Much of today's home theater technology has home buyers reading between the lines—or watching movies between unsightly, black bars, as it were. The letterbox effect is the result of projectors and projection screens, as well as LCD and plasma TVs, that sport aspect ratios of 16:9 (or 1.78:1). Many movies, however, are produced in the 2.35:1, CinemaScope aspect ratio because directors like the way it creates a more immersive viewing experience.

Projector manufacturers have done their best to compensate for this problem with scalers and anamorphic lenses that effectively elongate a picture to rid it of black boxes, then stretch it horizontally, so actors don't appear so tall and skinny. But as Dennis Erskine, a CEDIA-certified instructor and member, learned, even those technologies aren't ideal.

“We started discovering that even with good optics, the closer the projector got to the screen, there was a pincushion effect,” says Erskine, CEO of Design Cinema Privee in Atlanta. After much experimentation, the firm's designers found a solution in a curved screen from Stewart Filmscreen Corp. of Torrance, Calif.

Stewart's CineCurve screen eliminated the pincushion effect and produced other benefits. “We were throwing less reflected light from the screen onto the walls of the room,” Erskine says. “More of the light reflected back into the seating area.”

TRUE CINEMASCOPE: Curved screens look better and are becoming easier to install.

Optimal screen curvature isn't a one-size-fits-all proposition. Depending on the home theater, more or less curve is required. For its part, Stewart Filmscreen sells enough curved screens (the company also sells non-curved 2.35:1 screens) that it has begun testing various projectors and throw distances to help builders and installers determine what the exact curvature of each screen should be.

As a result, Erskine says, a CineCurve theater has become a fairly simple installation. Design Cinema Privee installs approximately 80 home theaters per year, and since discovering the benefits of the curved screen, it doesn't use anything else.

Mind you, the screens aren't cheap. Stewart Filmscreen president Grant Stewart says they go for about $18,000 (comparable flat screens cost about $3,500). But the patent-pending screens have their adherents. “They definitely have a sexy look,” Stewart says. (www.stewartfilmscreen.com)