Digital Projection will be unveiling the 2560 x 1600-pixel dVision 35-WQXGA (almost twice the resolution of a 1080p display), which is the first anamorphic lens-free multiple aspect ratio-capable projector.
The dVision 35-WQXGA presents an alternative for moving between 1.78:1 and 2.35:1 aspect ratio content (or any content wider than 1.78). Currently, customers seeking to view a variety of aspect ratios while maintaining a constant height image (no letterbox horizontal black bars at the top and bottom of the screen) purchase 1080p projectors along with specialized anamorphic optics and a mechanical lens sled, such as DP’s TheaterScope system.
Any anamorphic lens solution, however, adds significant cost to the system, as well as mechanical and optical complexity to the installation. In addition, when the anamorphic optics are in the light path, they consume about 10 percent of the projector’s brightness, slightly reduce the contrast ratio, and distort the projector’s square pixels into rectangles.
By comparison, no anamorphic optics will be required when dVision 35-WQXGA projector is employed in a constant height application. Instead, when 1.78 content is being viewed, that content is simply displayed by the projector at 1080p resolution. When wider aspect ratio content is to be presented, the image scaling within the projector goes to work. The wider content continues to be displayed at 1080 pixels of vertical resolution, so the vertical height of the image is maintained, but the projector’s aspect ratio is adjusted such that the wider content is presented with increased horizontal resolution (beyond the 1920 horizontal pixels associated with 1080p content).
