Evan Powell, September 24, 2002

There is some confusion about whether you should go with a 4:3 or 16:9 television, however when you begin to discuss projectors and screens, the problem seems to be compounded. As new choices in both formats hit the market, the issue seems to become ever more pressing. Which is better for you? What is the advantage to one over the other? Let's begin by agreeing that we're talking about your primary entertainment system – your home theater. Smaller TV's around the house are fine just the way they are.

If you are new to the whole concept, when we talk about 4:3 and 16:9 formats we're talking about the rectangular shape of the video image, or what is called its aspect ratio. A standard TV has an aspect ratio of "4:3". That means the picture is 4 units wide for every three units of height. That is, if a tube were 40" wide it would therefore be 30" tall. Meanwhile, the new digital HDTV standard is 16:9, which is 16 units of width for every 9 units of height. So HDTV's 16:9 is a rectangle that is, relatively speaking, horizontally wider than regular TV. This shape has been chosen because it's close to the shape of the screens in movie theaters.

Here's the problem: video comes in many different aspect ratio formats. Material made for regular TV is usually 4:3, (often denoted as 1.33 since 4 divided by 3 = 1.33). Shows broadcast in HDTV are 16:9, which is 1.78 (16 divided by 9 = 1.78). Movies, music videos, and other content on DVD comes in a variety of formats, including 1.33, 1.78, 1.85, 2.00, 2.35, 2.4, 2.5, and so on. Since there has been no universal standard for the rectangular shape of a video picture, confusion abounds. Ideally, what native format should your projector be, and what format should the screen be that goes with it?

The simple answer is this. As far as projector/screen formats go, there are two "best" ways to set up your home theater. You can get a native 4:3 projector with a 4:3 screen. Or you can get a native 16:9 projector with a 16:9 screen. Both of these projector/screen combinations have some advantages, and both have limitations for which you must compromise. There is no perfect solution – there is only the best solution for you. Hopefully we can help you make that choice.

Option #1. Native 16:9 projector with a 16:9 screen

If widescreen DVD's are your preferred viewing material, or if you want to prepare for receiving HDTV broadcasts in their native format, then your decision is simple. A 16:9 projector on a 16:9 screen is clearly the best combination for optimizing widescreen viewing. The 16:9 image fits the 16:9 screen perfectly, and all is well. The major advantage is that you usually get the highest resolution possible for widescreen material.

However keep in mind that when it comes to DVD movies there is a formatting problem to consider. Many are wider than 16:9. For example, Dances with Wolves, Tombstone, U-571, American Beauty, and Star Wars/Phantom Menace (to name a few) are all 2.35:1, not 1.78:1. So when you display these movies on a 16:9 screen you will still have small black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, each bar amounting to about 12% of the picture height. The bars are not nearly as large as they would be on a 4:3 screen, but they can be visible nevertheless.

How visible the bars are depends on the black level the projector is capable of, and what type of screen material you are using. Standard white screens will always make the bars more visible. High contrast gray screens like the Stewart Grayhawk will make them darker, and the Firehawk will make them darker still. With these screen materials and the higher performance projectors, the presence of black bars is less of a visible distraction than it used to be.

How do you deal with 4:3 video on a 16:9 system?

All 16:9 format projectors will display a 4:3 image. However, the major limitation of the 16:9 projector, (or any 16:9 video display system), is that, one way or another, 4:3 material is a different shape than the screen. This may or may not be an issue for you, but you need to be clear about it since there is a lot of 4:3 video/film material in the world. Standard television of course is 4:3. So are most classic movies (Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Citizen Kane, Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Fantasia, etc.). Many music videos are in 4:3. The question is how will you display all of this material in your home theater?

With a 16:9 screen, one option is to display 4:3 material using the middle two-thirds of the screen. Since a 4:3 image isn't as wide as a 16:9 screen, there will be black sections on either edge of your picture. If the 4:3 material is coming from your DVD player or an HDTV channel, the pillars will be black, which is tolerable. If it is coming from your television feed, the pillars will be medium to light gray which is less appealing. This is really the same problem that occurs when you watch a DVD on a regular TV. In both cases you are watching a program that's a different shape than the screen. In one instance there are black bars on the top and the bottom, in the other the bars are on the left and the right

You can fix the gray pillar problem several ways, none of which are perfect solutions. First, you can use the "stretch" feature on the projector to stretch the 4:3 image horizontally so it fills the 16:9 frame. In this mode people will appear fatter. Cars will take on a low-rider look. The romantic essence of Casablanca, a 4:3 film, may be somewhat compromised when you make Bogart and Bergman look like they've spent the war years gorging on French cheese and pate. To anyone serious about seeing a video or film the way the creator intended it, this distortion of the 4:3 image may be unacceptable.

A better alternative is to "zoom" in to the 4:3 image instead of stretching it. This basically clips off some of the top and bottom of the image to create the correct shape of rectangle, and displays the middle section in full frame 16:9. So with facial close-ups for example, you may lose some of the hair and neck of the subject. In general this works pretty well, although you will sometimes miss important portions of the image. (For example those "Weather Alerts" that sometimes scroll across the bottom of your screen would be cut off.)

Other variations on these themes have appeared as well. These typically involve combining the two methods described above, with a nip here and a stretch there, in an attempt to preserve as much of the original image as possible with a minimum of distortion.

The bottom line is this. A 16:9 format projector is ideal for HDTV and widescreen DVD's. But it involves some compromises with 4:3 material. If your intention is to move forward to the next format, and if you enjoy renting and watching movies, then the compromises are probably reasonable. However if cable television compromises the vast majority of your viewing, then perhaps it's worth taking a good look at the 4:3 format.

Option #2: Native 4:3 projector with a 4:3 screen

At first the idea of choosing a 4:3 projector with a 4:3 screen sounds a bit short sighted. After all, 16:9 is the future, right? Why would anyone go this route? Well, there are some valid reasons. One is to avoid the problems we just discussed. But more importantly, if you primarily watch broadcast television and sports, or if you want to view material such as classic films or music videos optimally, the 4:3 set-up may be the right choice for you. And for those who use projectors for video games, having them blown up to the biggest image possible can add a new dimension of excitement. With progressive scan, they can look good even on very large screens. And don't worry, just about all native 4:3 projectors can display 16:9 material also. There are compromises certainly, but the compromises are different from the ones mentioned above. In fact they merely the reverse side of the coin.

When you have a 4:3 projector, you will want to set it up so that it displays a full 4:3 image on a 4:3 screen. If you then feed the projector a 16:9 signal, it will be displayed using 75% of the native 4:3 display, with black bars at the top and bottom. Those bars will each be 12.5% of the total picture height. However, when you play a very widescreen film like Gladiator which is 2.35:1, the size of the black bars increases so that the actual cinematic aspect ratio of the film is maintained.

Many folks object to 4:3 native set-ups because the black bars on 2.35:1 films are simply too large relative to the image. One can understand this objection, particularly when you see it on a typical 27 inch television. A 2.35:1 film will be shown with top/bottom black bars that are each about 22% of the picture height. That means 44% of the screen is black. That looks terrible on a television since the image just looks way too small compared to what you are used to seeing on that screen. On a very large 4:3 screen like the ones we're talking about, it doesn't look as bad because the image is still quite large and easy to see. But it still can be bothersome.

So what's the best choice? It's really a matter of what you would rather live with:

• black bars above and below your DVD/HDTV viewing on a 4:3 screen, or
• black bars to the left and the right of your 4:3 viewing on a 16:9 screen

Here's another thought. Most people install the widest screen they can fit into the available space, regardless of its format. Screen width is almost always the limiting factor. Suppose the available width is 96". We could install a 16:9 screen that was 8 feet wide, or a 4:3 screen that was 8 feet wide. At that width, the 16:9 screen would be 4.5 feet high, while the 4:3 screen would be 6 feet high. How big is the 4:3 image? On the 4:3 screen it would be 8 x 6 = 48 square feet. On the 16:9 screen, it would be 6 x 4.5 = 27 square feet. So the 4:3 screen wins the real estate contest. But is it a knock out?

The trade-offs continue. By going with a 4:3 projector, you are probably limiting your resolution in high-definition material. At this point in the discussion you would need to begin looking at the horizontal and vertical resolution of the projector that you're considering. Native, high definition 16:9 projectors often have nearly twice as many pixels as regular 4:3 projectors!

Conclusion

When shopping for a projector, many people start with specifications. I suggest you forget about specs at first. Instead, start by visualizing how you want 4:3 and 16:9 pictures to appear. You are the director in your own home theater. Think about each type of video/film you want to watch – standard TV, HDTV, music videos, current widescreen feature films, classic 4:3 films, etc. Decide how you want to see them appear on your wall. Don't automatically assume 16:9 is the right solution for you. It may be, but at least think about the issues. First make a well-informed decision on the format that is best for you first. Only then should you begin looking at other factors.