half_pint wrote:


Nature chose a circular image for human visual perception,

Ah, but that is where you are completely wrong.

depending on teh species, there are huge variations in visual
perecp[ion. Cats for example have vertical irises,which allow extermely
shapr vision in teh horizontal plane, less so in teh vertical, at night.

Horses have near 360 degree vison horizontally, but only 180 vertically.
And precious little binocular.

We as tree and plains dwellers, have good binocular, and about 120
degree horizontally and about 90 degree vertically peripheral vision.




do you think
your cinema proprietor knows better.
I think he is more influenced by the the economics of audiance seating, a
wide
seating area allows him more 'bums' (pun intended) per unit volume, hence
greater profits. With a taller screen you cannot seat people in vertical
space
required to show the film.


Er, you can. Old formay 35mm screens worked juts fine on seating, but
more and more they only got the film projected in teh middle bit. So the
newer cinemas are a bit lower. Wide screen - e.g. cinerama - has been
around a while. The main driver has always been te ability to show more
sideways. Its so happens that teh majority of pictures do not featire a
single talking head, and things like car chases benefit from gerater
horizontal stuff.


Economics not "how the director intended" ( thats so pretentious phrase)


Both, but not your ecomomic argument. Most films are really mde for
DVD/video these days. Only teh really big blockbusters make cinema money.

Its an artistic and practical thing. And the equipment makers follow fashions

to help obosolete old kit.






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regards half_pint