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Blu-Ray movies are almost all at 2.35:1 so an anamorphic lens accessory is a "must have" for any 1080P projector that will be used for movie presentation. Why?

The biggest advantage to using an anamorphic lens for 2.35:1 is that it allows the full top to bottom surface of the LCD or DLP plate/chip to be utilized allowing the widest light path possible and most importantly all the pixels on the chip to be utilized for image reproduction.

Viewing 2:35:1 using a native 16:9 chip projector simply masks off the top and bottom of the chip to create the black bars, (imagine the headlights on an old German Army truck) so you loose about 28% of the projectors available pixels and brightness due to the letter box mask.

If you have LBX mode for displaying 2.35:1 in your 16:9 projector the image is displayed using the full height of the 16:9 chip then the lens simply stretches out the image to the full 2.35:1. So even though you may have some light loss through the lens it is easily made up for by the added horsepower of the full-chip-height-light-path the projected image takes in this mode. Using the lens certainly makes sense for this issue alone ifyou want the most pristene picture possible from your 16:9 projector for 2.35:1 Blue-Ray movies.

I am using an Optoma HD80 which has an incredible picture but limited zoom range. I am pushed back as far as I can go in my 16' deep room with projector placement to fill a 92" wide x 49" tall 16:9 screen. By adding an anamorphic lens I can go to a 140" width at the same height in the same room. That's a 40% size increase in the same room.

The Panamorph lens and power sled/mounting hardware comes in at $3100. All told I'll have $5700 into the projector allowing a 140" x 49" viewing at full resolution.

My question is, will a $6000 projector deliver a better all around movie experience over my Optoma Frankenstein with the lens apparatus?

Any feedback on this issue will be greatly appreciated.