Most of the content I watch (on my Media Center PC) is 16:9. The stuff that isn't I almost always set to Zoom 4, which to my eyes is the best compromise between zoom/stretch for 4:3 content on my 16:9 screen.
I think I have got the wife convinced to let me build a theatre room if and when we make extra bedroom additions to the house (it all hinges on if the baby-to-be-named is a girl or not
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). I expect to spend a good bit of money on the addition and theater stuff, but I'm also trying to balance it out with common sense.
So as "cool" as a four-way masking setup would be, if I'm happy with zoomed 4:3 content, wouldn't simple two-way vertical be perfectly sufficient for my needs? I'm hoping to do a ~144" 16:9 screen and then just mask it down for 2.35 and 2.40 content. I figure 4:3 will eventually go the way of the dodo anyway, so no worries, right?
EDIT
Okay, so you guys have pretty well convinced me to go with a 2.4 native AR screen plus lens setup. Obviously this is going to require side masking.
Looking at all of the DIY side masking projects, I really don't know if I like the cable/pulley setups. I think one could make up something a little different and keep noise down.
To that end, I'm thinking about doing something completely different and possibly insane. I'd like to have cam-driven side masking. I'm envisioning a disk mounted on a motor (potentially inside of an MDF box to make it even quieter) with a rocker switch mounted to ride on the disk surface. An extension arm will mount to the disk on one edge with a swivel bushing, stretching out to a T-bar with another swivel in the intersection of the T. To keep things perfectly vertical I think there might be a need for races on floor and ceiling.
Now, with the disk at 3:00 the side masks will be fully shut, leaving the screen at 4:3. Detents can be added to the surface of the disk to actuate the switch and interrupt the motor at various points. The advantage to this is a large range of size tweaks - 4:3, 16:9, 2.35, 2.4, whatever, with something as simple as a piece of ballpoint pen to flick the switch and break the relay. I could probably even hand-crank it to match some of the strange aspect ratios of older movies and add extra stop points.
In doing this the motor only has to turn one way; after it reaches 9:00 and full extension and begins to return, the masks will close again. I can make the circuit REALLY simple and just have the IR signal act as on/off. So if going from 4:3 to 2.4, you'd send three on pulses. That's easy enough; I can program macros into my Harmony of 1-3 pulses, with pause buffers long enough for the disk to reach each stopping point.
I think this has the potential to be a great deal quieter than a pulley and cable system. Given that there are only two points of actuation per masking panel (and potentially any noise from the races, but Teflon bushins could be used there as well.), there's not as many opportunities for noise. And, as a side bonus, I don't have to worry about hiding cables running above and below the screen.
Thoughts?
I think I have got the wife convinced to let me build a theatre room if and when we make extra bedroom additions to the house (it all hinges on if the baby-to-be-named is a girl or not
So as "cool" as a four-way masking setup would be, if I'm happy with zoomed 4:3 content, wouldn't simple two-way vertical be perfectly sufficient for my needs? I'm hoping to do a ~144" 16:9 screen and then just mask it down for 2.35 and 2.40 content. I figure 4:3 will eventually go the way of the dodo anyway, so no worries, right?
EDIT
Okay, so you guys have pretty well convinced me to go with a 2.4 native AR screen plus lens setup. Obviously this is going to require side masking.
Looking at all of the DIY side masking projects, I really don't know if I like the cable/pulley setups. I think one could make up something a little different and keep noise down.
To that end, I'm thinking about doing something completely different and possibly insane. I'd like to have cam-driven side masking. I'm envisioning a disk mounted on a motor (potentially inside of an MDF box to make it even quieter) with a rocker switch mounted to ride on the disk surface. An extension arm will mount to the disk on one edge with a swivel bushing, stretching out to a T-bar with another swivel in the intersection of the T. To keep things perfectly vertical I think there might be a need for races on floor and ceiling.
Now, with the disk at 3:00 the side masks will be fully shut, leaving the screen at 4:3. Detents can be added to the surface of the disk to actuate the switch and interrupt the motor at various points. The advantage to this is a large range of size tweaks - 4:3, 16:9, 2.35, 2.4, whatever, with something as simple as a piece of ballpoint pen to flick the switch and break the relay. I could probably even hand-crank it to match some of the strange aspect ratios of older movies and add extra stop points.
In doing this the motor only has to turn one way; after it reaches 9:00 and full extension and begins to return, the masks will close again. I can make the circuit REALLY simple and just have the IR signal act as on/off. So if going from 4:3 to 2.4, you'd send three on pulses. That's easy enough; I can program macros into my Harmony of 1-3 pulses, with pause buffers long enough for the disk to reach each stopping point.
I think this has the potential to be a great deal quieter than a pulley and cable system. Given that there are only two points of actuation per masking panel (and potentially any noise from the races, but Teflon bushins could be used there as well.), there's not as many opportunities for noise. And, as a side bonus, I don't have to worry about hiding cables running above and below the screen.
Thoughts?
