Screen formats are determined by the specific aspect ratio of the screen. Aspect ratio is the fractional relation of the width of a video image compared to its height. The two most common aspect ratios in home video are 4:3 (also known as 4×3, 1.33:1, or standard) and 16:9 (16×9, 1.78:1, or wide-screen). All the older TVs and computer monitors you grew up with had the squarish 4:3 shape–only 33 percent wider than it was high. On the other hand, 16:9 is the native aspect ratio of most HDTV programming; it is 78 percent wider than it is tall, or fully one-third wider than 4:3.
So which aspect ratio is best for you? Today, the most commonly sold aspect ratios screens for home theaters are 1.78:1 (16:9) and now growing 2.35:1 (CinemaScope). 16:9 aspect ratio screens are a perfect match to today’s HD video projectors.
To figure out what aspect ratio may be best for you, you may consider the following:
If you are building a dedicated room geared mostly towards movie watching, then we would suggest a 2.40/2.35 Aspect Ratio screen since this is what most movies are usually shot in. However, when you watch 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratio content on your 2.35/2.40 projection screen, you will have black bars on the left and right of the projected image.
If you are purchasing a screen for a media room or primary viewing of HDTV channels and video game playing, then we would suggest a 1.78:1 (16:9) projection screen. However, when you watch 2.35 and 1.85 movies you will have black bars above and below your projected image. When watching 4:3 content, you will have black bars on the sides of your projected image.
