Aspect Ratio History in Film

An acquaintance once quipped, “Letterboxing is bogus. They just cut off the top and bottom of the screen so you can see less.” Clearly, this interpretation of the modern screen dimension process is incorrect. But how did we get to the wide-aspect of cinema today? Turns out the history behind how we evolved from the original 4:3 aspect ratio to more recent platforms is incredibly interesting. Even more so considering that at one point in time, the “chop the top and bottom” theory was actually put into practice!

Here is a great video for any cinephile interested in learning more about the history of film aspect ratio evolution:

The Changing Shape of Cinema: The History of Aspect Ratio from

What do you think will be next?