>>I don’t want to be screwing around with manual zooming, lens shifting or masking or messing with lenses.
I have it pretty simple now -- just a zoom, no shifting. I guess I will have to add some masks at some point. It's a toss-up between buying an automated masking system and hiring someone to zoom the projector and move the masks so I don't have to get out of the chair. So far hiring someone looks to be much cheaper but I can't really afford either right now
>>My pending delema is that I’m sitting 12’ away from the bed sheet and I just can’t seam to find the ‘happy’ screen size for all the different movie A/R's.
I hate to say it, but this is exactly the reason why one would consider constant area in the first place.
I'm living quite happily with the CA setup right now, with the projector mounted on a table between two big chairs, but access to the viewing area is limited by the angled walls and I am starting to think I need an open walkway there so people can get in and out.
If I put a walkway there the projector will need to be mounted higher up -- if I align it with the top of the screen (the other sweet spot for constant area) then I will bang my head every time I walk underneath, and if I mount it on the big vertical timber at the back of the loft (pre-wired with power and HDMI) then the projector is too far away for anything but a vertical compression CH setup.
I'm starting to understand why Ian & Amie have their projector mounted on a hinged plank that sticks out ~5 feet from the back wall, supported by a rope & cleats, looking for all the world like it escaped from a sailboat.
