I've found that when you enable 16:9+4:3 safety zones when recording in HD, the centermost tips of the little brackets of the safety zone boxes create an outline of another box, one that very nearly approximates a 2.40:1 frame, but it's still hard to concentrate on that when the entire picture is moving or when I'm shooting handheld.

Is there a way, software or otherwise, to simply block off the top and bottom of the 16:9 frame and let me see just the area I intend to use? Are there any safe brands of tape to use to simply block off the top and bottom of the flip-out LCD screen with paper?

Is my rough estimation of the safety zone boxes even correct?

A bit of help would be greatly appreciated!

When I shoot for the Seahawks, I have to compose for a vertical screen in the north end of the stadium and a super wide screen in the south end, that is maybe more than 2.40:1. So I cut a piece of thin plastic/acrylic and gaff taped it to the outside of the lcd and marked it with a sharpie and highlighter pens. Also, I recorded a still picture of the safe areas to tape and played that back in the lcd on the camera so I could mark the plastic. Works ok, I have to guess when I use the eypiece.

on our 251, we use the safety zone mark 2.35:1 high (meaning it's from the top down) and the tape a ca. 5mm black bar across the LCD just under the lower safety zone mark.

This separates the widescreen frame visually from the lower status indications using only the reduced screen display (REC/STBY, events)

I f you shoot with compatible lenses and onboard sound, you also have space to see the f stops and the bars.

we mostly also use a small external monitor and on this we cover the part under the 2:35 portion with black material. on the lcd we then use the magnified status (I don't know if you have that on the 110)

I've actually taped a couple of hairs inside the viewfinder just above the LCD screen (which is extremely tiny) just so I had 2.40:1 inside the eyepiece. It worked but it was difficult to precisely align them. This is why I lobbied so hard for 2.35:1 frame lines (center and common head room) that JVC eventually added to the HD200 series (and kept in the HM700.)