What are the differences between the widescreen, letterbox, pan-and-scan, and full-frame formats?
These formats relate to the aspect ratio of a movie, or the width-to-height. Most televisions have an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (4:3), narrower than many movies, which can be 1.85:1 or an even wider 2:35:1. When you watch these wider movies in their original aspect ratio on a 4:3 TV, you’ll get those black bars at the top and bottom of the picture, a process know as “letterbox.” Some people refer to these pictures in the 2:35:1 format as “widescreen” and use “letterbox” to describe the 1.85:1 format. These terms are used interchangeably, however, and at present there is no standard terminology. “Pan-and-scan” and “full-frame” are terms used for movies that fill up your entire 4:3 TV frame, but there are major differences between the two formats. “Pan-and-scan” movies are wider movies that have been modified to fit 4:3 frames by cutting off the edges of a scene or panning across to include images that wouldn’t fit the narrower frame. “Full-frame,” on the other hand, refers to movies shot i