So I know this is a fairly odd question, but where did we come up with the screen ratios? 16:10 should be like 8:5 or something right? and 16:9 could be 4:3?

Quote: Original post by Dbproguy
So I know this is a fairly odd question, but where did we come up with the screen ratios? 16:10 should be like 8:5 or something right? and 16:9 could be 4:3?

16:10 could in theory be 8:5, Im assuming 16:10 was chosen for easy comparison with 16:9

16:9 could in no way be 4:3 though! 4:3 is either 12:9 or 16:12 depending on what you want to scale to.

Oh >.< I think I took the square root instead of finding a common factor.. My mistake.

Stupid question I guess.. http://www.dvdaust.com/aspect.htm helps explain some of the Aspect Ratios though.

Okay a valid question now: A DVD says "Formatted to fit 16:9 wide-screen televisions. The bars at the top and bottom are normal" So why does it still show bars on the top and bottom of my 16:9 monitor?

Are you sure you have a 16:9 monitor and resolution? Many LCD-monitors today are 16:10. Also, check if the software (incorrectly) assumes you have a 4:3 or 5:4 monitor and pads with black bars, and then gives you a horizontally stretched image instead.

Quote: Original post by Dbproguy
Oh >.< I think I took the square root instead of finding a common factor.. My mistake.

Stupid question I guess.. http://www.dvdaust.com/aspect.htm helps explain some of the Aspect Ratios though.

Okay a valid question now: A DVD says "Formatted to fit 16:9 wide-screen televisions. The bars at the top and bottom are normal" So why does it still show bars on the top and bottom of my 16:9 monitor?

Many movies are have an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 ("cinemascope"), so you'd see black bars on a 16:9 screen.

Additionally it's also dependent on the resolution you use. You may use a 16:10 resolution on a 16:9 monitor. Or indeed think you have 16:9 monitor but in reality have a 16:10 monitor.

Also, your movie player might do some aspect correction of its own which might be incorrect, because it assumes a different monitor aspect and so on...

The possibilities are endless! ;)

Lol I know it's a 16:9 monitor, I'm running 1600 X 900 (oh it makes it SO easy to figure out)

I'm thinking that it has something to do with the software I'm using maybe.. If that's not it I have NO idea what it could be. Thanks for the suggestions though haha!

Quote: Original post by Dbproguy
I'm thinking that it has something to do with the software I'm using maybe.. If that's not it I have NO idea what it could be.

'Formatted for 16:9' often means that they added the black-bars to the DVD itself. Completely useless, as 16:9 monitors add the bars anyway, and now you have bars on all 4 sides on a regular monitor [wink]