http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/18597/SixteenbyNine-HD-Televisions-Are-So-2008/

Nice. Tho  i wonder how games are gonna be made to fill the screen without distorting the image...I also wonder how much a 56" hdtv with a ratio of 21:9 will cost...poor thing is gonna get smited by the recession. 

21:9?  I prefer calling it 2.39:1 myself, since that is an actual cinema aspect ratio.  Don't look for this TV to get much support, and don't look for the aspect ratio to overtake 16:9, either.

yeah who cares

I'd like one. No fucking clue what I'd use it for, but if I had the right source material, it'd be worth having.

But then, I'm a sucker for panoramic cinema.

Using highly advanced formatting technology, regular 16:9 content from sources such as TV broadcasts and games consoles is also adapted to fill the 21:9 screen.

Buzzword bullshit bingo for scaling.

Not scaling, but stretching/distorting.  That's even worse!  I fucking hate it when people stretch 4:3 images to fit their 16:9 screens.  I even hate it when they use the half-assed stretching where it kind of zooms in a tad and only stretches the sides.

They should've made HD TVs in that aspect ratio from the beginning.  16:9 was just a compromise between cinema and standard TV, anyway, because they didn't want people to get all panicked, or some such BS.

Projectors can be set up to do 2.39:1.  They even sell screens in that aspect ratio.  I thought about doing myself, ever so briefly, but decided that the money that I already invested in my current screen was well worth it.  I mean, it has the front speaker built in, which I like, and it has served the purpose well.  They do make acoustically transparent screens in 2.39:1, but I think that's a step backward from what I have.

They didn't make screens that wide to begin with because the 16:9 ratio was designed around then-current CRT technology which simply could not go any wider with any degree of stability. 


Acoustically transparent screens are the way to go (I recommend Harkness microperf screens).  Yes, they have tiny holes in them, but the sound is much more localized, especially in movies with panned dialog (which is just about anything from Pixar).  As far as common height 2.39 screens with movable side masking, that is great in the cinema but in the home you are taking a lower resolution and blowing it up to a bigger size compared to 1.85 movies or the such.  If only Blu-ray had anamorphic 2.39 images...

My screen has the front speaker built in to the frame.  I was kinda leary when I first purchased it, because I was afraid they'd be weak, but was assured on a couple of forums that the sound was top notch.  They were right.  They put some high quality speakers in there.

If I were to switch to the micro-perf I'd have to change my setup.  I'd have to move the screen away from the wall, which wouldn't be good because I got the MAXIMUM screen size I could get for my seating distance!

Not only that, but the money's already spent, and I'm happy with what I have.  If I had to start all over again, I'd probably to with the curved 2.35 CineWeave screen from SMX!  Badass!

SMX curved Cineweave screen!

I do not recommend curved screens.

Joe Redifer


I do not recommend curved screens.

Ive never personally used one, but it seems like it would suck for gaming and particularly multiple people using it.

There really isn't any need for a curved screen.  They put them in real movie theaters back in the D-150 and Cinerama days, etc.  They kind of just hung around because theater owners thought that they gave the audience an impression of wideness and vastness.  Flat screens have much better image quality and far fewer issues in the cinema.  I would assume the same would apply for the home theater as well.  A curved screen on a 10 foot wide wall would look laughable.  But a flat screen would look quite nice.  Let's not forget the cropping issues that come with a curved screen.  You will crop out the top and bottom middle portions of the image with a curved screen.  That's just how projection works.  I doubt many, if any video projectors can compensate for this.

You are right about multiple people and curved screens.  Brightness isn't distributed evenly with them so there are 'sweet spots" to viewing them.