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Ratio calculator (screen resolution)

Ratio calculator (screen resolution)

In mathematics, the concept of correlation is widely used: numbers, lines, flat figures, three-dimensional objects, and so on. It is denoted as a proportion: a:b or a/b. For example, if one side of a triangle is 4 centimeters and the other is 6 centimeters, their ratio can be expressed as 4:6, or 2:3 shortened.

A and b can be a variety of objects/values: from mass and distance to buildings, people, animals. Most often, the ratio is applied to screens/displays, films and videos, as well as printed products: newspapers, magazines, photographs.

Common aspect ratios

Conventionally, the expression a:b can be represented as the ratio of width to height. Instead of a and b, x and y are also often used. Meters, centimeters, inches, pixels and any other measured values can serve as units of measurement. In everyday life, we most often encounter the following relationships:

  • 1:1. With the same height and width, a flat object is a square: 10x10 centimeters, 1080x1080 pixels. This format is common in social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and is applied by default to all avatars (profile templates). Even when uploading a wide or tall image, it is still converted to a 1:1 format, after which it is cut off at the edges and displayed as a square (on the main page) and a circle in messages/correspondence.
  • 3:2. This format corresponds to 35mm film and when converted to pixels is 1080x720. In inches, it can be expressed as 6:4, which is nominally 3:2. This ratio is present on all 35 mm film and photographic films, and therefore applies to all digitized video and photo materials of this format.
  • 4:3. For every 4 units of width, there are 3 units of height. This format has long been the only and uncontested for analog television, as well as for computer displays, produced with an aspect ratio of 4:3 until the early 2000s. Standard resolutions for this format: 640x480, 720x576, 1024x768. Despite the displacement of "square" monitors by widescreen ones, the 4:3 ratio remains in demand, especially when working with digitized TV and film materials.
  • 16:9. As the name implies, for every 16 units of width, there are 9 units of height. This format is called "widescreen", and today it is the most common. The 16:9 aspect ratio is widely used in cinema, digital television and computer technology, it is in this format that more than 90% of all video content is produced today. Its standard resolutions are 1280x720, 1600x900, 1920x1080, 3840x2160.

In the ratios listed, the first number always defaults to the width and the second to the height. This applies not only to cinema, television and computer applications, but also to static photographic materials (for example, presentations) displayed on displays / screens.

Cinema aspect ratios

In older (analogue) film formats, the image size always corresponds to the physical size of the area of the film between the end perforations. The universal standard - with a frame 3 holes high - was adopted back in 1892 by Thomas Edison and William Dickson.

With a film width of 35 millimeters, the area between the bottom and top perforations is 24.89 x 18.67 millimeters, which can be represented as 1.3:1 or 4:3. And with the addition of a sound track to the film, the video area was reduced to 22:16 millimeters, and amounted to 1.375:1. As cinematography developed, the following screen aspect ratios were used in turn:

  • 2.66:1 and 2.55:1 - since 1952, for anamorphic images.
  • 2.35:1 - Since 1957, aperture has been standardized in the SMPTE specification.
  • 2.39:1 - Since 1970, increasing the width of the frame has made it easier to "splice" at the editing stage.

The latest 2.39:1 standard was finalized in 1993 (SMPTE 195-1993) and is still used in the film industry today. When converting an analog signal from film to digital format, standard resolutions are obtained: from HD (1280 × 720) and Full HD (1920 × 1080), up to 2K (2560 × 1440) and 4K (3840 × 2160).

Photo aspect ratio

Since the 1920s, 9x14 centimeters has become the most common photographic format. They fit perfectly in postal envelopes and made it easier to send correspondence.

Today, strict restrictions on the size and proportions of photos are provided only for official documents: passports, driver's licenses, visas. And ordinary, user photos can be anything: wide and narrow, square and widescreen. The most common photo ratios include:

  • 4x6 and 5x7 inches Standard photos that can be placed in a photo album, mailed or used to create a collage.
  • 8x10 inches. More suitable for portraits and landscapes, then framed.
  • 8.5×11 inches. Widespread in marketing, used for printing flyers.
  • 12x18 and 18x24 inches. These sizes are optimal for announcements, posters and signs.
  • 24×36 inches. One of the most common outdoor advertising formats, also suitable for shop windows.

Documents from different countries require photos of different sizes and proportions. For example, for an Argentine visa, you will need a photo of 40x40 millimeters, and for a Belgian visa - 35x45 millimeters. Electronic IDs, driver's licenses, patent applications, certificates of return - photo formats for these and many other documents are set individually for each individual country and economic zone.

As for standard sheets of paper (including for printing documents), today they are represented by six main sizes: A0, A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5. The dimensions of the first are 841 × 1189 millimeters, and the latter - 148 × 210 millimeters. The aspect ratio of paper sheets is between 2:3 and 3:4. Accordingly, the first number is the width, and the second is the height.

How to find the ratio

How to find the ratio

The aspect ratio of a flat figure is written as an a:b proportion, where a is the width and b is the height. This principle applies to photographs, sheets of paper, rectangular plots of land, film strips, computer screens, and so on.

Determining the aspect ratio can be tricky, even if you know the exact height and width of a shape. For example, if they are equal to 465 and 1578, respectively, you must first reduce from 1578 × 465 to 526 × 155 (these numbers are no longer divisible without a remainder), and then simplify the expression to 3.39: 1. To find the proportion, it is enough to know a and b, or the perimeter and one of the sides. Let's look at both examples.

Being on two sides

Rectangles have opposite sides equal, and you can find their ratio using the usual simplification. For example, if a \u003d 8, b \u003d 4, it is easy to find a common divisor for them - 4. Dividing the height and width of the rectangle by it, we get 2: 1. This is the ratio of the two sides of the figure.

Accordingly, if a = 7, b = 49, the proportion will look like 1:7. In both cases, there are integers (natural) numbers to the right and left of the colon, but in practice this is rare. Almost always, division is carried out with a remainder, and the proportions indicate numbers with several decimal places: 2.65: 1; 3.2:1; 6.7:1.

A monitor screen, a sheet of paper, a photograph are all rectangular shapes with equal opposite sides. So, to find the desired proportion in them, it is enough to know only two values: the width a and the height b. In all notations in the aspect ratio, these values are indicated in this order: first the width, then the height. This also applies to photo formats (9:12, 15:20, 21:30) and screen resolutions (640×480, 800×600, 1920×1080).

For example, if you have a photo with a resolution of 1600x1200 pixels and you need to fit it into a window 400 pixels wide, you will need to change the aspect ratio while maintaining the original aspect ratio. To do this, it is enough to carry out the following calculation:

  • x = (1200 / 1600) × 400,

where x is the required height of the reduced image. After doing the calculation, we get that x = 300. So, in order for the photo to fit in a window with a width of 400 pixels, it must be reduced to a size of 400 × 300 pixels.

Finding on the same side and perimeter

If you only know one side of a rectangle (a or b) and its perimeter (P), you can find the length of the second side first, and then the ratio between the sides. For example, if a = 5 is known, and P = 18, it is enough to use the perimeter formula, which for a rectangle looks like P = 2a + 2b. Substitute the values and get:

  • 18 = 2 × 5 + 2 × b.

From this expression we find the second side:

  • b = (18 − 2 × 5) / 2 = 4.

Accordingly, the desired aspect ratio for this rectangle is 5:4. The calculation did not take much time because the selected numbers are easily simplified and reduced to a common denominator. But if the sides of the rectangle were equal, for example, to 167.896 and 211.893, it would be much more difficult to bring them to the form of a simple proportion. We would have to select possible common divisors and simplify the numbers to within one decimal place.

Fortunately, today you don't have to count long. It is enough to use a special application that determines the aspect ratio for the width and height of rectangular shapes. By entering them into the empty fields of the online calculator, the result can be obtained instantly and with a given degree of accuracy.