=?UTF-8?B?IkrDqXLDtG1lIE0uIEJlcmdlciI=?= <jeberger@free.fr> wrote:
>  Actually, it's almost *never* a 4:3 ratio. Typical formats include:
> 720x576 (PAL), 640x576 (PAL), 480x576 (PAL), 720x480 (NTSC), 640x480
> (NTSC, the only 4:3 format here) and 480x480 (NTSC).

Actually, PAL and NTSC have nothing to do with resolution or aspect ratios -
they're just standards for color encoding in analog TV signals.

(The DVD-formats often maldesignated as PAL and NTSC are in fact EIA 525/60
(NTSC) or CCIR 625/50 (PAL), respectively.)

With Analog TV in turn, it doesn't make *any* sense at all to speak about
horizontal resolution. They only have a certain number of lines per "field",
and a nominal aspect ratio - which as a matter of fact has *always* been 4:3
for *all* non-widescreen formats (even pre-WW2 experimental TV systems often
used 4:3, although 7:3 seems to have been used surprisingly often, too).

Film, on the other hand, has been using a wide variety of formats since its
birth, both for stills and movies: 4:3, 11:8, 5:3, 2:1, 3:2, and probably some
more odds & ends.

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