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Why Cinemascope?

There is something really special about going to the movies to see the latest blockbuster films. Seeing the curtains open out to the wall to reveal the deluxe widescreen aspect ratio known as Cinemascope is quite a spectacle.

Cinemascope has been used by movie directors since the 1950's and movies the World over are being shot and displayed in this format. When watching such films on a TV you will notice black bars top and bottom. These are encoded into the film to create the correct geometry, being a 16:9 ratio, also known as HDTV format. When using a projection setup in your home to watch films, we can manipulate the image electronically and optically to re create what is done at the cinema.

By using an anamorphic lens, you can display the film in it’s true aspect ratio, an image that is the same height as all HDTV formats but one third wider again, as per the cinemas.

By using a cinemascope screen and an anamorphic lens, you can now emulate what is being done at the cinema. The Director chooses this format for it’s impact, a native landscape image that is 33% wider than the traditional HDTV or 16:9 format. Watching films in cinemascope format is truly a memorable experience.

This method is also referred to as CIH Projection or ‘Constant Image Height' projection. This means all your films share the exact same height. Only the width of the image changes according to the aspect ratio. See images below to better understand how this all works.

A 16:9 Letterboxed image sitting within a 21:9 Cinemascope screen. Not where the format boundaries are. The active image is the HDTV format 16:9 with black bars included to make up the correct geometry. The white outer edge is the screen boundary of a cinemascope screen. Only 810 lines of resolution is used here, the remainder of the projectors resolution sits in the black bars.

Part 1 is the electronic scaling of the image with the projector. This is often called ‘Stretch’, ‘Vertical Stretch’ or ‘Anamorphic mode’. If you’re not sure if your Projector has this feature feel free to contact us to find out. You will usually find this feature somewhere on the projectors remote or in the menu on screen. There are also DVD players such as the OPPO BD series that have this function built into them. We are now using the entire 1080P panel of the projector.

Part 2 is the use of the Anamorphic Lens (optical expansion). This stretches the light beam by 33% in the horiztonal plane only (a factor of 1.33) to restore the geometry on screen. The result is true Cinemascope with no black bars top or bottom. 78% larger than the original image.