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the light rays reaching the edges only have to travel the
same distance as those forming the image on the centre of
the screen.
Home Theatre Magazine's excellent publication on
the work of designer Theo Kalomirakis In video home cinemas the 16:9 ratio and letterbox
CinemaScope widescreen formats appear to have become
For lovers of earlier cinema the problem of screening qual- the standard. As the average film fan seems more inter-
ity ftlm prints for home cinema use is even more frustrat- ested in screening epics like ·Titanic' they can buy
ing, driving the enthusiast to video projection too. widescreen format videotapes or discs to project on to their
screens. The 16:9 ratio had its origjns with the earlier
Bigger ... Wider ... Louder! widescreen Panavision format which was about 1.66: I to
Just as the cinema went through a technological revolution J .85: J, the alternative screen shape for screening non-
(from the early Academy Format screen of around 1.37:1 CinemaScope film. All very well with modern films but
to the various later widescreen processes and also four track many home enthusiasts don't have moveable masks on these
stereophonic magnetic tracks in the 1950's to digital sound screens and subject early Academy format fi lms to the
today, so there has been a revolution in the home cinema. widescreen treatment, topping and tailing them to tit the
For many modern film buffs CinemaScope techJ1ology is elongated image in rhe same way cinemas- after the com-
mandatory in the home cinema. Some have even experi- ing of CinemaScope - treated re-releases of non-scope ftlms.
mented with reproducing Cinerama, that three-projector,
ultra-wi.descreen, deeply-curved dinosaur that had such a Today, surround-sound also seems to be all the rage at home:
relatively short life in the cinema! sound to engulf and envelop the audience (unfortunately
earplugs aren't normally supplied!). It's all about repro-
The problem with widescreen formats at home is the short- ducing "the cinema experience", as the hype goes. The Usts
throw projection set-ups in most home cinemas. To avoid of recommended audio gear for the high-tech home cin-
the problem of the image being in focus at the middle but ema read like a who's-who of the top equipment manufac-
not at the edges it's necessary to curve the screen so that turers. By contrast, the home film projectionist on 8mm or
16mm must be content with much less sophisticated gear,
although it's perfectly possible to at least simulate surround-
sound if you so wish.

"The Tudor" Belfast, Ireland The fully opened Super 8mm Cinerama screen

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