Yeah, I'm with Murph. The bars will be there for some portion of your viewing experience.
I wondered the same thing - aspect ratio - when I did my HT back in 2006. At that time, there were a lot more movies in 1.85:1 than there were in 2.35:1, and I watched a fair amount of HDTV off of DirecTV, so I was (am) happy that I went with a 1.85:1 screen. Remember, there's some really good TV programming out there - Palladia, NatGeo, HBO, Showtime, etc - so I wonder if you may end up watching more TV than you think. I know that I've enjoyed
True Blood and
Dexter in the HT a lot more than I did when I watched them on my 42" TV upstairs.
Still, there's a part of me that wonders what a 2.35:1 screen would be like.
I think that you can make a case that either screen is correct.
Glad to be of help!
