The aspect ratio of your television determines the type of picture being broadcast for your viewing pleasure. Widescreen and fullscreen pictures are the most common aspect ratios people are familiar with in today's golden age of television. DVDs are now produced in one or the other format, with most studios beginning to make the plunge towards only releasing widescreen films. However, fullscreen and widescreen are not the only types of aspect ratios out there. They're just the most familiar ones in the United States.
Aspect ratio refers to the displayed part of an image's width divided by its height. Most televisions have an aspect ratio of 4:3. With the introduction of high-definition television, this 4:3 ratio is being replaced with a 16:9 ratio. This higher ratio allows for more pixels to be broadcast and ensures for a clearer, crisper picture. The smaller the ratio, the less quality a picture is able to produce. While most people can't tell the difference, the easiest way to define widescreen and fullscreen is as follows.
Widescreen produces two letterboxes when shown on a screen, one at the top and one at the bottom, often black bars. These frame the picture and make it appear wider on the screen, whereas compared to a fullscreen production of the same image, you're able to see more to the left and right of the picture. Fullscreen stretches an image to fit your entire screen. There are no letterboxes or frames. This stretching cuts off much of what is to the left and right of the image and limiting your ability to take in the full environment of a particular television show or movie. Some films are released in both formats, others in just one. The trend seems to follow that widescreen is the way to go, but each person has their own preferences on how they want to view their favorites shows and movies.
Since the beginning of television production, the 4:3 ratio has been dominant. Most computer monitors also use this ratio to project images. The 16:9 ratio has only evolved in the last three or four years with the invention of high-definition television. It is also considered an international format that countries in Australia and Europe use on an everyday basis. Using high-definition cables as well as subscribing to channels broadcasting the higher ratio, you can experience high-definition from the comfort of your own living room. Japan, in recent years, switched from their standard 5:3 ratio to the 16:9 to comply with the international standard sweeping the east.
Anamorphic DVD transfers allow for a 16:9 picture to be stretched to the 4:3 ratio. Since many digital video cameras allow the user to change the aspect ratio on their own, the ability to be able to project the player on a given DVD player had to be addressed. This type of anamorphic technology does just that. During the process, the 16:9 picture is "stretched" during transmission to the 4:3 format which creates the widescreen picture you're used to viewing on both television and film today. Letterboxes are added the top and bottom portion of the picture in order to compensate for the lack of picture, framing the image. This is all done at the speed of light between the time you turn on your digital video camera and project it to your television or computer monitor.
Some older types of ratios include the pixel aspect ratio as well as the original aspect ratio. The original aspect ratio is generally reserved for a home theater experience. It refers to the way the film was originally shot by the production team, as created by a director and a team of producers. Pixel aspect ratio, often referred to as just plain old aspect ratio, is used in computer speak referring to the way pixels are digitized. Imaging systems use square pixels, much like a film image, and these too have to be reformatted depending on the size and ratio you need for your particular project.
Aspect ratios are bound to change as technology evolves into the future. High-definition television is just one stepping stone in increasing the ability to view a clear picture. As technology evolves, so does the ratio required to keep up with an audience's desire to seek a clearer picture on their television, movie and computer screens.
