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What does aspect ratio mean? Regular and widescreen monitor

What is screen aspect ratio?

When we talk about 4:3 and 16:9 screen formats, we mean the proportions or the ratio between the horizontal and vertical sides of the screen rectangle. Standard TV previously had a screen with an aspect ratio of 4:3. This means for every four units in width there are three units in height. Standard HDTVs use a 16:9 aspect ratio screen, so there are 9 units of height for every 16 units of width. Therefore, HDTV with 16:9 aspect ratio is wider horizontally than regular TV, whose screen looks almost square.

Here's the problem: any projector or TV has its own screen format, usually 4:3 or 16:9. On the other hand, films, videos and other content are produced with a different image frame format. Traditional television programs and videos are now most often made in the 4:3 format, which is also referred to as “1.33:1”. 4 divided by 3 equals 1.33. Likewise, content created for HDTV in 16:9 format is designated 1.78:1 (16 divided by 9 = 1.78).

However, video materials are not produced only in these two formats. For movies, music, videos and other content on optical disks ratios such as 1.33, 1.78, 1.85, 2.00, 2.35, 2.4, 2.5 and so on are used. HD content from Blu-ray discs is usually presented in 1.78:1 or in super widescreen formats 2.35 and 2.4. Thus, there is no universal standard for the aspect ratio of an image. Therefore, it is worth understanding: no matter what format your projector is 4:3 or 16:9, it will NOT accommodate all video materials that you want to watch in a natural frame format. It turns out that it doesn't exist perfect solution when choosing optimal ratio sides for your home theater system?

Most popular choice For home theater Now there is a projector and screen with support for 16:9. But some viewers still remain adherents of the classic 4:3 format, since all the classic films before 1953 were made in this format. There is also a lot of interest in systems in the special 2.35:1 super-wide aspect ratio. Each of these three configurations has its own specific unique advantages, as well as certain disadvantages that should be considered before making your final choice.

4:3 aspect ratio: advantages and disadvantages

Advantages: If you want to watch primarily classic films, TV series, or specials like those shown in IMAX theaters, the 4:3 aspect ratio in in this case most convenient compared to 16:9. Using vertical electronic masking, you can easily cover the top and bottom of the screen when someone wants to watch 16:9 or 2.35:1 content, and open the screen to full vertical height to view 4:3 format materials.

Flaws: Most, if not all, high-end home theater projectors sold today support the native 16:9 aspect ratio. It's hard to find a 4:3 aspect ratio projector that can compete with 16:9 projectors in image quality in a home theater system. And since most 4:3 projectors support resolutions of 800x600, 1024x768, 1400x1050, this means that all video footage must be scaled to match the natural resolution of the projector.

16:9 aspect ratio: advantages and disadvantages

Advantages: For HDTV, widescreen DVDs, and Blu-ray movies, a 16:9 aspect ratio projector is the logical choice. All materials supporting HDTV broadcasting in 16:9 format will be displayed in full glory, without black bars at the top and bottom of the screen image. A lot of materials today are made in the 16:9 format, and there is a tendency to transfer frames and television programs to this format. There are many 16:9 projectors on store shelves, and many of them are designed specifically for high-end home theater systems.

Flaws: While the 16:9 screen looks great, the 4:3 content it displays is concentrated in the center and can be quite small, sandwiched on the sides by wide black screens. vertical stripes. More expensive projectors may use a video processing system to cover the entire surface of the screen in whatever format is being displayed. The image is artificially transformed. If you don't want the hassle of such electronic masking at extra cost, then you have to put up with black bars on the screen in all formats except 16:9. Fortunately, modern home theater projectors have significantly reduced black levels compared to past models, making those black bars less noticeable in a dark room and reducing the need for electronic masking.

2.40:1 aspect ratio: advantages and disadvantages

Advantages: But there are films wider than 16:9. Today, many of the most popular films are on DVD and Blu-ray discs made in 2.35 or 2.40:1 frame format, not 1.78:1. If many of your favorite pictures are made with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, then good choice there will be a 2.35:1 system with a constant image height. Traditional method projection of films shot in 2.35:1 format involves using an additional x1.33 anamorphic lens with a 16:9 projector to stretch the image to 2.35:1 (1.78 times 1.33 = 2.35). To view 16:9 and 4:3 materials, you must remove the anamorphic lens from the lens. On the other hand, good budget option This could involve purchasing a projector with a 1.3:1 zoom lens and a 2.35:1 screen, then using the zoom system to switch between 16:9 and 2.35:1 projections. A controlled zoom lens with a memory system allows you to automate this process. Whichever method you choose, this system will allow you to enjoy widescreen cinema.

Flaws: The option with a separate lens is expensive. Additionally, to switch between 2.35 movie formats and 16:9 or 4:3 footage, you must use manual or automatic system anamorphic lens controls. This is most easily done with a motorized system, but this option can seriously increase the cost of the system. Cheap anamorphic lenses can degrade image quality somewhat. Can also be used electronic systems conversion to eliminate on screen dark stripes when viewing 16:9 or 4:3 materials, which again increases the cost of the system. The zoom lens option doesn't add any extra expense, but it does require careful mounting of the projector and reduces screen illumination by approximately 25%. With some projectors this may result in a slightly dim or blurry image.

After choosing the frame format for your future cinema, next step is to select the projector resolution.

), or rather, about the characteristics that you should pay attention to when purchasing it. A properly selected monitor will save your eyesight and effectively perform the tasks for which it was selected.

The most important characteristics should be considered: the type and resolution of the matrix used; uniformity of illumination; contrast, brightness, screen size and aspect ratio, as well as the availability and types of connection ports. Today we’ll talk about monitor resolutions, their sizes and aspect ratios.

Resolution and pixel sizes

Resolution is the number of points or elements bitmap per certain unit of area. More a high resolution(per unit area accounts for more elements) should theoretically provide a more accurate and detailed picture.

The resolution of LCD monitors, unlike their CRT counterparts, is fixed. Each of the T.F.T. LCD displays displays the best way only in one resolution. This resolution is called physical. It corresponds to the actual number of pixels on the LCD panel. Therefore, from the very beginning, you should choose an LCD monitor with the resolution in which you are most comfortable working.

The operator's habit and vision play a big role here. For example, when working with a 17-inch cathode ray tube monitor with a resolution of 1024x768, the 1600x1200 resolution typical of 19- and 20-inch screens will almost certainly cause complaints, since image details will become smaller. Fortunately, most modern operating systems allow you to resize system fonts, make working with the physical resolution of the monitor comfortable.

Besides, important characteristic will be the pixel size. Small size pixel can be useful when working with graphics, as it allows you to more comfortably operate with resolutions other than the physical one. Interpolation flaws are less noticeable and image aliasing is less noticeable. On the other side, big size pixel can be useful when manipulating texts and working in system windows, as fonts are rendered more legibly.

To simplify the selection criteria, I recommend that those who buy a graphics-oriented monitor (photography, pre-press preparation, movies, games) purchase devices with a pixel size of no more than 0.27 mm. This will ensure high-quality display of raster and vector images. In any case, I would advise before purchasing a monitor to see how the applications you use most often look on it. Isn't it small?

Aspect Ratio

Now let's look at aspect ratios. The most typical monitors sold today have ratios of 4:3, 16:10 and 16:9.

Monitors with 4:3 aspect ratio

At the time of writing this article, this format is the most common among monitors that users already have. However, there are practically no new monitors produced with this aspect ratio, which goes back to classic CRT displays. Such almost square monitors were, at one time, a technical compromise, since cathode ray tubes did not allow the creation of more horizontally elongated formats.

This aspect ratio of the monitor does not do very well convenient viewing modern films, which are usually shot in a wide 21.5:9 format. As a result, when playing on a 4:3 monitor, the screen is not fully used - black bars appear in the upper and lower parts, “eating up” a significant part of the screen. It is clear that in this case the image becomes smaller.

Modern games are also optimized for other aspect ratios. Visibility is degraded when using 4:3 displays. The field of vision of a normal human eye also does not correspond to these proportions. Therefore, I can only recommend purchasing such a display to those who use it to work in office programs. In them this format is quite adequate.

Monitors with 16:9 aspect ratio

This aspect ratio is optimized for watching HD movies. This allows you to view video recordings, expanding almost the entire screen to the movie picture, and not the black bars. This is convenient, because films can be viewed almost in full screen. When watching modern films shot with an aspect ratio of 21.5:9, small dark bands remain, but the image looks much larger than on 4:3 monitors.

In addition to films, such monitors are perfect for working in various editors with big amount tools in the side panels. This may be useful not only for Photoshop, Lightroom, etc., but also for office packages latest issues, which are optimized for new monitor aspect ratios. Although, for serious work, such screen proportions are not the most convenient - there is often a lot of unoccupied space left.

Monitors with an aspect ratio of 16:10

Intermediate format. It's not as wide as 16:9 displays, but has plenty of room on the sides for various side panels and auxiliary tools. Majority professional monitors to work with computer graphics, printing and photographs are produced in exactly this aspect ratio.

Interfaces of many software solutions For professional processing two-dimensional and 3D graphics optimized by developers specifically for this format. In addition, the 16:10 aspect ratio provides comfortable sizes visible images for games and text editors.

Movies on this monitor don't look as good as on 16:9 displays, but much better than on 4:3. If you rarely watch movies on your computer, this aspect ratio is probably the best choice.

Encyclopedic YouTube

The pixels are not visible here, this is a very high quality, very cool monitor.

If we talk about the cost, then 700 dollars is, in principle, not that expensive for a 4K monitor of a similar size, of similar design and of similar quality. I’ll make a reservation right away - I’m not a professional in 4K monitors, this is the first and only 4K monitor that I’ve seen live for so long, and based on first impressions, this monitor didn’t just surprise me. I'm FUCKED by how high-quality the image can be in general. The era of FullHD is slowly fading into the background. 4K video, 4K content. this same value is directly tied to the standard of decomposition and resolution in pixels at a certain aspect ratio. However, in most cases the pixel is considered square. The vast majority of video content uses a horizontal frame, so the first number indicating the horizontal size is always larger than the second. The exception is mobile video with a vertical frame of 16:9, which has become widespread thanks to the Snapchat application. This is the only case when big number indicates the vertical side of the frame.

1:1

Until recently, the square frame was used only in photography. The advantage of this aspect ratio was the ability to design equipment that did not require rotation to select a vertical or horizontal frame layout. The most well-known square frame formats are medium format 6x6 centimeters and small format type-126 with a frame of 28x28 millimeters. Much more widely known is the square format of 7.9 × 7.9 centimeters of integrated kits for instant photography of the Polaroid “SX-70” and type-600 series. It is believed that the features of these technologies and the frame format became the basis for the square images of the social network Instagram. In cinema, a square frame of 18.67x18.67 millimeters was used for film copies of the Superscope system, which, when projected, gave a widescreen image. Currently, the square frame has become widespread in mobile video. The social network Instagram with its square photo format played a big role in this.

1,25:1 (5:4)

Early models of computer monitors with a resolution of 1280x1024 pixels had this aspect ratio. In everyday practice, they are often attributed a 4:3 ratio, which is not entirely true. In the 2010s, they are gradually being replaced by 16:10 and 16:9 widescreen monitors.

1,33:1 (4:3)

1,375:1

1.66:1; 1.85:1 (Flat)

1,78:1 (16:9)

2:1

One of the standards for cassette films and the image format of the contact film copy “Vista-Vision” with a frame size of 18x36 mm (according to other sources, the film copy frame had a ratio of 1.96:1). The Superscope film system was based on a square frame of film print, which was projected onto a screen with double anamorphicity, giving an image with 2:1 aspect ratio. The same aspect ratio is considered standard for modern widescreen film formats “Univizium” and “Maxivision” (English Univisium, Maxivision) with a shortened frame pitch and without an analog optical soundtrack.

2,2:1

The aspect ratio of most wide-format cinema systems based on the use of wide 70 mm film and spherical optics. The first of these systems was the American “Todd-AO”, on the basis of which the Soviet wide-format cinema system NIKFI (Sovscope70) with the same aspect ratio of 2.2:1 was developed. Currently, it exists only as a format of film copies printed from a negative shot in the Super-35 format or, less commonly, in one of the anamorphic formats.

2,3:1 (21:9)

Screen format of LED TVs produced by some manufacturers. For the first time such a 56-inch diagonal screen was created by Philips in 2009. This aspect ratio is best suited for watching movies shot with CinemaScope or its modern versions with a frame of 2.39:1. However, such screens have not become widespread due to difficulties in coordinating with existing digital content. Video high definition The 1920x1080 standard is displayed on such screens with a black mess on top, bottom and sides in Windowbox mode. Fitting a widescreen frame onto a screen without black margins is only possible through interpolation with loss of clarity. The screen format, contrary to expectations, was not included in the options of the new Blu-Ray Ultra HD standards, which sharply reduced the demand for monitors of this format. As a result, most manufacturers household appliances refused to release them, and Philips was the first to do so in 2012.

2,35:1

2,55:1

Aspect ratios of early anamorphic formats, including Cinemascope and Cinemascope-55. This screen aspect ratio existed until 1954, when a standard optical one was added to the four-channel magnetic phonogram, which occupied part of the film copy space allocated to the image. Currently not in use.

2,6:1

To increase the horizontal field of view and enhance the perception of the film, the film company Cinerama (eng. Cinerama) invented and commercially introduced a panoramic system of three-film filming and film projection on special, highly curved huge screens up to 30 m wide with a frame width-to-height ratio of 2.6:1. The Cinerama system provided a high-quality method for recording and playing back seven-channel surround sound from a separate 35mm synchronized magnetic phonogram. With this system, the sound followed the image on the screen through playback by different speakers located around the audience.

The first film shot using the Cinerama system - documentary-video (English travelogue) “This Is Cinerama” (English “This Is Cinerama”) was first shown to the public in 1952 in a specially built and equipped cinema. The success of the film was so great that it did not leave the screens for two years. Despite the complexity and cumbersomeness of the Cinerama system, 7 more films were created, including three feature films: “How the West Was Won” and “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm” (Eng. "The Wonderful World Of Brothers Grimm") (both in the city) and “Sailboat: The Voyage of Christian Radick” (eng. "Windjammer: The Voyage of Christian Radich"- filming using the “Cinemiracle” system, rental in halls and using the “Cinerama” system. The Soviet Kinopanorama system was developed based on and taking into account the errors of Cinerama. The image has the same aspect ratio of 2.6:1.

2,75:1 (11:4)

In 1959, Panavision acquired the film production department of MGM studios. In the same year, the Super Panavision 70 system appeared, which was practically a copy of Todd-AO, but used much more compact cameras.

Other aspect ratios

There are movie attractions with a different screen aspect ratio (for example, a circular panorama with a 360° view). All this is designed to immerse the viewer in the atmosphere of the film and enhance the viewing experience.

see also

Notes

Sources

  1. , With. 36.
  2. The Rich Man"s Poor Man"s Version of CinemaScope(English) . The American WideScreen Museum. Retrieved August 3, 2012. Archived September 7, 2012.
  3. Sergey Asmakov. Wide format: pros and cons (Russian). Reviews. Computer Press (July 2009). Retrieved March 16, 2015.

When purchasing a new monitor for your system unit consultants at any electronics store may ask you what screen resolution you prefer for your monitor. For those to whom such a question may seem like something from the Chinese literacy section, let’s break it down. So.

What is screen resolution?

Let's start with what the image that we see on the monitor is. Any picture is assembled from special points - pixels. To somehow understand what we are talking about, let’s draw an analogy with embroidery. From monotonous crosses of different colors, the result is some kind of picture or pattern. So here, pixels are like crosses on embroidery, only they are much smaller and tightly pressed against each other, so there is no feeling that the image consists of individual dots, but looks whole. In addition, they are able to take on different colors as required by the situation. Thanks to this, we watch movies, pictures, switch different windows and instantly see the corresponding changes on the monitor.

Pixels - nowhere without them

Pixels can be square or in some cases rectangular. There was even a wave of replacement of the beloved square monitors with more elongated ones, which sometimes stretched the images too much. But more on that later.

It is the number of these same pixels per unit length, or in other words their density, that determines the resolution of monitor screens.

Screen Resolution Options

The main parameters of monitor resolution are height and width. So, if you go to the control panel on your computer and go to the screen settings section, you can go to this window (this particular window is for users operating system Windows 7), which you can see in the photo below.

In this case, the monitor has an installed maximum resolution 1366 x 768 pixels. What does it mean? This means that there are 1366 pixels across the width from the left to the right sides of the monitor, and 768 pixels from top to bottom. This optimal resolution monitor screen, given as an example, in which information from the screen will be transmitted as clearly and conveniently as possible for a person with normal, normal vision.

We also see that the monitor can be set to another, lower resolution. By reducing the width to 1024 pixels, for example, images can be made to appear more stretched. That is, in fact, the physical number of pixels that determines the resolution of the monitor screen does not change, it remains the same, but the display of images will be the same as it would be with a different resolution.

The most popular screen formats

The shape of pixels was mentioned above, so let’s look at this issue in more detail.

Previously, and we are talking about a hundred years since the appearance of the first films, all monitors of the first models of televisions and computers had a 4:3 format. Even when there were no televisions yet, silent films were shot in this format. What do these numbers mean? This is the aspect ratio of the display element, one might say the ratios of the height and width of the monitor. So, the dimensions can be as follows: 16:12 = 4x4:3x4, 40:30 = 4x10:3x10. Analog TVs the majority have this particular format and, accordingly, analogue television programs are also “adjusted” to the 4:3 frame. This also includes the 5:4 format. It is also more “square”, and is used in the production of computer monitors. But gradually he burst into life new format 16:9, which gave rise to a new image size, and the screen resolution of a widescreen monitor appeared, constantly being modernized and changing in parameters.

Widescreen broadcasting: convenient or profitable?

The new trend was advertised for its convenience. So, a person should perceive information better on the sides of the monitor than on the top and bottom. But we must not miss the point that widescreen monitors are cheaper to produce. Yes, yes, if you take 4:3 and 16:9 monitors, which have equal diagonals, it turns out that their area is different. A 4:3 screen will have more room to work with than a 16:9 screen, but a wide monitor will require fewer resources to produce than a square one. Many opinions have been expressed both for and against widescreen monitors, and both have their pros and cons. For those people who started their acquaintance with by computer means In the days of 4:3, wide screens are awkward and take a long time to adapt to.

So, when working in office programs like Microsoft Word at the same scale, 5:4 monitors will be able to display more lines than their widescreen counterparts. You don’t need to constantly move up and down the sheet to find some information; you can see the entire sheet, and at the same time you won’t lose much in the readability of the text. Wide monitors stretch the “square” image, causing round things to become oval, stretching the faces and bodies of characters on the screen. Fortunately, they are working on all the problems. So, on a 5:4 monitor you can watch a widescreen movie, only black margins will be added at the top and bottom so as not to cut off part of the image. Similarly, on a wide monitor, you can make sure that the picture has its original parameters and does not spread across the entire screen area. IN computer games developers are adding the ability to support different formats etc. But what is still important is that the wide format is primarily beneficial for the manufacturer, and it is constantly being imposed on us, reducing the production of square screens. “Do you want a 5:4 monitor? But this is unfashionable, no one buys these anymore!” Of course, he doesn’t buy it, because everyone is chasing fashion, not really thinking about convenience. And the funny thing is that screens with 4:3, 5:4 formats are cheaper than models of wide-format monitors, the production of which uses less material, and which, logically, should cost less. But let’s return to the issue of monitor screen resolution.

Problems in choosing the optimal resolution

The fact is that the abundance of manufacturers who decide for themselves which expansion is best for them puts the consumer in a difficult position. There are more than three dozen different video standards, which have different resolutions and different aspect ratios. Let's say the XGA video standard has a resolution of 1024 × 768 (786k) or 640 × 480 (307k), with an aspect ratio of 4:3, when the VGA standard has four acceptable resolutions (640 × 480, 640 × 350, 320 × 200, 720 × 400 ) with appropriate aspect ratios (4:3, 64:35, 16:10, 9:5). The WHUXGA video standard has the largest number of pixels today - 7680 × 4800 (36864k), and it is widescreen - 16:10. But how to choose exactly the one that will suit a particular user?

What to consider when choosing a monitor resolution

The maximum resolution of the monitor screen is often optimal for working on a computer. It can be manually changed to one of those available in the list of resolution settings.
Since the issue of screen resolution is relevant for both televisions and computers, which are fundamentally different devices(although a TV can also be connected to a PC as a monitor), we will consider the optimal parameters separately for both types of devices.

TV: ease of viewing

Standard definition analog television, a monopolist in its field for some time, has always had an aspect ratio of 4:3, and only relatively recently has the 16:9 ratio begun to appear, which is positioned as a high-definition image - digital television. We are now exactly at the stage when the transition from one standard to another is taking place, and how long this process will drag on is completely unclear. Some countries have long switched to a new, more convenient and high-quality digital format, but in the domestic open spaces this can be expected for a long time. Therefore, you can buy a newfangled widescreen TV, almost all models of which provide a function for adjusting the resolution of monitor screens. After carefully studying the instructions, the user will be able to decide for himself how to view a square picture on a rectangular monitor - stretch it to fill the entire monitor, or add a black frame on the sides to preserve the proportions of the original image.

PC monitor - a dilemma for gamers

If a gamer chooses a monitor, then he must first familiarize himself with the requirements for the preferred game/games, and then, based on this data, summarize which monitor screen resolutions are best suited for this. It’s impossible to say unequivocally “this model is ideal for all games in the world.”

Watch the news in Odnoklassniki - is it worth bothering with choosing a resolution?

If you use a PC to work in office programs or just to view mail, news feeds in in social networks etc., you need to choose solely according to personal experience or consult with an experienced user who can explain to you all the points of interest.

This also includes the screen resolution of the laptop monitor. It is likely that for its transportation it will be more convenient (purely physically) for it to be rectangular and compact, so as to fit into a backpack or bag. On a rectangular monitor, it is convenient to open two windows at once, when a 4:3 or 5:4 monitor gives you more space to view and work on one document.

A monitor is the main way of communication between a person and a computer. Therefore, the quality of the monitor directly affects the quality of this communication. In this article we will talk about how to choose a monitor and try to analyze the main characteristics of modern monitors.

In order not to make a mistake when choosing a monitor, you need to understand the basic characteristics that are characteristic of modern monitors.

The most obvious monitor parameter. Naturally the larger the diagonal, the better. But, within reasonable limits. And these limits are individual for everyone. Therefore, you can safely choose the monitor diagonal to your own taste, without being guided by any smart advice.

The only note that has to do with the diagonal is that the diagonal must be chosen, making allowances for the aspect ratio. The closer the monitor format is to a square, the more comfortable it is to work with small diagonals.

For example, a 19" monitor with a 4:3 aspect ratio is quite comfortable, but a 19" monitor with a 16:9 aspect ratio will seem too narrow and you will lack height. This problem is especially severe when viewing web pages that have a vertical layout and do not expand to fill the entire screen.

Monitor aspect ratio

This monitor parameter is often ignored when . Majority ordinary users PCs don't understand the benefits of each aspect ratio.

Nowadays you can find monitors with the following aspect ratios:

  • 16:9 is the most common aspect ratio. Most modern monitors use 16:9. We can say that this is already a standard.
  • 16:10 is the second most popular monitor aspect ratio. These monitors are slightly closer to square than 16:9 monitors.
  • 4:3 and 5:4 are formats that are rapidly losing popularity. Now almost all monitors with this aspect ratio are cheap office monitors with a TN+film matrix. Choosing a monitor with this aspect ratio will allow you to save on the purchase, while due to the aspect ratio you will get a completely comfortable solution.
  • 21:9 is an aspect ratio that is quickly gaining popularity. main feature of this format this is that its width is significantly greater than its height. With a large diagonal, this solution allows you to replace two monitors at once.

You can compare the diagonal and aspect ratio of two selected monitors at displaywars.com. For example: .

Monitor resolution

Another very important parameter when choosing a monitor. The higher the resolution, the clearer the picture on the screen. This is especially noticeable when browsing the web and reading text on the screen.

You need to focus on resolution after choosing the diagonal and aspect ratio. Compare with the same diagonal and aspect ratio and choose the monitor with the highest resolution.

The most common monitors are with the following resolutions:

  • Aspect ratio 16:9 - 1920x1080, 1600x900 and 1366x768;
  • Aspect ratio 16:10 – 1920×1200, 1680×1050
  • Aspect ratio 4:3 - 1280 x 1024;

Monitor matrix type

Along with diagonal and resolution, the type of matrix is ​​one of the main characteristics of any screen. Unfortunately, when choosing a monitor, many users do not pay attention to this.