I suppose I have spent the majority of my screen life at a 4:3 ratio. That was how I watched Gilligan's Island. Yet, I think even for standard photographs, it is time to switch to a wider format. Today, I took this picture in the lobby of the Landmark Cinemas in New Westminster. I have switched my phone camera to save in this format even though that means giving up a bit of the image. Wide images have begun to personally feel more normal than the older standards.
I have always been intrigued by screen ratios. I've studied a lot about them on my own. This topic is a perfect way to show how most technology is incremental rather than revolutionary. Society sort of became accustomed to the old TV standard by decisions made long before the advent of broadcasting. It all goes back to failed patients by Edison well before even the previous century. It is strange that decisions from the late 1800's affected televisions until 16x9 screens became the most commonly sold format five short years ago!
There has been a lot of wild experimentation in between. These formats look very silly: 2.35:1, 2.39:1, or 2.40:1. It never really made sense to go that wide as theatres never suddenly increased in width. The top and bottom of the images were simply cut. That may have been novel but it surely wasn't an improvement..
1.77:1 is the ratio of a 16x9 screen and is the perfect modern compromise. I'd like to see all Hollywood films shot in a compatible format. Oh, and stop making iPad or Android tablets in any other dimensions!