Choosing Between 4:3 and 16:9

These days conventional wisdom says that a new system should have a 16:9 projector and a 16:9 screen. This is true for most people, and clearly the trend is toward the conversion from traditional 4:3 television to 16:9 widescreen theater. But it may or may not be right for you. There are a number of exceptional 4:3 displays on the market, and they have unique advantages over the 16:9 models. So which is best for you—4:3 or 16:9? The answer is that it all depends on the trade-offs you want to make, and how you want to manage your presentation experience.

Today, we have more choices than ever when it comes to display technologies. What you choose to install is typically driven by the room function and the media that needs to be displayed on the system.

Displaying 16:9 on 4:3

4:3 equipment is still being produced and the media for this format is in great supply due to its long history. If your media of choice is older films and TV programs in their original format, than this equipment would work for you. The issue comes when 16:9 content is played on 4:3 equipment. The image height will be greatly decreased because of the black bands that appear when the wide screen format is played on a 4:3 device. 4:3 format will display a letterbox version of the media, and depending on the original widescreen format, you could lose 12% of the picture height at the top and bottom, making for a 24% loss of total image.

Displaying 4:3 on 16:9

When displaying 4:3 format content on 16:9 displays, another problem appears. The black bars are back, this time on the left and right sides of the screen. Also there is a distinct loss of impact due to the lack of picture height once enjoyed in the native 4:3 format using a screen of the same width. The option here is to use the feature called a "widescreen" where the 4:3 image is stretched across the 9:16 display filling up the black bars with image. Using this option stretches the image and the vertical distortions are always noticeable. Another option is the "zoom" feature on some newer 16:9 displays. The image is zoomed in on cutting off the top and bottom of the frame and filling up the bars with a less distorted image. This is not perfect though, due to the fact that you are essentially trimming the top and bottom instead of the left and right, distorting the original frame once again.

Obviously the best solution is achieved using the native formats in their original forms. Projecting 4:3 content on 4:3 equipment and 16:9 format using 16:9 equipment is still the best way to maintain the integrity of original content. Of course, this can not always be achieved, and therefore, we need options.

For more answers to your display questions, contact your Vistacom account representative.