

Have horizontally stretched and distorted images, making people and objects appear shorter and wider:ģ. Tolerate vertical black bars on the left and right sides of the screen (called “pillarboxing”),Ģ. There are 3 primary ways to display a 4:3 video signal on a 16:9 monitor, each with its own drawback:ġ. Failure to do so will result in distorted images, as shown below. Therefore, to display clear, undistorted video images, it is important to utilize monitors with the same 4:3 aspect ratio to match the cameras. However, many cameras in the industrial, commercial, security, and law enforcement industries still utilize 4:3 CCD or CMOS imagers. Below is a example of a 16:9 image on a 16:9 widescreen lcd monitor: Nearly all experts agree that in order to display optimal video images, it is critical to match the aspect ratio of the monitor to the aspect ratio of the camera (or other incoming video source). Some models can also display SD (standard definition) video signals, but this will require some compromises, as you will read below. 16:9 widescreen monitors are ideally suited to display HD video signals. It is 78% wider than it is tall, and fully one-third wider than a 4:3 screen.

Television broadcasting stayed with the 4:3 standard, until the recent move to HDTV and 16:9 widescreen.ġ6:9 is the native aspect ratio of most high-definition widescreen LCD monitors and TV’s (16:9 and 16:10 are very similar). But in the mid-1950’s, the motion picture industry began developing several widescreen formats to improve their decreasing audience numbers. In the 1930’s, the television industry adopted the same 4:3 standard. The 4:3 aspect ratio dates back to 1917, when the Society of Motion Picture Engineers adopted it as the standard format for film. They are not capable of displaying HD (high-definition) video. 4:3 LCD monitors can display analog video signals that conform to NTSC and PAL standards. These are often referred to as square monitors. (Larger aspect ratio formats are used in the motion picture industry.)Īll the older TV’s and computer monitors you grew up with had the squarish 4:3 shape– 33% wider than it was high. The two most common aspect ratios are 4:3, also known as 1.33:1 or fullscreen, and 16:9, also known as 1.78:1 or widescreen. However, are 16:9 aspect ratio monitors really the best choice for your industrial/commercial project?Īspect ratio is the relationship of the width of a video image compared to its height. Which is better: 4:3 vs 16:9 aspect ratio LCD screens? As is often the case, the answer is “That depends…” There’s no doubt that today’s HD televisions look fantastic. 4:3 vs 16:9 Aspect Ratio: Which Monitors Are Best?
