Projector screen size and ratio (1 Viewer)

As I was watching a movie last night on my work-in-progress HT I noticed that the Roku screen where I selected my movie and the subsequent movie presented were a different size. The Roku screen turned out to be 131" x 73.5" or 16 x 9 or 1.7777 ratio. The movie was 131" x 54.5" or 12 x 5 or 2.40 ration. Then I, just to see, brought up an old TV car-tune, Family Guy. It turned out to be 73.5" x 98" or 4 x 3 or .75 ratio.

1) When I paint on my screen, how do I get one screen to handle all those sizes?

2) If the screen is bigger than the image, does it detract from the overall experience, especially if I'm watching some epic movie?

3) Does the screen seem to disappear into the back ground and become unnoticed?

Thanks,
Rich

Welcome to the conundrum called..."What aspect ratio do I choose?"

Thanks.................

So it's the question that is almost as big as "why am I here"..........

Try a constant image height system or use your own masking system, the latter would be the cheaper option.

I guess i'll just paint the whole wall for a screen and try for side curtains, an adjustable valance at the top and something to raise and lower at the bottom to block off the unused portions. I guess all made of black velvet.

Well I don't need to solve it tomorrow so we'll see what else comes up as a solution.

Rich

I went with a 103", 16x9 screen. That takes care of 80% of the high def TV I watch. The rest is either pillar boxed (bars on the right and left during 4x3 shows), letter boxed (bars at the top and bottom on anything wider than 16x9) or window boxed (bars all the way around like during The Walking Dead).

1. My screen handles all aspect ratios.
2. It may be me, but 30 seconds into an engaging show and I forget about the show matchign the screen.
3. See 2.

Foxy has the alternative listed if you have the money to spend on it. My budget nor my room would work with one of those systems.

Robert_J said:

I went with a 103", 16x9 screen. That takes care of 80% of the high def TV I watch. The rest is either pillar boxed (bars on the right and left during 4x3 shows), letter boxed (bars at the top and bottom on anything wider than 16x9) or window boxed (bars all the way around like during The Walking Dead).

1. My screen handles all aspect ratios.
2. It may be me, but 30 seconds into an engaging show and I forget about the show matchign the screen.
3. See 2.

Foxy has the alternative listed if you have the money to spend on it. My budget nor my room would work with one of those systems.

Click to expand...

Thanks Robert,

I was kind of hoping that the extra screen hanging out would disappear 30 seconds into the movie. Still though, if I can easily implement some kind of "masking" as Foxy calls it I would pursue it.
As far as budget, I don't have one, it's just to spend a little, be frugal but spend what needs to be spent and get the most bang for the buck. It's a long term project so I don't need to bring it all out at once. It's just been a lot of fun so far. I had no idea that the Epson 8350 would make that kind of picture, that big. And it's not even a pricey projector.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/2798

That's an article on constant height projector systems. "frugal" doesn't fit into that type of system. It is a luxury and definitely not a bang for the buck type system.

I thought about it for about 30 seconds when I was researching my Panasonic projector.

The black bars don't bother me at all. Some people make such a big deal out of it.