Why are TV's 16:9 Ratio? I'm frustrated with watching movies in letterbox. LG have the right idea.

 

britops:

Why are TV's 16:9 Ratio? I'm frustrated with watching movies in letterbox.

Because if they weren't, you'd be frustrated with watching TV in pillarbox!

Seriously, it was decided on years ago, more for compatibility reasons than anything else.

I can understand Richard's argument, but I prefer watching movies in letterbox than watching at that ugly box all day long when not switched on. The proportions simply are not right, and this has nothing to do with the brand or the design.

I have never seen such a wide screen TV before! Looks a bit silly to me. I prefer the normal widescreen that we have on BeoVisions.

To be fair it actually claims to be more a monitor for business use rather than a TV per se. (It certainly would look well running Logic/Sonar etc) - I'm sure young Alex could find a use for it!

The Wiiiide Screen LG will look great at the airport displaying flight information or at a local shop's ever changing menu offerings. Not ideally suited for home use.

 

 

Because many years ago now,  much research was done on the aspect ratio which was most ´comfortable´ in viewing terms for the human eye. The research considered many different ratios including the  4:3 which was the then norm.

The research concluded that 16:9 was the best in viewing terms and so it was decided that this would become the new TV standard screen ratio. 

I wonder why 16:9 rather than 1.61803399:1 was decided as most comfortable

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio 

Justin:

1.61803399:1

Because that number gives you a headache?