David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s famed science fiction novel Dune is my favorite movie. This is, typically, not an easy thing to explain to people. The film was a tremendous critical and box office failure in its day. The fact that its recent remake (or re-adaptation of the source material, if you must)… Read More Long Live the Fighters! | Dune (1984) 4K Ultra HD Ultimate Edition
To say that the 1984 film version of Dune was not popular in its day would be a tremendous understatement. It’s still not very popular, to be honest. Nevertheless, Dune is my favorite movie, and I have obsessively collected copies of it on every home video format from VHS to 4K. I will continue to… Read More A Visual History of Dune (1984) on Home Video
Hardly all that long ago, all TV series were photographed in a common, standardized aspect ratio designed to fill a television screen. The idea that anything intended for home viewing on a TV might – intentionally – not fit the screen seemed almost inconceivable. Nowadays, however, we’ve experienced an explosion of shows shosiret in widescreen… Read More List of TV Shows with Aspect Ratios Wider Than 16:9
IMAX is neither the first nor the only film format to incorporate the concept of a variable aspect ratio. Filmmakers have toyed with the shape of their projected images at least as far back as Abel Gance’s 1927 silent epic Napoléon. In a separate post, I maintain a list of movies that alternate from a… Read More List of Other Variable Aspect Ratio Movies (Not IMAX)
This post contains a reference list of movies that played in IMAX theaters with either a Variable Aspect Ratio (VAR) or otherwise alternate aspect ratio presentation that differed from their appearance on regular cinema screens, along with details of each title’s availability on home video. As explained in Part 3 of my Philosophy of 2.35:1… Read More List of IMAX Variable Aspect Ratio Movies
In my article series The Philosophy of 2.35:1 Constant Image Height, I attempted to explain what Constant Image Height (CIH) display is, how it differs from watching content on a traditional 16:9 television or home theater screen, and why it’s important. For this first addendum, we’ll examine the mechanics of setting up a CIH system… Read More Best Practices for 2.35:1 Constant Image Height
Home theater can be complicated. As explained in the first two parts of this series, it’s not only as simple as putting a big screen on the wall. What shape should that screen be? Even after doing your research, just when you might think you’ve got this aspect ratio stuff all figured out, the IMAX… Read More The Philosophy of 2.35:1 Constant Image Height – Part 3, The IMAX Problem
Strange as it may seem, Constant Image Height can be one of the most contentious topics in home theater circles, the focal point of countless arguments over screen size and shape. Some projector owners will militantly insist that 16:9 is the only valid aspect ratio for a home theater screen. Period. The end. No room… Read More The Philosophy of 2.35:1 Constant Image Height – Part 2, “Widescreen” Not “Shortscreen”
Home theater has come such a long way since the days of VCRs and cathode ray tubes. Today it’s possible to watch movies in your own house approaching or even exceeding the quality of a commercial cinema. Yet for as many strides forward as home video technology has taken, almost the entire consumer electronics industry… Read More The Philosophy of 2.35:1 Constant Image Height Display – Part 1
My home theater may forever be a work in progress. Although I’ve come a long way since the early days of cramming a projection screen and 5.1 sound system into the spare bedroom of a small apartment, I still feel like the theater room may never be finished. I often find myself thinking of ways… Read More A Walkthrough Tour of the Cinema Zyberdiso
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