4:3, 16:9, Wide screen, Sidebars, Letterbox, Stretch, Pan and Scan --- What does it all mean?

4:3 (width: height) is the standard television shape. HDTV's have been manufactured in both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios.

  4:3 screen

16:9 (width: height) is the traditional shape of a HDTV, although some HDTV's have been designed with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

 16:9 wide screen format

Wide screen is a term used for the 16:9 aspect ratio. Most HDTV sets are easy to identify because of their wide screens. These screens, which are usually a lot wider than they are tall, closely resemble their movie theater counterparts.

Sidebars present the entire picture in the middle of the screen and display black bands on each side of the picture. Sidebars are used when non-HD content is displayed on HDTV's with aspect ratios of 16:9. Stretch is a tool that can be deployed on some HDTV's to stretch a 4:3 image to a 16:9 screen (vs. sidebars).

Letterbox presents the entire picture in the middle of the screen and displays black bands above and below the picture. Letterboxes are used to show HD content on a 4:3 aspect ratio TV. However, with a 16:9 aspect ratio HDTV you may also have black bands at the top and bottom of the picture depending on which wide screen format the program was produced in.

Pan and Scan is a tool that can be deployed to present 16:9 content onto a 4:3 television (vs. letterboxes).

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