projector

But overall his message to dealers is to think about upgrading their customers to a more immersive theater. It makes sense for a dealer to do this and its not from the point of view of having customers spend more money; its making sure a customer realizes theres more they can get by adding it. The key word is experience. When they see it, theres a value placed on it and they believe they have spent their entertainment money correctly

Theres always education, Drook says. The company provides a disk to dealers for training that includes a tutorial on cinemascope and a history, in addition to product setup. This is also in addition to onsite training.

That demonstration may be key, as most consumers, save the early adopter enthusiasts, will likely gloss over if sales people start talking 2.35 versus 16:9it can be a very confusing category to novices.

But are high-end dealers paying attention? In the case of the 2.35, theres a large number of custom installers who get it, says Drook. We have a number of dealers who demonstrate it in their showrooms. One of my top performing reps in the Indiana/Kentucky territory has a number of dealers that have already said they are getting business by virtue of demonstrating, or word of mouth.

While its hard to argue the benefit 2.35 can bring to home cinema, it does have its drawbacks. For one, HDTV is broadcast in 16:9, so a viewer would still have to experience black bars if the theater was also being used to watch HDTV. Additionally, not all movies are filmed in 2.35, so there will be times when applying 2.35 wont matter. But to Drook this is not a huge concern. The anamorphic lens can be moved away at the touch of the button, and not every home theater is the main media room. If its a dedicated theater room, you are there to relive the cinema experience, not watch the news or baseball, he says. Schneider Optics isnt alone in this thinking. Several other companies are offering similar solutions, including Runco, Panamorph, NEC and Sanyo.

When a custom installation dealer proposes a $20,000 projector to [clients], adding the cost of a Cinemascope system should automatically be considered, says Drook. Indeed, if luxury clients are looking for the best-of-the-best in widescreen, adding a $6,000 lens system is probably not out of line.

This isnt necessarily a new concept. Anamorphic lenses originally helped to reproduce 2.35:1 images in movie houses. But they have been used on home projectors for some time, taking 4:3 images up to the more desirable 16:9 widescreen image. When projectors achieved native 1080p, a growing interest arose in taking the 16:9 images up to 2.35:1. And if installers in the luxury market are smart, they will see a new opportunity in up-selling clients on 2.35, if they havent done so already.

Youre getting the full resolution of the projector, which is something else to talk about [to customers], says Drook, and additional brightness because you are using the full chip. Basically, youre taking any projector that is 1080p and making it produce a better image than it was originally intended for.

What Drook is referring to is the fact that, in Hollywood, many (though not all) movies are filmed in the 2.35:1 format, what some call anamorphic prints or Cinemascopethough it has a long list of alternate names. This format is just about the best you can get in widescreen today, but there are no chips that can natively produce it, which means an extra anamorphic lens must be addedsuch as the type Schneider Optics manufacturesonto a 1080p projector to truly achieve it.

This is a good metaphor, perhaps, for what Drook and his company are trying to evangelize as the next step in home cinema projection 2.35:1 home theater. In the home industry weve lived with [black bars] forever in 16:9 format, so basically what you are losing is part of the picture that was created in a 2.35:1 type format.

On the floor of the InfoComm show in Las Vegas, a show normally focused on the commercial world of audio/video, Dan Drook, director of sales and home cinema for , saw some unusual suspects. Theres a number of home cinema dealers here and a number of my reps here, he says. The home people are seeing what the commercial people are doing and adapting it to what they are doing.

On the floor of the InfoComm show in Las Vegas, a show normally focused on the commercial world of audio/video,