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FULL SCREEN or WIDESCREEN VIDEO?
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To help you decide whether to order a FULL SCREEN or a WIDESCREEN video, eight images are presented below. These are actual, unretouched photographs of television screens. The first four images illustrate a conventional (picture tube) television, having a 4:3 aspect ratio. The second four images illustrate a high definition television, having a 16:9 aspect ratio. For each pair of pictures, the left picture shows a snapshot in "landscape" orientation, while the right picture shows a snapshot in "portrait" orientation. (In all cases, the original snapshot is in the proportion of a 35 mm film frame, which has an aspect ratio of 3:2, which is proportional to a 6x4" photographic print.) Please note that in all cases, both the DVD player and the television were set up to utilize settings which did not distort the image. (This means that no settings were used which would squish a widescreen image horizontally so that it would be forced to fit within a 4:3 aspect ratio screen.)
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The first four images below represent "screen shots" of a conventional television, with a picture tube. In the first two pictures, scenes from a FULL SCREEN video are shown, from a DVD player set to "4:3 Letterbox" output format. In the third and fourth pictures, scenes from a WIDESCREEN video are shown, from a DVD player (also) set to "4:3 Letterbox" output format.
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| Full Screen video, image with "landscape" orientation:
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Full Screen video, image with "portrait" orientation:
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| Widescreen video, image with "landscape" orientation:
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Widescreen video, image with "portrait" orientation:
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The next four images below represent "screen shots" of a high-definition television, with 16:9 widescreen display. In the first two pictures below, scenes from a FULL SCREEN video are shown, from a DVD player set to "16:9" output format. In the last two pictures, scenes from a WIDESCREEN video are shown, from a DVD player (also) set to "16:9" output format.
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| Full Screen video, image with "landscape" orientation:
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Full Screen video, image with "portrait" orientation:
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| Widescreen video, image with "landscape" orientation:
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Widescreen video, image with "portrait" orientation:
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Observations and Recommendations:
- Observations:
- When viewing slide show videos on either type of television, note that more information from the left and right extremes of landscape orientation images is displayed in "WIDESCREEN" videos than in "FULL SCREEN" videos.
- When viewing WIDESCREEN slide show videos on conventional televisions, note that portrait orientation images are significantly reduced in size; this reduction is not apparent in 16:9 televisions.
- Recommendations:
- If you plan to show your videos ONLY on 4:3 television sets and projectors, you probably should order FULL SCREEN videos.
- If you plan to show your videos ONLY on 16:9 television sets and projectors, you probably should order WIDESCREEN videos.
- If you plan to show your videos on a mixture of television types or if you currently utilize a 4:3 television but are likely to migrate to a 16:9 unit, you probably should order WIDESCREEN videos.
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