Movie Aspect Ratios: 16:9, 1.85:1 & 2.39:1 Explained

For many people, movie aspect ratios can be a complicated subject.

What are 16:9 and 1.78:1? What about 1.33:1 and 1.85:1?

And where does the widescreen aspect ratio of your TV fit into all this?

In simple terms, the aspect ratio describes the shape of your TV screen – and it doesn’t change.

But the image you watch on that screen, like a movie or TV show, also has an aspect ratio, which can vary depending on how it was made.

The way these two things interact significantly affects what you see on your TV screen.

So why should you care?

Because understanding aspect ratios can help explain a common issue for many people. You know, those annoying black bars that occasionally appear on the TV screen when watching a movie.

There is a reason why they are sometimes there – and sometimes not.

Read on to learn more about the various aspect ratios of movies.

The Aspect Ratio of Your TV

The two most common aspect ratios for television screens are 4:3 and 16:9.

These are fixed ratios set by the physical structure of your TV screen.

Today’s most common aspect ratio for televisions is 16:9 – or 16 units wide and 9 units high.

If you divide 16 by 9, you get 1.7777. This number is rounded up to 1.78 and is often used to express the standard widescreen aspect ratio – 1.78:1.

So, no matter how big your screen is – 40, 55 or 70 inches – the width and height ratio will be the same.

Take a look at the article on TV aspect ratios if you don’t understand this point.

The Aspect Ratio of a Movie

Now you know that there are two primary aspect ratios for a television. This leads to another interesting issue – how do the aspect ratios of movies affect what you see on your screen?

And, if you like to read your equipment’s manual (unlikely) – or just want to flick through the setup menus, changing every setting as you go (more likely) – you will know that you can alter the aspect ratio that you see on the screen.

You will also learn some changes you can make to get a better picture – or worse!

Common Aspect Ratios for Movies

When a movie or television program is made, it has a fixed aspect ratio.

This will depend on the type of camera used to shoot the show or, maybe, where it is intended to be shown.

So shows recorded for TV will likely have a different native aspect ratio than high-budget movies.

However, once the movie is edited, it can be released in several different aspect ratios, and the image can be altered to suit its release format.

If you look at the back of your Blu-ray or DVD disc box, it will tell you the aspect ratio of the movie or show that is on the disc – along with further information like the Blu-ray region code.

Although many different aspect ratios have been used over the years, there are four primary formats that you will come across regularly.

These are:

• 1.33:1
• 1.78:1
• 1.85:1
• 2.39:1

1.33:1

Also known as 4:3 (pronounced ‘four by three’), this is the traditional aspect ratio of standard-definition TVs and images.

This is becoming less common as modern TV screens switch to widescreen formats. However, many older TV programs will only be available in this aspect ratio.

Therefore, we can play this 4:3 TV show on our old 4:3 television, and it will fit perfectly.

As you can see below, on a 4:3 TV, the image is a perfect match and fills the screen entirely.

But, on the 16:9 widescreen TV, there are bars on either side, which is because the image isn’t wide enough for the TV.

This is called pillar boxing or vertical letterboxing.

Most TVs will have a ‘justify’ (or similar) option to stretch the image to the edges, but this can stretch the image and make it appear strange.

Another alternative is to zoom in and remove the bars, but this will mean losing some action at the top and bottom.

The picture may also lack sharpness when you zoom in or justify the image.

1.78:1

As explained earlier, 1.78:1 is the aspect ratio for all widescreen TVs.

It is also known as 16:9 or 16 x 9 and is pronounced ‘sixteen by nine.’

This aspect ratio is also commonly just called widescreen. However, some of the other standard aspect ratios can also use this term – so using the ratio is more accurate.

Because this is the standard aspect ratio for high-definition television screens, 16:9 is often the best aspect ratio for displaying video on a TV.

If a movie is released with a 16:9 aspect ratio, it will match the screen’s aspect ratio, which means the film will be displayed on the entire screen area.

As you can see below, the 1.78:1 image on the 16:9 TV is a perfect fit. Doesn’t that look great?

Notice that with a widescreen image, you get to see more detail on the left and right edges of the picture compared to the 4:3 version shown in the previous section.

But, if you display this video on a 4:3 TV, the widescreen image will have bars at the top and bottom. Therefore the image will appear to be much smaller as it is made to fit the smaller width.

This is called letterboxing. You can zoom in on the TV to get rid of the bars, but this will mean losing some of the action at the edges – and make the picture lose sharpness.

1.85:1

A common widescreen aspect ratio for many movies is 1.85:1.

It is a popular standard in the US for widescreen movies, and this is slightly wider than the standard 16:9 widescreen image.

However, a movie with this aspect ratio will fit quite well on a standard 16:9 high-definition TV screen as it is almost the same shape.

A 1.85:1 movie on a 16:9 screen actually has some letterboxing, but as this shape is a pretty good fit, the bars at the top and bottom will be pretty small.

In fact, with overscan on, you won’t actually see them at all. If you turn overscan off, you will get small bars at the top and bottom – but you also get a bit more of the image left and right.

Below, on the 4:3 television, the result is very similar to the 1.78:1 aspect ratio.

However, the black bars at the top and bottom will be slightly more prominent – and therefore, the actual image will be smaller.

You can zoom in to remove the bars – but you will lose some of the action too!

2.39:1

Also known as Panavision or CinemaScope, 2.39:1 is a popular aspect ratio for major movie releases.

Historically, this aspect ratio was actually 2.35:1, but it switched to 2.39:1 in the 1970s. It is also commonly rounded up to 2.40:1.

Therefore you may see any of these three versions recorded on the DVD box – although they are all essentially the same thing.

Notice that you can see even more detail on the left and right of the image compared to the widescreen version.

The 4:3 television will have huge black bars at the top and bottom, and the movie will be that tiny colorful bit somewhere in the middle!

Again, as with the previous aspect ratios, zooming in can reduce the bars, but it will also make the image less defined and cause a loss of the picture on either side.

On the 16:9 TV below, this is probably the one that annoys people the most.

You spend all this money on a vast 80-inch widescreen technological phenomenon, and then when you play a movie, part of the screen is covered with black bars at the top and bottom.

Maybe you should have tried to find a 1.85:1 version of the movie!

If you want to keep the aspect ratio in the way the director intended, then you have little choice but to watch it with the letterboxing.

Alternatively, you can zoom in on the image to remove the bars, but you will lose some of the action left and right. And, after all, having this extra width is the whole point of shooting the movie in 2.39:1.

Another option is to get a screen that is the same 2.39:1 aspect ratio.

Unfortunately, although a few have been released in the past, you won’t find many ultrawide flat-screen TVs.

There are a few smaller ultrawide 21:9 monitors which you could use – which is almost the same aspect ratio.

If you really want to go down this road for home theater, the best option is probably to buy a home theater projector and get a screen that supports this wider aspect ratio.

You can buy home theater projector screens with a fixed aspect ratio of 2.35:1 or 2.39:1.

Conclusion

It can be pretty confusing when you start thinking about the aspect ratios of movies.

There are a few different variations, so it can be challenging to understand why the picture sometimes looks different on your television.

However, when you understand what is happening with your TV screen, it isn’t so difficult to see what is happening.

The main benefit of understanding this issue is that you can look out for the aspect ratio of a Blu-ray or DVD disc before you buy it.

You might want to find a release with the best fit for your TV equipment.

You always have a choice of cropping out the black bars when you watch it on your TV. However, the image will always be less sharp, and you may lose some vital action.

The best advice is to watch something at the original aspect ratio where you can, as it will reduce the picture quality if you zoom in or stretch it

However, it’s always down to personal preference. So you need to decide what works best for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some short and sweet answers to some common questions about movie aspect ratios.