On Tue, 20 Dec 2005 18:26:08 -0800, Richard Clark
wrote:

When TV began to dominate the market, Hollywood
ventured into other aspect ratios (which made no more sense than the
first, and cost a gazillion times more to fabricate lenses).

Hi All,

To further illustrate the migration through the various aspect ratios,
the Academy ratio was simply that of the standard 35mm film exposure.
When the film is held vertically, you can see a succession of exposed
images in the correct (normal to viewing) way. The image diagonal is
roughly 50mm, and this is considered a "normal" lens size (by which
multiples are called either telephoto 2X, 3X, or wide 0.7X, or very
wide angle 0.56X). There was also the 70mm Hollywood product which
was simply a double sized strip of film (first offered in the 1930
production of King Vidor's "Billy the Kid"). It was still in the
standard Academy ratio.

The Academy ratio of 4:3 is usually normalized to 1.33:1 for
comparison to other ratios.

When the wider (but not taller) formats were offered, things got
really weird. Cinerama needed three cameras (and three projectors) to
lace together the complete image of roughly 2.6:1. Super Panavision
requires only one projector for this ratio.

Cinemascope replaced Cinerama with a 2.66:1 ratio, but only lasted to
1967. It accomplished this on the standard 35mm film by squeezing the
image to fit the wide the of the film (this required Anamorphic lenses
for exposing and projection).

With all the processes out there, I've forgotten the one that twisted
the image 90 degrees to fit it on to the film strip in its wide
format.

Panavision had a blighted start and wandered the field from 2.75:1 to
2.2:1. In fact when we come to the digital formats, Panavision only
offered one as recently as 1999 - and, of course, the lens prices went
through the stratosphere.

When you think of it, the Academy ratio still rules the digital
photography marketplace. How many 2.66:1 Kodaks have you seen? Anyone
find a 2.75:1 Nikon? Maybe.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC, and projectionist