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FWIW, the Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein once gave a lecture outlining why square screens would be superior for cinema.

"Eisenstein playfully hyped the virtues of the "dynamic square," a screen that was exactly as high as it was wide. He did so in part because to him the square was modern, charged with productive machine force. This more purely cinematic screen was, according to Eisenstein, necessary for properly showcasing the energies, conflicts, and collisions germane to the moving image arts. It would also, at least in theory, be the most accommodating frame, capable of hosting images composed for planes that were either horizontal or vertical. Eisenstein proclaimed that previous industry standards (4:3), as well as contemporaneous calls for wider screens, were nostalgic, calling forth a dated viewing regime dictated by traditional art forms."

https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals...



I watched IMAX 2D & 3D films on the biggest screen (600 m2) in Europe. *

It was impossible to see the whole screen, that was especially great with 3D movies (Space Station 3D, etc.). Also the 2D movie premiere of The Matrix Revolutions in IMAX DMR film was awesome.

So I would prefer movie theatre/TV/monitor screens with almost 1:1 or 4:3 ratio over 16:10 or 16:9.

* The IMAX Vienna had a 600m2 screen, 24000 watt 6 channels surround sound, 458 seats, demolished in 2009: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAX#.C3.96sterreich , http://web.archive.org/web/20030422003546/http://www.imax.at...


IMAX movies are almost square (1.43:1) and they are indeed a better experience (let's ignore the 3D conversation, IMAX can be 2D).


I wouldn't call 1.43:1 "almost square", especially concerning this opinion of Eisenstein. It's closer to "half again as height", a bit more than 4:3.

But I wouldn't trust Eisenstein much for that matter anyway.


Funnily enough I just saw a movie that had a square format for 99% of the duration.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3612616/




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