LOL. I go out to Carada's site every time I need to find out a popular screen size/ratio combination. I will mess with those links at home.
Murph, good call on the tape. I've taped off a screen area in the past (not this theater build) but the 2 different colors makes a lot of sense.
Also, I should say that in my previous 2 versions, I had no masking outside of the masking that I tried for about a week. The LCD panels never block all of the light, so the top and bottom bars on my 16:9 (1.78:1) screen were very visible. Now with an LCOS projector know for its dark blacks, maybe it isn't as big of a deal as I am thinking that it will be. Screen placement may end up being the biggest factor. With the 1.78:1 screen, I need to make sure that I can get it off the ground enough to be visible from the 2nd row of seats, while not too high that it is painful to watch from the front row (the whole eye-level/screen placement calculator deal)...
I do like the looks of the 2.35:1 or even 2.40:1 screen in a LIT room (you walk in and it is just super cool looking), but then again, the theater will really shine when the room is dark.
I've seen that article on HighDefDigest, and it does cover the issues, even the "IMAX Enhanced" movies like Transformers and Dark Knight that switch ratios...
I do also like the concept of getting a 1.78:1 screen, but mask it off as 2.35:1 or 2.40:1 with something cheap. Then if I decide it isn't worth messing with, I just toss out the masking. If I decide that it is worth it, then I build a better masking system.
I don't know. I went from 2.35 being a MUST HAVE, to now wondering if I should go back to 1.78:1 like I had before...
I think that I need to pick up some green and blue painter's tape and mark them up...
