Been lurking and searching, I'm stumped any insight is appreciated

[EricC]

Been lurking and searching but Im stumped I was wondering if anyone has come across this. Project to the inpact screen at 4:3 while enjoying HD on a 16:9 monitor. What kind of projector would be best. Mounting distance is approx 14'.

Because of space limitations, I have a 104.5" wide X 96" high (projectable area) impact screen, basically 4:3 aspect ratio. I have a 16:9 monitor for the pc. I want to have hd video on the monitor but use 4:3 1024x768 to fill as much of the impact screen as possible. Has anyone done this, any projector suggestions. PC is. Asus G10aj, nvidia GTX970 graphics card, monitor Samsung JU7100 series. I'm still very much in the build process and will put something together in the appropriate area when done. Thank you for your time.

[mthunt]

There's a ton that will work. Either go on the manufacturers sites or projector central. Plug in the numbers and it'll show you what will work.

[EricC]

There's a ton that will work. Either go on the manufacturers sites or projector central. Plug in the numbers and it'll show you what will work.

I have, but unfortunately I'm afraid the projector is going to only display 16:9 even if the projector is 4:3 native. Foresight sports is sending a 16:9 signal, HD monitor benifits from this but the projector also tries to clone the 16:9 aspect ratio on the inpact scree, hence leaving a lot of dead space in the screen.

[mthunt]

I'm no expert but I had the same concerns as you. It turned out my projector displayed any format automatically based on what the pc output. I have the benq 1080st. I called benq and they explained.

[EricC]

Thank you, I'm hoping I can leave the 16:9 display on the monitor and change the aspect ratio on the projector to 4:3 to fill the entire impact screen.

[mthunt]

if you do that the image will be distorted on one image. If the video card creates a 16:9 image and you want 4:3', the image will need to be squeezed. Bad idea.

[EricC]

if you do that the image will be distorted on one image. If the video card creates a 16:9 image and you want 4:3', the image will need to be squeezed. Bad idea.

I think I'll just compromise and run 16:10 aspect. 16:10 mid throw projector!
I was hoping with 4 dedicated outputs on the graphics card I could assign each with its own aspect and resolution ( and I actually have already done that ) but I can't get each seperate video out to actually send the aspect aND resolution to its display.

[mthunt]

Maybe I'm wrong then.

[schaedj]

Not if you are cloning the screens. Windows does not allow showing different resolutions on two cloned monitors. Kind of makes sense, if you think about it - The pixel information and actual data is significantly different between the 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratio, so it would have to completely reprocess all graphical information twice in real time - not easy. If you run Extended Desktop, you can set the resolution and aspect ratio of each screen to whatever you want, but If you are trying to watch the same thing on both screens, extended desktop won't do it. If you REALLY want to do this, you could buy a scan converter - send the HD 16:9 signal to both monitors and run the projector signal through the scan converter to "downconvert" to a 4:3 ratio. You'll have to choose how to do the conversion - some combination of chopping the sides and stretching vertically will give you the most realistic image you can maintain with maximum viewing area. Not a cheap solution, but it will do exactly what you want.
FYI - I run 4:3 on mine for the same reason, but it is a little disappointing - It loses a lot of the immersive effect without the peripheral view. Since my setup is a simple Conduit and net garage build, when I get a chance, I'm going to widen it to get full 16:9 experience.

[schaedj]

A low cost alternative if you just want to chop the pillars would be to mount the projector in a box (good idea for protection anyway) and cut the beam opening to trim the sides of the image. That way you would get the full high def 16:9 signal for the full screen size and not have the light pollution of the spread out image on the side curtains. If you do something like this make sure you have adequate ventilation in the box - not only will the projector generate it's normal heat, but the sides of the "slit" will heat up from the light of the beam. Heat kills bulbs = $$$. Size the projector for the Full 16:9 screen size based on your height and get the brightest projector you can afford. (5000 lm+) It doesn't look like your setup has a lot of light control capability. You can try this fairly easily to see if it meets your needs before you go to the trouble of building something by setting the projector to 16:9, zooming it out (or backing it away from the screen) so it fills the screen top to bottom, then using a couple of books or manila folders to block off the sides of the beam. If the look is what you want, go for it.

[EricC]

A low cost alternative if you just want to chop the pillars would be to mount the projector in a box (good idea for protection anyway) and cut the beam opening to trim the sides of the image. That way you would get the full high def 16:9 signal for the full screen size and not have the light pollution of the spread out image on the side curtains. If you do something like this make sure you have adequate ventilation in the box - not only will the projector generate it's normal heat, but the sides of the "slit" will heat up from the light of the beam. Heat kills bulbs = $$$. Size the projector for the Full 16:9 screen size based on your height and get the brightest projector you can afford. (5000 lm+) It doesn't look like your setup has a lot of light control capability. You can try this fairly easily to see if it meets your needs before you go to the trouble of building something by setting the projector to 16:9, zooming it out (or backing it away from the screen) so it fills the screen top to bottom, then using a couple of books or manila folders to block off the sides of the beam. If the look is what you want, go for it.

I'm going to try this and see what happens. Than you.

[AJA]

I'm not so sure that there is a light issue with running a 4:3 image on a widescreen projector. The black bars on the sides of the image do not require light - they are formed by not projecting any light onto that area.

Also, if you get a native 1024 x 768 projector you already are using a 4:3 image.

With regard to having a widescreen monitor and 4:3 projection image - my set-up has exactly that. An Optoma X306ST which is native XGA and a widescreen touch screen monitor. Even when the image is cloned for projection the widescreen monitor image is very sharp and quite useable. That's mostly due to the pixel density of the monitor compared to the projected image.

I would suggest that there is no real issue and you are overthinking your set-up. There is no need for multiple video outputs.