And now for something completely different—Wayne Hanson’s home theater.

Hanson is not your typical do-it-yourselfer with dreams of home entertainment grandeur in 16:9. Instead, he opted for a more constant height of 2:35 for his home’s setup. “As I became more experienced on the online forums and interacted with more of its members, I was introduced to this alternative way of watching a movie,” says Hanson, who credits the AVS Forum for his new way of thinking.

Even though the format seemed new, for Hanson and his wife Jocelyn, home theater has always been a way of life. Both got the bite while living in the Big Apple, in an apartment with a first front-projection setup. Now that they live in Jocelyn’s home state of Wisconsin, in their very own condo, they can afford the space—and were willing to flip for the expense to create the 2:35 setup. “It can cost more to view a movie this way because of the extra equipment that one may require,” says Hanson of the extras, which include an anamorphic lens and 2:35 screen. “However I think the end result is well worth the added expense.”

Hanson says the 2:35 setup transforms just watching movies, into a total experience, which is why he decided to go with the wider screen format in the first place. “I think that DIY is what you make it and although I think many DIY front-projection projects start off as 16:9, more are converting theirs to a more native widescreen cinemascope format,” Hanson says. “It seems to be a growing trend with DIY’ers and custom installers alike.” The experience is certainly complemented by 10 feet of Da-Lite Cinemascope screen.

Although he goes for the gusto on when it comes to his equipment, at just over 13 by 17 feet, Hanson has a much smaller space than our typical electronic house. While some may think it would be cheap and easy to fill such a small space, it actually posed a challenge when it came to some of Hanson’s ideas. “I would have liked an overall larger room with more room for tiered seating and enough room to do a false wall and have speakers behind it, a drop ceiling would have also been nice.”

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About the Author:
Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.