Aspect Ratios Research Paper

Aspect ratio is a mathematical expression of the ratio of the width of a screen size or film format to its height. In expressing an aspect ratio, the width, which is typically always the greater length, is given first, followed by the height. The screen aspect ratio of standard television is 1.33 to 1, which simply means that standard definition television screens and programming formatted to run on this aspect ratio are 1.33 times as wide as they are high. This is also more commonly expressed as a 4:3 aspect ratio. To make the math simple, this would simply mean that if a television screen were 30 inches high it would be 40 inches wide given its aspect ratio of 4:3.

Aspect ratios are commonly used when speaking of television screen and programming size formats as well as such formats for film. In the 1950s, the movie industry responded to the threat of television by increasing the width relative to the height, or in other words, increasing the aspect ratio of films by adopting a wider format. This served to give movies a more panoramic view and keep bringing people into theaters. This wider format for movies is either 1.85:1 or 2.39:1 depending on just how wide it is made.

While standard definition television has a 4:3 aspect ratio, high-definition TVs have a 16:9 aspect ratio. This, plus the larger sizes of modern, flat-screen televisions today, can give people a movie theater-like experience at home. People will always continue going to the movies, however, because unless someone has a big budget for a huge screen TV at home, the local theaters screen will always be bigger, and there is something to be said for the excitement of a crowd when watching a new release. Aspect ratio is an important consideration but not the only