List of Most Common Aspect Ratios (Pics included)

[HD Goofnut]

There's been a lot of discussion concerning aspect ratios so I have decided to make an informational thread listing the most common aspect ratios used for BD.

1.16:1
Screen capture from Kino's Abraham Lincoln.


1.18:1
Screen capture from Eureka's The Testament of Dr. Mabuse.


1.19:1
Screen capture from Criterion's M.


1.20:1
Screen capture from Image's The Phantom of the Opera (1925).


1.33:1 (4:3)
Screen capture from Criterion's Seven Samurai.


1.37:1 (Academy Ratio)
Screen capture from Warner's Casablanca (70th Anniversary).


1.43:1 (Imax Ratio)
Screen capture from Warner's Justice League (Director's Cut)


1.66:1
Screen capture from MGM's Goldfinger.


1.75:1
Screen capture from Disney's The Jungle Book.


1.78:1 (16:9)
Screen capture from Pixar's Toy Story.


1.85:1
Screen capture from Paramount's Saving Private Ryan.


2.00:1
Screen capture from Olive's Invasion of the Body Snatchers.


2.20:1
Screen capture from Fox's Patton.


2.35:1
Screen capture from Universal's Dune.


2.39:1
Screen capture from Sony's Black Hawk Down.


2.40:1
Screen capture from Lionsgate's Dredd.


2.55:1
Screen capture from Disney's Sleeping Beauty.


2.76:1
Screen capture from Warner's Battle of the Bulge


2.89:1
Screen capture from Warner's How the West Was Won.


3.29:1
Screen capture from Columbia's Beyoncé: Live in Atlantic City

[HD Goofnut]

I just wanted to add that discussion is welcome.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Thanks for this. I have a question, and forgive me as I'm a noob when it comes to this stuff, but do fimmakers in other countries employ these same aspect ratios, or are there even more?

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by John72953

Thanks for this. I have a question, and forgive me as I'm a noob when it comes to this stuff, but do fimmakers in other countries employ these same aspect ratios, or are there even more?

You're welcome. These are the most common. 1.66:1 was mainly used in Europe for many years, but filmmakers across the globe mainly use 1.78:1, 1.85:1, or 2.39:1 nowadays.

[obscurelabel]

1.75:1 (7:4) was used occasionally by Paramount and UA, perhaps others, in the 1950s and 1960s. I love how the MGM BD of 1962's The Manchurian Candidate (originally a UA release) has tiny, tiny black bars at the sides to maintain the correct, original 1.75:1 ratio in the 1.78:1 HD screen shape. I only wish that the companies that routinely re-frame 1.85:1 movies to 1.78:1 would have this dedication to the original ratio (granted it's not a big difference, but it was 1.85:1 in theaters, and many companies use the black bars at the top and bottom to be faithful to the original).

[msgohan]

I suppose this is off topic but why is the Jason shot so pixellated? Does the BD look that bad?

[42041]

Originally Posted by msgohan

I suppose this is off topic but why is the Jason shot so pixellated? Does the BD look that bad?

No, it's pretty much a perfect transfer of the source material. Not sure what's going on with that image.

[Jesse757x]

interesting...I didn't know there were so many aspect ratios

[fastburn430]

I like the 1:78:1 ratio because it fits the screen perfectly.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by msgohan

I suppose this is off topic but why is the Jason shot so pixellated? Does the BD look that bad?

It's not pixelated. It just has heavy grain. Thankfully Sony did not apply any DNR as studios like Universal are so fond of doing.

[BohemianGraham]

To be honest, I don't mind 1.33:1 or 1.37:1 all that much, although I know so many others prefer Stretch-o-vision. I do admit that I've watched a couple of the early Disney films with their "painted bars," to see what they look like. I love how Blu-ray is releasing stuff in its intended aspect ratio.

I'm stuck watching "window boxed" off of my cable box (for anything Widescreen), or any DVDs that aren't anamorphic. I've been quite surprised to find several titles, including a few Disney ones, on DVD in window box mode on a BD player, but play normally on a DVD player.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

To be honest, I don't mind 1.33:1 or 1.37:1 all that much, although I know so many others prefer Stretch-o-vision. I do admit that I've watched a couple of the early Disney films with their "painted bars," to see what they look like. I love how Blu-ray is releasing stuff in its intended aspect ratio.

I'm stuck watching "window boxed" off of my cable box (for anything Widescreen), or any DVDs that aren't anamorphic. I've been quite surprised to find several titles, including a few Disney ones, on DVD in window box mode on a BD player, but play normally on a DVD player.

I don't mind 1.33:1 or 1.37:1 either. I just want the film's OAR whatever that may be. I don't really care for 1.85:1 being altered to 1.78:1 or 1.37:1 being altered to 1.33:1, but I can live with it. How anyone could watch a 2.35/39:1 film in 1.78:1 (Alliance versions of Equilibrium and Blade) is beyond my comprehension.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

I don't mind 1.33:1 or 1.37:1 either. I just want the film's OAR whatever that may be. I don't really care for 1.85:1 being altered to 1.78:1 or 1.37:1 being altered to 1.33:1, but I can live with it. How anyone could watch a 2.35/39:1 film in 1.78:1 (Alliance versions of Equilibrium and Blade) is beyond my comprehension.

That's just as bad as P&S in the DVD days! I unfortunately have a bunch of P&S DVDs, but many of those were early release titles, movies I don't really care about, or they only came in P&S versions (either through lack of stock, or the studios never bothered with a WS version).

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

That's just as bad as P&S in the DVD days! I unfortunately have a bunch of P&S DVDs, but many of those were early release titles, movies I don't really care about, or they only came in P&S versions (either through lack of stock, or the studios never bothered with a WS version).

I still have several copies of DVDs that were never even released anamorphically such as Memphis Belle (1.66:1) and Wing Commander (2.35:1). It was the same story with The Rocketeer, but that's coming next month.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

I still have several copies of DVDs that were never even released anamorphically such as Memphis Belle (1.66:1) and Wing Commander (2.35:1). It was the same story with The Rocketeer, but that's coming next month.

Half of my movies will probably never see a BD release. I recently bought Smile (a 1970s version of Drop Dead Gorgeous with Bruce "the man who killed John Wayne" Dern, Barbara "Agent 99" Feldon, Annette "Superman's Mommy and David St. Hubbins's Wife" O'Toole, and a very young Melanie Griffths), and it's a window boxed release, which I doubt will ever see the light of BD.

Someone should make this a sticky, so people can see the screenshots.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

Half of my movies will probably never see a BD release. I recently bought Smile (a 1970s version of Drop Dead Gorgeous with Bruce "the man who killed John Wayne" Dern, Barbara "Agent 99" Feldon, Annette "Superman's Mommy and David St. Hubbins's Wife" O'Toole, and a very young Melanie Griffths), and it's a window boxed release, which I doubt will ever see the light of BD.

Someone should make this a sticky, so people can see the screenshots.

Let Blu Titan or SuperBlu know and they will do it.

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by msgohan

I suppose this is off topic but why is the Jason shot so pixellated? Does the BD look that bad?

Originally Posted by 42041

No, it's pretty much a perfect transfer of the source material. Not sure what's going on with that image.

Film grain, and it's that way because that shot is an optical Harryhausen did (so the final SFX was a copy of a copy etc). Here's a shot from the same movie that's not an optical. Since screencaptures are still frames, grain looks more visible on them because it's not flashing randomly at 1/24ths of a second intervals, so your eye-brain combination is not blending them in. In playback they might look like 2x-4x less apparent.

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

I don't suppose this could be stickied?

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Just a bump. I'll probably bump this thread every few weeks for the new members that come here unless a mod wants to make it a sticky.

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Let Blu Titan or SuperBlu know and they will do it.

Mmm...

There's several with similar themes on the forum..

Aspect Ratios - The Director's Vision

Black bars? 4:3-16:9-2.35 Widescreen Fullscreen Scope OAR sticky threads etc
_________________________________
Search is always your friend

[Kriztoffer Swank]

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

Film grain, and it's that way because that shot is an optical Harryhausen did (so the final SFX was a copy of a copy etc). Here's a shot from the same movie that's not an optical.

That screencap you posted looks beautiful (and I really ought to pick that BD up—yum), but the one in the first post does look really, really pixelated. I see stair-stepping all along the outline of Talos and heavy pixelation all across the entire rest of the image. I'd be interested to see a recapture of that same frame either by Goofnut or somebody else; maybe something went awry the first time. Or maybe it's part of the disc and the codec went on the fritz for a short bit.

[Deciazulado]

Well we didn't do that screenshot, so I don't know if that's on the BD exactly that way. Looks unlikely but I'd have to check the disc to confirm.

Here's a similar SFX shot our site did. (You can see 18 more here)

[Kriztoffer Swank]

Yeah, I'm not seeing the problem at all in any of the Blu-ray.com caps.