Most common aspect ratio?

[hendra]

What is the most common wide screen aspect ratio of Blu-ray movies or for that matter regular DVD? I have seen 1.78:1, 1.85:1, 2.35:1, 2.40:1 and there may be others.

[BStecke]

This is just based on what I've seen, but I would say 2.35. No science involved in that whatsoever, though.

[Chevypower]

i would say older movies (1995 and older) most common was 1.85, these days 2.35 -also from no real science or evidence.

[zak88lx]

2.35:1 without a doubt.

Zak

[Deciazulado]

Silent films were 1.33. From about after 1931 till the mid fifties, sound movies were 1.37 "Academy". After the mid fifties Hollywood went widescreen with various formats and aspect ratios, The most common formats were anamorphic lens "CinemaScope" type widescreen, and "flat" lens Standard widescreen. "Scope" started as 2.55 with magnetic sound, but has changed a couple of times: After 1956 it went with the regular optical soundtrack and changed to 2.35, In the 70's to prevent splices showing up on screen it changed to 2.40, and in the mid 90's with the adiition of digital sound it changed slightly to 2.39. Standard flat lens widescreen varied between 1.66 and 1.85, with 1.85 becoming the "standard" in the US. So those two ratios, 1.85 "flat" and 2.39 "anamorphic" are the two most common ratios, being used for the last generation or two, with 1.37 for the pre-widesceen sound movies.

[ricwhite]

I'd say about 70% that I watch are 2.35:1

[hendra]

OK, it looks like that the consensus is 2.35:1 but if that is the case, why don't HDTV have 2.35:1 ratio? Most of the HDTV I have seen have 1.78:1 ratio. And what is the most common ratio for US Cable Channels these days? Do they still use the old 4:3 format?

[BStecke]

1.78 was deemed the best compromise for HDTV's. Combining TV and film there's a lot more content that fits properly on a 1.78 TV than compared to a 2.35 screen. A 2.35 screen would necessitate pillarboxing on all <2.35 content.

[Stephan.klose]

Nowadays it's actually 2.40:1.

Most big budget films are shot in that aspect ratio

[Deciazulado]

if following spec it's 2.39 (since the mid-90's)

0.690" x 0.825" (17.526 mm x 20.955) = 1.19565217391 x 2 = 2.39

[MOONPHASE]

most movies i own are in 1.78 and 1.85 and i have like 500 dvds and 30 blu-ray titles

[Octavio]

The most common aspect ratio in the titles released on BD is 2:35:1

But in general most movies currently are presented either on widescreen standard (1.66:1 to 1.85:1) or scope, mostly 2.35:1

Practically every "indie" flick and most foreign films are shot in widescreen standard.
But even many high-profile directors prefers Standard Widescreen over Scope.
I.e: Spielberg, except for few titles, always have presented his films in 1.85:1

[Canada]

I have to believe that most movies now a days are being shot in 2:35:1 or 2:39:1 I say this because the majority of action films are being shot in that aspect ratio.

Christoper Nolan I belive has not shot a movie in another aspect ration other than 2:39:1 other than about 20 min of footage he shot using IMAX.

Micheal Bay is another director that I belive to have used the aspect ratio of 2:39:1 exclusive.

Tony Scott is another director I belive to have used 2:39:1 exclusivly also.
His brother Ridley uses 2:39:1 most of the time but he shot Hannibal in 1:85:1
Micheal Mann uses 2:39:1 a lot.

There are so many others directors that only use 2:39:1 I think especially for action films it lets you see a lot more action and action seems a lot less muddled. It is probably just because you dont have to pan the camera as much you can have the action happening in the far upper left hand corner and can catch a lot of other cenery in there as well.

[Shanester]

Originally Posted by Canada

I have to believe that most movies now a days are being shot in 2:35:1 or 2:39:1 I say this because the majority of action films are being shot in that aspect ratio.

Christoper Nolan I belive has not shot a movie in another aspect ration other than 2:39:1 other than about 20 min of footage he shot using IMAX.

Micheal Bay is another director that I belive to have used the aspect ratio of 2:39:1 exclusive.

Tony Scott is another director I belive to have used 2:39:1 exclusivly also.
His brother Ridley uses 2:39:1 most of the time but he shot Hannibal in 1:85:1
Micheal Mann uses 2:39:1 a lot.

There are so many others directors that only use 2:39:1 I think especially for action films it lets you see a lot more action and action seems a lot less muddled. It is probably just because you dont have to pan the camera as much you can have the action happening in the far upper left hand corner and can catch a lot of other cenery in there as well.

well said!

I much prefer 2:39 they look so much better on my Panny 61" then the standard 1:85. I actually welcome the black bars. After awhile you don't even notice them

[Canada]

Originally Posted by Shanester

well said!

I much prefer 2:39 they look so much better on my Panny 61" then the standard 1:85. I actually welcome the black bars. After awhile you don't even notice them

I don't know why people complain and moan about black bars either I don't hardly notice them either and I only have a 34" TV

[hendra]

Originally Posted by Canada

I don't know why people complain and moan about black bars either I don't hardly notice them either and I only have a 34" TV

The problem is if you have horizontal black bars, you don't get full 1080p.

[Joe Cain]

Originally Posted by hendra

The problem is if you have horizontal black bars, you don't get full 1080p.

You're getting the full image as it was intended to be seen.