# Widescreen
Widescreen is a picture format whose width is significantly greater than its height, defined by an aspect ratio, the proportional relationship of image width to image height. In video, the 16:9 ratio is commonly called widescreen, while theatrical widescreen includes flat formats such as 1.85:1 and 1.66:1 and anamorphic formats such as 2.39:1[1](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/medfound/picture-aspect-ratio) • [2](https://www.aiprocinematography.com/resources/aspect-ratios-in-film/). The term describes a shape only, not a content type; an aspect ratio says nothing about what is in the frame[3](https://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/cinemascope_oar.htm).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Definition | Aspect ratio is the ratio of picture width to height; 16:9 video is commonly called widescreen[1](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/medfound/picture-aspect-ratio) |
| Pre-widescreen standard | In 1932 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the SMPE finalized the 35mm film aspect ratio and projector aperture settings[4](https://www.widescreen.org/widescreen_history.shtml) |
| Revival | Widescreen cinematography reappeared in the early 1950s to combat television, when most "flat" movies were matted to wider ratios[5](https://www.widescreen.org/aspect_ratios.shtml) |
| Anamorphic ratios | Traditional anamorphic format used 2.35:1; since 1970 most 35mm anamorphic movies are more accurately 2.39:1, often rounded to 2.40:1[5](https://www.widescreen.org/aspect_ratios.shtml) |
| Flat widescreen | 1.85:1 is the standard American theatrical widescreen ratio; 1.66:1 is common in European widescreen[2](https://www.aiprocinematography.com/resources/aspect-ratios-in-film/) |
| TV adaptation cost | Pan-and-scan television versions of widescreen films removed as much as 44 percent of the original image[6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982226010171) |
## Origins
Early Hollywood production settled into a near-square frame. In 1932 the [Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-of-motion-picture-arts-and-sciences) (AMPAS) and the Society of Motion Picture Engineers finalized the aspect ratio for 35mm film and the aperture settings for projectors[4](https://www.widescreen.org/widescreen_history.shtml). All Hollywood movies were filmed in this ratio until widescreen cinematography appeared, and then reappeared, to combat television in the early 1950s[5](https://www.widescreen.org/aspect_ratios.shtml). As the major studios came to see that television was going to erode their audience, they rushed to find a way of giving moviegoers a spectacle beyond anything a home TV set could deliver.[7](https://www.in70mm.com/presents/1953_cinemascope/samuelson/index.htm)
The enabling technology for anamorphic widescreen was older than the boom. Anamorphic lenses were originally designed by Henri Chrétien during World War I for military reasons; they compress the image horizontally so more scene fits on the film, and a matching projection lens expands it back to a panoramic image[5](https://www.widescreen.org/aspect_ratios.shtml).
## CinemaScope and the 1950s boom
**CinemaScope.** 20th Century-Fox introduced the anamorphic 35mm process under the [CinemaScope](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinemascope) name, deciding the format would debut with the epic *[The Robe](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-robe-film)*, which was already six weeks into production[7](https://www.in70mm.com/presents/1953_cinemascope/samuelson/index.htm). During the developmental period, before magnetic stereo sound could be placed on the picture film, CinemaScope projected at 2.66:1 with sound carried on a separate 35mm magnetic film running in interlock; by the time *The Robe* premiered the ratio was 2.55:1 with four magnetic stripes on the picture film itself[3](https://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/cinemascope_oar.htm). Exhibitor resistance to investing in stereophonic sound equipment forced a return to mono sound formats using standard perforations, reducing image width to yield 2.35:1 from 1955; the 1957 magoptical soundtrack finally eliminated 2.55:1 as a CinemaScope ratio[3](https://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/cinemascope_oar.htm).
**Panavision.** [Panavision](https://www.edgepedia.org/panavision) was formed in 1954 to manufacture and distribute anamorphic attachment lenses to theaters that did not wish to buy them from 20th Century-Fox[7](https://www.in70mm.com/presents/1953_cinemascope/samuelson/index.htm). MGM partnered with Panavision to develop a system meeting the studio's specific requirements, producing the Camera 65 wide-gauge anamorphic system; MGM shot its anamorphic films with Panavision lenses but, under contractual agreements with Fox, advertised them as CinemaScope for several years[8](https://www.panavision.com/about/history-awards) • [9](https://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/c65story.htm). The Camera 65 line became Ultra Panavision 70, which used a slight 1.25:1 anamorphic squeeze on 65mm camera film to yield a screen ratio of 2.76:1[10](https://in70mm.com/news/2010/widescreen/index.htm). Meanwhile, flat widescreen arrived too: most movies in the 1.85:1 and 2.35:1 formats are the ones still screened today, with flat films matted to wider ratios rather than anamorphically squeezed[5](https://www.widescreen.org/aspect_ratios.shtml).
The boom did not dominate the industry as popularly remembered. The film scholar David Bordwell, a professor at the [University of Wisconsin–Madison](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-wisconsin-madison) and author of *Poetics of Cinema*, notes that CinemaScope never dominated studio output: of the ten top-grossing movies of the 1950s only three were Scope titles, and only two films in the format ever won the Best Picture Academy Award; the brand was generally out of favor five years after its late-1953 introduction and last used in 1967[11](https://www.davidbordwell.org/books/poetics_10cinemascope.pdf) • [5](https://www.widescreen.org/aspect_ratios.shtml). The Austrian director [Fritz Lang](https://www.edgepedia.org/fritz-lang), who made *Moonfleet* (1955) in Scope, famously judged it good only for filming snakes and funerals[11](https://www.davidbordwell.org/books/poetics_10cinemascope.pdf). Nevertheless, the term "scope" survives among projectionists and filmmakers for any anamorphic movie or any ratio of 2.35:1 or greater[5](https://www.widescreen.org/aspect_ratios.shtml).
## Anamorphic versus flat
Anamorphic photography squeezes a wide scene onto the film frame; projection through an anamorphic lens of the same power restores the proportions, and because the entire frame is used, the format produces high-quality projections[5](https://www.widescreen.org/aspect_ratios.shtml). Flat (spherical) lenses produce an uncompressed image, and formats such as Super 35 are filmed flat but cropped to the intended ratio; if the final result is wider than 1.85:1 it is usually anamorphically compressed for release[5](https://www.widescreen.org/aspect_ratios.shtml). In 35mm projection seven ratios were in regular use: 1.33:1 silent, 1.19:1 Movietone, 1.375:1 Academy, 1.66:1, 1.75:1, 1.85:1 widescreen, and 2.39:1 CinemaScope[12](https://ico-assets-live.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/27080201/ICO_Online-Guide_Film-Projection_FINAL.pdf).
## Showing widescreen on smaller or squarer screens
When a widescreen image meets a squarer display, three options exist: stretch the image along one axis, scale it down while preserving shape, or crop it[1](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/medfound/picture-aspect-ratio).
**Letterboxing** scales the widescreen picture to fit the display width, leaving black bars above and below; it preserves the composition but wastes screen area[1](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/medfound/picture-aspect-ratio) • [13](https://capytoolkit.com/blog/guides/letterboxing-aspect-ratio-math-video-photo-crops/).
**Pan and scan** instead crops the sides, with an operator moving a window to track the center of action[14](https://patents.google.com/patent/US7084924B2/en). For decades this removed as much as 44 percent of the original image, sometimes turning shots composed with several characters into awkward artificial close-ups; even on modern 16:9 televisions, zoom-to-fill versions can remove roughly a quarter of the image[6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982226010171).
## Digital cinema and modern practice
Digital Cinema projectors are designed to project flat or scope images, with the aspect ratio carried in the digital cinema package metadata[15](https://www.isdcf.com/registry/projectoraspectratios/). The Digital Cinema Initiative Distribution Master carries imagery at 2K (2048×1080) or 4K (4096×2160) resolution, based on SMPTE standards[16](https://wwws.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000177.shtml). Current theatrical practice still divides between 1.85:1, the standard American flat ratio, and 2.39:1 for anamorphic and scope-style presentations[2](https://www.aiprocinematography.com/resources/aspect-ratios-in-film/), while large-format systems add taller ratios: IMAX presentation uses a 1.43:1 frame, which directors such as [Ryan Coogler](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryan-coogler) have described as the full impact of every image as intended[17](https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/2026/07/the-problem-with-the-odysseys-imax-hype/687949/).
## References
1. [Picture Aspect Ratio, Microsoft Learn](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/medfound/picture-aspect-ratio)
2. [Aspect Ratios in Film: The Standards Explained, American Society of Cinematographers](https://www.aiprocinematography.com/resources/aspect-ratios-in-film/)
3. [Facts on the Aspect Ratio, Widescreen Museum](https://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/cinemascope_oar.htm)
4. [History of Widescreen, Widescreen.org](https://www.widescreen.org/widescreen_history.shtml)
5. [Aspect Ratios and Camera Formats, Widescreen.org](https://www.widescreen.org/aspect_ratios.shtml)
6. [What cropping removes from movies, Current Biology](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982226010171)
7. [Introduction of CinemaScope, in70mm.com](https://www.in70mm.com/presents/1953_cinemascope/samuelson/index.htm)
8. [History & Awards, Panavision](https://www.panavision.com/about/history-awards)
9. [The MGM Camera 65 / Ultra Panavision Story, Widescreen Museum](https://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/c65story.htm)
10. [A History of Widescreen and Wide-Film Projection Processes, in70mm.com](https://in70mm.com/news/2010/widescreen/index.htm)
11. [CinemaScope chapter, David Bordwell, Poetics of Cinema](https://www.davidbordwell.org/books/poetics_10cinemascope.pdf)
12. [Film Projection Online Guide, Independent Cinema Office](https://ico-assets-live.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/27080201/ICO_Online-Guide_Film-Projection_FINAL.pdf)
13. [Letterboxing and Aspect Ratio Math for Video and Photo Crops, CapyToolkit](https://capytoolkit.com/blog/guides/letterboxing-aspect-ratio-math-video-photo-crops/)
14. [US7084924B2: Displaying widescreen video images on standard video displays, Google Patents](https://patents.google.com/patent/US7084924B2/en)
15. [Projector Aspect Ratios and Resolutions, ISDCF Registry](https://www.isdcf.com/registry/projectoraspectratios/)
16. [Digital Cinema Initiative Distribution Master (DCDM), Library of Congress](https://wwws.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000177.shtml)
17. [Your Odyssey Might Be Cropped, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/2026/07/the-problem-with-the-odysseys-imax-hype/687949/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license