All About Aspect Ratios.

I’ll bet a lot of you out there have been waiting for an article all about aspect ratios. Well, in this article I will attempt to explain the ins and outs of aspect ratios and also discuss a brief history of aspect ratios as they have been used in DLP and LCD projectors.

So what exactly is an aspect ratio? We hear a lot of talk in the projector world about contrast ratio this, aspect ratio that, but how many of us really know what these tech terms actually mean? I certainly didn’t until I became more familiar with projectors and got involved in digital photography ten years back.

So, let’s start from the beginning. An aspect ratio is the relationship between the width of the screen or frame and the height of the screen or frame. Basically, W (width): H (height) will generate your aspect ratio. For digital cameras, you usually get aspect ratios like 2:3, 5:7, 5:4. These ratios correspond to the typical sizes of the standard film photograph sizes.

When it comes to projectors, the two most common aspect ratios are 4:3 and 16:9. When digital projectors first appeared on the scene 4:3 was much more common and used – only recently, (as in the past couple years) has 16:9 become more common and demanded by consumers.

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The reason the 16:9 aspect ratio is more popular is because many people believe that projectors with this aspect ratio naturally produce a higher resolution. While this isn’t entirely true – (there are a few examples of projectors from 2002, 2003 that actually had native 4:3 aspect ratios and were the highest resolution projectors of their day) - 16:9 aspect ratio projectors do seem to have higher resolutions. And what is better (other than TiVo) than a projector with perfect HDTV resolution?

One thing the cautious consumer should be aware of however, especially if you are looking to buy a projector that was first manufactured a couple years ago, is the fact that some 4:3 projectors with high resolutions can actually produce a 16:9 ratio image. You may be able to save a little bit of money and have a projector with a solid native resolution, if you consider this point.

Until next time – take it easy.