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 2010 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. This has replaced the old 4:3 aspect ratio.

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 (or 64:27, see also 21:9 aspect ratio for more information), √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	All Channels
Andorra	Andorra Televisió.
Austria	All Channels:
Azerbaijan	All Channels
Belarus	All Channels (except BTRC channels)
Belgium	All channels.
Bosnia and Herzegovina	All Channels
Bulgaria	All channels.
Cyprus	All Channels
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	All Channels.
Denmark	All Channels.
Estonia	All Channels.
Finland	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	All channels.
Georgia	GPB (1TV, 2TV), Maestro TV, Kavkasia TV, Tabula TV, GDS TV, Voice of Abkhazia, Ajara TV, Pirveli TV, Marao TV, Aratrea TV.
Greece	All Channels.
Hungary	All channels (except Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Echo TV, Pax TV)
Iceland	All three national stations broadcast in 16:9 with occasional 4:3 programmes. Local stations still use 4:3.
Ireland	RTÉ channels, TV3, TG4, and Eir Sport.
Italy	All Channels.
Kazakhstan	All 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	All Channels
Malta	All nationwide channels.
Moldova	TRM (Moldova 1, Moldova 2), GMG Group (Prime, Canal 2, Canal 3, Publika TV), ProTV Cishinau, N4, Jurnal TV
Monaco	Télé Monte Carlo & Monaco Info.
Montenegro	All Channels
Netherlands	All Channels
Norway	16:9 is the national standard for television – almost all channels conform to this format.
Poland	All Channels
Portugal	All Channels.
Romania	All Channels
Russia	All channels switch in 1 September 2017
San Marino	San Marino RTV
Serbia	All Channels.
Slovakia	All nationwide channels (RTVS, CME Slovakia, J&T, TA3 and others).
Slovenia	All Channels.
Spain	All Channels
Sweden	All Channels.
Switzerland	All Channels.
Turkey	All Channels.
Ukraine	UATV, English Club TV, 1+1 Media Group (all channels), Inter Media Group (all channels), StarLightMedia (except Novyi Kanal), Media Group Ukraine (except Eskulap TV), Tonis, 5 kanal, Channel 24, Espreso TV, 112 Ukraine, News One, NewsNetwork, XSPORT, ATR Group (ATR, Lale), ZIK, Black Sea TV, Poverkhnost TV (Sport 1, Sport 2), Music Box Ukraine, EU Music, Trofey TV, Dacha TV, HDFashion, 3s.tv, RTI, PravdaTut, Pershiy Diloviy.
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, 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. Older 4:3 programmes are either shown in their original format or zoomed to 14:9 or 16:9.

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.
Fiji	All channels.
New Zealand	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 5 ¹⁄₃ to 3 (=16:9).

Country	Channel
Afghanistan	All channels.
Bangladesh	SA TV.
Cambodia	All channels.
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 digital television broadcasting started in 2007.
India	All channels.
Indonesia	All channels.
Iran	All channels.
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.
Kyrgyzstan	All channels.
Lebanon	LBCI.4:3 Shows are stretched National Broadcasting Network (Lebanon). Its in HD and has no 4:3 content Future Television.
Malaysia	All channels.
Mongolia	MNB & MN2, MNC, Edutainment TV, SPS and Sportbox.
Pakistan	All channels.
Philippines	16:9 native*: CNN Philippines, Hope Channel Philippines, 3ABN, Hope International, INCTV, Net 25 4:3 upscaled/stretched to 16:9**: ETC, 2nd Avenue, GMA Network, GMA News TV, all BEAM's subchannels, Light Network, UNTV, Ang Dating Daan TV,SMNI, all ABS-CBN channels (including TVPlus channels), TV5, AksyonTV *channels that are letterboxed on analog terrestrial transmissions nor no letterbox on widescreen-produced programs. **channels that are originally broadcasting in 4:3 on analog terrestrial, but upscaled or stretched to 16:9 for digital terrestrial television, cable and satellite.
Qatar	All Al Jazeera Sports channels, Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English, Qatar TV HD, all Alkass channels.
Saudi Arabia	All 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.
Syria	All channels.
Taiwan	TTV HD, CTV HD, CTS HD, FTV HD, PTS HD, TVBS.
Thailand	All channels.
United Arab Emirates	All channels.
Vietnam	All of VTC HD's channels, VTV channels, HTV channels and K+'s channels (selected programmes).

In the Americas

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.
Canada	Almost all channels.
Chile	Canal 13HD, Chilevisión HD, TVN HD, MEGA HD.
Colombia	All channels.
Costa Rica	All channels.
Mexico	Free Television: Las Estrellas, FOROtv, Canal 5, Gala TV, Azteca 7, Azteca Trece, adn40, Canal Once, Canal 22, Una Voz con Todos, Teveunam, Imagen Televisión, Excélsior TV, Televisa Regional, Multimedios Televisión, Milenio Televisión, Teleritmo, and some local stations broadcast HD signal. Pay Television: Bandamax, De Película, De Película Clásico, Ritmoson Latino, TDN, TeleHit, Unicable, Distrito Comedia, Golden, Golden Edge, TL Novelas, Tiin.
Peru	All channels.
United States	Almost all channels.

In Africa

Country	Channel
Algeria	Algérie 3 Echourouk TV
Egypt	All channels.
Libya	Libya 24.
Morocco	Al Aoula.
South Africa	16:9 is the standard broadcast format for most digital channels and all HDTV broadcasts all main channels.

See also

• Display aspect ratio
• High-definition television
• Display resolution
• 1080p / 1080i
• 720p
• 4:3
• 14:9
• 16:10
• 21:9

Notes

References

Cited

General

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 16:9.