I have a consumer grade Panasonic PV-GS90P camcorder. One of the setup options on it is aspect ratio 16:9 or 4:3. I've always had it set on 4:3 and always had standard definition televisions in the house. We now have two high definition TVs. Is there any pluses or minuses to changing the aspect ratio to 16:9? Am I taking the same number of pixels and spreading them out? This is a newbie question but that's how guys like me learn. From the pros.
Thank you
The difference is your 16:9 footage will be enlarged and fill your HD screen completely. With 4:3 footage, the image is enlarged, but black bars remain on the sides because the aspect ratio don't match.
I don't think there is a difference in quality. I believe both the 4:3 and 16:9 footage are upscaled equally. But the upscaled 16:9 is probably more pleasing to look at.
Rob Grauert, Jr
www.robgrauert.com
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Depends on the camera. If it is scaling to 740x480 for 16:19 it is a good thing (DVD quality). Some cameras actually chop pixels off the 640x480 SD footage to make it 16:9. If this is the case, I would stick with 4:3
I made a 20 sec vid of the front yard in 16:9 and a 20 sec vid of the back yard in 4:3. Captured them in Adobe Premiere Elements 8 and rendered as an MPEG2 and save to a USB drive. Plugged the USB drive into the HDTV and played it. Other than the change of scene (front yard to back) I could not tell a difference between the two clips.
Thanks for the input and I guess I'll leave the aspect ratio at 4:3.
Bill Dillon writes, "Thanks for the input and I guess I'll leave the aspect ratio at 4:3." Bill, if you could not see the difference between the two clips, then why leave it at 4:3 and have to view everything with those black bars on the sides?The future is widescreen. Set that thing to 16:9 and enjoy the full picture!
Wayne