This article will be permanently flagged as inappropriate and made unaccessible to everyone. Are you certain this article is inappropriate? Excessive Violence Sexual Content Political / Social
Email Address:
Article Id: WHEBN0000551856 Reproduction Date:
16:9 (1.77:1) (16:9 = 42:32) is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009 it has become the most common aspect ratio for televisions and computer monitors, and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television.
Dr. Kerns H. Powers, a member of the SMPTE Working Group on High-Definition Electronic Production, first proposed the 16:9 (1.77:1) aspect ratio at a time when nobody was creating 16:9 videos. The popular choices in 1980 were: 1.33:1 (based on television standard's ratio at the time), 1.66:1 (the European "flat" ratio), 1.85:1 (the American "flat" ratio), 2.20:1 (the ratio of 70 mm films and Panavision) and 2.39:1 (the CinemaScope ratio for anamorphic widescreen films).
Powers cut out rectangles with equal areas, shaped to match each of the popular aspect ratios. When overlapped with their center points aligned, he found that all of those aspect ratio rectangles fit within an outer rectangle with an aspect ratio of 1.77:1 and all of them also covered a smaller common inner rectangle with the same aspect ratio 1.77:1.[1] The value found by Powers is exactly the geometric mean of the extreme aspect ratios, 4:3 (1.33:1) and 2.35:1, which is coincidentally close to 16:9 (1.77:1). Applying the same geometric mean technique to 16:9 and 4:3 yields the 14:9 aspect ratio, which is likewise used as a compromise between these ratios.[2]
While 16:9 (1.77:1) was initially selected as a compromise format, the subsequent popularity of HDTV broadcast has solidified 16:9 as perhaps the most important video aspect ratio in use. Most 4:3 (1.33:1) and 2.39:1 video is now recorded using a "shoot and protect" technique[3] that keeps the main action within a 16:9 (1.77:1) inner rectangle to facilitate HD broadcast. Conversely it is quite common to use a technique known as center-cutting, to approach the challenge of presenting material shot (typically 16:9) to both a HD and legacy 4:3 audience simultaneously without having to compromise image size for either audience. Content creators frame critical content or graphics to fit within the 1.33 raster space. This has similarities to a filming technique called Open matte.
After the original 16:9 Action Plan of the early 1990s, the European Union has instituted the 16:9 Action Plan,[4] just to accelerate the development of the advanced television services in 16:9 aspect ratio, both in PAL and also in HDTV. The Community fund for the 16:9 Action Plan amounted to €228 million.
In 2008 the computer industry started switching to 16:9 as the standard aspect ratio for monitors and laptops. A 2008 report by DisplaySearch cited a number of reasons for this shift, including the ability for PC and monitor manufacturers to expand their product ranges by offering products with wider screens and higher resolutions, helping consumers to more easily adopt such products and "stimulating the growth of the notebook PC and LCD monitor market".[5]
In 2011 Bennie Budler, product manager of IT products at Samsung South Africa, confirmed that monitors capable of 1920×1200 resolutions aren't being manufactured anymore. “It is all about reducing manufacturing costs. The new 16:9 aspect ratio panels are more cost effective to manufacture locally than the previous 16:10 panels”.[6] Since computer displays are advertised by their diagonal measure, for monitors with the same display area, a wide screen monitor will have a larger diagonal measure, thus sounding more impressive. Within limits, the amount of information that can be displayed, and the cost of the monitor depend more on area than on diagonal measure.
In March 2011 the 16:9 resolution 1920×1080 became the most common used resolution among Steam's users. The earlier most common resolution was 1680×1050 (16:10).[7]
16:9 is the only widescreen aspect ratio natively supported by the DVD format. Anamorphic DVD transfers store the information as 5:4 (PAL) or 3:2 (NTSC) square pixels, which is set to expand to either 16:9 or 4:3, which the television or video player handles. For example, a PAL DVD with a full frame image may contain a video resolution of 720×576 (5:4 ratio), but a video player software will stretch this to 1024×576 square pixels with a 16:9 flag in order to recreate the correct aspect ratio.
DVD producers can also choose to show even wider ratios such as 1.85:1 and 2.39:1[1] within the 16:9 DVD frame by hard matting or adding black bars within the image itself. Some films which were made in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, such as the U.S.-Italian co-production Man of La Mancha and Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing, fit quite comfortably onto a 1.77:1 HDTV screen and have been issued anamorphically enhanced on DVD without the black bars. Many digital video cameras have the capability to record in 16:9.
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.
Common resolutions for 16:9 are listed in the table below:
In Europe, 16:9 is the standard broadcast format for most digital channels and all HDTV broadcasts. Some countries adopted the format for analog television, first by using the PALplus standard (now obsolete) and then by simply using WSS signals on normal PAL broadcasts.
Older programmes filmed in 4:3 are: *cropped **transmitted in their original format.
Other stations using exclusively 16:9 aspect ratio: MTV Greece, NovaCinema1, NovaCinema2, NovaCinema3, NovaCinema4, NovaCinema HD, NovaSports1, NovaSports2, NovaSports3, NovaSports4, NovaSports Highlights, NovaSports6, NovaSports7, NovaSports HD, Nickelodeon (Greece), Kontra Channel, THRAKI NET, IONIAN CHANNEL, BEST TV, PatraTV, Blue Sky TV, Action 24, ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΟΣ TV, ΚΡΗΤΗ TV, NEA TV ΚΡΗΤΗΣ, ΘΡΑΚΗ NET, TV 100, ΗΠΕΙΡΟΣ TV1, ΑΛΦΑ ΤΗΛΕΟΡΑΣΗ ΔΡΑΜΑΣ TELE TIME 4:3 is still the most popular aspect ratio among local television stations.
16:9 with 4:3 occasional programmes: all channels owned by Rai and Mediaset; La7, La7d, Giallo.
Often on 16:9: MTG channels (TV3, LNT and others)
Often on 16:9: LNK, TV3 Lithuania, TV6, TV8, TV1, Info TV, Viasat Sport Baltic. Always on 4:3: Liuks!, Balticum TV
Other channels: Polsat News, Polsat Sport, Polsat Sport Extra, Polsat Café, Polsat Film, Polsat Sport News, Polsat Play, Polsat News 2, TVS, Eska TV, Orange Sport, Eurosport, Eurosport 2, AXN, National Geographic Channel, NatGeo Wild, Fox, FOX Comedy, Superstacja, Kino Polska Muzyka, Disco Polo Music, Polo TV, Telewizja Republika.
The first films were broadcast in 16:9 (PALplus) at TV3 and TVG in 1997. Transition to widescreen programs and commercials started on DVB-T only and regional channels like Neox, Nova, Teledeporte, TV3 (Catalonia) or Aragón Televisión in late 2008, and in main analog networks in 2009 (except TVE). HD versions of nationwide main TV channels, Antena 3, Telecinco, LaSexta and TVE (as TVE HD) were launched (or relaunched in the case of TVE-HD) in 2010. 1080i HD version of Cuatro was launched in 2012.
On 1 July 2000, "C-Day", most of the UK broadcast industry began requiring commercials to be delivered in 16:9 full-height format (with a 14:9 safe area for those channels still broadcasting in 4:3). ITV and C4 upgraded their continuity suites to be 16:9 capable at the same time, allowing idents to be broadcast in widescreen format on digital. In 2001, the UK's fourth broadcaster Channel 5 switched to 16:9. In 2002, On Digital became defunct and free-to-air digital terrestrial television services instead began to operate under the name of Freeview. In 2003, Sky branded channels were re-branded which included the switch to 16:9. In 2006, BBC HD began broadcasting in 1080i which became the standard for all HD channels. Similar to the switch to Digital in 1998, viewers using terrestrial services required an additional set-top-box which was HD capable In 2007, Channel 4 HD was launched on Sky. It was later added to Virgin Media in 2009 and then to Freeview HD in 2011. In 2008, ITV HD was launched on Freesat and was later added to Virgin Media, Sky and Freeview HD in 2010. In 2009, Freeview HD launched allowing terrestrial viewers to watch BBC HD and ITV HD without a subscription, a Freeview HD set-top box or television is required. In 2010, Channel 5 HD was launched on Sky and Virgin Media. In 2011, BBC One HD was launched on Sky, Virgin Media and Freeview HD.
As of 2012, Almost all Freeview channels broadcast in 16:9; Almost all Virgin Media/Sky channels broadcast in 16:9. The rest switched by the end of 2012.
Japan's Hi-Vision originally started with a 5:3 ratio but converted when the international standards group introduced a wider ratio of 51⁄3 to 3 (=16:9).
Pay Channels: Bandamax*, De Película HD, Ritmoson Latino*, TDN*, Univision TDN*, TeleHit*, Unicable*, MTV HD, VH1 HD, Nickelodeon HD, Comedy Central HD, TNT HD, Space*, Cartoon Network*, TBS HD, Warner Channel HD, FOX*, FX*, Fox Sports*, NAT GEO*, Disney Channel HD, Discovery Channel HD, Discovery Kids HD, Investigation Discovery HD, Discovery Home & Health HD. *SD and HD signals are broadcast in 16:9.
In Middle East and Africa, 16:9 is the standard broadcast format for most digital channels and all HDTV broadcasts.
Blu-ray, Ntsc, Digital Video Broadcasting, Dvd, 1080i