Dave, your videos are what got me started into home theater, and I'm glad you're still continuing to evolve it! I have an acoustically transparent screen as well, and for me the center channel, dialogue in particular, coming through the middle of the screen is where the magic happens. Great stuff, as always!
Very interesting, just looked through your videos, I'm hoping to find how you setup your moving masks. When I upgrade my projector, I was thinking of lens shift, and constant height. My wife and I live in a flat, so no space to build a stage like you have. Also what amp(s) do you use.
The easy question first... the amp is a DENON AVR-S760H... it does what it says on the tin! As for the 'moving masks' they either hang or just lean back on the screen. The screen is tilted back to look authentic, (at least as in many cinemas in the 50's) but also to hold the masking in place. My screen and masking arrangement allows for at least 8 different ratios, so constant height is out of the question. In most commercial cinemas from the mid 50's onward, constant height was a natural procedure, primarily because of 35mm frame. For a 1500 seater, a screen 14 feet high x 25 feet for widescreen (35mm cropped) and 14 feet high x 33 for 'scope (full frame 35mm with anamorphic lens). For 70mm in this screen layout, the screen masking would open and lift up giving a picture of 15 foot 6 inches x 34 feet. So even back then, constant height was only for 35mm. Constant width was introduce to make life easier in the digital age. and also doing away with movable masking. This makes your local multiplex even more like a big telly. I don't think any of the above will help you, but, black masking around the picture will certainly improve the look of it. Have a look at some of my other videos, you may get some ideas from them. Good luck with your project Regards David
@@davesdigitalmovies Thank you sir may not be useful but very interesting. I always thought I saw the top and bottom masks move. In my local Odeon, in Weston Super Mare at te time. I even had the opportunity to visit the projection boxes there, I was about 12 or so, I didn't ask the right questions. Down stairs were two boot boxes of about 500 seats, with a projector each, with two large "cake stands" for each. With my current knowledge of the dule gauge projectors 70/35. Up stairs the used two machines doing a swap every two reels. These I seem to recall being Westrix. I do recall a mistake they made once showing anamorphic trailer in accadmy, swinging the torret and presumably whacking the mask button. The Odeon in Weston at the time sometimes held wrestling matches. So I asked what they did with the screen. All the speakers,ams and the screen it self was on casters! I never got the chance to see behind Screen1. Thanks for you advice
'Scope trailers were always a pain, at the Regal Gt Yarmouth we 'flew' the screen for stage shows. For more details see ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V5q5Scb1LHI.html
Great work Dave. You made me want to put my speakers behind the screen but I was always worried about brightness loss. Is the Spandex better than a perforated screen? I see that material is not too expensive now from Carls Screens in the US.
Re the brightness loss, my cinema room is in total blackout and the projector lamp was always run on the eco setting. With the new acoustic screen, I have adjusted the 'brightness setting' to +2 for scope & W/S and +3 for the full width when running Cinerama. The Spandex I bought from my local fabric shop cost just £10 a metre, this material is 1.5 metres in width. I recommend you do a test, as I did with a small trial run before you start to rip out your existing set-up. I also suggest that you check the speaker depth, this will push the screen forward by a considerable amount. You may then have an issue with the picture size, unless you can push the projector back or have enough spare zoom to fill the screen. Re perforated screens. When I was working our screen 4 (90 seats) had a screen with of 14 feet for scope and about 11 foot for W/S. The perforations could easily be seen from the front few rows. And it's surprising how much light gets through those little holes. So without seeing what perforated material is available for home cinema, I would think Spandex is probably the best bet. If you have any ambient light in your cinema room, this may cause an issue with screen brightness. I am very pleased with the end result of my new acoustic screen, the sound placement is excellent. One other recommendation... have another look at my video... It could be quite a big project, but it will keep you out of mischief for a while. Good luck, David
I quit going to the movies because they quit using maskng. I can't stand the gray bars on the top and bottom at the movies at home I shift the picture lens up some and I have a black mask that I click in to place at the bottom for scope movies that the sound can pass thew. I have a 155in at screen me and my friend build at home in the room we cant take it out now the matrial came from a place called carls it is woven something i cant remember and there is lot of moving blanks behind the screen to stop reflection it sounds much better then the profesional theater in my town
It's good to know that you mask your screen to fit the ratio. Modern cinemas have no sense of presentation... and don't get me started on variable ratios in movies !!!! Thanks for your comments.
You are a very handy guy ! I couldn't even put up a shelf lol...great dedication and a very well filmed piece of work..were you a projectionist in earlier life ?
Thanks for your comment. I was a projectionist from 1959 - 2003. Check out this video. Cheers. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V5q5Scb1LHI.html
