16:9

A 16:9 rectangle in which rectangles 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) (16:9 = 4²:3²) is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009 it has become the most common aspect ratio for televisions and computer monitors, and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television. It is also used inversely (9:16) as the ratio for mobile phone screens.

History

An equal-area comparison of the aspect ratios which Dr. Kerns Powers employed to derive the SMPTE 16:9 standard.^[1] TV 4:3/1.33 in red, 5:3/1.66 in orange, 16:9/1.77 in blue, 1.85 in yellow, Panavision 11:5/2.2 in mauve and CinemaScope/2.35 in purple.

Dr. Kerns H. Powers, a member of the SMPTE Working Group on High-Definition Electronic Production, first proposed the 16:9 (1.77:1) aspect ratio at a time when nobody was creating 16:9 videos. The popular choices in 1980 were: 1.33:1 (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 2.39:1 (the CinemaScope ratio for anamorphic widescreen films).

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.^[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, √47/15 ≈ 1.770 which is coincidentally close to 16:9 (1.77:1). Applying the same geometric mean technique to 16:9 and 4:3 yields the 14:9 aspect ratio, which is likewise used as a compromise between these ratios.^[2]

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^[3] 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. This has similarities to a filming technique called Open matte.

After the original 16:9 Action Plan of the early 1990s, the European Union has instituted the 16:9 Action Plan,^[4] 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 switching to 16:9 as the standard aspect ratio for monitors and laptops. A 2008 report by DisplaySearch cited a number of reasons for this shift, including the ability for PC and monitor manufacturers to expand their product ranges by offering products with wider screens and higher resolutions, helping consumers to more easily adopt such products and "stimulating the growth of the notebook PC and LCD monitor market".^[5]

In 2011 Bennie Budler, product manager of IT products at Samsung South Africa, confirmed that monitors capable of 1920×1200 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”.^[6] Since computer displays are advertised by their diagonal measure, for monitors with the same display area, a wide screen monitor will have a larger diagonal measure, thus sounding more impressive. Within limits, the amount of information that can be displayed, and the cost of the monitor depend more on area than on diagonal measure.

In March 2011 the 16:9 resolution 1920×1080 became the most common used resolution among Steam's users. The earlier most common resolution was 1680×1050 (16:10).^[7]

Properties

16:9 is the only widescreen aspect ratio natively supported by the DVD format. Anamorphic DVD transfers store the information as 5:4 (PAL) or 3:2 (NTSC) square pixels, which is set to expand to either 16:9 or 4:3, which the television or video player handles. For example, a PAL DVD with a full frame image may contain a video resolution of 720×576 (5:4 ratio), but a video player software will stretch this to 1024×576 square pixels with a 16:9 flag in order to recreate the correct aspect ratio.

DVD producers can also choose to show even wider ratios such as 1.85:1 and 2.39:1^{[lower-alpha 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 and Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing, 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 listed in the table below:

In Europe

In Europe, 16:9 is the standard broadcast format for most digital channels and all HDTV broadcasts. Some countries adopted the format for analog television, first by using the PALplus standard (now obsolete) and then by simply using WSS signals on normal PAL broadcasts.

Country	Channel
Albania	Top Channel, TV Klan, Klan HD, Digi Gold, DigitALB HD (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), SuperSport (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)*, Digi Plus**, Film Author**, Film Hits**, Film Thriller**, Film Drame**, Film Aksion**, Film Komedi** *Do not set the aspect ratio correctly when broadcasting in 16:9 and the image appears squashed on 4:3 TV sets. **These channels do broadcast in 16:9 and 4:3 but the aspect ratio is always kept 4:3 so 16:9 programs appear squashed.
Austria	All main channels: ORF eins, ORF 2, ORF Sport +, ORF1 HD, ATV, Puls 4, Servus TV.
Azerbaijan	AzTV, Idman Azerbaijan TV (HD), Medeniyyet TV, İctimai Television, Azad Azerbaijan TV, Alternativ TV, TurkelTV, CBC (Caspian Broadcasting Company), Region TV, CBC Sport (HD).
Belarus	Belsat TV
Belgium	All channels.
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Kanal 1, Face TV, TV1, Hayat music, BDC TV, Hayat TV, Elta HD, Elta 2, BN TV.
Bulgaria	All channels.
Cyprus	Always in 16:9 even when showing 4:3 content: ANT1 Cyprus, CyBC One, Two, HD and the international channels CyBC has the duty to rebroadcast: DT, Euronews, Sigma TV, Plus TV, Primetel. Always in 4:3, even when showing 16:9 content: MEGA Cyprus, Capital TV, EXTRA TV, MusicTV.
Croatia	HRT 1**, 2**, 3**, 4**, RTL Televizija*, RTL 2*, Nova TV* , Doma TV*, RTL Kockica* Sportska televizija**. 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, Óčko.
Denmark	Almost all main channels.
Estonia	Almost all channels.
Finland	Almost all channels.
France	All DVB-T (TNT) And almost all pay channels 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 etc.
Germany	Almost all channels.
Georgia	1TV GPB, Maestro TV, Tabula TV, GDS TV.
Greece	All major stations ERT, ANT1, Mega Channel, Alpha TV, Star Channel, EPSILON TV, Makedonia TV use the 16:9 aspect ratio, and only switch to 4:3 when an older programme is broadcast. Skai TV was the first in Greece to broadcast in 16:9 format in 2006, and 100% of its programming is in 16:9. Other stations using exclusively 16:9 aspect ratio: MTV Greece, NovaCinema1, NovaCinema2, NovaCinema3, NovaCinema4, NovaCinema HD, NovaSports1, NovaSports2, NovaSports3, NovaSports4, NovaSports Highlights, NovaSports6, NovaSports7, NovaSports HD, Nickelodeon (Greece), Kontra Channel, THRAKI NET, IONIAN CHANNEL, BEST TV, PatraTV, Blue Sky TV, Action 24, ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΟΣ TV, ΚΡΗΤΗ TV, NEA TV ΚΡΗΤΗΣ, ΘΡΑΚΗ NET, TV 100, ΗΠΕΙΡΟΣ TV1, ΑΛΦΑ ΤΗΛΕΟΡΑΣΗ ΔΡΑΜΑΣ. 4:3 is still the most popular aspect ratio among local television stations.
Hungary	Almost all channels.
Iceland	All three national stations broadcast in 16:9 with occasional 4:3 programmes. Local stations still use 4:3.
Ireland	RTÉ One, RTÉ 2, TV3, TG4, and Setanta Ireland.
Italy	Exclusively in widescreen: All Sky Italia Channels (Sky Cinema, Sky Primafila, Sky Sport, Sky TG24...), All Fox Company Channels except Fox Retrò, Cielo, all Discovery Group channels except Animal Planet, RTL 102.5 TV, QVC Italy, TGCom 24, Rai Storia, Rai News 24, Rai Sport Channels, all National Geographic channels, History Channel, Winga, MTV channels except MTV Classic, all Disney channels except Disney in English, all Mediaset Premium channels, Deejay TV, Vero, TG Norba 24, SuperTennis, Sportitalia Channels, Play.me, Repubblica TV. 16:9 with occasional programmes in 4:3: all channels owned by Rai and Mediaset; La7, La7d, Giallo.
Kazakhstan	Almost all main channels.
Latvia	Always on 16:9: Latvijas Televizija (LTV1, LTV7), Re:TV, TV24, Sporta Centrs TV, TV XXI. Often on 16:9: MTG channels (TV3, LNT, TV6 and others).
Lithuania	Always on 16:9: LRT channels (LRT televizija, LRT Kultūra, LRT Lituanica), Sport1 (Lithuania), Lietuvos rytas TV, Balticum TV, Balticum Auksinis. Often on 16:9: LNK channels (LNK, BTV, TV1, Info TV), MTG channels (TV3 Lithuania, TV6, TV8, Viasat Sport Baltic). Always on 4:3: Liuks!.
Luxembourg	RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg, Luxe.tv.
Macedonia	Alfa TV, MRT 1, MRT 2, Sitel.
Malta	All nationwide channels.
Montenegro	TV Vijesti.
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	All channels: nationwide, TVP, TVN Group, Polsat Group (except Polsat JimJam), Discovery Communications, Disney–ABC Television Group, Canal+ Group, Polcast Television, Viacom (for example VIVA, Nickelodeon and MTV Poland), 4fun Media, Grupa ZPR (Eska TV, Polo TV, Fokus TV, Music VOX TV), Fox International Channels (National Geographic Channel, NatGeo Wild, Fox, FOX Comedy) Other channels: TVS, Orange Sport, AXN, Superstacja, Kino Polska Muzyka, Telewizja Republika, Cartoon Network.
Portugal	RTP (except RTP Madeira), SIC, TVI, TVCine, MOV, Canal Q, AXN, AXN Black, AXN White, National Geographic Channel, SportTV, Syfy, Económico TV, História, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Odisseia, FOX, FOX Life, FOX Crime, Fox Movies, A Bola TV, Canal Hollywood, MTV, Nickelodeon, Discovery Channel, Localvisão TV, CMTV.
Romania	Occasional 16:9 widescreen programming is shown on the Romanian public broadcaster's channels (TVR 1, TVR 2, TVRi), Sport.ro, RegioTV Transilvania, Pro Tv, B1 TV, Dolce Sport and DigiSport. SSD version aired in 16:9-in-4:3 letterbox on PRO Cinema, Antena 1 Romania, Prima Tv Romania, Zutv, National Tv, National 24 +, Favorit TV, ID Extra Romania, Antena Stars, Disney Channel Romania, Disney Junior Romania and MTV Romania. Full 16:9 widescreen programming is aired on all HD channels: TVR HD, PRO TV HD, Kanal D HD, Dolce Sport HD, Digi Sport 1, 2 and 3 HD, Digi 24 HD, Digi Life HD, Digi World HD, Digi Animal World HD, National Geographic HD, Comedy Central and Extra HD, Discovery Channel HD Romania, Animal Planet HD Romania, UTV Romania, UTV HD, Acasa TV HD and Sport.ro HD.
Russia	Channel One Russia (Channel One, Dom Kino Premium, Muzyka Pervogo, Bober), VGTRK (Russia-HD, Russia-24, Planeta HD, Strashnoe HD), Gazprom-Media (NTV, Match TV, Match TV sports channels, Thematic channels (HD Kino, Kino plus, Kinohit, Premiera, Kinoklub, Nashe Kino, Nashe Novoe Kino, Muzhskoe kino, HD Life)), National Media Group (Ren-TV, LifeNews, Life 78), OTR, TV Tsentr, Zvezda, MIR, MIR 24, RT TV-channels, RBC TV, Dozhd, Euronews,Tricolor TV-channels, Bridge Media channels (RTG TV, Topsong TV, Dange TV, Rusong TV), Fox International channels, Viasat, Discovery Communications, Viacom, Sony.
Serbia	B92, Prva (programming in 4:3 is transmitted in its original format with logo changing its aspect ratio to match the aspect ratio of the program, idents are still being in 16:9), RTS (RTS1, RTS2, RTS3, RTS HD, RTS Satelit), Arena Sport 1, 2, 3 and 4 (also on HD), Sport Klub, Sport Klub 2, Sport Klub 3, Sport Klub 4, 5, 6, SK Golf, Cinemania, RTV Pink (some programmes airs in 4:3, recently most of the new programmes are 16:9), Happy TV (some programming still in 4:3).
Slovakia	All nationwide channels (CME Slovakia (TV Markiza, Doma, Dajto), RTVS (Jednotka, Dvojka), J&T (TV JOJ, Plus, Wau), TA3).
Slovenia	All RTV Slovenija channels (TV SLO 1, TV SLO 2, TV SLO 3, TV Koper/Capodistria, TV Maribor), main private channels (POP TV, Kanal A, Planet TV, TV3 Medias, Gold TV), Top TV, POP BRIO, POP KINO, POP OTO, Sport TV 1, Sport TV 2, Sportklub+, Golfklub, HBO Slovenija, Net TV, RTS Maribor and all HD channels (TV SLO 1 HD, TV SLO 2 HD, POP TV HD, Kanal A HD, Planet TV HD, Top TV HD and others).
Spain	As of 2013 all nationalwide and regional channels broadcast in 16:9, which is the national standard for television. Practically all of the local TV channels broadcast in 16:9. 4:3 is still common on PPV channels. Older programmes filmed in 4:3 are transmitted in their original format or are zoomed to 14:9 pillarbox; stretched programmes are rare. The first films were broadcast in 16:9 (PALplus) at TV3 and TVG in 1997. Transition to widescreen programs and commercials started on DVB-T only and regional channels like Neox, Nova, Teledeporte, TV3 (Catalonia) or Aragón Televisión in late 2008, and in main analog networks in 2009 (except TVE). HD versions of nationwide main TV channels, Antena 3, Telecinco, LaSexta and TVE (as TVE HD) were launched (or relaunched in the case of TVE-HD) in 2010. 1080i HD version of Cuatro was launched in 2012.
Sweden	Almost all main channels.
Switzerland	All SRG SSR channels.
Turkey	Almost all channels.
Ukraine	UATV, English Club TV, 1+1 Media (Ukraine Today), Inter Media Group (Euronews Ukraine), StarLightMedia (except Novyi Kanal), Media Group Ukraine (except Eskulap TV, Donbass and Sigma TV Mariupol), Tonis, Channel 24, Espreso TV, 112 Ukraine, News One, ATR Group (ATR, Lale), Black Sea Broadcasting (Black Sea TV, Socialna Kraina), Poverkhnost TV (Sport 1, Sport 2), Music Box Ukraine, EU Music, Trofey TV, Dacha TV, HDFashion, 3s.tv, RTI.
United Kingdom	In 1998, with the introduction of digital television, digital versions of BBC One, BBC Two, ITV and Channel 4 were created. An On Digital set top box or a subscription to Sky Digital was required to view the digital versions. On 1 July 2000, "C-Day", most of the UK broadcast industry began requiring commercials to be delivered in 16:9 full-height format (with a 14:9 safe area for those channels still broadcasting in 4:3). ITV and C4 upgraded their continuity suites to be 16:9 capable at the same time, allowing idents to be broadcast in widescreen format on digital. In 2001, the UK's fourth broadcaster Channel 5 switched to 16:9. In 2002, On Digital became defunct and free-to-air digital terrestrial television services instead began to operate under the name of Freeview. In 2003, Sky branded channels were re-branded which included the switch to 16:9. In 2006, BBC HD began broadcasting in 1080i which became the standard for all HD channels. Similar to the switch to Digital in 1998, viewers using terrestrial services required an additional set-top-box which was HD capable In 2007, Channel 4 HD was launched on Sky. It was later added to Virgin Media in 2009 and then to Freeview HD in 2011. In 2008, ITV HD was launched on Freesat and was later added to Virgin Media, Sky and Freeview HD in 2010. In 2009, Freeview HD launched allowing terrestrial viewers to watch BBC HD and ITV HD without a subscription, a Freeview HD set-top box or television is required. In 2010, Channel 5 HD was launched on Sky and Virgin Media. In 2011, BBC One HD was launched on Sky, Virgin Media and Freeview HD. As of 2012, Almost all Freeview channels broadcast in 16:9; Almost all Virgin Media/Sky channels broadcast in 16:9. The rest switched by the end of 2012.

In Oceania

Country	Channel
Australia	All major free to air channels and almost all pay TV channels (including SD). Older 4:3 programmes are either shown in their original format or zoomed to 14:9 or 16:9.
New Zealand	Almost all channels.

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
Bangladesh	Satv.
China	CCTV channels 1-15, CCTV-5+, CCTV News. Older contents in 4:3 and news contents are stretched on SD variants of these channels as stretching on SD channels is common.
Hong Kong	All major channels since the commencement of digital television broadcasting in 2007.
India	HD channels were added by most DTH operators.
Indonesia	Kompas TV, BeritaSatu TV, NET., CNN Indonesia, Trans TV, Trans 7. HD channels are only available on digital terrestrial and digital satellite. Major television stations with national coverage are broadcast in 4:3 format.
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 the 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 broadcast in 16:9 as well.
Malaysia	All HD channels and some SD channels available on Astro and HyppTV. SD variants of widescreen channels (such as Astro Ria, Astro AEC and Astro SuperSport channels) are usually letterboxed or cropped to 14:9 by Astro to provide compatibility to older set top boxes.
Pakistan	Express News.
Philippines	Philippine TV
Qatar	All Al Jazeera Sports channels, Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English, Qatar TV HD, all Alkass channels.
Singapore	All MediaCorp channels, however 16:9 contents look squashed on older 4:3 sets. Also, all 4:3 contents including news clips are stretched as stretching is common.
South Korea	All major channels currently feature 16:9 aspect ratio.
Sri Lanka	Colombo TV.
Taiwan	TTV HD, CTV HD, CTS HD, FTV HD, PTS HD, TVBS.
Thailand	All major channels since the commencement of digital television broadcasting in 2014.
United Arab Emirates	Alarabiya, MBC 1, MBC 2, MBC Drama, Ad Aloula, Al Emarat, Ad Sports HD 1-7, Ad Drama + HD.
Vietnam	All of VTC HD's channels, VTV channels, HTV channels and K+'s channels (selected programmes).

In America

Country	Channel
Bolivia	Always on 16:9: PAT, ATB. Often on 16:9: Bolivia TV.
Brazil	Rede Bandeirantes, Rede Globo, Rede Record, Rede Gazeta, Rede TV!, SBT, FOX Sports, ESPN, ESPN Brasil, ESPN+, Telecine Premium, Telecine Action, Telecine Touch, Telecine Pipoca, Telecine Fun, Telecine Cult, Multishow, GNT, HBO, HBO HD, MAX HD, Gloob, Arte1, Megapix Sky Esportes, Canal Off, BIS, Canal Sony, History Channel, TBS, AXN, +Globosat, Warner Channel, Discovery Channel etc.
Chile	Canal 13HD, Chilevisión HD, TVN HD, MEGA HD.
Mexico	National channels: Canal de las Estrellas HD, FOROtv HD, Canal 5 HD, Gala TV HD, Azteca 7 HD, Azteca Trece HD, Proyecto 40 HD, Canal Once HD, Canal 22 HD, Una Voz con Todos HD, Teveunam, Cadenatres HD, Televisa Regional, Multimedios Televisión HD, Milenio Televisión HD, Teleritmo HD, and some state stations broadcast HD signal. Pay channels: Bandamax*, De Película HD, Ritmoson Latino*, TDN*, Univision TDN*, TeleHit*, Unicable*, MTV HD, VH1 HD, Nickelodeon HD, Comedy Central HD, TNT HD, Space*, Cartoon Network*, TBS HD, Warner Channel HD, FOX*, FX*, Fox Sports*, NAT GEO*, Disney Channel HD, Discovery Channel HD, Discovery Kids HD, Investigation Discovery HD, Discovery Home & Health HD. *SD and HD signals are broadcast in 16:9.

Africa

In South Africa, 16:9 is the standard broadcast format for most digital channels and all HDTV broadcasts all channels.

See also

• Display aspect ratio
• High-definition television
• Display resolution
• 1080p / 1080i
• 720p
• 4:3
• 14:9
• 16:10

Notes

References

Cited

General

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 16:9.