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Projection screen: 16:9 vs 4:3
I built a projection screen from some material that I purchased. I built it with 4:3 dimensions. The thing is, I can't decide if I want to outline it with some black material such that it would be 16:9. I watch cable on my X1 as well as Xbox. My dilemma... I want to make it either full time 16:9 or 4:3 with a black frame. Can I make all my movies fit to 4:3 or make cable and Xbox fit to 16:9? Does any of this make any sense?
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Many who own 4:3 panel projectors use a 4:3 screen, especially if they do a lot of tv viewing on it. If most of what you watch is widescreen movies, then it would make sense to have the screen in 16:9 dimensions. If the screen size is large enough, 4:3 material will be shown in the center of the 16:9 frame with black bars on each side, and you will get a satifactory picture. Another thing you can do is make yourself a masking set for 16:9 images on the 4:3 screen, and use the masking when showing movies, then remove them for full screen 4:3 viewing. -
Excellent idea with the masking.. any material ideas for this?Comment
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I have a fixed 16:9 wall screen 92" wide and use 2 rods with black cloth. One at the top and one at the bottom for 2:35 aspect ratio, and I use black panels, one for each side that fit over the top of the frame and these are in place when I watch 4:3 movies.Comment
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Black felt would be best for light absorbtion but any thick, low reflectance black fabric should do the trick
JasonComment
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Yes, a lot of people use black felt, but for me the black cloth works fine. Zero lightspill.Comment
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I also have a fixed 16:9 screen and I built similar black masking panels for watching 2.35:1 movies. Somehow sideboxing of 4:3 material (TV games and old movies) never bothered me. But for movie nights where I knew that I was going to play a 2.35:1 movie I'd usually setup the masking bars so that it looked just like a custom 2.35:1 widescreen. :TOriginally posted by George Bellefontaine
I used black flocking fabric as it was cheap to buy and easily found at craft stores. And then I cut and spliced aluminum rods and 2 X 2 wood to be the frame. Then I hammered in nails on the sides of the screen to hang the panels up at the right spots for the correct format. :B
-Dean.Comment
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You probably already know this, but the xbox has such a feature in the dashboard (you can select 4:3 pan and scan, 4:3 letterbox and wide screen) and many games support the 16:9 format (Halo 2, project Gotham, Forza motorsport, Ninja Gaiden etc...). Games that are not supporting 16:9 are being displayed in 4:3.Can I make all my movies fit to 4:3 or make cable and Xbox fit to 16:9?
So selecting widescreen(16:9) on the dashboard is really preferable.Comment
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Dean, my masking is usually left in the 2:35 position because the majority of movies are in that format today. I have a lot of old B&W 4:3 classic movies that I watch a lot so I like to get as close to that old theater feeling and use the side panels.
That's a neat idea you used for the masking. My horizontal masking is on 8 foot wide rods. The top rod rests over the top of the frame. The bottom rod sits on a small L-Frame attached to each side of the screen, positioned so that the top of the mask lines up with the bottom of a 2:35 image. As you know, the 2:35 image can range anywhere from 2:32 to 2:55, so sometimes there is a very small black border top and bottom, but both my projectors produce a very dark ( almost black ) grey. I also have my screen framed with drapery to the sides and at the top, so the masking just looks like part of the screen.Comment
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It sounds like a nice setup George.Comment
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George,
I assume that each rod has a small, flat curtain that hangs from it. Is that edge on the top curtain straight enough or did you need to weight it inside with something?
What did you use for your rods and how do you keep them in position? I'm thinking that anything 80+ inches long would sag too much to be usefull unless it has some significant weight.
I may be able to do something similar to mask my 4:3 screen but since it's not a dedicated HT they would have to come downwhen the screen is rolled up.
-MarkComment
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Hi, Mark.
The top mask really needs something to keep the edge straight. I used wooden dowels that are sewn ( thanks to my wife) in place. There are two dowels needed in my case because of the 92" width of my screen. The rods themselves are heavy duty drapery rods that extend out from the center for the proper width needed. As I stated above, the top rod actually sits over the top of my fixed screen frame. The bottom one rests ( each end) on a metal L-Frame attached to the wall next to the sscreen frame. You can't see this because I have my screen framed with drapery. See pic on my homepage.
This idea is basically tailored for a fixed wall screen. I'm not sure how I would apply masking to a pulldown screen. Not something I have given much thought to, Mark. Someone else here may have an idea.Comment
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I used 1/2" aluminum tubing because it's light and strong. I needed panels that were 140" wide, and I didn't want the top or bottom to bow across that distance.
So I threaded wood dowels into the ends of the aluminum tubing and screwed the wood dowels into 2 X 2 wood slats for the sides. Then I wrapped black flocking material around the tubing and stapled it to the wood to be taut.
My challenge was to build it cheaply with materials readily avalable at Home Depot and fabric stores.
My sides also had drapery on curtain rods to do sideboxing as necessary (and make it look more like a theater). 8)
It would be a challenge to build a masking system for a pull down screen.
Perhaps you could simply make 4 rigid black panels, two long, two short.
And hang the top panel horizontally with J-hooks from the ceiling.
Then hang the two side panels (as needed) vertically from the ceiling.
And finally hang the bottom masking panel horizontally, either hooked onto the side panels, or hooked onto the base support rod of the pulldown screen (with Velcro perhaps?).
-Dean.Comment
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