What Is Aspect Ratio?
Aspect ratio is defined as the ratio between the width and height of the screen. It is written in the form of W:H, where W represents the number of pixels along the width and H represents the number of pixels along the height. The greater the difference between the first and second number, the wider the display will be.
The most common aspect ratio nowadays is 16:9 (referred as ‘Widescreen’), however monitors with 21:9 (referred as ‘UltraWide’) and 32:9 (referred as ‘Super UltraWide’) aspect ratios are also becoming increasingly common in the market.
The following is a list of the resolutions that can be expected when buying a display with a certain aspect ratio:
- 4:3 aspect ratio: 1400×1050p, 1440×1080p, 1600×1200p, 1920×1440p, 2048×1536p
- 16:9 aspect ratio: 1280×720p, 1366×768p, 1600×900p, 1920×1080p, 2560×1440p, 3840×2160p, 5120×2880p, 7680×4320p
- 16:10 aspect ratio: 1280×800p, 1920×1200p, 2560×1600p
- 21:9 aspect ratio: 2560×1080p, 3440×1440p, 5120×2160p
- 32:9 aspect ratio: 3840×1080p, 5120×1440p
Which Aspect ratio would suit you best?
In most cases the most suitable aspect ratio will be the display’s native screen resolution or aspect ratio. However there are usually there are more factors involved such as the type of content being viewed and viewer preferences.
16:9 is the most common aspect ratio worldwide as it is quite versatile and capable of decently displaying 4:3 as well as 21:9 contents.
When it comes to gaming monitors, then 21:9 or UltraWide monitors shine the best, as they offer many advantages because of the increased field of view (this is the reason why some games limit their aspect ratio to 16:9).
In conclusion, you should use the aspect ratio you see fit. A number of consumers prefer a wider image over an outstretched image while some might prefer a full display image over a cropped one.