16:9 aspect ratio

For other meanings, see 16:9 (disambiguation).

A 16:9 rectangle in which squares visualize the ratio. Note that the groupings are not square.

An LCD television set with a 16:9 image ratio.

16:9 (1.77:1) is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. It is the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television (EDTV) PALplus.

Generally 16:9 is pronounced "Sixteen-Nine", "Sixteen-by-Nine" or "Sixteen-to-Nine".

History

Equal area comparison of the aspect ratios used by Dr. Powers to derive the SMPTE 16:9 standard. TV 4:3/1.33 in red, 1.66 in orange, 16:9/1.77 in blue, 1.85 in yellow, Panavision/2.2 in mauve and CinemaScope/2.35 in purple.

When the 16:9 aspect ratio was proposed by Dr. Kerns H. Powers, a member of the SMPTE Working Group On High-Definition Electronic Production, nobody was creating 16:9 videos. The popular choices in 1980 were: 4:3 (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 2.35:1 (the CinemaScope ratio for anamorphic widescreen films).

Dr. 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. 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). Note that applying the same geometric mean technique to 16:9 and 4:3 approximately yields the 14:9 aspect ratio, which is likewise used as a compromise between these ratios.

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 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.

Audiences generally see such centrally framed information as distracting. However, audiences of 16:9 ratio scenes can find odd moving elements that are centrally framed. This has similarities to the effect a filming technique called Open matte can have. 4:3 content upconverted to a 16:9 standard is generally referred to as pillar boxed and many high definition television networks have adopted decoratively branded logos to fill the null area.

After the original 16:9 Action Plan of the early 1990s, the European Union has instituted the 16:9 Action Plan, 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 to use 16:9 as standard aspect ratio for monitors and laptops. According to a report by displaysearch the reasons for this were/are:

• Innovative product concepts drives a new product cycle and stimulating the growth of the notebook PC and LCD monitor market.
• 16:9 provides better economic cut (panelization) in existing TFT LCD fabs.
• 16:9 products provide higher resolution and wider aspect ratio.
• The widespread adoption of High Definition in the consumer entertainment sector will help end users readily adopt the new products with the wider aspect ratio.
• The 16:9 panels provide an opportunity for PC brands to further diversify their products.

In 2011 Bennie Budler, product manager of IT products at Samsung South Africa, confirmed that monitors capable of 1920x1200 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”

In March 2011 the 16:9 resolution 1920x1080 became the most common used resolution among Steam's users. The earlier most common resolution was 1680x1050 (16:10).

Properties

16:9 is the only widescreen aspect ratio natively supported by the DVD format. Anamorphic DVD transfers store the information in 16:9 vertically squeezed to 4:3; if the TV can handle an anamorphic image the signal will be de-anamorphosed by the TV to 16:9, if not the DVD player will unsqueeze the image and add letterboxing before sending the image to the TV.

DVD producers can also choose to show even wider ratios such as 1.85:1 and 2.39:1 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, 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

Common resolutions for 16:9 are 1024×576, 1280×720, 1366×768, 1600×900, 1920×1080, 2560×1440 and 3840×2160.

In Europe

In Europe, 16:9 is being adopted as the standard broadcast format for digital and high definition TV. Some countries have even adopted the format for analog television by means of the PALplus standard.

Country	Channel
Albania	Top Channel, Digi Gold & All HD programs (HD1, HD2, HD3,HD4), SuperSport (1,2,3,4, HD), Almost all Digitalb programs except TVSH.
Austria	ORF1, ORF2, ORF Sport Plus, ORF1 HD, ATV, Puls 4, Servus TV, and others (all main channels)
Belarus	Belsat
Belgium	All channels
Bulgaria	The Voice, TV+, FILM+/SPORT+, TV7*, RING.BG, bTV Action* * Do not set the aspect ratio correctly when broadcasting in 16:9 and the image appears stretched on 4:3 TV sets. Such stations use mostly 4:3 programming.
Cyprus
Croatia	RTL Televizija*, RTL 2*, Doma TV**, Sportska televizija**, Kapital Network** Older programmes filmed in 4:3 are: * cropped. ** transmitted in their original format.
Czech Republic	TV Nova, Česká televize, TV Nova HD, TV Prima, TV Barrandov
Denmark	Almost all main channels as 16:9 is the national standard for television.
Estonia	All main digital channels (ETV, Kanal 2 and TV3) and their sister channels are 16:9.
Finland	Almost all main channels as 16:9 is the national standard for television, including but not limited to YLE TV1, YLE TV2, MTV3, Nelonen
France	All nationwide channels on the French DVB-T (TNT) And almost all pay channel via TNT, ADSL, DVB-C and DVB-S; Canal+ Décalé, Canal+ Family, Poker Channel, CinePlay, Ciné Cinéma Premier, OL TV, Motors TV, Disney Cinemagic, Disney Cinemagic + 1, NRJ Hits, Ciné Cinéma Premier HD and SD, National Geographic HD and SD, Ushuaia TV HD and SD, Disney Cinemagic HD and SD, MTV HD, NRJ 12 HD and SD, iConcert HD, HD1, Melody Zen HD, Sci Fi Channel HD and SD, 13ème Rue HD and SD, Orange cinemax HD...
Germany	ARD (Das Erste, EinsExtra, EinsFestival, EinsPlus; BR and BR-alpha, HR, WDR, SWR, RBB, RB), ZDF, 3sat, Arte, DW-TV, Phoenix; kabel eins, ProSieben, Sat.1; RTL, RTL II, Super RTL, VOX; and others (all main channels)
Greece	Exclusively in 16:9 aspect ratio: Skai TV, Prisma+, Cine+, Sport+, MTV Greece, NovaCinema1, NovaCinema2, NovaCinema3, NovaCinema4, NovaCinema HD, NovaSports1, NovaSports2, NovaSports3, NovaSports4, NovaSports Highlights, NovaSports6, NovaSports7, NovaSports HD, Nickelodeon (Greece), KONTRA Channel, ERT HD Occasional in 16:9 aspect ratio: ET1, NET, ET3, Star Channel, Alpha TV
Hungary	Magyar Televízió (m1, m2), Duna TV (both standard and HD), Duna2, LifeNetwork*, OzoneNetwork, Viasat3, TV6, ATV, Spektrum TV, DigiSport * Do not set the aspect ratio correctly when broadcasting in 16:9 and the image appears stretched on 4:3 TV sets. Such stations use mostly 4:3 programming.
Iceland	All three national stations broadcast in 16:9 with occasional 4:3 programs. Some smaller local stations still use 4:3.
Ireland	RTÉ One, RTÉ Two, TV3, TG4, and Setanta Ireland
Italy	All the 10 SKY Cinema channels, all the 6 SKY Sport channels, all the 15 SKY Calcio channels, all the 30 SKY Prima Fila channels, Cult, Sky TG24, Sky Meteo24, Sky Uno, MGM (localized version), Discovery Channel Italy, National Geographic Channel Italy, AXN Italy, AXN Sci Fi, Comedy Central Italy, E! (localized version), all the 6 dahlia TV channels, all the 6 Premium Calcio, all the 3 Premium Cinema channels, Studio Universal, Rai Sport 1/2, QVC Italy. Occasional 16:9 widescreen programming may be shown also on RAI, Mediaset and La7 networks and few major local television networks. Many television networks do not set correctly the aspect ratio when broadcasting.
Kosovo	RTK, Kohavision/KTV, RTV21 & 21 Plus
Latvia	tv3 TV6 LTV7
Lithuania
Luxembourg	RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg, Luxe.tv
Malta
Montenegro	RTV Panorama
Netherlands	All nationwide channels (Netherlands Public Broadcasting, RTL, SBS), BravaHDTV. Only older programmes filmed in 4:3 are usually transmitted in their original format, as cropping a 4:3 picture for 16:9 TVs has proved unpopular.
Norway	16:9 is the national standard for television — almost all channels conform to this format.
Poland	TVP1, TVP2, TVP Polonia, TVP HD, TVP Sport, TVP Kultura, TVP Historia, Polsat (on DVB-T and in HD), Polsat 2, Polsat News, Polsat Sport, Polsat Sport Extra, Polsat Café, Polsat Film, Polsat Play, Canal+, Canal+ Film, Canal+ Sport, Ale Kino!, TVS, TVN (on DVB-T and in HD), TVN +1, TVN Siedem, Religia TV, TVN 24, TVN Meteo, TVN CNBC Biznes, TVN Style, TVN Turbo, TVN Warszawa, nSport, Mango 24, nFilm HD, nFilm HD 2, 4fun.tv, Eska TV, TV4, Orange Sport Info, Domo, Kuchnia.tv, MiniMini, AXN, National Geographic Channel
Portugal	RTP1 & RTP2 (using letterbox PALplus), TVCine, Canal Q, Eurosport, AXN, AXN Black, National Geographic Channel, Sony Entertainment Television, SportTV, Syfy Universal, Económico TV
Romania	Occasional 16:9 widescreen programming shown on The Romanian Public Broadcaster's channels (TVR 1, TVR 2, TVR Cultural), Sport.ro, B1 TV and DigiSport. SD version aired in 16:9-in-4:3 letterbox on PRO Cinema and MTV Romania. Full 16:9 widescreen programming aired on all HD channels: TVR HD, PRO TV HD and Sport.ro HD.
Russian Federation	Channel 1, Sport 1 HD, Dozhd Optimistic Channel, Expert TV HD, Fox Life HD, NTV+, Eurosport, HDMedia
Serbia	RTS HD, Arena Sport 1, 2, 3 & 4 HD, Prva
Slovakia	Markíza, Slovenská televízia (STV1, STV2, STV3 HD), JOJ, TV Doma
Slovenia	All main channels (RTV Slovenija (TVS 1, TVS 2, TVS 3, TV KP), Info TV, POP TV, POP BRIO, Kanal A, Sport TV 1, Sport TV 2, Sportklub+, Golfklub, HBO Slovenija, TV3 Slovenia, RTS Maribor) and all HD channels (Televizija Slovenija HD, Info TV HD, RTS Maribor HD)
Spain	Always on 16:9: Antena 3, Cuatro, laSexta, Telecinco, Veo7, MTV Spain, Neox, Nova, Nitro, Teledeporte, Marca TV, Intereconomia, AXN (PPV), FOX Spain (PPV), Discovery Channel Spain (PPV), Calle 13 (PPV), Canal+ Spain (PPV), Eurosport (PPV), Gol Televisión (PPV), ETB (Euskadi), Canal Sur (Andalusia), TV3 (Catalonia), Telemadrid (Madrid), and Aragon TV (Aragón). All HD channels like TVE HD, Antena 3 HD, TV3 HD, Telemadrid HD, FOX HD (PPV), MTVnHD (PPV) or Disney Cinemagic Spain (PPV). Older programmes filmed in 4:3 are transmitted in their original format or zooming to 14:9 Pillarbox, stretched programs are not common. Advertisements filmed in 4:3 often are zoomed to 16:9, only some of them are transmitted with 4:3 Pillarbox. Never stretching. Often on 16:9: La 1, La 2, Disney Channel Spain, La 10, La Siete, FDF, laSexta 2, laSexta 3 and practically all of the regional tv channels like Cyl TV, CMT or TVG. Sometimes on 16:9: Canal 24 Horas, Clan, Intereconomia (stretches most of its programming to 16:9) and practically all of the local tv channels. Always on 4:3: Practically all PPV Channels like The History Channel, Cartoon Network, El Canal de Las Estrellas or CNN+. Shop channels.
Sweden	Almost all main channels as 16:9 is the national standard for television.
Switzerland	All SRG SSR idée suisse channels
Turkey	TRT Türk, a Haber
Ukraine	English Club TV
United Kingdom	BBC, ITV and Channel 4 began using 16:9 for idents and some television shows from 1997 and broadcasted such idents and shows in the 14:9 aspect ratio as the televisions were analogue. In 1998, with the introduction of Digital Television, viewers could watch in 16:9 and the full switch to 16:9 broadcast was made for these three channels. Channel 5 was still broadcasting in both 4:3 and 14:9 until 2002 when it switched to 16:9. Sky owned channels broadcasted in 4:3 until the 2003 re-brand of all channels which included the switch to 16:9. As of March 2011, most standard definition channels broadcast in 16:9, with an exception of all MTV owned/branded channels, all Turner Broadcasting owned channels, all CSC Media Group owned channels, three out of eleven Discovery owned channels, and three out of the four Disney branded channels. All 16:9 content is either cropped to 4:3 or 14:9, it can also be letterboxed. Advertisements are be shown in 14:9 or letterboxed 16:9 on 4:3 channels. HD feeds of all channels broadcast in 16:9 1080i.

In Asia

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).

Country	Channel
Hong Kong	All major channels since the digital television broadcasting in 2007.
India	Almost All channels feature 16:9 Aspect Ratio.
Israel	All main channels, including but not limited to Hot, Yes.
Japan	Japan pioneered in its analogue HDTV system (MUSE) in 16:9 format, started in 1980s. Currently all main channels have Digital terrestrial television channels in 16:9 while being simulcast in analogue 4:3 format. Many satellite broadcast channels are being broadcasted in 16:9 as well.
S. Korea	All major channels currently feature 16:9 aspect.
Qatar	All Al Jazeera Sports channels, ESPN channels and NBA TV.
Thailand	Thai PBS (only one 16:9 terrestrial TV)

In Oceania

Country	Channel
Australia	All major stations since the introduction of DVB-T in 2001
New Zealand	All major channels.

See also

• High-definition television#High-definition display resolutions
• Display resolution
• 1080p / 1080i
• 720p
• 4:3
• 14:9
• 16:10

References

Cited references

General references

• "NEC Monitor Technology Guide". Archived from the original on 2006-05-21. Retrieved 2006-07-24.