Searching for the Perfect Aspect Ratio

Metadata

Publisher: SMPTE — White Plains, NY, USA
Doc Type: Journal Article
Content Type: Original Research
Volume: 105, No. 8, pp. 460–478
Abstract: A debate is currently taking place over the appropriate aspect ratio for advanced television displays. Any selected aspect ratio is inherently incompatible with any other and will require the use of some form of accommodation technique. The derivation of the 16:9 (1.78:1) aspect ratio from accommodation techniques and display modes is explained, as is the relationship between aspect ratio and display memory. Research into the history of aspect ratios indicates that the 1.78:1 aspect ratio was adopted by the Standards Committee of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers (SMPE) in 1930. It also indicates that the factors that may initially have led to widescreen motion picture systems may no longer be applicable. The research for this paper found no clear indication of a preference for any particular aspect ratio for moving images nor any physiological reason to favor one over another. The research did show that cinematographers have not always favored the same aspect ratio.
Publication Date: 1996-08-01
DOI: 10.5594/J09548
ISSN: Print: 0036-1682
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/J09548
Author(s): Mark Schubintechnological consultant in New York, NY 10036.
Copyright: © 1996 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, Inc.

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Mark Schubin; Searching for the Perfect Aspect Ratio, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 105, Issue: 8, August 1996); SMPTE, 1996
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Mark Schubin; <cite id="bib-10-5594-j09548">Searching for the Perfect Aspect Ratio</cite>, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 105, Issue: 8, August 1996); SMPTE, 1996
<span class="doi">10.5594/J09548</span>
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