Widescreen television
Widescreen television refers to a television signal that is broadcast in an aspect ratio of 16: 9 (width to height). This is true of the majority of all television broadcasts in industrialized countries today . Widescreen formats correspond more closely to the human field of vision than the classic 4: 3 television format .
Establishment
The term originated in the late 1990s when new television and film technologies were ready for the market. In an action plan in 1997 , the European Commission decided to introduce widescreen television instead of the traditional 4: 3 television format .
The first broadcast of widescreen television in 16: 9 format took place on the basis of the Commission's action plan at the football World Cup in France in 1998 by the license holder TVRS'98 (Television Radio Services 98). Individual productions by public broadcasters, such as cultural programs or documentaries, were partly produced in 16: 9 from the mid-1990s, followed by numerous television films and series. However, the broadcast was largely in the 4: 3 format . During the 2006 soccer World Cup , the pay-TV broadcaster Premiere broadcast all games for the first time using HDTV in the 16: 9 widescreen format.
German-speaking area
From 2003 onwards, electronics retailers sold proportionally more flat screens than classic televisions. Flat screens were on the market almost exclusively in wide format, which means that from around the end of 2007 more 16: 9 flat screens than 4: 3 televisions were in operation in Germany and Austria. In 2010 it was already 70% market share.
The complete switch to widescreen television in the 16: 9 format took place in German-speaking countries in 2007. In Germany , the public broadcasters switched to widescreen format by the end of 2007. The private channels followed in 2008. In Austria , the changeover took place a little earlier in April 2007. The Austrian private channels followed in 2008 or later.
Other countries
In the UK , major broadcasters switched to widescreen television in the 2000s. Viewers with 4: 3 televisions, however, had the option of zooming in the 16: 9 picture on their digital receivers as a 4: 3 picture (as pan & scan). In the Benelux countries, most of the larger broadcasters switched largely to widescreen television as early as 2004.
Comparison of 4: 3 and 16: 9
| 4: 3 (1.33: 1) | 16: 9 (1.78: 1) |
|---|---|
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See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Deutsche Welle: Why switch to the 16: 9 widescreen format? (Accessed February 6, 2015)
- ↑ European Commission - Cordis: Widescreen TV Action Plan (accessed February 6, 2015)
- ↑ L'Atelier: Le format 16/9 à la télévision est sponsorisé par la commission (in French) (Accessed February 6, 2015)
- ↑ German Federal Ministry of the Interior: The world as a guest of friends (accessed on February 6, 2015)
- ↑ Spiegel Online: Enforced: TVs are a flat thing (Retrieved February 6, 2015)
- ↑ Focus: Flat screen TVs conquer German living rooms (accessed on February 6, 2015)
- ↑ Phoenix: Our parent companies ARD and ZDF have been broadcasting their programs in the new widescreen format since summer 2007. (Accessed February 6, 2015)
- ^ ORF: The ORF used the program reform to convert a large number of its productions to the 16: 9 format. (Retrieved on February 6, 2015) ( Memento of the original from February 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ ProSiebenSat1Puls4: ProSiebenSat.1 Austria will switch to the 16: 9 image format on all channels in Austria from November 1, 2008. (Accessed February 6, 2015)
