Get the Most from Your New 4K Sony Projector

Does your home theater suffer from the “black bar syndrome?” Fortunately, it’s a curable video malady. We are joking here a little, but let us explain.

Without a doubt, if you watch movies at all, you have noticed the black bars that often appear on the top and bottom of the screen. The reason for this is that the majority of flat panel and most projector screens are in 16:9 format, which refers to the ratio of the screen width to its height. Over 70% of Hollywood films made for theatrical release are shot in widescreen format, which is a 2.4:1 aspect ratio. This format, sometimes referred to as anamorphic, is wider than it is high. To fit the film on your screen without skewing it (distorting the image by making it taller), you get the black bars to fill the unused space on your screen. 

What is the problem with that? If you have a 120-inch screen, for example, in your Atlanta theater or media room, you are not getting 120 inches of picture. And if you’ve recently invested in a superb Sony projector with native 4K resolution, you are effectively getting 3K instead of 4K.

3K is not what you bargained for, especially if you like to watch cinematic films. Fortunately, as we mentioned, there is a cure. Special lenses from Panamorph, compatible with Sony projectors and all of the best theater screen brands, can cure the black bar syndrome.

Read on to see how Panamorph lenses help get the most from your Sony 4K projector image.

SEE ALSO: What Makes Sony Home Theater Projectors Among the World’s Best?

Panamorph - “Anamorphing” for 20 Years

For two decades, Panamorph has been in the business of making widescreen movies look the way they should. Their lenses are in almost 10,000 home theaters worldwide. None other than Michael Bay, the renowned Hollywood director of blockbuster action films like Transformers and Pearl Harbor, uses Panamorph in his home theater screening room. If it works for a director, you can have a good feeling that Panamorph lenses make widescreen movies look the way the director intended.

Anamorphic Upconversion

The Panamorph Paladin and Paladin DCR lenses are compatible with Sony’s latest 4K ES projectors. Sony projectors include a “1.24x” anamorphic lens setting that enables the projector to produce a full 4K image from widescreen movies. If you currently have a Sony projector, you know they include several zoom modes to handle different formats like TV and movie content. But when you use the zoom modes for a widescreen movie, the picture gets stretched vertically, and it does not look completely natural

When using the Paladin DCR lens with your Sony projector, the upconverted video is optically compressed to remove the vertical stretching. This restores the 2.4:1 widescreen aspect ratio and adds visual clarity with a brightness increase of 38%.

Easy Compatibility

Panamorph DCR is fully compatible with Sony projectors. The XM2 attachment kit makes it straightforward to install on a ceiling-mounted projector. If you want to watch non-movie content, the lens is still fully compatible with other modes the projector can employ, like 16:9 regular, wide stretched, or full stretched modes that you can use to best fit your screen and viewing preferences. These can all be done with the push of a button to change the projector mode; the Panamorph lens does not need any adjustment.

Are you ready to maximize your Sony projector's performance? We invite you to visit our Marietta showroom, contact us here, or click the chat box below to quickly connect with us. We look forward to working with you!