Considering the 2.35:1 anamorphic upgrade?

**rwood01** · **03-08-07, 10:06 AM**

I recently paired my SP4805 with an anamorphic lens and have been blown away with the cinematic experience of 2.35:1 viewing. I was able to make a 103" 2.35:1 screen for about $50. The results are amazing and I'd highly recommend the upgrade to any home theater. These days, a 2.35:1 setup can be achieved on almost any budget.

**chas** · **03-08-07, 12:54 PM**

Ryan,
I have a 4805 which has rarely been used...can you explain what this lens is and what it does for the 4805?

Thanks

**rwood01** · **03-08-07, 02:39 PM**

Chas,

The HTB Anamorphic lens can be used with many front projectors, including the 4805, to display 2.35:1 native format video without any loss in resolution or lumen output. Here's how it works:

I'm sure you've noticed that many movies still have the "black bars" on the top and bottom of the screen even when displayed on your 16:9 TV or projector. This is due to the fact that they're in an even wider format than 16:9. I've read that somewhere around 2/3 - 3/4 of major motion pictures these days are in 2.35:1 - 2.4:1 format.

With a front projector setup you can pretty easily get rid of these bars by zooming our so the bars fall above and below the screen. The major disadvantage of this method is you're losing a big chunk of the projector's potential resolution. With the 4805 for example, you have 480 vertical lines of resolution. Let's say (I'm just guessing here) 100 of those lines are used to display the black bars, leaving you with 380 lines of resolution for the actual movie. It's obvious that this is not desirable. When you zoom out to get rid of the black bars, you just enlarge those 380 lines of resolution, increasing the chances of the "screen door effect".

One great feature of the 4805 is it's ability to scale the movie in "letterbox" mode. This takes a 2.35:1 movie and stretches it vertically to fill the full resolution of the display panel. The movie will now look too tall and thin, the black bars will be gone, and you're now using the full capability of the projector and displaying the movie with all 480 lines of resolution and the full lumen output of the projector. This is where the anamorphic lens comes in. By placing the lens in front of the projector it will stretch the image horizontally by 33%, returning the image to it's proper 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Now you are viewing the full picture as it was meant to be seen, plus you're taking advantage of the full capability of your projector. The result is really amazing. I was truly blown away by the results. Of course, it helps to have a 2.35:1 aspect ratio screen, otherwise you'll have to use a portion of your 16:9 screen.

Ryan

**Prof.** · **03-08-07, 04:40 PM**

Very well explained Ryan..

I'm currently waiting on delivery of my anamorphic lens...
From all the reports I've read of people changing to the "Scope" screen setup, they are all blown away by the results, giving a true Cinema feeling....and you don't need an expensive projector to do it.

How about some pics. to show what it can do..

Here is a link to the guy in Australia that I'm getting my Anamorphic lens from..
It has some good info on what an Anamorphic lens can do, and how to setup your projector..

http://cavx.blogspot.com/2006/11/mar...jects-cih.html

**rwood01** · **03-08-07, 05:02 PM**

Here are a few screen shots:

I've read a lot about CAVX. Definitely knows what he's talking about. I have the same type of prism based lens. Here's what it looks like:

Ryan

**Prof.** · **03-08-07, 05:20 PM**

The shots look very good..

Mark of CAVX has designed a very similar looking lens..What brand is the one your using?

**chas** · **03-08-07, 05:29 PM**

Thanks for the info Ryan. The screen shots look awesome...this is something I'll definitely consider when I get the projector set-up on a more permanent basis.

**rwood01** · **03-08-07, 09:39 PM**

Quote:

Prof. wrote:

The shots look very good..

Mark of CAVX has designed a very similar looking lens..What brand is the one your using?

My brother and I designed and built the lens. We're starting to sell them under the name HTB Anamorphic Lens, by the Home Theater Brothers. I imagine the performance is very similar to the CAVX lens.

One thing we're working on now is broad spectrum antireflective coatings. Should have a prototype by the end of next week. I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out.

**Prof.** · **03-08-07, 09:58 PM**

Very nice professional looking lens...

Mark also looked into getting the lenses coated, but evidentally is a very expensive process for a small quantity of lenses....

**basementjack** · **03-09-07, 11:44 PM**

Hey what about having them coated at one of those lenscrafters type places - they usually offer that as an option on eyeglasses - which people buy Qty 1 at a time - if you went to them with 5 of them, they'd probably be thrilled!

**mechman** · **03-10-07, 07:06 AM**

Ryan,

How do you mount it? Can you take a pic of that?

Thanks!

mech

**Prof.** · **03-10-07, 05:13 PM**

Quote:

basementjack wrote:

Hey what about having them coated at one of those lenscrafters type places - they usually offer that as an option on eyeglasses - which people buy Qty 1 at a time - if you went to them with 5 of them, they'd probably be thrilled!

Hey Jack...I'm not familiar with "lenscrafter type places", but if it's like a normal Optician type place, then I doubt that they would be able to do it..

The prisms in these lenses are quite large ( Marks are about 5"x 7") so I think that you would need an Optical Manufacturer/Engineer to handle prisms of that size..

**rwood01** · **03-12-07, 09:19 AM**

Quote:

mechman wrote:

Ryan,

How do you mount it? Can you take a pic of that?

Thanks!

mech

I mounted a drawer slide to the ceiling, then the lens mount to that. Here's the only picture I have currently. It's an "expedient" install that still needs to be cleaned up a bit. It does the job though.

**rdubwood** · **03-13-07, 11:33 AM**

Quote:

Prof. wrote:

Hey Jack...I'm not familiar with "lenscrafter type places", but if it's like a normal Optician type place, then I doubt that they would be able to do it..

The prisms in these lenses are quite large ( Marks are about 5"x 7") so I think that you would need an Optical Manufacturer/Engineer to handle prisms of that size..

You are correct. Applying anti-reflective coatings to these prisms is not something that can be done by anyone. I have seen how large the equipment is that they use and the process is quite complex and takes someone with experience to do it right. Some anti-reflective coatings if not done properly can add coloration or push to the displayed image. Having an office located in Southern California has advantages as we have located an expert who has done coatings for lenses and setups used in the filmmaking industry. We'll let you know how the first ones turn out. They looked fantastic when I packed them up to ship them to Colorado for mounting!

Randy
The Home Theater Brothers

**Prof.** · **03-13-07, 05:49 PM**

Was it a clear anti-reflective coating, or was it like the "Blooming" they apply to optical lenses?

**rdubwood** · **03-13-07, 10:40 PM**

It's a multi-layer broadband coating used on precision optics. It's the good stuff.

**Prof.** · **03-17-07, 07:39 PM**

Well my CAVX Anamorphic lens has arrived and I've started to set it up with the projector..
However, it seems the my projector won't do the required "Vertical stretch" mode that's necessary to produce the scope image..

The other way of getting this stretch mode is with a DVD player, and I have found that one of the players that will do this is the Samsung HD860...Very few players evidently have this facility..
The processor in the Samsung is not very good from what I hear, and one of the problems is that in this mode it tends to crush blacks and whites..certainly not the best alternative..

Does anyone know of another player that has this stretch mode facility?

**rdubwood** · **03-17-07, 07:47 PM**

Quote:

Prof. wrote:

Well my CAVX Anamorphic lens has arrived and I've started to set it up with the projector..
However, it seems the my projector won't do the required "Vertical stretch" mode that's necessary to produce the scope image..

The other way of getting this stretch mode is with a DVD player, and I have found that one of the players that will do this is the Samsung HD860...Very few players evidently have this facility..
The processor in the Samsung is not very good from what I hear, and one of the problems is that in this mode it tends to crush blacks and whites..certainly not the best alternative..

Does anyone know of another player that has this stretch mode facility?

If I remember right Alan Gouger from AVS Forum had indicated that the Momitsu V880N has this capability. From what I understand Alan is pretty well versed in all things home theater. I'd check that one out as I know it has a lot of great features including 1:1 pixel mapping.

**Prof.** · **03-17-07, 07:54 PM**

Ok..thanks rdub, I'll check that one out..
If it has 1:1 mapping then it should be suitable..

**basementjack** · **03-17-07, 11:43 PM**

I've heard over and over again, that a Home Theater PC with a high end graphics card does as good a job as any $2000 DVD player, and with far more flexibility.

I have a friend who has one and it sounds like theres quite a lot of options available - vertical stretch, various image quality enhancements etc... Great thing is, it's all software driven - unlike a traditional DVD drive where you are stuck with one variant of firmware, you're free to swap out programs, upgrade and configure away to your hearts content.

**Prof.** · **03-18-07, 06:17 PM**

Quote:

basementjack wrote:

I've heard over and over again, that a Home Theater PC with a high end graphics card does as good a job as any $2000 DVD player, and with far more flexibility..

Yes so have I, but to get a decent HTPC here is just as expensive as buying a HD projector,and that will do the appropriate scaling..

I picked up a Samsung HD860 yesterday, on the understanding that I could return it if it didn't perform to my requirements..so here's hoping..

**Prof.** · **03-20-07, 05:57 PM**

Well, I must say I'm very impressed with the performance of the Samsung HD860..
The definition, colour balance, black and white levels are all EXCELLENT!...and it does do the required vertical stretch for a CIH setup...

I put on a few SW movies to try it out and was amazed at how much better the images looked, compared to my Toshiba player, almost HD with just SD DVD's..using component connection..
But what really surprised me was how much better the surround sound was..It just runs rings around the Toshiba...
I heard ambient surround sounds that I had never heard before on those same disc's, that I've watched a dozen times before..and the sound is very enveloping..

The only problem I found with it is that it's not multi region..but I found a hack on the web that works, and it's now multi region..

If any one is considering a CIH setup, but their projector doesn't do the required scaling..then this a good alternative way of getting that scope image...

**norpus** · **04-03-07, 08:17 AM**

Quote:

Prof. wrote:

The shots look very good..

Mark of CAVX has designed a very similar looking lens..What brand is the one your using?

I also have the CAVX lens Prof - it did a good job on my 8720.
I believe the new optical coated lens' should be even better - will be interested to try them too

**Prof.** · **04-03-07, 07:42 PM**

Hi Norpus,

Are you using Mark's slide unit as well?..I've found it to be too bulky for my suspended projector setup, so I'm currently making a smaller lighter unit that I'll suspend seperately from the projector..

If you're getting any back reflection on the side or back walls as I found during intial tests, I discovered that if you cover the exposed part of the back prism with some black felt, it is totally removed..It actually slightly helps with the perceived contrast of the image as well..

I would imagine with 8720, the image looks great..
What throw ratio are you using, and do you have any of the associated problems..
This is one area that I'm concerned about with my W100..I think i'm going to be just about on the min. 2.0 TR.. I'll be using a 2760mm. wide screen..which I'm currently making..

**Prof.** · **04-12-07, 06:52 PM**

I finally got the new screen finished and installed, made the slide unit and fitted Marks lens..
After a bit of adjusting and aligning everything up, the end

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