The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of its width to its height. It is expressed as two numbers separated by a colon, in the format width:height. Common aspect ratios are 1.85:1 and 2.39:1 in cinematography, 4:3 and 16:9 in television, and 3:2 in still photography and 1:1: Used for square images, often seen on social media platforms like Instagram, 21:9: An ultrawide aspect ratio popular for gaming and desktop monitors.
Some common examples

The common film aspect ratios used in cinemas are 1.85:1 and 2.39:1.
[The 2.39:1 ratio is commonly labeled 2.40:1, e.g., in the American Society of Cinematographers' ''American Cinematographer Manual'' (Many widescreen films before the 1970 ]SMPTE
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded by Charles Francis Jenkins in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and e ...
revision used 2.35:1). Two common
videographic aspect ratios are 4:3 (1.:1), the universal video format of the 20th century, and
16:9 (1.:1), universal for
high-definition television
High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...
and European
digital television
Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...
. Other cinematic and video aspect ratios exist, but are used infrequently.
In
still camera photography, the most common aspect ratios are 4:3, 3:2 (1.5:1), and more recently found in consumer cameras, 16:9. Other aspect ratios, such as 5:3, 5:4, and 1:1 (square format), are used in photography as well, particularly in
medium format and
large format
Large format photography refers to any imaging format of or larger. Large format is larger than "medium format", the or size of Hasselblad, Mamiya, Rollei, Kowa, and Pentax cameras (using 120 film, 120- and 220-roll film), and much la ...
.
With television,
DVD and
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
, converting formats of unequal ratios is achieved by enlarging the original image to fill the receiving format's display area and cutting off any excess picture information (
zooming and
cropping), by adding horizontal mattes (
letterboxing) or vertical mattes (
pillarboxing) to retain the original format's aspect ratio, by stretching (hence distorting) the image to fill the receiving format's ratio, or by scaling by different factors in both directions, possibly scaling by a different factor in the center and at the edges (as in ''Wide Zoom mode'').
Practical limitations
In motion picture formats, the physical size of the film area between the
sprocket
A sprocket, sprocket-wheel or chainwheel is a profiled wheel
A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the whe ...
perforations determines the image's size. The universal standard (established by
William Dickson and
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...
in 1892) is a frame that is four perforations high. The film itself is 35 mm wide (1.38 in), but the area between the perforations is 24.89 mm × 18.67 mm (0.980 in × 0.735 in), leaving the de facto ratio of 1.33:1.
With a space designated for the standard
optical soundtrack, and the frame size reduced to maintain an image that is wider than tall; this resulted in the
Academy
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
aperture of 22 mm × 16 mm (0.866 in × 0.630 in) or 1.375:1 aspect ratio.
Cinema terminology
The
motion picture industry
The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post- ...
convention assigns a value of 1 to the image's height; an
anamorphic
Anamorphic format is a cinematography technique that captures widescreen images using recording media with narrower native Aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios. Originally developed for 35 mm movie film, 35 mm film to create widescreen pres ...
frame (since 1970, approximately 2.39:1) is often incorrectly described (rounded) as either 2.4:1 or 2.40:1. After 1952, a number of aspect ratios were experimented with for anamorphic productions, including 2.66:1 and 2.55:1.
A
SMPTE
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded by Charles Francis Jenkins in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and e ...
specification for anamorphic projection from 1957 (PH22.106-1957) finally standardized the aperture to 2.35:1.
An update in 1970 (PH22.106-1971) changed the aspect ratio to 2.39:1 in order to make splices less noticeable.
This aspect ratio of 2.39:1 was confirmed by the most recent revision from August 1993 (SMPTE 195-1993).
In American cinemas, the common projection ratios are 1.85:1 and 2.39:1. Some European countries have as the widescreen standard. The "Academy ratio" of 1.375:1 was used for all cinema films in the sound era until 1953 (with the release of
George Stevens' ''
Shane'' in 1.:1). During that time, television, which had a similar aspect ratio of 1.:1, became a perceived threat to movie studios. Hollywood responded by creating a large number of widescreen formats:
CinemaScope
CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter.
Its cr ...
(up to 2.:1),
Todd-AO
Todd-AO is an American post-production company founded in 1953 by Mike Todd and Robert Naify, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. The company retains one facility, in the Los Angeles area.
Todd-AO ...
(2.20:1), and
VistaVision
VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format that was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954.
Paramount did not use anamorphic processes such as CinemaScope but refined the ...
(up to 2.00:1) to name just a few. The flat 1.85:1 aspect ratio was introduced in May 1953, and became one of the most common cinema projection standards in the United States and elsewhere.
The goal of these various lenses and aspect ratios was to capture as much of the frame as possible, onto as large an area of the film as possible, in order to fully utilize the film being used. Some of the aspect ratios were chosen to utilize smaller film sizes in order to save film costs while other aspect ratios were chosen to use larger film sizes in order to produce a wider higher resolution image. In either case the image was squeezed horizontally to fit the film's frame size and avoid any unused film area.
Movie camera systems
The development of various film camera systems must ultimately cater to the placement of the frame in relation to the lateral constraints of the perforations and the optical soundtrack area. One clever wide screen alternative,
VistaVision
VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format that was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954.
Paramount did not use anamorphic processes such as CinemaScope but refined the ...
, used standard 35 mm film running sideways through the camera gate, so that the sprocket holes were above and below frame, allowing a larger horizontal negative size per frame as only the vertical size was now restricted by the perforations. There were even a limited number of projectors constructed to also run the print-film horizontally. Generally, however, the 1.50:1 ratio of the initial VistaVision image was optically converted to a vertical print (on standard four-perforation
35 mm movie film
35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on film, 35 mm is the most commonly used gauge. The name of the gauge is not a direct measurement, and refers to the nominal width of the ...
) to show with the standard projectors available at theaters, and was then masked in the projector to the United States standard of 1.85:1. The format was briefly revived by
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing th ...
in the late 1970s for special effects work that required a larger negative size (due to image degradation from the optical printing steps necessary to make multi-layer composites). It went into obsolescence largely due to better cameras, lenses, and film stocks available for standard four-perforation formats, in addition to increased lab costs for making prints in comparison to more standard vertical processes. (The horizontal process was also adapted to 70 mm film by
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...
, which was first shown at the Osaka '70 Worlds Fair.)
Super 16 mm film was frequently used for television production due to its lower cost, lack of need for soundtrack space on the film itself (as it is not projected but rather transferred to video), and aspect ratio similar to 16:9 (the native ratio of Super 16 mm is 15:9). It also can be blown up to 35 mm for theatrical release and therefore is sometimes used for feature films.
Current video standards
1:1
Square displays are rarely used in devices and monitors. Nonetheless, video consumption on social apps has grown rapidly and led to the emergence of new video formats more suited to mobile devices that can be held in horizontal and vertical orientations. In that sense, square video was popularized by mobile apps such as
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
and
Vine
A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...
and has since been supported by other major social platforms including
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
and
X. It can fill nearly twice as much screen space compared to 16:9 format (when the device is held differently while viewing from how video was recorded).
4:3
4:3 (1.33:1) (generally read as Four-Three, Four-by-Three, or Four-to-Three) for standard television for fullscreen aspect ratio 1.33:1 has been in use since the invention of
moving picture cameras, and many
computer monitor
A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a electronic visual display, visual display, support electronics, power supply, Housing (engineering), housing, electri ...
s used to employ the same aspect ratio. 4:3 was the aspect ratio used for
35 mm films in the
silent era
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...
. It is also very close to the 1.375:1
Academy ratio
The Academy ratio of 1.375:1 (abbreviated as 1.37:1) is an aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio of a film frame, frame of 35 mm movie film, 35 mm film when used with negative pulldown, 4-perf pulldown.Monaco, James. ''How to Read a Film: The A ...
, defined by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
as a standard after the advent of optical
sound-on-film
Sound-on-film is a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying a picture is recorded on photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an Analog s ...
. By having TV match this aspect ratio, movies originally photographed on 35 mm film could be satisfactorily viewed on TV in the early days of the medium (i.e. the 1940s and the 1950s).
With the adoption of
high-definition television
High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...
, the majority of modern televisions are now produced with 16:9 displays instead. Apple's
iPad
The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...
series of
tablets continue to use 4:3 displays (despite other Apple products typically using widescreen aspect ratios) to better suit use as an
e-reader
An e-reader, also called an e reader or e device, is a Mobile computing, mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and Periodical literature, periodicals.
Any device that can display text on ...
; however, the 2018 iPad Pro 11-inch uses a 1.43:1 aspect ratio.
14:9
14:9 (generally named as Fourteen-by-Nine, Fourteen-Nine, and Fourteen-to-Nine) is the aspect ratio mainly used when the 4:3 programs are cropped.
16:10
16:10 (8:5) is an
aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a geometry, geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side—the ratio of width to height, when the rectangl ...
mostly used for
computer display
A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a visual display, support electronics, power supply, housing, electrical connectors, and external user controls.
T ...
s and
tablet computer
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...
s. The width of the display is 1.6 times its height. This ratio is close to the
golden ratio
In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their summation, sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if
\fr ...
"
" which is approximately 1.618. LCD computer displays using the 16:10 ratio started to appear in the mass market from 2003. By 2008, 16:10 had become the most common aspect ratio for
LCD monitor
A thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT LCD) is a type of liquid-crystal display that uses thin-film transistor, thin-film-transistor technology to improve image qualities such as addressability and contrast. A TFT LCD is an active mat ...
s and
laptop
A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...
displays. Since 2010, however, 16:9 has become the mainstream standard, driven by the 1080p standard for high definition television and lower manufacturing costs.
In 2005–2008, 16:10 (1.6:1) overtook 4:3 as the most sold aspect ratio for LCD monitors. At the time, 16:10 also had 90% of the notebook market and was the most commonly used aspect ratio for laptops.
However, 16:10 had a short reign as the most common aspect ratio. Around 2008–2010, there was a rapid shift by computer display manufacturers to the 16:9 aspect ratio and by 2011 16:10 had almost disappeared from new mass market products. According to
Net Applications, by October 2012 the market share of 16:10 displays had dropped to less than 23 percent.
Notably, Apple used 16:10 for all of its
MacBook models until 2021, when the
5th-generation MacBook Pro switched to a taller aspect ratio of approximately 1.54:1. The
MacBook Air
The MacBook Air is a line of Mac (computer), Mac laptop computers developed and manufactured by Apple Inc., Apple since 2008. It features a thin, light structure in a machining, machined aluminum case and currently either a 13-inch or 15-inch ...
continues to use 16:10 as of 2025.
16:9
16:9 (1.78:1) (generally named as Sixteen-by-Nine, Sixteen-Nine, and Sixteen-to-Nine) is the international standard format of
HDTV
High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...
, non-HD digital
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
and analog widescreen television
PALplus
PALplus (or ''PAL+'') is an analogue television broadcasting system aimed to improve and enhance the PAL format by allowing 16:9 (or 1.77:1) aspect ratio broadcasts, while remaining compatible with existing television receivers, defined by Int ...
. Japan's
Hi-Vision originally started with a 5:3 (= 15:9) ratio but converted when the international standards group introduced a wider ratio of to 3 (= 16:9). Many
digital video
Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises ...
cameras have the capability to record in 16:9 (= 4
2:3
2), and 16:9 is the only widescreen aspect ratio natively supported by the
DVD standard. DVD producers can also choose to show even wider ratios such as 1.66:1, 1.75:1, 1.77:1 and 1.78:1
within the 16:9 DVD frame by
hard matting or adding black bars within the image itself. The 16:9 aspect ratio was used often in British TVs in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, and is also used in smartphones, laptops, and desktops.
1.85:1
Equivalent to integer ratio of 37:20. When
cinema attendance dropped, Hollywood created
widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ...
aspect ratios in order to differentiate the film industry from TV, with one of the most common being the 1.85:1 ratio.
2.00:1
The 2.00:1 aspect ratio was first used in the 1950s for the RKO Superscope format.
Since 1998, cinematographer
Vittorio Storaro has advocated for a format named "
Univisium" that uses a 2.00:1 format. Univisium has gained little traction in the theatrical film market, but has recently been used by
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
and
Amazon Video
Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
for productions such as ''
House of Cards'' and ''
Transparent'', respectively. This aspect ratio is similar to the 1.90:1 standard acquisition formats mandated by these content platforms and is not necessarily a creative choice.
Moreover, some mobile devices, such as the
LG G6,
LG V30,
Huawei Mate 10 Pro,
Google Pixel 2 XL,
OnePlus 5T and
Sony Xperia XZ3, are embracing the 2.00:1 format (advertised as 18:9), as well as the
Samsung Galaxy S8,
Samsung Galaxy Note 8,
Samsung Galaxy S9 and
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 with a slightly similar 18.5:9 format. The Apple
iPhone X
The iPhone X (Roman numerals, Roman numeral "X" pronounced "ten") is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the List of iPhone models, 11th generation of the iPhone. Available for pre-order from September 26, 2 ...
also has a similar screen ratio of 19.5:9 (2.16:1).
2.39:1
Anamorphic format is the
cinematography
Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography.
Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...
technique of shooting a
widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ...
picture on standard
35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. When projected the image is then stretched back into the original proportions.
Obtaining height, width, and area of the screen
Often, screen specifications are given by their diagonal length. The following formulae can be used to find the height (''h''), width (''w'') and area (''A''), where ''r'' stands for ratio, written as a fraction of ''x'' by ''y'', and ''d'' for diagonal length.
:
:
:
:
Distinctions
This article primarily addresses the aspect ratio of images ''as displayed,'' which is more formally referred to as the
display aspect ratio
The display aspect ratio (DAR) is the Aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio of a display device and so the proportional relationship between the display size, physical width and the height of the display. It is expressed as two numbers separated by a ...
(DAR). In
digital image
A digital image is an image composed of picture elements, also known as pixels, each with '' finite'', '' discrete quantities'' of numeric representation for its intensity or gray level that is an output from its two-dimensional functions f ...
s, there is a distinction with the (SAR), which is the ratio of
numbers of pixels. If an image is displayed with
square pixels, then these ratios agree. If, instead, non-square ("rectangular") pixels are used, then these ratios differ. The aspect ratio of the pixels themselves is known as the
pixel aspect ratio
A pixel aspect ratio (PAR) is a mathematical ratio that describes how the width of a pixel in a digital image compares to the height of that pixel.
Most digital imaging systems display an image as a grid of tiny, square pixels. However, som ...
(PAR) – for square pixels this is 1:1 – and these are related by the identity:
:
Rearranging (solving for PAR) yields:
:
For example:
* A 640 × 480
VGA image has
** a SAR of 640/480 = 4:3
** and if displayed on a 4:3 display (DAR = 4:3), has square pixels, hence a PAR of 1:1.
* By contrast, a 720 × 576
D-1 PAL image has
** a SAR of 720/576 = 5:4
** but is displayed on a 4:3 display (DAR = 4:3), so by this formula it would have a PAR of (4:3)/(5:4) = 16:15.
However, because standard definition digital video was originally based on digitally sampling analog television, the 720 horizontal pixels actually capture a slightly wider image to avoid loss of the original analog picture. In actual images, these extra pixels are often partly or entirely black, as only the center 704 horizontal pixels carry actual 4:3 or 16:9 image. Hence, the actual pixel aspect ratio PAR for PAL video is a little different from that given by the formula, specifically 12:11 for PAL and 10:11 for NTSC. For consistency, the same effective pixel aspect ratios are used even for standard definition digital video originated in digital form rather than converted from analog. For more details refer to the
main article.
In analog images such as film there is no notion of pixel, nor notion of SAR or PAR, and "aspect ratio" refers unambiguously to DAR. Actual displays do not generally have non-square pixels, though digital sensors might; they are rather a mathematical abstraction used in resampling images to convert between resolutions.
Non-square pixels arise often in early digital TV standards, related to digitalization of analog TV signals – whose horizontal and vertical resolutions differ and are thus best described by non-square pixels – and also in some digital videocameras and computer
display modes, such as
Color Graphics Adapter
The Color Graphics Adapter (CGA), originally also called the ''Color/Graphics Adapter'' or ''IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter'', introduced in 1981, was IBM's first color graphics card for the IBM PC and established a De facto standard, de fac ...
(CGA). Today they arise particularly in
transcoding
Transcoding is the direct digital-to-digital conversion of one encoding to another, such as for video data files, audio files (e.g., MP3, WAV), or character encoding (e.g., UTF-8, ISO/IEC 8859). This is usually done in cases where a target ...
between resolutions with different SARs.
DAR is also known as ''image aspect ratio'' and ''picture aspect ratio'', though the latter can be confused with ''pixel'' aspect ratio; PAR is also known as ''sample aspect ratio'', though it can also be confused with ''storage'' aspect ratio.
Previous and currently used aspect ratios

; 1:2.32
: The first
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
aspect ratio, used by
John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird (; 13 August 188814 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first mechanical Mechanical television, television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the fi ...
's 30-line mechanical television in the early 1930s.
; 1.19:1 ~ 19:16
: Sometimes referred to as the
Movietone ratio, this ratio was used briefly during the transitional period when the film industry was converting to sound, from 1926 to 1932 approx. It is produced by superimposing an optical soundtrack over a full-gate 1. aperture in printing, resulting in an almost square image. Films shot in this ratio are often projected or transferred to video incorrectly using a 1.375:1 mask or squashed to 1.375:1. Examples of films shot in the Movietone ratio include ''
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans'', ''
M'', ''
Hallelujah!'', and, significantly more recently, ''
The Lighthouse''. A trend arising from the widespread use of smartphones is
vertical video that is intended for viewing in
portrait mode. The format was popularized in particular by apps such as
Snapchat
Snapchat is an American multimedia social media and instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of the app are that pictures and messages, known as "snaps", are usually availa ...
,
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
, and
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
—which all offer means for publishing vertical videos as content and
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...
.
; 1.25:1 = 5:4
: The once-popular aspect for larger format computer monitors, especially in the guise of mass-produced 17-inch and 19-inch LCD panels or 19-inch and 21-inch CRTs, using (SXGA) or similar resolutions. Notably one of the few popular display aspect ratios narrower than 4:3, and one popularised by business (CAD, DTP) rather than entertainment use, as it is well-suited to full-page layout editing. Historically, 5:4 was also the original aspect ratio of early 405-line television broadcasts, which progressed to a wider 4:3 as the idea of broadcasting cinema films gained traction.
; 1.:1 = 4:3 = 12:9
: 35 mm original silent film ratio, today commonly known in TV and
video
Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
as 1.33:1. Also standard ratio for
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods ...
video compression. This format is still used in many personal video cameras today and has influenced the selection or design of other aspect ratios. It is the standard
Super 35 mm ratio.
; 1.37:1 ~ 48:35
: 16 mm and 35 mm standard ratio.
; 1.375:1 = 11:8
: 35 mm full-screen sound film image, nearly universal in films between 1932 and 1953. Officially adopted as the
Academy ratio
The Academy ratio of 1.375:1 (abbreviated as 1.37:1) is an aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio of a film frame, frame of 35 mm movie film, 35 mm film when used with negative pulldown, 4-perf pulldown.Monaco, James. ''How to Read a Film: The A ...
in 1932 by
AMPAS
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
. Rarely used in theatrical context nowadays, but occasionally used in other contexts.
; 1.43:1
:
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...
format. IMAX productions use 70 mm wide film (the same as used for 70 mm feature films), but the film runs through the camera and projector horizontally. This allows for a physically larger area for each image.
; 1.5:1 = 3:2
: The aspect ratio of 35 mm film used for still photography when eight perforations are exposed. Also the native aspect ratio of
VistaVision
VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format that was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954.
Paramount did not use anamorphic processes such as CinemaScope but refined the ...
, for which the film runs horizontally. Used on the
ChromeOS
ChromeOS, sometimes styled as chromeOS and formerly styled as Chrome OS, is an operating system designed and developed by Google. It is derived from the open-source operating system and uses the Google Chrome web browser as its principal user ...
-based
Chromebook Pixel notebook PC, the
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
portable game console, mostly all
Microsoft Surface 2-in-1 laptop
A 2-in-1 laptop, also known as 2-in-1 PC, 2-in-1 tablet, laplet, tabtop, laptop tablet, or simply 2-in-1, is a portable computer that has features of both tablet computer, tablets and laptops.
2-in-1 PCs consist of portable computer component ...
s and
Surface Studio.
; 1.:1 =
14:9
: Widescreen aspect ratio sometimes used in shooting commercials etc. as a compromise format between 4:3 and 16:9. When converted to a 16:9 frame, there is slight
pillarboxing, while conversion to 4:3 creates slight
letterboxing. All widescreen content on
ABC Family
American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...
's SD feed until January 2016 was presented in this ratio.
; 1.6:1 =
16:10 = 8:5
: Widescreen computer monitor ratio (for instance, 1920×1200 resolution).
; 1.66:1 or 1.:1 = 5:3 = 15:9
: Early 35 mm widescreen ratio, originally invented by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
, later a standard among several European countries. It is also the native Super 16 mm frame ratio. Sometimes this ratio is rounded to 1.67:1. From the late 1980s to the early 2000s,
Walt Disney Feature Animation
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
's
CAPS program animated their features in the 1.:1 ratio (a compromise between the 1.85:1 theatrical ratio and the 1.:1 ratio used for home video); this format is also used by the
Nintendo 3DS
The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...
's top screen.
; 1.75:1 = 7:4
: 35 mm widescreen aspect ratio used by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
and
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
from 1953 to 1955 and since abandoned and
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
has cropped the old classic post-1950s 1.33:1 fullscreen films to the 1.75:1 widescreen aspect ratio of their DVDs including ''
The Jungle Book
''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...
''.
; 1.:1 =
16:9 =
: Video widescreen standard, used in
high-definition television
High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...
, one of three ratios specified for
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods ...
video compression. Also used increasingly in personal video cameras. Sometimes this ratio is rounded to 1.78:1.
; 1.85:1 =
: 35 mm American and British widescreen standard for theatrical film. Introduced by
Universal Pictures
Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
in May 1953. Projects approximately three
perforations
A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes collectively are called a ''perforation''. The process of creating perforations is called perfor ...
("perfs") of image space per four-perf frame; films can be shot in
3-perf to save cost of film stock. Also the ratio of Ultra 16 mm. One of two common formats in
digital cinema
Digital cinema is the digital technology used within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be shipped to mo ...
, where it is called "flat".
; 1.875:1 = 15:8
: HDTV ratio used by
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and soft ...
computers in the 1990s, with the resolution being specified as 1920×1024.
;
:
SMPTE
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded by Charles Francis Jenkins in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and e ...
/
DCI digital cinema basic resolution container aspect ratio. Exact ratio is 256:135 but it is commonly referred to as 1.9:1 or 1.90:1
and sometimes 1.896:1. Used by
Diao Yinan's ''
The Wild Goose Lake''.
;
2:1 = 18:9
: Recently popularized by the
Red Digital Cinema
Red Digital Cinema, LLC is an American camera manufacturer specializing in digital cinematography headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California, United States. It has been owned by Nikon since April 2024.
The company has studios in Hollywood, Los ...
. Original SuperScope ratio, also used in
Univisium. Used as a flat ratio for some American studios in the 1950s and abandoned in the 1960s. Also used in recent mobile phones such as the
LG G6,
Google Pixel 2 XL,
HTC U11+, Xiaomi MIX 2S, and
Huawei Mate 10 Pro, while the
Samsung Galaxy S8,
Note 8, and
S9 use the similar 18.5:9 ratio.
; 2.165:1
: Used by the screens of some
iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
models since 2017, including the
iPhone X
The iPhone X (Roman numerals, Roman numeral "X" pronounced "ten") is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the List of iPhone models, 11th generation of the iPhone. Available for pre-order from September 26, 2 ...
, XS, XS Max, 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max.
; 2.208:1
: 70 mm standard. Originally developed for
Todd-AO
Todd-AO is an American post-production company founded in 1953 by Mike Todd and Robert Naify, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. The company retains one facility, in the Los Angeles area.
Todd-AO ...
in the 1950s. Specified in
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods ...
as 2.20:1, but hardly used.
; 2.35:1
: 35 mm anamorphic prior to 1970, used by
CinemaScope
CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter.
Its cr ...
("'Scope") and early
Panavision
Panavision Inc. is an American motion picture equipment company (law), company founded in 1954 specializing in cameras and photographic lens, lenses, based in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk a ...
. The anamorphic standard has subtly changed so that contemporary anamorphic productions are actually 2.39:1,
but often referred to as 2.35:1 anyway, due to old convention. ''(Anamorphic refers to the compression of the image on film to maximize an area slightly taller than standard
4-perf
Negative pulldown is the manner in which an image is exposed on a film stock, described by the number of film perforations spanned by an individual frame. It can also describe whether the image captured on the negative is oriented horizontally ...
Academy
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
aperture, but presents the widest of aspect ratios.)'' All Indian
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
films released after 1972 are shot in this standard for theatrical exhibition.
; 2.:1 = =
: TVs were produced with this aspect ratio between 2009 and 2012 and marketed as "
21:9 cinema displays". But this aspect ratio is still seen on some higher-end monitors, which are sometimes called UltraWide monitors.
; 2.39:1 = :9
: 35 mm anamorphic from 1970 onwards. Aspect ratio of current
anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen (also called full-height anamorphic or FHA) is a process by which a widescreen image is horizontally compressed to fit into a storage medium (photographic film or MPEG-2 standard-definition frame, for example) with a narr ...
theatrical viewings, commercials, and some music videos. Often commercially branded as
Panavision
Panavision Inc. is an American motion picture equipment company (law), company founded in 1954 specializing in cameras and photographic lens, lenses, based in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk a ...
format or "
'Scope". One of two common formats in
digital cinema
Digital cinema is the digital technology used within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be shipped to mo ...
, where it is called "scope".
; 2.4:1 =
~ 21:9
: Rounded notation of 2.39:1 also known as 2.40:1. All film releases may use 800 lines of the 1920×800 resolution resulting in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio of Blu-ray Disc.
; 2.55:1 = 51:20
: The aspect ratio of
CinemaScope
CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter.
Its cr ...
from 1954 to 1956. This was also the aspect ratio of
CinemaScope 55.
; 2.:1 = 70:27
:
Cinerama at full height (three specially captured 35 mm images projected side by side into one composite widescreen image).
; 2.:1 = 8:3 = 24:9
:
Full-frame output from Super 16 mm negative when an anamorphic lens system has been used. Effectively, an image that is of the ratio 24:9 is squashed onto the native 15:9 aspect ratio of a Super 16 mm negative. Also used by
Kirill Serebrennikov for
''Leto'' (2018).
; 2.66:1
: Original aspect ratio of
CinemaScope
CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter.
Its cr ...
before optical sound was added to the film in 1954.
; 2.76:1 = 69:25
:
Ultra Panavision 70/
MGM Camera 65 (65 mm with 1.25× anamorphic squeeze). Used only on a handful of films between 1957 and 1966 and some in the 2010s, for some sequences of ''
How the West Was Won'' (1962) with a slight crop when converted to three-strip
Cinerama, and films such as ''
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' (1963) and ''
Ben-Hur'' (1959). More recently,
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...
used it for ''
The Hateful Eight
''The Hateful Eight'' is a 2015 American western thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Bruce De ...
'' (2015);
Gareth Edwards used the process for shooting ''
Rogue One'' (2016), but the image was cropped to 2.39:1 in post; Edwards would later shoot ''
The Creator'' (2023) in this ratio.
; 3.:1 = 32:9
: In 2017, Samsung and Phillips announced "Super UltraWide displays", with aspect ratio of 32:9.
; 3.6:1 = 18:5
: In 2016, IMAX announced the release of films in "Ultra-WideScreen 3.6" format, with an aspect ratio of 36:10. Ultra-WideScreen 3.6 video format didn't spread, as cinemas in an even wider ScreenX 270° format were released.
; 4:1
: Rare use of
Polyvision, three 35 mm 1.:1 images projected side by side. First used in 1927 on
Abel Gance
Abel Gance (; born Abel Eugène Alexandre Péréthon; 25 October 188910 November 1981) was a French film director, producer, writer and actor. A pioneer in the theory and practice of montage, he is best known for three major silent films: ''J'ac ...
's ''
Napoléon''.
; 12:1
:
Circle-Vision 360° developed by the
Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
in 1955 for use in
Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
. Uses nine 4:3 35 mm projectors to show an image that completely surrounds the viewer. Used in subsequent Disney theme parks and other past applications.
Aspect ratio releases
Original aspect ratio (OAR)
''Original Aspect Ratio'' (OAR) is a
home cinema
A home cinema, also called home theater, is a home entertainment audio-visual system that seeks to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood using consumer grade electronic video and audio equipment and is set up in a private home. In ...
term for the aspect ratio or dimensions in which a
film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
or visual production was produced, as envisioned by the people involved in the creation of the work. As an example, the film ''
Gladiator
A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...
'' was released to theaters in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio. It was filmed in
Super 35 and, in addition to being presented in cinemas and television in the ''Original Aspect Ratio'' (OAR) of 2.40:1, it was also broadcast without the
matte, altering the aspect ratio to the television standard of 1.33:1. Because of the varied ways in which films are shot, IAR (Intended Aspect Ratio) is a more appropriate term, but is rarely used.
Modified aspect ratio (MAR)
''Modified Aspect Ratio'' (MAR) is a home cinema term for the aspect ratio or dimensions in which a film was modified to fit a specific type of screen, as opposed to original aspect ratio. Modified aspect ratios are usually either 1.33:1 (historically), or (with the advent of widescreen television sets) 1.43:1 aspect ratio. 1.33:1 was the modified aspect ratio used historically on 4:3 broadcast television and home videotape formats such as VHS and Beta. A modified aspect ratio transfer is achieved by means of
pan and scan
Pan and scan is a film editing technique used to modify widescreen images for display on a fullscreen screen. It involves cropping the sides of the original widescreen image and panning across it when the shot's focus changes. This cropping c ...
or EAR (Expanded Aspect Ratio)/
open matte
Open matte is a filming technique that involves matting out the top and bottom of the film frame in the movie projector (known as a ''soft matte'') for the widescreen theatrical release and then scanning the film without a matte (at Academy ...
, the latter meaning removing the cinematic matte from a 2.40:1 film to open up the full 1.33:1 frame or from 2.40:1 to 1.43:1 in
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...
. Another name for it is rescaled aspect ratio.
Problems in film and television

Multiple aspect ratios create additional burdens on directors and the public, and confusion among TV broadcasters. It is common for a widescreen film to be presented in an altered format (
cropped,
letterboxed or expanded beyond the original aspect ratio). It is also not uncommon for
windowboxing to occur (when letterbox and pillarbox happen simultaneously). For instance, a 16:9 broadcast could embed a 4:3 commercial within the 16:9 image area. A viewer watching on a standard 4:3 (non-widescreen) television would see a 4:3 image of the commercial with 2 sets of black stripes, vertical and horizontal (windowboxing or the postage stamp effect). A similar scenario may also occur for a widescreen set owner when viewing 16:9 material embedded in a 4:3 frame, and then watching that in 16:9.
Active Format Description is a mechanism used in digital broadcasting to avoid this problem. It is also common that a 4:3 image is stretched horizontally to fit a 16:9 screen to avoid
pillarboxing but distorts the image so subjects appear short and fat.
Both PAL and NTSC have provision for some data pulses contained within the video signal used to signal the aspect ratio (See ITU-R BT.1119-1 –
Widescreen signaling for broadcasting). These pulses are detected by television sets that have widescreen displays and cause the television to automatically switch to 16:9 display mode. When 4:3 material is included (such as the aforementioned commercial), the television switches to a 4:3 display mode to correctly display the material. Where a video signal is transmitted via a European
SCART
SCART (also known as or , especially in France, 21-pin EuroSCART in marketing by Sharp Corporation, Sharp in Asia, Euroconector in Spain, EuroAV or EXT, or EIA Multiport in the United States, as an EIA interface) is a French-originated standard ...
connection, one of the status lines is used to signal 16:9 material as well.
Still photography
Common aspect ratios in
still photography include:
* 1:1 (1.:1)
* 101:100 (1.01:1)
* 51:50 (1.02:1)
* 103:100 (1.03:1)
* 26:25 (1.04:1)
* 21:20 (1.05:1)
* 53:50 (1.06:1)
* 16:15 (1.0:1)
* 107:100 (1.07:1)
* 15:14 (1.0:1)
* 27:25 (1.08:1)
* 14:13 (1.0:1)
* 27:25 (1.08:1)
* 13:12 (1.08:1)
* 109:100 (1.09:1)
* 12:11 (1.:1)
* 11:10 (1.1:1)
* 111:100 (1.11:1)
* 10:9 (1.:1)
* 28:25 (1.12:1)
* 9:8 (1.125:1)
* 113:100 (1.13:1)
* 57:50 (1.14:1)
* 8:7 (1.:1)
* 23:20 (1.15:1)
* 15:13 (1.:1)
* 52:45 (1.1:1)
* 7:6 (1.1:1)
* 32:27 (1.:1)
* 19:16 (1.1875:1)
* 6:5 (1.2:1)
* 11:9 (1.:1)
* 27:22 (1.2:1)
* 16:13 (1.:1)
* 5:4 (1.25:1)
* 13:10 (1.3:1)
* 4:3 (1.:1)
* 27:20 (1.35:1)
* 15:11 (1.:1)
* 11:8 (1.375:1)
* 7:5 (1.4:1)
* 10:7 (1.:1)
* 143:100 (1.43:1)
* 23:16 (1.4375:1)
* 36:25 (1.44:1)
* 13:9 (1.:1)
* 29:20 (1.45:1)
* 16:11 (1.:1)
* 73:50 (1.46:1)
* 22:15 (1.4:1)
* 147:100 (1.47:1)
* 37:25 (1.48:1)
* 40:27 (1.:1)
* 149:100 (1.49:1)
* 3:2 (1.5:1)
* 32:21 (1.:1)
* 23:15 (1.5:1)
* 20:13 (1.:1)
* 14:9 (1.:1)
* 25:16 (1.5625:1)
* 11:7 (1.:1)
* 128:81 (1.5:1)
* 8:5 (1.6:1)
* 13:8 (1.625:1)
* 44:27 (1.:1)
* 18:11 (1.:1)
* 33:20 (1.65:1)
* 5:3 (1.:1)
* 27:16 (1.6875:1)
* 17:10 (1.7:1)
* 128:75 (1.70:1)
* 12:7 (1.:1)
* 43:25 (1.72:1)
* 19:11 (1.:1)
* 45:26 (1.7:1)
* 26:15 (1.7:1)
* 7:4 (1.75:1)
* 53:30 (1.7:1)
* 23:13 (1.:1)
* 71:40 (1.775:1)
* 16:9 (1.:1)
* 9:5 (1.8:1)
* 38:21 (1.:1)
* 181:100 (1.81:1)
* 29:16 (1.8125:1)
* 20:11 (1.:1)
* 11:6 (1.8:1)
* 24:13 (1.:1)
* 37:20 (1.85:1)
* 50:27 (1.:1)
* 13:7 (1.:1)
* 28:15 (1.8:1)
* 15:8 (1.875:1)
* 17:9 (1.:1)
* 256:135 (1.8:1)
* 19:10 (1.9:1)
* 39:20 (1.95:1)
* 2:1 (2:1)
* 32:15 (2.1:1)
* 28:13 (2.:1)
* 13:6 (2.1:1)
* 24:11 (2.:1)
* 11:5 (2.2:1)
* 20:9 (2.:1)
* 9:4 (2.25:1)
* 16:7 (2.:1)
* 23:10 (2.3:1)
* 7:3 (2.:1)
* 47:20 (2.35:1)
* 64:27 (2.:1)
* 19:8 (2.375:1)
* 12:5 (2.4:1)
* 5:2 (2.5:1)
* 13:5 (2.6:1)
* 27:10 (2.7:1)
* 11:4 (2.75:1)
* 14:5 (2.8:1)
* 20:7 (2.:1)
* 3:1 (3.:1)
* 31:10 (3.1:1)
* 25:8 (3.125:1)
* 22:7 (3.:1)
* 256:81 (3.:1)
* 16:5 (3.2:1)
* 13:4 (3.25:1)
* 33:10 (3.3:1)
* 10:3 (3.:1)
* 27:8 (3.375:1)
* 17:5 (3.4:1)
* 7:2 (3.5:1)
* 32:9 (3.:1)
* 18:5 (3.6:1)
* 15:4 (3.75:1)
* 19:5 (3.8:1)
* 4:1 (4:1)
Many digital still cameras offer user options for selecting multiple image aspect ratios. Some achieve this through the use of multi-aspect sensors (notably
Panasonic
is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Japan. It was founded in 1918 as in Fukushima-ku, Osaka, Fukushima by Kōnosuke Matsushita. The company was incorporated in 1935 and renamed and c ...
), while others simply crop their native image format to have the output match the desired image aspect ratio.
1:1
1:1 is the classic Kodak image, and is available as a choice in some digital still cameras, and hearkens back to the days of film cameras when the square image was popular with photographers using twin lens reflex cameras. These medium format cameras used
120 film
120 is a film format for still photography introduced by Kodak for their '' Brownie No. 2'' in 1901. It was originally intended for amateur photography but was later superseded in this role by 135 film. 120 film survives to this day as the onl ...
rolled onto spools. The 6 × 6 cm image size was the classic 1:1 format in the recent past. 120 film can still be found and used today. Many
Polaroid instant film
Instant film is a type of photographic film that was introduced by Polaroid Corporation to produce a visible image within minutes or seconds of the photograph's exposure. The film contains the chemicals needed for developing and fixing the photo ...
s were designed as square formats. Furthermore, up until August 2015, photo-sharing site
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
only allowed users to upload images in 1:1 format. In 2017, Fujifilm added the 1:1
Instax Square format to their lineup of instant film cameras.
5:4
Common in large and medium format photography ('6x7' cameras, actual size ), which fits the common print paper size of without cropping and is still in common use for prints from digital cameras.
4:3
4:3 is used by most digital
point-and-shoot cameras,
Four Thirds system
The Four Thirds System is a standard created by Olympus Corporation, Olympus and Eastman Kodak for digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) design and development. Four Thirds refers to both the size of the image sensor (4/3") as well as the a ...
,
Micro Four Thirds system
The is a standard released by Olympus Imaging Corporation and Panasonic in 2008, for the design and development of mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras, camcorders and lenses. Camera bodies are available from Blackmagic, DJI, JVC ...
cameras and
medium format 645 cameras. The 4:3 digital format popularity was developed to match the then prevailing digital displays of the time, 4:3 computer monitors.
The next several formats have their roots in classic film photography image sizes, both the classic 35 mm film camera, and the multiple format
Advanced Photo System (
APS) film camera. The APS camera was capable of selecting any of three image formats, APS-H ("High Definition" mode), APS-C ("Classic" mode) and APS-P ("Panoramic" mode).
3:2
3:2 is used by classic
35 mm film cameras using a 36 mm × 24 mm image size, and their digital derivatives represented by
DSLRs. Typical DSLRs come in two flavors, the so-called professional "full frame" (36 mm × 24 mm) sensors and variations of smaller, so called "APS-C" sensors. The term "APS" is derived from another film format known as
APS and the "-C" refers to "Classic" mode, which exposed images over a smaller area (25.1 mm × 16.7 mm) but retaining the same "classic" 3:2 proportions as full frame 35 mm film cameras.
When discussing DSLRs and their non-SLR derivatives, the term APS-C has become an almost generic term. The major camera manufacturers, including
Canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western canon, th ...
,
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
, and
Nikon
(, ; ) is a Japanese optics and photographic equipment manufacturer. Nikon's products include cameras, camera lenses, binoculars, microscopes, ophthalmic lenses, measurement instruments, rifle scopes, spotting scopes, and equipment related to S ...
, each developed and established sensor standards for their own versions of APS-C sized and proportioned sensors. Canon actually developed two standards, APS-C and a slightly larger area APS-H (not to be confused with the APS-H film format), while Nikon developed its own APS-C standard, which it calls
DX. Regardless of the different flavors of sensors, and their varying sizes, they are close enough to the original APS-C image size, and maintain the classic 3:2 image proportions that these sensors are generally known as an "APS-C" sized sensor.
The reason for DSLR's image sensors being the flatter 3:2 versus the taller point-and-shoot 4:3 is that DSLRs were designed to match the legacy 35 mm SLR film, whereas the majority of digital cameras were designed to match the predominant computer displays of the time, with VGA, SVGA, XGA and UXGA all being 4:3. Widescreen computer monitors did not become popular until the advent of
HDTV
High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...
, which uses a 16:9 image aspect ratio.
16:9
Known as APS-H (30.2 mm × 16.7 mm), with the "-H" denoting "High Definition", the 16:9 format is also the standard image aspect ratio for HDTV. 16:9 is gaining popularity as a format in all classes of consumer still cameras which also shoot High Definition (
HD)
video
Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
. When still cameras have an HD video capability, some can also record stills in the 16:9 format, ideal for display on HD televisions and widescreen computer displays.
3:1
3:1 is yet another format that can find its roots in the APS film camera. Known as APS-P (30.2 × 9.5 mm), with the -P" denoting "Panorama", the 3:1 format was used for
panorama
A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...
photography. The APS-P panorama standard is the least adhered to any APS standard, and panoramic implementation varies with by manufacturer on different cameras, with the only commonality being that the image is much longer than it is tall, in the classic "panorama" style.
Common
print sizes in the United States (in
inch
The inch (symbol: in or prime (symbol), ) is a Units of measurement, unit of length in the imperial units, British Imperial and the United States customary units, United States customary System of measurement, systems of measurement. It is eq ...
es) include 4×6 (1.5), 5×7 (1.4), 4×5 and 8×10 (1.25), and 11×14 (1.27);
large format
Large format photography refers to any imaging format of or larger. Large format is larger than "medium format", the or size of Hasselblad, Mamiya, Rollei, Kowa, and Pentax cameras (using 120 film, 120- and 220-roll film), and much la ...
cameras typically use one of these aspect ratios.
Medium-format cameras typically have format designated by nominal sizes in centimeters (6×6, 6×7, 6×9, 6×4.5), but these numbers should not be interpreted as exact in computing aspect ratios. For example, the usable height of
120-format roll film is 56mm, so a width of 70mm (as in 6×7) yields an aspect ratio of 4:5 — ideal for enlarging to make an 8×10" portrait. Print sizes are usually defined by their portrait dimensions (tall) while equipment aspect ratios are defined by their landscape dimensions (wide, flipped sideways). A good example of this a 4×6 print (6 inch wide by 4 inch tall landscape) perfectly matches the 3:2 aspect ratio of a DSLR/35 mm, since 6/2=3 and 4/2=2.
For analog projection of photographic slides, projector and screen use a 1:1 aspect ratio, supporting horizontal and vertical orientation equally well. In contrast, digital projection technology typically supports vertically oriented images only at a fraction of the resolution of landscape-oriented images. For example, projecting a digital still image having a 3:2 aspect ratio on a 16:9 projector employs 84.3% of available resolution in horizontal orientation, but only 37.5% in vertical orientation.
See also
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Active Format Description
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Index of articles related to motion pictures
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Paper size
Paper size refers to Technical standard, standardized dimensions for sheets of paper used globally in stationery, printing, and technical drawing. Most countries adhere to the ISO 216 standard, which includes the widely recognized A series ( ...
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Shoot and protect
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Glossary of video terms
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Ultrawide formats
Notes
Footnotes
Sources
On aspect ratios
*
The Letterbox and Widescreen Advocacy Page*
* Aspect Ratios Explained
Part 1
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SCADplus: 16:9 Action plan for the television in the 16:9 screen format – European Union
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aspect Ratio (Image)
Ratios
Film and video technology
Picture aspect ratios