Runco put on its usual slam-bang home theater demonstration, using its VX-2i 3-chip DLP projector configured for the company's automated CineWide (with Autoscope) feature. Together with an anamorphic lens, the latter processes film-based material originating with an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 to have the same height as the more common 1.78:1 aspect ratio, but expanded out to fit a wider screen (rather than simply appearing as a letterbox inside a 1.78:1 frame). Each time I see this process demonstrated it looks better, and it looked terrific this time on a 115-inch wide, 1.3-gain Da-Lite screen. All but one of the demo pieces was from DVD, not high definition. The audio gear was all from Krell.

The CineWide feature is available in many Runco models, the least expensive of which is the CL-610 (without the Autowide feature). CineWide with Autowide at its least expensive is available in the CL-810 at $26,000.

In the Vidikron booth there was a similarly impressive CineWide setup, this one using the $32,000 (including lens) Vidikron Model 90. The Vidikron setup used a wide aspect, slightly curved screen from Stewart Filmscreen and a high definition server from CodexNovus.

While I saw no evident limitations, in this configuration, from the l280x720 resolution of the demo'ed Runco and Vidikron projectors, I'm anxious to see the first 1920x1080 projectors equipped with this feature.—TJN