[drjrt]

I've purchased a Sharp 12K and will be in a light controlled room. I haven't chosen my fabric yet as I haven't had enough time to demo the samples.

I will primarily be watching DVD's, very little TV. I have to ceiling mount and don't have the time to fabricate a system, therefore will purchase.


Question: How important is masking? I had origionally decided on a dual masking system NTSCHDTV. But as I looked through my current list of movies I have all the ratios. Therefore I'm considering the Horizon system from Da-Lite which will do NTSC, HDTV, Letterbox, and Cinemascope. All, of course, for a pretty penny.


My problem; if I feel it is important to mask one format, then why not all formats?


Any thoughts on the quad masking system?

 

[Huntress]

I wish someone would respond to this... "Masking, really that important?" is a very good question.


I've been using my system for a week now without masking, and honestly am not sure it is terrible without, mind you I have no idea what it will be like with (think ultra-nOOb). I am thinking it will simply look more "finished" with masking.


Thoughts?


Diana

 

[gambit]

The lack of responses is probably because this question has been asked and answered many times before. Unfortunately, there is no consolidated FAQ, so you usually need to perform your own search to dig out the relevant information.


I think this was probably the most recent thread that discussed the need for masking:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=357155


drjt,

you'll have to weigh the improvement vs. the cost of the Dalite Horizon system. It looks like a good system, but I personally would never pay that much for it.


As for masking all formats, it would depend upon your viewing habits. Yeah, it would be nice to mask for all, but if you watch 90% widescreen AR's and 10% 4:3, you could probably get away with not masking for the latter. Or if your video source has a stretch mode, you could possibly avoid 4:3 altogether. Just using that as an example, not sure what your actual situation is.

 

[Scott B]

Since you mainly use your projector for watching DVDs, the most logical masking system is a two-way horizontal for use with a 1.78 aspect ratio screen. The masking system would allow the screen to be configured for wider aspect ratio movies such as 1.85 and 2.35.

 

[drjrt]

Thank you.


I had searched but didn't find anything on the Horizon

system (or 4-way masking).


I had my son tally our DVD's - We have almost equal

number of all formats (including native 4:3). That is

what is making the decision difficult. Since we don't

know what format will be used most in the future,

it is hard to plan. I guess, at least, we can assume

4:3 is on the way out...?


I think I will just mask between HDTX and Cinemascope

and not worry about the few extr inches of Letterbox.


As a person new to this subject and on a short learning

curve, I have felt uncomfortable submitting questions

as I'm sure they have all been addressed in the past.

I have literally spent dozens of hours searching this

site and others and don't always find an appropriate

thread. A FAQ would be great - I would be happy to start

it, if someone wants to help contribute/tell me how...

 

[astrojeff]

I have a 12K. too with a 16x9 screen. The black levels are so good that I wouldn't spend extra money on masking the upper and lower bars. They're really not noticeable now.


Jeff

 

[TomWhitlow]

drjrt:


I have a NEC LT260K dlp projector. The black bars don't really bother me either. Except on very dark scenes they aren't even noticeable. Since it is so expensive I can easily live without the masking.


Tom

 

[doubleJ]

I have an x1 (4:3) but shooting on a 16:9 screen with no masking.

Would I pay for a pre-fab masking system? No way.

Would I build a masking system (probably just black inserts)? Yes way.

Can I live and bear without masking? Yes way.

I hope that helps.

JJ

 

[Daniel Hutnicki]

They say once you go masking you never go back


There are two main advantages to going with masking


The first being the obvious of not having any bars and secondly any maybe more important is that by having masking, the contrast is perceived to be better because of the visual effect of having the picture right next to a black material


The thing with masking is that you can live without having it and you will never know the difference. However, once you get it you will realize how much it improves everything