Anyone out there have an inside scoop on the origins of the 16:9 aspect ratio? I'm in development of a video podcast that will teach average folks the basics of digital video and I'm researching this question. My best take is that it was a compromise between 1.85 and 4:3. Who decided the standard anyway? The ATSC?

Thanks in advance for any insight. I plan to leverage the expertise of this forum quite a bit!

Hi Craig, This might help you out a bit.

http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/Tech-Corner/f_technology_corner.shtml

Andy.

Hi Craig, This might help you out a bit.

http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/Tech-Corner/f_technology_corner.shtml

Andy.

That was a good read. Thanks for the link, Andy.

-gb-

Yes, thanks Andy - that was exactly what I was looking for.

It still puzzles me that people say that 4:3 is scalable to 16:9 by squaring both dimensions. Yes, the area is squared, but not the proportion, so for all practical purposes I can see no advantage to 16:9 over, say, 15:9 (except that it's wider, which is better.) If anyone can enlighten me on this bit of geek trivia, I'd be grateful...

Craig