The widescreen iPhone -- not so widescreen
You know how Steve Jobs and Apple like to boast of the iPhone's ability to function as a "widescreen iPod?" Well, anyone who sat in Moscone Center to witness the holy unveiling surely noticed the screen cropping (letterboxing) that occurred when Steve played Pirates of the Carribean. That's because the iPhone isn't "widescreen" as the term is customarily understood outside of the reality distortion field -- it is not a 1.78:1 (16x9) aspect ratio. Rather, the display utilizes a 1.5:1 aspect ratio. That puts the iPhone somewhere in the proprietary zone between the NTSC or PAL television standard 1.33:1 (4x3) and a proper widescreen 1.78:1 (16x9) aspect ratio like that thrown off Apple's new Apple TV. As demonstrated during the Jobsnote, true widescreen videos can be zoomed to fill the iPhone's screen but only at the expense of cropping the left and right-hand side video. Will this, uh, clarification or other nits prevent the first batch from selling out? Oh hells no. But at least now you know the truth.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Joan M'Benga : Ethnic Looking Clip Art Model @ Jan 17th 2007 9:24AM
Hi, Iphone is a beautiful product but as far as its video capabilities are concerned I will have to go for the Nokia N800. I have just seen a demo of the Video Capabilities of the N800 with different customisable software packages (it runs on Linux) and it was truly a wow experiance!
jimd @ Jan 17th 2007 9:32AM
And Steve said that during the keynote. So, how is this news?
Rich @ Jan 17th 2007 10:22AM
That's a silly statement about whether it's widescreen or not. Only some movies have the the 1.78:1 proportions. If you get a DVD that's "anamorphic widescreen," then it will play in a box that is 1.78:1, but that doesn't mean the movie itself has those proportions. If the movie has a smaller aspect ratio, say 1.5:1, then empty spaces (bars) appear on the sides of the image. If the movie has a larger aspect ratio, say 2.35:1, then empty spaces (bars) appear on the top and bottom of the image. So no one really cares what the aspect ratio of the screen is as bars are going to inevitably be present at some point. So would you have preferred that the phone be narrower in width or taller in height (both from the phone perspective) just so we can "call it" a "widescreen?"
Rich Brome @ Jan 17th 2007 10:24AM
That graphic is really misleading. You're showing content with a simulated 2.45:1 aspect ratio, which is just ridiculous. No content is *that* widescreen.
Cinema widescreen is not the same as HDTV widescreen, but most widescreen digital content is in 16x9 ratio anyway.
1.33:1 - most PDA/phone displays
1.50:1 - iPhone
1.77:1 - HDTV (16 x 9)
1.85:1 - true cinema widescreen
It's true that the iPhone is not "full" widescreen, but the screen is still significantly wider than any competing device.
Here's what typical widescreen content looks like on the iPhone - the letterboxing is minimal:
http://www.richbrome.com/misc/iphone_16x9.jpg
Jarrett X Pettigrew @ Jan 17th 2007 10:43AM
"Here's what typical widescreen content looks like on the iPhone - the letterboxing is minimal:
http://www.richbrome.com/misc/iphone_16x9.jpg"
You do notice that the whole right side of that scene is cut out... right? Compare the pics in the original post. You linked to the first pic - the movie's proper aspect ratio is the second pic.
LenPict @ Jan 17th 2007 11:29AM
Having a device that is true, cinematic widescreen would make every NON-video function unwieldy. Especially since they're used vertically.
Jasper @ Jan 17th 2007 11:31AM
In addition to the above comments, many if not most "widescreen" computer monitors that are sold, and some LCD TVs as well, have an aspect ratio of 1.6 (e.g. 1680 x 1050) or 1.67 (e.g. 1280 x 768). What these screens are doing is giving you extra vertical pixels, but still providing a close match to the "standard" HDTV widescreen ratio of 1.78.
So there is no "standard" LCD widescreen. Whether 1.5 qualifies as "widescreen" or not is a semantic question, but it's wrong to call Apple deceptive on this count. I find that the iPhone resolution is a great compromise, allowing useful applications in both portrait and landscape mode.
Rich Brome @ Jan 17th 2007 12:43PM
Foot In Mouth.
Turns out Pirates is filmed in anamorphic widescreen, which is in fact 2.35:1 ratio. Although not standard cinema aspect ratio, it isn't uncommon, either. My bad. Sorry Engadget!
However, anamorphic widescreen is REALLY wide, and it would still be letterboxed on ANY digital widescreen display I've ever seen, so I'm not sure it's a totally fair criticism.
Pat Horne @ Jan 17th 2007 1:24PM
Play DVDs on my 3 year old Tungsten T3 in the same format. They are spectacular. Yep, the ends are cropped, but still better than a regular TV or VGA format.
Good to see Apple's at least catching up. :-D
chuck @ Jan 18th 2007 1:54AM
wheres leo hates apple when you need him? im sure he has some scathing input.
David @ Jan 18th 2007 1:39PM
I guess my Sharp LCD HDTV isn't widescreen either. I get letterboxes all the time.