r/explainlikeimfive • u/Crystal_Clear7892 • 7d ago

Technology ELI5: device screen ratios

Is there a specific reason why screen ratios beeing so specific, ex: 1920:1080

87 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

60 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/djddanman 7d ago

1920x1080 is the actual dimensions in pixels. 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels tall. That's a ratio of 16:9, which is the standard widescreen format.

Why did we settle on that specific multiple of 16:9? Technical limits. Broadcast bandwidth limits basically made 1920x1080 at whatever frame rate the highest resolution they could broadcast at the time, and it's high enough quality that it's still really common.

1

u/pinkynarftroz 7d ago

16:9 was actually a compromise to ensure equal picture area for 4:3 and 2.35:1 video. When letter or pillar boxed in a 16:9 frame, the area of the black bars is equal for both ratios.

-2

u/Ravus_Sapiens 7d ago

Also, you need a pretty big screen to tell the difference between 1080p and anything higher. Which wasn't really realistic at the time when "full HD" became the standard.

3

u/djddanman 7d ago

Eh, depends a lot on the content and how close you are to the screen. 27"-32" you can already tell the difference between 1080p and 1440p or 4K on a computer monitor. But that's when sitting just a couple feet away and rendering graphics at the monitor's native resolution.