Anamorphic Projection Theaters

49030 Views 67 Replies 20 Participants Last post by tbase1, Oct 17, 2020

Prof.

Discussion Starter · Apr 29, 2008

This thread is for all members who have Constant Image Height projection, to show off their theatres..
I'm sure there are few out there, so lets have a look (just out of interest) at what your set up is like..

Information like..

Room size..
Screen size (as in width)
Projector..
Lens..
Seating distance etc..

This information will also help those who are contenplating the move to Anamorphic Projection..

A few shots showing your room and front screen, your projector and lens and just two or three screenies to cap it off would be nice..

21 - 40 of 68 Posts

G

· #21 · Aug 29, 2008

Nice choice of movie poster tbase. Although the first movie was my favourite lol.

AngelEyes

· #22 · Sep 2, 2008

Sorry to hijack this thread but I am quite interested in going the Anamorphic route but don't fully understand how it all works and the logistics of installation. Could someone point me at a decent source of information for the beginer, that explains the basic pros and cons of Anamorphic over 'normal' projection.

Thanks very much

Adam

tbase1

· #23 · Sep 3, 2008

Angeleyes,
This is a subject that is hard to expalin in a post or two, but I'm try to give some high points.

1. allot of movies are starting to come out in scope format...hence no bars on top and buttom with scope screen.
2. more use of pixel structure...hence the anamorphic lens
3. wider angle...hence more panamorphic view

There's more but i think the best place to get a real birds eye review is on panamorphic lens and prismsonic's lens web site. Of which...they are two of the most well known lens companies out there...at least for the guys that don't have allot of jack to spend on a lens.

fork485,

thanks for plugging my HTR.

AngelEyes

· #24 · Sep 3, 2008

tbase1 said:
Angeleyes,
This is a subject that is hard to expalin in a post or two, but I'm try to give some high points.

1. allot of movies are starting to come out in scope format...hence no bars on top and buttom with scope screen.
2. more use of pixel structure...hence the anamorphic lens
3. wider angle...hence more panamorphic view

There's more but i think the best place to get a real birds eye review is on panamorphic lens and prismsonic's lens web site. Of which...they are two of the most well known lens companies out there...at least for the guys that don't have allot of jack to spend on a lens.

fork485,

thanks for plugging my HTR.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, right after i posted here I found this thread which has helped quite a bit: http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...on/8830-16-9-screen-vs-2-37-1-cih-screen.html

With reference to point 1 in your post, how can you tell if something is in scope with no black bars on a 16:9 screen (I just have a Plasma at the moment)?

Thanks,

Adam

tbase1

· #25 · Sep 3, 2008

anything 2.33 and up is scope

alan monro

· #26 · Sep 28, 2008

Prof .What has happened? it has gone all quiet on this site . Well ---------- After reading all the good infomation provided on this site I have decided to have a go at cinemascope . We are moving soon to the tropical area of Australia and this will be the second theatre i have built DIY . I dont care what a lot of people say about Klipsch speakers i am taking the fantastic speakers with me, love them . I am also considering another cinemascope screen outside near the pool as when it is sticky hot at night there is nothing nicer than sitting outside . In have found a mob that sells coated optical prisms especially for cinemascope http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l9113d.html By the way Prof dont worry about the size of your HT it looks great and evidently goes fantastic . Kind regards Alan .

Prof.

Discussion Starter · #27 · Sep 29, 2008

Thanks for the kind words Alan...I'm still loving that huge cinemascope image in my small theatre..:T

The forum has gone very quite..It seems that not many people are ready to venture into the Cinemascope world as yet..

alan monro said:
We are moving soon to the tropical area of Australia and this will be the second theatre i have built DIY

How far North are you moving to?

I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun, building your new theatre..:bigsmile:

I dont care what a lot of people say about Klipsch speakers i am taking the fantastic speakers with me, love them

Interesting that you should mention the Klipsch speakers..I'm considering putting them into a 16 seat DLP Cinemascope theatre that I'm designing for a friend of mine..
I think they will project the sound very nicely in a 10M. long room..

I am also considering another cinemascope screen outside near the pool as when it is sticky hot at night there is nothing nicer than sitting outside

Sounds like a "COOL" idea!!.:R

.

In have found a mob that sells coated optical prisms especially for cinemascope http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l9113d.html By the way Prof dont worry about the size of your HT it looks great and evidently goes fantastic ..

Alan, just be a bit wary of those prisms..They are quite small and not suitable for all projectors..
Also the back prism is smaller than the front prism and they have wider angles on the faces, compared to Mark's prisms..
You would most likely need to have a longer TR, to reduce edge distortion from such small prisms..
They look good, being coated and all..and quite reasonably priced..

If you get them, let us know how they turn out..

See less See more

moh

· #28 · Nov 4, 2009

Is there any loss in picture quality when using an anamorphic lens? I mean, is there a discernable difference between the projector alone vs. the projector with the anamorphic lens?

Prof.

Discussion Starter · #29 · Nov 4, 2009

That depends on the type of lens system used...

With a lens like the Isco cylindrical lens, there is virtually no loss of image detail or image distortion..other than a slight light loss due to the projected light passing through additional optical elements..

At the other end of the scale, you have prismatic lenses (coated or non coated) which are quite thick and don't necessarily have optically true faces, which do introduce some chromatic aberrations, and an effect known as "pin cushion"..
These prism type lenses also have more effect on light output than the much more expensive types..

However..having said all that, these prismatic lenses still perform very admirably and most people use this type of lens..

You have to remember that the letterbox image that you see on the screen is not blown up as in the zoom method..(which has some inherent reduction of the light intensity that hits the screen) but is expanded vertically by the projector or processor..and then expanded horizontally by the lens..
Also, you may have noticed that the letterbox image you see on the screen is quite bright and very sharp..being a small image..so imagine that same quality image now filling your whole screen..That's what you get with an anamorphic lens...

See less See more

moh

· #30 · Nov 9, 2009

That's really cool. Thanks for explaining.

Prof.

Discussion Starter · #31 · Nov 9, 2009

Just ask away if you have any more queries..

TwisterZ

· #32 · Mar 25, 2010

Hello Mark, I have been through the DIY anamorphic thread on DIYAudio, yes all 184 pages, and have 4 wedge prisms. I haven't made the lenses yet but am finishing my 5'X12' screen and have been using the zoom on my Sony HS20 to fill the screen. So far I am very happy with the picture and am sure it will look better with the lens. I plan to do 2 lenses, 1 for horizontal stretch and 1 to compress for 4X3 material. I have my NHT speakers behind the screen and dipoles on the side with 2 more in the back for a 7.1 setup. My sub is a DIY unit 2' high & 12' wide with 2 18" drivers. It serves as the stage for my screen. My room is 16' X 25' with the sitting about 15' back from the screen. I hope to get some pictures soon.

The rest of my system
Denon AVR988
Toshiba A30 HD-DVD
Samsung BD-c5500 Blu-Ray
Behringer DCX-2496 Crossover
ADA MPA6 5.1 power amp
NTH Speakers (7 2way, and 2 10" subs used for mid bass)

getgray

· #33 · Jan 6, 2011 (Edited)

I have a website with a bunch of photos of Anamorphic lens installations. I mean no commercial intent so I am trying to post a link that leaves any other links out and goes straight to the photos:

Edit:

Well, after looking at my photos link, I figured the mods would see it as advertising, so I removed it. If a mod want's to pre-approve it let me know. I think the members would like to see the samples of other's installations, but they are on a commercial site.

It's too tedious to link each picture and remove any that might be construed as commercial individually.

But here's one of my favorite installations anyway:
http://www.techht.com/photos/mike_wi-3.jpg

See less See more

Prof.

Discussion Starter · #34 · Jan 7, 2011

Scott..you are able to post links or photos, providing the post is not linked to a commercial site..
Photos like the one above are fine..

Mark Techer

· #35 · Jan 11, 2011 (Edited)

2

TwisterZ said:
Hello Mark, I have been through the DIY anamorphic thread on DIYAudio, yes all 184 pages, and have 4 wedge prisms.

This topic is best discussed back at DIYAudio. There is also a DIY lens thread here so I might quickly explain there.

In the past 8 months, I've also built a new HT room with full light control and thought I might share if that is OK.
Looking back toward to the projector

And the front of the room

I have also attached the link to my blog which has more pictures.

Mark

See less See more

Prof.

Discussion Starter · #36 · Jan 11, 2011

Are they dipoles all round?

TwisterZ

· #37 · Jan 12, 2011

Nice job Mark. I was just talking to my wife this weekend about redoing the lighting in the theater. Right now I'm working on moving my Denon AVR988 to the bedroom system.

Mark Techer

· #38 · Jan 12, 2011

Prof said:
Are they dipoles all round?

Hi Prof, they are actually Bipole, so no chance of phase errors between speakers. I do however want to change them out for dipoles as I think dipoles will work better in the small room.

TwisterZ said:
Nice job Mark. I was just talking to my wife this weekend about redoing the lighting in the theater. Right now I'm working on moving my Denon AVR988 to the bedroom system.

Thanks TwisterZ. The lighting is the most simple and cost effect thing I could find. It is just an LED rope light, yet works well to provide low level ambient light.

Prof.

Discussion Starter · #39 · Jan 12, 2011

Mark Techer said:
Hi Prof, they are actually Bipole, so no chance of phase errors between speakers. I do however want to change them out for dipoles as I think dipoles will work better in the small room.

I have a fairly small room as well and I'm using DIY Tripoles in a 5.1 system..
They give me very good all round surround sound..

Mark Techer

· #40 · Jan 13, 2011

Prof. said:
I have a fairly small room as well and I'm using DIY Tripoles in a 5.1 system..
They give me very good all round surround sound..

I originally had Dipoles and they worked really well (for 5.1), however I changed them to Bipoles when EX was introduced due to the acoustic errors that can arise. As it turns out, this is not hard to fix, however did cause allot of industry confusion and why THX introduced the idea of direct radiator for the back surrounds. Now that I am fully aware of how to solve the acoustic issue, I won't be worried about making the switch back to dipoles.

Also at the time, I was caught up in the Hi-Rez MC music hype when I made my surround change, so went with Bipoles because they represented one of the best compromises between direct (for MC music) and diffuse (film sound) speakers. I don't listen to that much MC music anyway (only have about 20 titles) so will be quite happy with Dipoles.

Tri-poles are an interesting concept though.

21 - 40 of 68 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.