Black bars have plagued everyone’s HDTV screens since the first 16:9 HDTV was introduced. If you don’t have black bars you have distorted images. There are currently 3 common formats for images on television screens. All of the aspect ratios are numerical ratios which are the ratio of the height and width. So a 16:9 aspect ratio represents a screen that is 16”wide for every 9” high.

 The first television format is 4:3 which is the standard definition television format. 2.35:1 which is known as cinemascope is the most common aspect ratio for films. This  varies slightly between 2.35:1 and 2.40:1 however the difference between the two is minute and because 2.35 was the original nomenclature used it has become part of the vernacular.  The most common aspect ratio for HD television today is 16:9.

The standard for High Definition broadcasts was set by SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) when HD was originally proposed almost 20 years ago. The format was chosen because it fit all other screen formats inside without any modification. Meaning that 4:3(SDTV), and 2.35:1 (Cinemascope) images could fit on the screen by adding black bars without distorting the image.

All of these numbers are enough to make anyone confused. The big question is why are there so many different standards and how can you get them all to look right at home.

For those people with projectors, special anamorphic lenses, masking screens and video processors can correct the problems by simply changing the aspect ratio of the screen and the projected image. With a television there is no clear cut solution. Some players and televisions allow zoom and stretch features to fit the image to the screen however this creates distortion. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, most video experts will tell you they would much rather watch with black bars than a distorted image.

In the modern world of HD video 16:9 is currently the accepted standard. However many films are still shot in the wider screen 2.35:1. IMAX cameras are changing this. IMAX cameras shoot in 1.43:1 which is much closer to the 16:9 aspect ratio so many of the IMAX films can be easily reformatted to fill the entire screen with a 16:9 image. This means that films are slowly shifting towards 16:9. The Dark Knight’s IMAX scenes were in the 16:9 aspect ratio and all of AVATAR was in this format. This signals the beginning of a new era where standardization is taking over and more filmmakers are switching to this aspect ratio. 

So what does this mean? Well no one can say for sure. There are many people speculating on both sides of the spectrum. I for one believe that eventually everything will move to the 16:9 aspect ratio to accommodate the millions of HDTVs and projectors that are currently on the market. 

MORE INFO

Wikipedia Page on Aspect Ratios

The Ultimate Guide to Anamorphic Widescreen for Everyone