:


1> What about 2.35:1 movies? I assume they are letterboxed on the 4:3 panel, but still "squeezed" so that they come out the ISCO with correct aspect ratio, and still letterboxed on the 16:9 screen.


2> HDTV sources... How is that handled?


3> SDTV sources... this is probably where I'm most nervous about a 4:3 projector with ISCO. Obviously if I move the lens, everything goes back to 4:3... BUT it will seriously overscan my 16:9 screen... if I feed 4:3 through the ISCO, it'll stretch it out of aspect ratio. How is this handled?


Thanks for answering my stupid questions for the day

 

[Jeffrey]

Quote:

Originally posted by dloftis 1> What about 2.35:1 movies? I assume they are letterboxed on the 4:3 panel, but still "squeezed" so that they come out the ISCO with correct aspect ratio, and still letterboxed on the 16:9 screen.

Yes, you have that understood correctly. I'll let someone else answer the tough questions.

 

[JoeFloyd]

Most of what you are looking to find out has already been covered in previous posts. Searching the archive could answer the majority of your questions.


But, here goes.


2.35 are anamorphic but will not be expanded to fill the 4:3 display. The lens will compress the expanded 2.35 image back into the proper aspect ratio, but you will still have black bars on the top and bottom.


The yet unreleased Panamorph II will compress a 1.33 image into a 2.35 image, but you need to over stretch the original source material in order to use this type of lens. Currently the only way to achieve this over stretch is with a HTPC using YXY, some video processor/scalers, and a very limited number of DVD players that have built in aspect ratio controls.


HDTV sources??? That's a whole can of worms. There are two camps of HDTV sources right now. STB and HTPC. I use a HTPC which allows me to choose the output format. (Resolution, aspect ratio, color space) When outputting VGA type (computer timings) signals, the projector will generally not mess with the aspect ratio or do anything strange like that. When outputting HD RGB signals (HDTV resolution and timings) the projector takes over and adjust the aspect ratio. My particular projector does not allow me to adjust the aspect ratio of the HD signal, so I use the VGA signals to get around that problem.


2.35 source material from HD is not easy to deal with using the PC, but once software HD decoding becomes available it will be just like using a software based PC DVD player.


When using a STB it's unlikely that the box will allow custom aspect ratio controls. At least not with enough adjustment range to accomplish the required amount of stretch. So, the only option will be an expensive scalars that can handle HDTV signals. One of these might allow aspect ratio modifications to the HDTV signal, but you would have to look on the Video Processor forum to find out for sure.


With 4:3 material using the ISCO II, the easy thing to do is use DScaler on a HTPC with Video capture card. This application allows you to perform all sorts fo video magic, including setting the output format of the video so that it will be in the proper projected aspect ratio. The way to do this is to inform DSclaer that your display is a 16:9 display and it will add pillar bars on the sides of the image. This is just like letter boxing, but from the opposite side of the anamoprhic coin. There may be some SD video processors that can perform this trick also, but you would have to search the Video Processor forum to find a particular unit that does allow for this situation.