Hi all,

I am confused about resolution and aspect ratio. I don't have the projector yet but am planning to buy JVC DLA-NP5 and a screen. This projector uses a 1.89:1 ratio D-ILA 4096 x 2160 imaging device. I'd like to get the same aspect ratio screen. But i'm confused how source material will be handled and displayed.

I've got:
1) streaming services... Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBOGo, Disney+
2) Apple TV 4k that will feed the NP5

If I get a 1.89:1 aspect ratio screen... Will the Apple TV 4K or streaming service always force a 16:9 resolution signal, which means 2:35 content would be horizontally letterboxed within the 16x9 frame, which would be further vertically letterboxed by the projector on the screen? Or would it somehow magically fill in my 1.89:1 screen to whatever optimal size required to get an end-to-end widescreen image by default on auto? Would it automatically adjust based on whatever the content aspect ratio is? Or would that only be the case if I got a 16:9 screen? I understand there are options for lens memory and zooming and shifting stuff. But i'm more interested in understanding how the image is handled by default.

So when the projector receives 16x9 content such as almost everything at 3840x2160 (4K), it's just a 16x9 projector. You can force it to scale that to a 17x9 panel (losing 1:1 pixel mapping) but using the projector's 'zoom' aspect. This will always obey aspect ratio. So on 16x9 content zoomed, you lose some of the top and bottom content. On scope content, using zoom will use the whole panel and reduce the black bars on top vs having a 16x9 screen and feeding it without using zoom.

Keep in mind almost nothing short of a PC will actually send 4096x2160 to your projector. If you're going to watch a mix of scope & 16x9 content and don't mind a little bit of the top & bottom zoomed off the screen, a 17x9 screen may be an ok choice.

TO your questions:
1) yes, there's zoom normal and auto for aspect.
2) 3840x2160p 16x9 only. Scope content is 3840x2160 with black bars encoded. You'll need to use zoom aspect to scale it to 17x9 screen.
3) the EDID will advertise 4096x2160 as an aspect. But only an HTPC is going to use that. All other devices will just use 3840x2160. Even the "native" is marked at 3840x2160 so an HTPC will default to 3840x2160 not 4096x2160.
4) No, they send black bar encoded 16x9. Same with blurays btw.

 

So when the projector receives 16x9 content such as almost everything at 3840x2160 (4K), it's just a 16x9 projector. You can force it to scale that to a 17x9 panel (losing 1:1 pixel mapping) but using the projector's 'zoom' aspect. This will always obey aspect ratio. So on 16x9 content zoomed, you lose some of the top and bottom content. On scope content, using zoom will use the whole panel and reduce the black bars on top vs having a 16x9 screen and feeding it without using zoom.

Keep in mind almost nothing short of a PC will actually send 4096x2160 to your projector. If you're going to watch a mix of scope & 16x9 content and don't mind a little bit of the top & bottom zoomed off the screen, a 17x9 screen may be an ok choice.

TO your questions:
1) yes, there's zoom normal and auto for aspect.
2) 3840x2160p 16x9 only. Scope content is 3840x2160 with black bars encoded. You'll need to use zoom aspect to scale it to 17x9 screen.
3) the EDID will advertise 4096x2160 as an aspect. But only an HTPC is going to use that. All other devices will just use 3840x2160. Even the "native" is marked at 3840x2160 so an HTPC will default to 3840x2160 not 4096x2160.
4) No, they send black bar encoded 16x9. Same with blurays btw.

Hey, thank you so much for your response!

Ok, so I think I understand. Basically I should ignore the 1.89:1 4096 x 2160 specs of the projector if i'm only concerned about watching movies from blu-ray player or streaming service because standard 4K data is always in 16:9 (3840x2160).

If say I have vertical wall space limitations and can only fit 1.89:1 screen, then my only option will be to use lens memory to save profiles of manually zoomed in configurations for various aspect ratios. But I think I've read somewhere that these lens memory configurations can be automated so that specific profiles can be triggered based on some source/data parameters. Is that correct? If so, what kind of parameters could I use to automate? Is there a way then to detect a 16x9 movie so that it does NOT zoom and just stays at default, or detect a 2.35:1 movie and then apply the profile I setup for that and zoom it appropriately to fill the 1.89:1 screen?

Thanks again!

Regards,
Jimmy

 

So the projector's zoom aspect you say actually changes the number of pixels used on the panel? Doesn't it just use the optical zoom? Which settings use which?

If I were to go with a 17x9 aspect screen, the most convenient setup would be to have 16x9 material projected in that frame with digitalk black masking on the left and right. This is how I would watch true 16x9 material. But as soon as there is anything wider, then I would easily engage the zoom function or installation mode to make it fill in the left and right sides. Is there a way to do this on the NP5? Preferably I would want this done via optical zoom, so I retain 1:1 pixel mapping. But I guess the problem would then be that I would need 2" top and bottom border off the screen to deal with the overflow.

Or do you mean using installation mode (not zoom) to make it use 4096 horizontal pixels, without the overflow? Is that how this would work?

Thanks!

 

There is no case where you can zoom to the full panel and also retain 1:1 pixel mapping because all content you can get is encode at 3840 pixels width (or less). The full panel has 4096 pixels. So in zoom you're scaling, period.

Other than that, yes you can use lens memories on the NP5 and zoom out on scope content and enable zoom and zoom back in on 16x9 content and disable zoom.

 

Ok. Listen, thanks a lot for your time. I'm just being paranoid because i'm about to put down over $4000 for a stewart filmscreen Phantom HALR Plus and it's custom sized so NO RETURNS, lol. If I get this wrong, I will be mad as blazing hell!
So I really appreciate all the help you've given. Have a great weekend!

Regards,

 

If say I have vertical wall space limitations and can only fit 1.89:1 screen...

If you have room to go wider I would seriously consider going with a wider screen.

Many of us have screens that split the difference between 1.78:1 and 2.35:1; mine is 2.05:1.

This gives roughly equal image area for both aspect ratios; I use lens memories to adjust to the particular movie

All 4K projectors on the market up until the new Sony XW series has always been 4096x2160 native panels.

So what's the answer to why they use this oddball aspect ratio?

 

If you have room to go wider I would seriously consider going with a wider screen.

Many of us have screens that split the difference between 1.78:1 and 2.35:1; mine is 2.05:1.

This gives roughly equal image area for both aspect ratios; I use lens memories to adjust to the particular movie




So what's the answer to why they use this oddball aspect ratio?

Because both Sony and JVC used to be in the commercial theater market that uses the DCI standard. JVC exited long ago and Sony recently quit and Sony ditched the 4K DCI for the consumer friendly 4k UHD standard in their latest XW series. I wonder if JVC will soon follow suit as well? JVC is also a player in the visualization/flight simulator market which uses DCI and it's simply a cost issue for JVC and Sony to produce both when they can just use the panel they already developed for their commercial projectors.

 

Until you compare a letterboxed 2.40:1 image to a non-letterboxed 1.78:1 image on a 2.01:1 screen where things will be smaller, as the height of the available image area is reduced by the letterbox bars.

Zooming takes care of that.

No side masking required, JVC blacks on a properly calibrated system are very black.

Exactly, so the argument against 2:1 AR is a red herring.

 

Zooming takes care of that.

And, exactly how do you fit a 2.40:1 source on a 2.01:1 screen to match the height without chopping off the sides?

 

Right, you don't.

My point is that it doesn't make sense to me to go with a 2.35 screen if you can go taller because it limits the size of narrower aspect ratios.

Given the variety of aspects ratios, there's no such thing as a screen size without compromise.