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For Nadiya 's second album, see 16/9 (album) . For other uses see Aspect Ratio (disambiguation) . The aspect ratio of an , while the aspect ratio of a sync-sound 35 Mm Film frame is around 1.37:1 (also known as "Academy" ratio). Silent films which used the full frame were shot in 1.33:1. THE EVOLUTION OF FILM AND TV ASPECT RATIOS . The largest box (red) is the format used in standard Television .]] The 4:3 ratio for standard television has been in use since television's origins and many attendance dropped, Hollywood created Widescreen aspect ratios to immerse the viewer in a more realistic experience and, possibly, to make broadcast films less enjoyable if watched on a regular TV set. 16:9 is the international standard format of DVD transfers store the information in 16:9 vertically stretched to 4:3; if the TV can handle an anamorphic image the signal will be de-anamorphosed by the TV to 16:9. If not, the DVD player will unstretch the image and add letterboxing before sending the image to the TV. Wider ratios such as 1.85:1 and 2.39:1 are accommodated within the 16:9 DVD frame by adding some additional masking within the image itself. Within the between the image and the perforations on one side. The most common projection ratios in American theaters are 1.85 and 2.39. Development of various camera systems must therefore ultimately cater to the placement of the frame in relation to these lateral constraints. For example, one clever widescreen process, VistaVision , used standard 35 mm film running sideways through camera gate, so that the sprocket holes were above and below frame, resulting in a larger negative size per frame. However, the 1.5 ratio of the initial VistaVision image needed to be cropped down to 1.85 and optically converted to a vertical print for projection. Though the format was briefly revived by Lucasfilm in the 1970s for special effects work that required larger negative size due to image degradation, it went into obsolescence largely due to better cameras, lenses, and film stocks, in addition to increased lab costs of making prints in comparison to more standard vertical processes. (The horizontal process was later adapted to 70 mm film by IMAX .) The 16:9 format adopted for HDTV is actually narrower than commonly-used cinematic Widescreen formats. Anamorphic widescreen (2.39:1) and American theatrical standard (1.85:1) have wider aspect ratios, while the European theatrical standard (1.66:1) is just slightly less. Super 16 Mm film is frequently used for television production due to its lower cost, lack of need for soundtrack space on the film itself, and aspect ratio similar to 16:9 (Super 16 mm is natively 1.66 whilst 16:9 is 1.78). It also can be blown up to 35 mm for theatrical release and therefore is also used for feature films. VISUAL COMPARISONS
PIXEL ASPECT RATIO The term pixel aspect ratio, sometimes shortened to '''aspect ratio''', is also used in the context of Computer Graphics to describe the shape of an individual Pixel in a digitized image. Most digital Imaging systems use square pixels—that is, they sample an image at the same resolution horizontally and vertically. But there are some devices that do not (most notably some common Standard-definition formats in Digital Television and DVD-Video ) so a digital image scanned at a vertical resolution twice that of its horizontal resolution (i.e. the pixels are half as high as they are wide) might be described as being sampled at a 2:1 pixel aspect ratio, regardless of the size or shape of the image as a whole. HISTORIC AND COMMONLY USED ASPECT RATIOS
ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO (OAR) Original Aspect Ratio (OAR) is a its original aspect ratio release had. CRITICISM Multiple aspect ratios create additional burdens on consumers and confusion among TV broadcasters. It is not uncommon for a widescreen program to embed a 4:3 commercial. A person owning a 4:3 set would see an image with 2 sets of black stripes, vertical and horizontal ( Matchboxing ). A similar scenario may also occur for a widescreen set owner when viewing 16:9 material embedded in a 4:3 frame. It is also not uncommon that the image is stretched horizontally or vertically. These artifacts can't be dismissed as negligence on the part of program vendors. They could be avoided if the decision about widescreen format standards were taken more seriously. There is good reason for TV screen design to abandon artifacts of the analog era, and start to mimic computer monitors. For many artists, however, aspect ratio is, and in their view, should be, determined not by the constraints of the technology or medium, but by the content or the story. Indeed, as long ago as the early 20th century, film directors such as D.W. Griffith, one of the early giants in film, would sometimes change the picture aspect ratio within the film. In "Intolerance", for example, a single shot where a character falls from a high wall has the sides of the vista greatly cropped to enhance the dramatic height of the fall. Today, Directors of Photography often compose the shot to keep the essential subjects in the sweet spot of the frame, regardless of final view aspect ratio. And, sometimes, frame a shot with foreground objects obscuring frame edges to, in effect, change the screen aspect ratio using in-shot mattes. REFERENCES SEE ALSO
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