Does a 2.4:1 TV or projector exist

[Orpheus21]

I’m just wondering if anyone has heard of anyone making a 2.4:1 TV. I’ve searched each major manufacturer’s website and haven’t found anything.

I’m also wondering about what effect a full 2.4:1 TV would have on resolution for a movie presented in a 2.4:1 OAR. With a modern wide screen TV at 1.78:1 we get the normal Letterbox which takes away about 100 lines or so of resolution from my 1080p TV. If a 2.4:1 Widescreen 1080p TV was made, would it display the movie with the full 1080p. I guess I’m wondering where the encoding is for the Letterbox

[Chevypower]

The letterbox is in the picture. 16:9 actual signal with black bars put in (included in the 1080 lines) I do believe some projectors will crop the black bars out, and you can use an anamorphic lens to get a quasi 2.35:1 picture, but I doubt you will see an improvement. You would have to get the same 2K and 4K digital files the cinemas get and display them natively in 1.85/2.35 for any real improvement in my opinion.

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by Orpheus21

I’m just wondering if anyone has heard of anyone making a 2.4:1 TV. I’ve searched each major manufacturer’s website and haven’t found anything.

For now, the only way to get a 2.4:1 TV is to get a 1080p projector with an anamorphic lens attachment. Both will set you back at least US$5K. It's called a constant-height projection setup.

Using a video processor or a video processor chip inside the projector, the 2.4:1 video will be stretched vertically to fit the 1080p DLP/LCD panel. The anamorphic lens in front of the projector's lens will stretch this video back to normal but with a wider picture. As the name implies, the height of the screen is constant but the width will vary between 1080p/1.78:1 video and 2.4:1 video.

I guess I’m wondering where the encoding is for the Letterbox

For a 2.4:1 movie, only the video image is encoded. The black bars are not; it is later generated by the BD player.

Originally Posted by Chevypower

The letterbox is in the picture. 16:9 actual signal with black bars put in (included in the 1080 lines) I do believe some projectors will crop the black bars out, and you can use an anamorphic lens to get a quasi 2.35:1 picture, but I doubt you will see an improvement.

Using an anamorphic lens, the vertical resolution is "improved" (it's not true resolution as the anamorphic video is generated by processors and not encoded on disc, unlike anamorphic DVDs). But the improvement you really get is in the experience of watching a scope movie in your own homes.

In a constant height setup, a 1.78.1/16:9 screen with a height of 5 feet/1.52 meters will be 8.89 feet/ 2.71 meters wide. Saving Private Ryan will be displayed this way. At the same height, the 2.4:1 screen will be 12 feet/3.66 meters in width. The Dark Knight will be displayed this way in a constant-height setup.

You would have to get the same 2K and 4K digital files the cinemas get and display them natively in 1.85/2.35 for any real improvement in my opinion.

From D-Cinema.

2K is the term used to describe images that have approximately 2K vertical lines. In digital cinema, a 2K image is delivered to the theatre in a digital "container" 2048 pixels wide by 1080 pixels high. A 2K image with a 2.39:1 ("scope") aspect ratio could be supplied having 2048 x 858 pixels. A 2K image with a 1.85:1 ("flat") aspect ratio could be supplied having 1998 x 1080 pixels. 2K resolution is specified by DCI as the minimum needed for showing theatrical content.

On BD, we get 1920 x 1080 resolution. BD can't beat 4K projection systems, but it is only 78 pixel short of 2K for 1.85:1.


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