The miracle of the Internet:
Just a few days ago, I was a confused shmuck with a 4x8 sheet of Formica velcro'ed to my wall, unsure whether to cut it to 2.35:1 or 16:9 aspect ratio. I didn't want to cut to 16:9 because I really liked the 2.35 movies to be a bit wider -- cutting to 2.35 seemed better but when I simulated a 2.35 screen it made the 16:9 and 1.85 movies just a bit too small. Even buying one of those fancy-schmancy lenses didn't seem to solve all of my problems, although I have to admit Randy's Prismasonic still seems like it comes closest without spending insane money.
But no more !!!
After only a couple of days of research, without making any changes to my system, I am now the proud owner of a "constant-area" system, the coolest thing in the home theater world.
I owe Randy quite a lot of beer for suggesting an aspect ratio midway between 16:9 and 2.35 -- turns out I'm not the only one who is not completely satisfied with either of those two aspect ratios.
Room size seems to be the key -- if you have enough space for a big honkin' 2.35 screen (like Randy's) then everything is happy, but the biggest I can run is about 8 feet wide and that makes the 16:9 content seem just the tiniest bit too small. In that case, having a screen around 2.06:1 is ideal -- you use the full width for 2.35:1, and use the full height for 16:9, 1.85:1, or 4:3.
So... now I can relax and go back to watching movies. I will still have to zoom and shift when going from one format to another, and I'll have to play with some moveable borders for the 4x8 screen, but now I have a plan. Probably will still want to add a lens at some point, but I can live without it for a while.
Thanks for all the great input and suggestions. I'm going to go off and do some zooming and shifting
