Which is the best format- 4:3 (TV) or 16:9 (widescreen)

Discuss anything ProShow Producer related
.
User avatar
Posts: 3419
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2007 6:04 am
Location: I am a Southern Belle

Which is the best format- 4:3 (TV) or 16:9 (widescreen)

Postby HunnyB » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:20 pm

Just curious on which format most of you are using.
4:3 TV or 16:9 (widescreen)

HunnyB
HunnyB
PSP4, Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Canon EF70-300mm lens, Dell Studio XPS 9100 desktop w/ blu-ray burner & Windows 7; hpMedia center pc370n desktop; Gateway Laptop; Epson 4990 scanner; hpC5280 Printer; Adobe CS5; QuarkXpress 8

Esteemed Member
Posts: 346
Joined: Mon May 28, 2007 8:43 pm
Location: NY

Postby nantory » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:59 pm

It depends on where you are going to be playing your shows. 16:9 is definitely better on the new widescreen TV's, if you use the 4:3 on these new sets, the subjects look short and squatty. If you use the 16:9 for the regular tv's, the pictures look too small, so you really have to adjust for where it will be played.

cfeather

16:9

Postby cfeather » Thu Jul 19, 2007 4:41 am

I have been doing all my DVD shows in 16:9. I feel it makes them a little more contemporary looking and will give them some lengevity. Cropping the images to the wider format, especially if they are verticals to start with, is a challenge.

sail978

Postby sail978 » Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:15 am

Definitely widescreen... and it surprises me that more people don't use it here.

.
User avatar
Posts: 7501
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:35 pm
Location: Kirkland,Wash, USA, Earth

Postby gpsmikey » Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:10 am

Hey, most of us remember B/W tv days !! I never cease to be inspired by
the number of retired people we have here that are getting out there and
experimenting. One of the classics was the late Peter Frampton -- he had
quite a number of great shows and was over 80 :D

mikey (who is going to start looking into the 16:9 stuff soon )
You can't have too many gadgets or too much disk space !!
mikey (PSP6, Photoshop CS6, Vegas Pro 14, Acid 7, BluffTitler, Nikon D300s, D810)
Lots of PIC and Arduino microprocessor stuff too !!

Mike S.

Re: Which is the best format- 4:3 (TV) or 16:9 (widescreen

Postby Mike S. » Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:46 pm

HunnyB wrote:Just curious on which format most of you are using.
4:3 TV or 16:9 (widescreen)

The "best" size will be the one that best fits the TV screen of the person(s) the slideshow is made for. Very gently without meaning to flame anyone, to me this is the most important factor period.

That said, the last statistic I read is that wide screen TV sets have made it into 20% of the homes. That means, currently, 80% of the viewers would view your slideshow best in the 4:3 format.

One other thing is that I do slideshows professionally and to date, not one client has ever asked for their show in the 16:9 format. Not one has even inquired over the phone when checking my services or during a demo. I think that this may change in 2008 though. My thought is that when the "MAJORITY" of 46 inch or larger true HD widescreen LCD and Plasma sets start selling for under $900 might be when the masses might start shifting to widescreen. Will this happen in 2008? Donno, but I hope it happens in 2008 as that's when I'll buy one.

Just my "personal" viewpoints,
Mike S.

sail978

Postby sail978 » Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:52 pm

While I agree with you that right now the majority of people still have 4:3 TVs, that is changing very rapidly. And because of that change coming, I'd rather switch to widescreen now because hopefully people will still be watching my slideshows ten or twenty years from now. I also think that photos look better in widescreen because it is more in proportion to the original photos.

.
User avatar
Posts: 7501
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:35 pm
Location: Kirkland,Wash, USA, Earth

Postby gpsmikey » Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:01 pm

While everything in our house is still 4:3, I do have to admit that
often in places like Costco, the only DVD's they have are in the
widescreen format for the new stuff (of course they are also selling
widescreen TV's there too ... go figure :D ). It is a trend I am seeing
more of these days though, where the only DVD's you can find are
in the widescreen format.

mikey
You can't have too many gadgets or too much disk space !!
mikey (PSP6, Photoshop CS6, Vegas Pro 14, Acid 7, BluffTitler, Nikon D300s, D810)
Lots of PIC and Arduino microprocessor stuff too !!

Mike S.

Postby Mike S. » Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:14 pm

sail978 wrote:I also think that photos look better in widescreen because it is more in proportion to the original photos.

That might be a hard thing to determine at this point in time. Photos printed from film are usually in the 4x6 (1.5) or 5x7 (1.4) formats which are wider than the 4:3 (1.33) format. But all of digital cameras that I've researched via the web (not owned) are in the 4:3 format. I don't know for sure whether the "overall majority" of digital cameras are in the 4:3 format as I'm basing my observation only on the ones I researched for friends or my purchases.

Thanks,
Mike S.

Mike S.

Postby Mike S. » Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:31 pm

gpsmikey wrote:While everything in our house is still 4:3, I do have to admit that
often in places like Costco, the only DVD's they have are in the
widescreen format for the new stuff (of course they are also selling
widescreen TV's there too ... go figure :D ). It is a trend I am seeing
more of these days though, where the only DVD's you can find are
in the widescreen format.
mikey

Yes, that's certainly an accurate observation. Movies are shown in theaters in wide screen so are always released that way on DVDs these days. Will that fact be enough to entice folks to buy wide screen TV sets or maybe the razor sharp quality that most flat screens display might convince them.

Somehow I think the "masses" will stay with their current 4:3 TV sets until the prices of the 46" or larger sets fall below a price they are willing to pay. For me, I've decided to buy a 46" or 50" set when the major brand 1080p plasma or LCD sets fall below $1000. That is just a personal benchmark I've set for our TV set purchases.

But if our current 32" WEGA 4:3 CRT set should go bad before then, I'll buy a wide screen LCD or Plasma replacement. I just hope I haven't cursed our WEGA set now. :wink: .... Or maybe when the wife is not looking I'll open up the back and disconnect a wire. :wink: :wink: :wink:

I also think that the masses will not buy HD-DVD or BluRay players until the prices for those high def players fall much lower than they are now "AND" when Blockbuster starts stocking a "large" number of movies on those types of discs. I think "both" have to happen before the "masses" will buy those players.

Thanks,
Mike S.

dnavarrojr

Postby dnavarrojr » Thu Jul 19, 2007 9:04 pm

Our TV's and monitors are all 4:3 so I do 99% of my work in 4:3. I've started to work in 16:9, but it's a slow process.

Hopefully this year we'll be able to afford a new widescreen TV and I'll be more motivated.

ProShow Hall of Fame
User avatar
Posts: 3143
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2006 7:42 pm
Location: Northern Virginia

Postby DickK » Fri Jul 20, 2007 3:17 pm

Keep in mind that either will work regardless of what the viewer has for a TV, just determines where the black bars will be for a device in the other format.

Personally, I've wavered. For shows passed out to family I do them 4:3 because I know that's what nearly all of the intended audience has and filling the screen is a good thing especially on smaller TVs (anything below 32"). Otherwise, I tend to do it in 16:9 because that's what my 2 TVs are and because that's where the world is going in the long term. The only downside to the 16:9 is, as someone mentioned, the larger compression this gives on vertical format digital camera shots.

Dick
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle ((PSG, PSE & Fuji HS20 user)) Presentation Impact Blog

sail978

Postby sail978 » Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:05 pm

In answer to Mike's post on aspect ratios, most digital SLRs (which I use) are in a 3:2 format which results in a more rectangular image thus making it more suitable for a widescreen TV. Most compact digitals use a 4:3 ratio.

Esteemed Member
User avatar
Posts: 155
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:33 am
Location: Colorado

Re: Which is the best format- 4:3 (TV) or 16:9 (widescreen

Postby toad » Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:46 pm

Mike S. wrote:
HunnyB wrote:Just curious on which format most of you are using.
4:3 TV or 16:9 (widescreen)

The "best" size will be the one that best fits the TV screen of the person(s) the slideshow is made for. Very gently without meaning to flame anyone, to me this is the most important factor period.

Just my "personal" viewpoints,
Mike S.


I usually do mine in 4:3 but agree it depends on the client. I personally have a 4:3 TV and a widescreen LCD. I make my personal videos in both. I place both shows on the menu that way I can choose which format I want for which TV I decide to view it on. I have also done this for clients, it just takes some adjusting.

ProShow Hall of Fame
User avatar
Posts: 3043
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:10 am
Location: Scotland

Postby briancbb » Sat Jul 21, 2007 11:29 am

Otherwise, I tend to do it in 16:9 because that's what my 2 TVs are and because that's where the world is going in the long term. The only downside to the 16:9 is, as someone mentioned, the larger compression this gives on vertical format digital camera shots.

Dick


I use 16:9 all the time unless asked otherwise, as most TV's in the UK are now 16:9. As for the vertical format, (portrait), photos it is ideal for placing two side by side and using cross fading between them.

Brian

Next

Return to PSP - General Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 16 guests