POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.general : An old discussion "Aspect ratios" : Re: An old discussion "Aspect ratios" Server Time
9 Aug 2024 23:25:15 EDT (-0400)
  Re: An old discussion "Aspect ratios"  
From: Phil Clute
Date: 13 Apr 2000 00:11:28
Message: <38F54965.F686D9A5@tiac.net>
Ahh, lets see...According to the glossary in the book "A Short History
of Movies" we have:

Aspect Ratio.
The ratio of the width of the image(written first) to it's 
height(a constant). The standard 35mm Academy Frame(or Academy
Ratio) is 1 1/3 times wide as it is high; it's aspect ratio(1 1/3
to 1)is written 1.33:1. Other common aspect ratios are
1.66:1 (35mm European widescreen, a flat format),
1.85:1 (35mm American widescreen, also flat),
2.2:1  (70mm flat),
2.35:1 (Panavision, a 35mm wide-screen anamorphic format),
2.75:1 (70mm anamorphic).
Cinemascope began at 2.55:1 but soon changed to 2.35:1.


Remember that when you do the math for say a 2.2 aspect ratio that
the ratio really means 2.222222222 etc., otherwise you'll get weird
image sizes; for instance a width of 400 divided by 2.2 gives a height
of 181.81818 etc. when it should be 180.
Also, if you want to be technical some films use the extra width
for the soundtrack. So Lawrence of Arabia was shot on 65mm but the
final print was 70mm(5mm for the soundtrack).
I've been told that Star Wars is 2.35:1 but the trailers available
on the internet are 2.2(unless they're wrong to save file sizes).
-- 
Phil
...coffee?...yes please! extra sugar,extra cream...Thank you.


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