No, this isn't "one of those" threads. I'm one of the ones that yells at the people asking "those" questions...

To my knowledge, there are three main ratios used by studios. 1.78:1 (i.e. "16x9"), 1.85:1, and 2.35:1. I have a per-pixel display, so I can actually tell the difference on a 1.85:1 film, as there are teeny little black bars on the top and bottom, about a quarter of an inch (not the topic, though, I'm just rambling.. it's late).

Are there more ratios besides this? I was looking at my Harry Potter disc today, and it lists the ratio as 2.4:1. Are they just rounding up, or are there multiple cinemascope ratios besides 2.35:1? I haven't taken the time to measure the visible image on my screen to see if there are variances in the 'scope-ratio films that I own (which is the majority).

And what's with them listing it as "16x9 2.4:1"? Do they think I'm too stupid to know that I'm watching it on a 1.78:1 television? Or do they think that all consumers think "16x9" is the universal notation for widescreen?

No, this isn't "one of those" threads. I'm one of the ones that yells at the people asking "those" questions...

To my knowledge, there are three main ratios used by studios. 1.78:1 (i.e. "16x9"), 1.85:1, and 2.35:1. I have a per-pixel display, so I can actually tell the difference on a 1.85:1 film, as there are teeny little black bars on the top and bottom, about a quarter of an inch (not the topic, though, I'm just rambling.. it's late).

Are there more ratios besides this? I was looking at my Harry Potter disc today, and it lists the ratio as 2.4:1. Are they just rounding up, or are there multiple cinemascope ratios besides 2.35:1? I haven't taken the time to measure the visible image on my screen to see if there are variances in the 'scope-ratio films that I own (which is the majority).

And what's with them listing it as "16x9 2.4:1"? Do they think I'm too stupid to know that I'm watching it on a 1.78:1 television? Or do they think that all consumers think "16x9" is the universal notation for widescreen?

Here is the easiest explanation from Wikipedia:

2.35:1 35 mm anamorphic prior to 1970, used by CinemaScope ("'Scope") and early Panavision. The anamorphic standard has subtly changed so that modern anamorphic productions are actually 2.39,[1] but often referred to as 2.35 anyway, due to old convention. (Note that anamorphic refers to the compression of the image on film to maximize a standard 4 perf academy area but presents the widest of aspect ratios.)

2.39:1 35 mm anamorphic from 1970 onwards. Sometimes rounded up to 2.40:1[1] Often commercially branded as Panavision format or 'Scope.

And we have the seldom used 1:66:1 also...

Yes.

1.33 - duh
1.66 - mostly disney and Kubrick films
1.78
1.85
2:1 - not common
2.20:1 - Apocalypse Now has this and a few others.
2.35
2.39/2.40
2.76 - the widest available - Ben Hur.

That should cover it.

And what's with them listing it as "16x9 2.4:1"? Do they think I'm too stupid to know that I'm watching it on a 1.78:1 television? Or do they think that all consumers think "16x9" is the universal notation for widescreen?The listing of 16x9 is a carry over from DVD. It means that the DVD is widescreen enhanced ("Anamorphic"). It is not needed for HD since HD is 16x9 native but as they say, old habits die hard.

Are there more ratios besides this?

http://www.imdb.com/Sections/DVDs/AspectRatios/

And what's with them listing it as "16x9 2.4:1"? Do they think I'm too stupid to know that I'm watching it on a 1.78:1 television? Or do they think that all consumers think "16x9" is the universal notation for widescreen?

Probably a holdover from SD-DVD where "enhanced for 16:9" meant anamorphic widescreen. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are always encoded 16:9 (with black bars as necessary) and are not anamorphic.

-Bill

Are there more ratios besides this?

Yes. For many years, the offical Hollywood aspect ratio was 1.37-1, Academy Ratio. When TV started up and set their ratio at 1.33-1, the movies wanted to set themselves apart from Tee Vee. Hollywood wanted to go wider. The movement towards that started in 1953. The Robe was shot in Academy Ratio and it was also shot in one of the widescreen processes, I forget which one.

Over the next 15 years there was all sorts of widescreen processes kicking about and competing. Many of these processes died on the vine with only a few films made employing them. That's why you'll see some unusual, well, uncommon ratios on many 50's and 60's films.

the HDTV ratio of 1.78-1 was set thusly, in part, because it's towards the middle of all the various aspect ratios that have come down the pike.

i think the 16x9 just means designed for 16x9 tv's, since that is still what most widescreen owners have.

Thanks, guys. I was referring to commonly-used ratios, I'm aware of the others, you just don't see 'em very often.