Aspect Ratio

The ratio of the width to the height of an image or screen.

A TV's (and every other image's) aspect ratio is the proportion between the width and the height of a picture. It is often expressed in the W:H format, where W is the width and H the height. For example, a 16:9 aspect ratio means that for a width of 16 units, the height must be 9 units.

Aspect Ratio Uses TVs 4:3 1.33:1 Standard Channels Old TVs 16:9 1.77:1 HD Channels The majority of HDTVs 21:9 2.35:1 Most movies Very few TVs

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Most televisions and computer monitors currently available have an aspect ratio of 16:9, which offers a perfect fit for high definition television shows. However, movies are usually filmed with a ratio of 21:9, which will result in black bars at the top and bottom of the picture when it is displayed on the average TV. To fix this, some manufacturers are producing televisions with a 21:9 aspect ratio. The table above shows the most common aspect ratios.