Video Asylum

Posted by Joe Murphy Jr (A) on March 10, 2006 at 19:56:39

In Reply to: Stupid question about 'Wide Screen' posted by Cut-Throat on March 10, 2006 at 17:50:43:

Most movies these days are 1.85:1 or 2.35:1, but 1.78:1 (16x9) is the aspect ratio of today's widescreen displays. Most displays will overscan the image a bit, so the 1.85:1 movies actually fill the 1.78:1 display area. The wider aspect ratio movies will have black bars on the top and bottom of the screen unless you zoom the picture. Of course, that removes some picture information.

What happened was that the TV guys invited the movie guys to the discussion, but the movie guys weren't interested. The TV guys decided on a compromise between the then standard 1.33:1 (4:3) aspect ratio and wider aspect ratios, thus we got 1.78:1 (16x9). That was a stupid compromise that should not have been made, as it created another aspect ratio for people to deal with. They should have chosen 1.85:1, so at least one aspect ratio would have been perfect and the black bars present with 2.35:1 aspect ratio movies would have been thinner.