Pan and Scan
The pan and scan technique crops widescreen movies to fit on a narrower screen. In
some cases, artificial camera moves may even be added to show the entire content of a
widescreen frame. Pan and scan does not preserve the aspect ratio of widescreen movies.
Aspect ratio
Medium
1.33 (4:3)
Early 35 mm film and SD television
1.37
4-perforation 35 mm camera footage (prior to projection)—
also known as “Academy” aspect ratio
1.66 (15:9)
Standard European film; masked in projector
1.78 (16:9)
HD television
1.85
Standard North American and UK film; masked in projector
2.40 (also referred
to as 2.35 and 2.39)
Widescreen (anamorphic) film projection
1.78 letterbox
1.33 frame
1.33 frame
1.78 frame
2.40 letterbox
2.40 letterbox
1.78 pan and scan
2.40 pan and scan
1.33 frame
1.33 frame
382
Part V
Appendixes