a system and method is provided for masking traditional grey bars which are produced by displaying wide screen images within a full screen native projector and visa versa . this method allows blocking of light for unused portions of the screen thereby producing higher contrast images . in an exemplary embodiment , a physical shutter is positioned inside the projection system so that the light which would otherwise produce a grey bar area is blocked before it reaches a projection screen . image data are analyzed to identify grey screen areas which are not being utilized for image display and light which would otherwise produce such grey areas is blocked or shuttered by the projector to eliminate the grey areas .